For the second anniversary party at O Panier Local, we made a community-sized pot of garbure to offer to our friends and neighbors.  Like all good soups, we started our garbure the day before the fête, and let it simmer slowly for hours.  Yummy!

If you are not familiar with garbure, it is an emblematic dish of the Béarn, sort of like a cassoulet but more soup-like, without the tomatoes found in cassoulet and with a lot of seasonal veggies added.  Cabbage and potatoes are a must, and root vegetables like turnips, carrots and rutabaga are often included. Depending on your budget, garbure can include a ham bone (from the famous jambon de Bayonne preferably), pork, sausages or duck confit. I like to make it with confit duck neck and gizzards. Check out this post (from 2011!) for a longer discussion of garbure.

Our pâté albigeois has been on the menu at Le Pichet everyday since we opened in August 2000. Made with pork cheek, pork belly, pork shoulder and pork liver, served with honey and walnuts in the style of the town of Albi in France’s SW.

In the Pays Basque, adding Borda to the name of an eating establishment signifies a rustic country inn. In Euskera, borda means barn and the original Bordas were kitchens set up in underused barns, often with the cooking done over wood-fired braziers and guests served at long rows of tables, outdoors when weather permitted. Although no one is likely to confuse the the bright, modern dining room at Haraneko Borda with a barn, its kitchen does feature a wood fired grill and oven, the room is framed by ancient wood beams and on sunny days, tables are set up on the expansive deck looking over the green, rural valley of Itxassou.

The restaurant at Haraneko is actually part of an expansive organic farm called Ferme Heranea where owner Christian Aguerre raises the ancient race of Basque black hogs known as “cochon noir de kintoa”, rumored to produce the best pork in France, was well as fruits and vegetables including the sour cherries for which the valley of Itxassou has become known. Starting a restaurant on the property was a logical next step in the farm’s evolution, creating a a dining experience that the chef calls “zero kilometer local”, meaning that the majority of the ingredients come directly from the restaurants own farm. Ham and pork from kintoa hogs, corn for taloa (Basque corn pancakes), chickens, eggs, piment d’Espelette, fruits and vegetables all from the farm. Even the wine served, although not all produced within 1 kilometer, all comes from the Pays Basque.

The cooking at Haraneko matches the setting, being both rustic and accomplished, sophisticated but simple, the kind of food I love to discover and to eat.

When we visited for lunch during the week in early May 2019, reservations were easy to get and the menu prices very fair. However, that could change, as Borda Haraneko has been discovered, recently being named Best Farm-Auberge in France by Le Fooding.

Haraneko Borda
Address: 3 Gerastoko Bidea, 64250 Itxassou, France
Tel: 05 59 15 09 68
Reservations: Recommended. Not busy outside the season but hours can be irregular

The ingredients for our rillettes de porc, served at both Le Pichet and Café Presse: Berkshire Farms pork shoulder, carrots, onions, garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Add fat (we use duck fat) and a lot of time slow cooking and the rillettes are almost finished. The cooked pork is mixed with the cooking fat, salt and spices, then cooled and cut. Miam Maim.

Coming to the new winter menu at Cafe Presse that begins this Thursday, January 10, 2019:

Crispy sage rubbed pork belly roulade served with roasted apples, Jeruselem artichokes, endives, hazelnuts and aged sherry vinegar

To make the roulade, we start with belly from Berkshire pigs, a heritage bread known for the quality of its fat and for its flavor.  To assure that the flavors of the sage-salt-black pepper rub reaches every part of the roulade, we open the belly up to twice its size but half its thickness in a process that is called “butterflying”. The rub is then applied generously, the seasoned belly is rolled and tied so that it will keep its shape during cooking.

Preparations finished, the roulade is then cooked in a slow oven oven for hours until it is tender and unctuous inside and crispy golden on the outside.  Yum!

Terrine de sardines et de betteraves et sa crème fraiche à l’aneth
Sardine-roasted beet terrine, served with lemon-dill crème fraiche and grilled country bread

Salade de boulgour aux herbes et à la roquette,crevettes confites à l’huile
Olive oil poached wild Gulf shrimp served on a salad of bulger, soft herbs, arugula, red onions, and marinated sweet peppers

Escalope de porc panée à l’alsacienne, salade aux radis et aux herbes
Pork loin escalope, egg and flour dipped then pan fried, Alsatian-style Yukon Gold potato salad, grilled lemon, radish-herb salad

Rolled pork belly, oven roasted, served with a sauté of Corona beans, leeks and dandelion greens, and a creamy apple purée.

The November 2017 version of our Chef’s Dinner took place last Wednesday and welcomed a sold out crowd to the back room at Café Presse.  The theme for the dinner was Tout est bon dans le cochon (every part of the pig is good) and the menu for the event was designed to highlight the different possibilities in taste, texture and experience possible using the humble hog.  We hope everyone who attended enjoyed the experience.

Here are a few photos of the different dishes for your enjoyment…and look for info about upcoming chef dinners  on this blog or on the Café Presse website!