Cherries/Cerises

Cherries/Cerises

I came to live in Labarthe-Bleys par hazard (by chance) as a result of meeting two English women who ran one week summer workshops here. I was living in Cordes sur Ciel and helping a friend restore an amazing historic building which had been the centre of the embroidery industry in the town at the end of the 19th Century. I was invited for dinner here as a result of showing interest in a workshop on Shakespeare run by one of these women, Julia Wilson-Dickson. But there was no mention of a Food and Wine workshop even though Pippa was a fabulous cook! Not to share and celebrate the gourmet delights of this region seemed to me a terrible waste. We are surrounded by the vineyards of the Gaillac appellation, one, if not the oldest in France, along with a bounty of wonderful fresh seasonal food so this seemed a serious omission. When I broached this Pippa said airily “ everyone asks us that, why don’t you do it?” And so it was that Wine and Food Studio, which morphed into Vin de Tarn was born.

My love of the region has grown and my passion for wine and food keep me on an eternal diet of delicious delicacies. If strawberries and asparagus are the sure sign of spring, it is cherries that sing “summer is here”. This week-end the arrival of the first cherries is celebrated in Céret south of Toulouse. It is a custom to send the first box of cherries each season from there to the French President. Nearer to home Castelsarrasin has been celebrating the arrival of the Berlat cherries this week-end and not to be left out so have I, by eating lots of them and making clafoutis a la Mme Ciron who was my trusty housekeeper at Chateau Rahoul near Bordeaux when I lived there mny years ago, in another lifetime. I visited a number of years ago and she had saved the very last of the cherries on her tree to make clafoutis for me. I still have her recipe for this pancake like desert written all those years ago in my Favourites Folder, and I know she would be happy to share it with you. Whilst cherries are the traditional fruit other summer fruits can be substituted.

Clafoutis a la Mme Ciron.

400 grams of ripe deseeded cherries ( traditionally they were cooked with seeds but..)
2 eggs
3 tablespoons of all purpose flour
200 ml milk
Vanilla
A little slosh of Eau de Vie (I use a home made one which is very strong)

You will need a shallow round buttered baking dish about 15x20 cms.

Beat the batter ingredients together and leave for about 10 minutes. Butter the dish and spread the cherries in the dish. Sprinkle with sugar and place in a preheated oven of 200 degrees for about ten minutes. Bring the cherries from the oven and pour the batter over them. Return to the oven for about 30 minutes or until it sets.

Note. Making good clafoutis this is not quite as simple as it sounds. More flour and it becomes stodgy, less and it can fail to set. The first one I made was a runny disaster. If this happens, keep experimenting until you get the quantities right for you. Delicious served warm with a heavy dusting of icing sugar and cream or yogurt.