Throughout the months of December, January and February, the truffle market sets up its stands and proffers its wares every Friday morning. Though times be difficult elsewhere... the spring rains and cool fall have brought us a good year for mushrooms. So, should you be able to get away to Provence during a period when air fares could be called reasonable...

Erick and Madeleine are collaborating on a two day option including truffle hunting on Thursday, truffle market on Friday morning, and a truffle laced cooking class/feast on Friday evening. Accommodations optional (calculate from 70E - 150E per night for a room for two). This two day private tour includes all transportation, lunch on Thursday, and dinner on Friday. The price for two people is 700E. For each additional person, add 200E. A maximum of 6 people per tour. To check for availability, please email me at: madeleine@cuisineprovencale.com

The spring rains caused some vintners to worry about mildew. An early July hail storm caused some grapes to burst. But, a cool, crisp and sunny September after a hot but not muggy summer has kept these problems from developping further, and this year's harvest in the Costieres de Nimes is most promising indeed. It was a late one, at least two weeks later than years' past. But, with healthy grapes and good teams of workers, it progressed calmly. Calmly? yes, this normally stressful and hectic period was actually relatively calm.

Rain storms hit the region just two days after the last day of harvest in the Costieres. Unfortunately, our Northern neighbors weren't finished bringing in their grapes as yet. Time will tell.

It is now time for the cellar work: For fermenting to be managed, temperatures to be kept down, daily aeration and breaking of the cap of grape skins to mix it back into the wine to enhance the extraction of tannins, flavors, polyphenols, concentration. And once the fermentation is over, to press the marc (the solids that remain) of the red wines, and for all the wines, to gradually allow the bits of sediment to settle at the bottom of the tanks, and remove the clear juice from above. With the approaching cool weather, these are the tasks to be repeated daily, attentively, till all is done, and the year's most important work completed.

Imagine a weekend of dancing and wine tasting. Does this appeal to you? Would you like to dance with this man pressing his grapes? In collaboration with Jean-Paul Cabanis (pictured above) of Domaine de Cabanis, and a pair of wonderful tango teachers - Roberto and Betty of Marseillargues (see their web site noted below) - I'll be hosting a weekend of tango dancing and wine-tasting initiation in Vauvert (just 20 minutes south of Nimes, 30 minutes east of Montpellier). The events will take place at the winery - known as Mas Madagascar - and in the village cellar.

For anyone in the neighborhood, or coming through, October 25/26, followed by November 29/30 are the weekends currently on the calendar. We will begin with an afternoon session of tango class on Saturday, followed by a brief break, and then your first wine tasting session. Dinner will be pot luck, and taken together at the winery. A bal will take place in Vauvert that night for all who wish to come and dance the night away. Sunday morning will see our second wine tasting session, followed by a seasonal feast prepared by myself to pair with the wines we're tasting, and in the afternoon, our second and final tango class.

The price without accommodations is 86E per person. Please ask for bed and breakfast suggestions, or if you've a camper van, you can camp out at the winery. For more information and confirmation of your attendance you can write to me: madeleine@cuisineprovencale.com or directly to our tango teachers: info@eneltango.com Most of the classes will be in French, but, should we have non-French speakers amongst the participants, that is not a problem as Betty (for the dancers), Jean-Paul (for the wine tasters) and myself speak English with ease.

Many of our clients have had the pleasure of tasting Chateauneuf-du-Pape wines with Guy Bremond or Jean Baptiste at Cave Verger des Papes. Well, should you wish to enjoy their superb welcome and teaching skills in Gigondas, now is your chance. Guy has found the ideal spot in the little perched village of Gigondas to introduce you to the concentrated grenache dominant wines of this region. Do visit if you're in the area!

Sophie Berton, our bee-keeper, has sold her property and is settling into the little house between her old one and the chapel ruins. It will take time to sort out where to place her furniture, where to set up the mielerie and more. But we'll keep you tuned. She is still a presence at our markets, and we hope to enjoy her fabulous honey cuisine in the future!

Our friends who've been sick still are, but they are also still with us, for which we are most grateful. Isabelle Laguitton, one of our goat cheese makers, is battling valiently against her brain tumor, her husband Paul Pierre at her side. Jean-Marie Fassy, the papa of our baker Jean-Pascal, is still battling his cancer of the oesophagus. They've had periods of respite, and their moral is up. Please join me in sending our good thoughts towards them.

I've always loved to write. I live in Provence. I'm surrounded by a collection of remarkably talented and generous friends who happen to have mastered their subject, be it bread, chocolate, honey, goats' milk cheese, olive oil... I am a mother of young children and I've adored the teen courses we've held yearly since 2005. So, what is more appropriate than to gather together these strengths and create of them a collaborative project?

So far, Leo, Jonas (my sons) and Alexandra (the daughter of a dear friend) have been welcomed into the kitchens of Isabelle, our goat cheesemaker, and Sophie, our bee-keeper. We've had kid focused cooking classes with them, and received recipes, tips, visual and tactile lessons and more. We've picked fresh herbs from their gardens, chopped, stirred, mixed, poured, baked and roasted.

Back home afterwards, we talk over the recipes. Which were your favorites? What would you want to make? What was an easy technique? a hard one? What was the most fun to learn? I write down as faithfully as I can our day's experiences, and put the recipes into a form the kids can then re-create for themselves.

We've still more than half of our artisans to visit. And next in line is the chocolatier... If you've suggestions, feel free to send them as we bring together experience, flavor, ideas, and generosity and bake it into a book.

Here is Sophie's wonderful chocolate cake with honey and spices recipe. A favorite with us all!
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10-12 minutes

Ingredients:
200 grams (7-8 oz) good dark chocolate (55-70% cocoa)
1/3 cup water
3 eggs
80 grams sweet butter- melted (4/5 of a stick of butter)
100 grams sugar - ½ cup - if using 45-55% choc. Then half the sugar, i.e. semi-sweet rather than bitter sweet.
3 tablespoons chestnut or multi-flower honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger - the equivalent amount of fresh ginger is a nice alternative.
80 grams flour - ¾ cup
a pinch of salt

In all her desserts, Sophie puts both sugar and honey. This is because, the honey gives a lot of flavor, but loses much of its sweetness during the cooking time. Sometimes she does the above recipe with half the sugar and twice the honey and it comes out with a more intense flavor, but not as sweet.

Utensils
A heavy bottomed quart size sauce pan
A whisk
A mixing bowl
Cup and spoon measures (and if possible a gram scale)
A rubber or silicon spatula
A 8x8x2-inch baking pan
Parchment paper (not necessary if you are using a non-stick baking pan)

First take the chocolate bars and break them up into small pieces and put them in the sauce pan with the water. Then, over a low flame on the stove-top, start melting the chocolate. Stir it ccontinually with the whisk till just melted (2-3 minutes) and remove from the heat right away. Pour the chocolate into the mixing bowl-you can scrape out the pan with the rubber spatula so you get every bit of chocolate into the cake. Add the eggs one by one to the chocolate - mixing with the whisk after each egg. Be careful not to put any egg shell in!. Then you can use the same saucepan to melt the butter that you used for the chocolate. Put it over the flame and stir, and as soon as the butter is melted add it to the chocolate and eggs. Then, in quick succession, add the sugar, the honey, and the spices. The flour is added last in three or four batches, sprinkling it on top. With the whisk, stir and push the powdery ingredients against the side of the bowl to help break up any lumps. And lastly, a pinch of salt. According to Sophie, just a pinch of salt, particularly in chocolate desserts, is necessary to bring out the flavors of the other ingredients. So she never forgets this step.
Line the cake pan (if not non-stick) with parchment paper, and pour in the batter. Put in the oven- 325F/150C - for just 10-12 minutes. This cake needs to be only "just" done to be good. If it is too cooked, you almost want to just start over. But, super moist with a bubble here and there, it is wonderful. And, the honey in the batter gives the cake a shiny surface on top.

Just a word about lowering our food budget, and shopping costs (including gas) while hopefully improving the quality of what I'm able to serve my kids, clients and family. I've been told that the way we live here in Provence is exceptional and nearly impossible elsewhere. Is it truly so? Once every couple months I do a large bulk purchase from an organic wholesaler -- as long as you've a business licence, or entity of some sort, this is possible. We stock up on all the dry goods, chocolate, cleaning supplies, etc.,

Supporting local farmers, I get a crate of fresh vegetables and fruit every week. I cook with whatever there is. This is challenging, and forces a bit of creativity on me, or, I simply peel and chop, drizzle on olive oil and salt and put in the oven to roast.

When I don't get to the potatoes or onions in time and they start to sprout, I plant them out in the garden to be harvested a couple months' later.

There are now four different farms in the vicinity from which I can purchase raw milk -- once I started looking for them. So I make yogurt with an age old recipe - heat the milk till it starts to simmer at the sides. Let cool till I can put my finger in it for 10 seconds without burning it. Add my yogurt starter and powdered milk. Put into sterilized jars and place on a cushion under a down quilt overnight. Truly, this is a fool proof recipe.

I use the a version of the "no-knead" recipe written about by Marc Bitterman in the NYTimes to make a weekly batch of bread. My version uses a starter I began a couple years' ago with organic whole wheat flour and water, then whatever interesting flours I might have in the house, some honey, gray sea salt, water and time.

Is it excessive to do all this? I've lowered my food budget considerably, and the kids are now accustomed to a noted absence of baguettes in the house, and a pre-dominance of whole grains. And they are nearly never sick and have no weight issues. It requires a certain level of organization and forethought... and I don't exclude the periodic take out pizza... So far, so good. Yes, it takes time, but, truly, no more than vaccuuming the living room, and certainly less than driving to the shopping center. And, the kids are part of the process. They see and touch where their food comes from, they smell it baking, and meet the farmers. I do get the occasional, "Mom, could I just have normal cookies for my school snack? like the other kids?" But, there's no holding back on the after-school muffins...