Welcome to the south of France with Le Chat Gourmet!
With her azure blue skies, billowy clouds, sunny 75-85 degree days – June in Provence is magical. The market stalls spill over with just harvested French grown produce, jewel tone heirloom tomatoes, deep red cherries, peaches, apricots, the infamous Carpentras strawberries and Cavaillon melons – a gourmand’s delight. Field after field of lavender blooming into waves of deep purple as light breezes and the sun’s warmth release its delicate herbaceous perfume creating a serene spa-like experience. Days out visiting the ‘most beautiful villages in France’, Gordes and Roussillon. Stepping back in time walking in the footsteps of Van Gogh in St. Remy, transporting ourselves to 50 A.D. as we traversed across the ancient Roman aqueduct, The Pont du Gard. Private Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tastings and vineyard tour educated both our palate to the 13 grape varieties and knowledge from the farming, soil to harvest. The hunt within the woods of Provence for the elusive ‘black diamond’ only found underground, produced a reward of 93 summer truffles this year! Dinner parties were hosted, the game of pétanque was learned along with partaking of the aperitif pastis. Oh and we cooked! Classic Provençal dishes and the joy of experimenting and creating new recipes. Enjoy the photo memories below with
Le Chat Gourmet’s three week’s of groups celebrating summer in Provence…
Le Chat Gourmet’s 2024 Vacation in Provence!
Our Provençal home away from home, a renovated 1812 mill spilling
with picturesque gardens and a heated saltwater swimming pool
The 2024 ‘Welcome to Provence’ celebration begins with Aperó Time!
LET’S GET COOKING!
RHUBARB CRUMBLE with LAVENDER PEACHES
A Provençal riff on my mom’s rhubarb crumble recipe…
peaches, lavender (harvested from our French garden) and rhubarb,
garnished with a drizzle of crème fraiche and crushed pistachios!
EGGPLANT TARTE TATIN with RED PEPPER CRÈME SAUCE
PROVENÇAL CHICKEN with PASTIS TOMATOE SAUCE
THE MAJESTIC PONT du GARD
The most visited ancient monument in France, listed as a world heritage site by Unesco,
the Pont du Gard aqueduct remains one of humankind’s great technical masterpieces.
Built around the year 50 AD and taking just 5 years to complete.
CHÂTEAUNEUF-DE-PAPE VINEYARD PICNIC
A DAY IN CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE
Private Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tasting within a vaulted 13th century cellar
A special wine tasting at Domaine la Barroche of ‘Pure’,
made from their 130 year old Grenache vines!
THE BIRTH of VINTAGE 2024
The birth of vintage 2024 Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine has begun!
Over my three-weeks in Provence, I witnessed the vineyards transformation
from flowering vines to plants dripping with baby clusters of grapes.
The photos below are of the same grapevine over a 3-week period.
Week 1 – the blossoms are just finishing
Week 2 – blossoms finished and the fruit is begininning to appearing
Week 3 – mini grape clusters hanging from the vines!
SEEING DOUBLE or DOUBLE TROUBLE?!
By complete coincidence, Chef Vincent and friend, private tour driver extraordinaire
Marlene wore identical outfits…because orange trousers are so common! ha ha
PÉNTANQUE & PASTIS
Each week guests were invited to learn the outdoor game of pétanque from
Chef Vincent’s friends Anca and Timo. Glasses of pastis, an anise-flavored aperitif
predominantly produced in the south of France, were mixed courtside, followed
by the clinking glasses as each team toasted their sure to come victory!
PARIS OLYMPICS
Posters reminding us that on June 19th the Olympic Flame was passing through
our area, thus adding to the excitement of the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris!
OH MY GORDE!
The spectacular view of Gordes!
MARKET DAY
Always a fun day, filled with market character’s hawking their wares,
smells of just harvested produce, sizzling sausages wafting in the air.
Laughter ringing out as baskets fill with Provençal goodies – from amazing
artisan spreads, heirloom tomatoes, olivewood utensils, spices, a kaleidoscope
of hand painted pottery, soaps, fat red cherries, juicy melons to beautiful linens.
FIELDS of POPPIES
The poppies were out carpeting fields in their glorious riot of red,
thus creating for a quick stop and impromptu photo opportunity – alas
no wizards, cowardly lions and thankfully wicked witches were seen!
TRUFFLES and MORE TRUFFLES and EVEN MORE TRUFFLES!
We hit the truffle jackpot this year, due to the timing of the rain showers earlier
this spring, the summer truffles are abundant. In under an hour, we found
(or Perle the truffle dog found) 53! And we found a truffle nest, in all my years
hunting truffles in the Luberon, never have I found a nest of truffles until this year!
And yes, it is as it reads, literally a mound of truffles all nested together in one spot!
CANDIED FRUIT
The Romans first discovered this way of conserving fruit using honey.
A specialty food of southern France, candied fruits are created using the whole fruit
in a slow process taking up to 4 months start to finish. Only the finest locally grown fruit
is selected – strawberries, cherries, figs, melons, apricots, pears and even chile peppers.
IT’S AWALYS A GOOD TIME FOR ICE CREAM!
THE LAND of LAVENDER!
No summertime visit to the south of France would be
complete without strolling through the fields of lavender!
VAN GOGH ‘Asylum Saint Paul de Mausole’
After a tumultuous time in Arles, which include the ear cutting incident, Van Gogh
self-admitted himself as a patient to the Asylum Saint Paul de Mausole in St. Remy.
It’s quit fascinating visiting this tucked away place where Van Gogh spent a year of
his life, literally able to stand in the same spot he did, still see what he saw in 1889-1890
and the painting that resulted. While here, Van Gogh produced nearly 150 paintings
including Olive Trees, Vincent’s Room in Arles, The Irises and Starry Nights.
“Merci Beaucoup from Le Chat Gourmet
in Provence” – Chef Vincent
