” Another time, but soon”…a little trip to Normandy
”Another time, but soon”- is what we said to each other when we postponed our little trip to Normandy during Easter this year.
It wasn’t long before we firmly agreed: ”it’s almost like a now or never situation; soon we may not even have enough time to go and if it rains-we’ll just take a rain coat and a pair of adequate boots”. The same evening we made and confirmed the reservations, booked the Channel Tunnel ticket and even the weather forecast looked promising.
Within a few days we finally departed on our little journey to the land of delicious apples and pears; to the land of cider and Calvados, to the vast lush and green landscape on which healthy looking cows are left to graze, producing a rich and much sought-after milk. Just think about the best tasting butter, soft cheeses, delicious milk and creamy fresh natural yogurt for breakfast- the best we’ve had in a long while.
We arrived in Honfleur, a charming harbour town, on a sunny Friday afternoon. The Dégustateur had chosen our accommodation and he did well. After we parked our car under an avenue of plane trees, we headed towards our guest house, unusually for us, as we are more hotel people. The house however, looked just lovely the minute we saw it, moreover, we were greeted by a true copy of Madame Duflot. If you’ve seen Ridley Scott’s „A Good Year”, you’ll immediately smile and remember the charismatic character of Ludivine, with the sweetest French accent. It’s a fabulous romantic comedy that I really recommend viewing. Warning! You may irreversibly fall in love with the Luberon part of Provence after having watched it.
Once we left our bags in the room we strolled to the harbour for a glass of cider (always dry for me) and to soak up the last rays of the warm afternoon sun. We spent the last hours of this glorious afternoon ambling back and forth along narrow streets, squares and corners, inquisitively looking at the menus of bistros end restaurants (we had asked “Madame Duflot” for some recommendations), we couldn’t resist the very appealing spice shops with all manner of salt and spice mixes piled high in neatly arranged containers. We stumbled upon a wine fair and a shop next to it, that felt just right to purchase (on the last day) a lovely bottle of aged artisan Calvados Pays d’Auge, to sip after a meal by candlelight back home.
Calvados is one of the “big three” French brandies along with Cognac and Armagnac.
Whilst its respective cousins are based on grapes, Calvados begins its life in the orchards of Normandy (in the form of apples and pears). It’s governed by three sets of overlapping AOC regulations (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) and each one of them has slightly different rules on the type of still that may be used and the proportion of apples and pears that can go into the mix. The Calvados AOC, for example, stretches over all Normandy and allows apples and pears to be used in any proportion.
We opted for Calvados Pays d’Auge, which covers an area just east of Caen, stretching from Deauville on the coast to about 30 km south of Lisieux, and the producers may use only 30 % of pears at most (as well as use only copper pots to distill their spirit). After having tasted a few brandies, we both agreed on the most fragrant and lesser known bottle of Calvados (aged for 6 years instead of 10 – as one would normally go for by rule of thumb).
We also purchased a couple of bottles of Calvados AOC to use for cooking and baking, something simpler with just 3 years of ageing.
Duck Parmantier & Le Lingot
Whilst we were taking a back ally leading to “our” townhouse, all of a sudden we came across a charming elegant restaurant, with perfect white tablecloths, aqua coloured checked windows and doors, which were left open as an invitation. Lots of hanging plants above the windows, tall candle sticks and historic images dotted on forest green walls. I had a positive strong feeling about “Le Lingot”, to the point that we swapped the reservation we had already made in order to be able to dine there. And the meal was truly amazing, exactly what we were both longing for: beautiful, traditional fresh produce (mainly foraged on the day) turned into a creative but not overly elaborated menu, accompanied by a bottle of Sancerre from the Loire Valley. We got invited to the kitchen to meet the chef and the team of just two, working very hard and proud. I’d go back to Honfleur just to eat at “Le Lingot” again.
Our late breakfast, after a couple of early morning coffees near the harbour, was a selection of brioches, canelés (a speciality from Bordeaux), kouign amann (a buttery layered pastry cake from neighbouring Brittany) and a punnet of fragrant strawberries from the Saturday market stretching across the entire historic part of the town. We love markets, correction: farmers’ markets, selling clothing or bed mattresses perhaps could be avoided, but c’est la vie! Going back to the food itself, it was a very authentic market with people coming to shop for the weekend. Despite the fact that Honfleur is both a national and foreign tourist destination, nobody was taking pictures at the market (except a few snaps taken my me). It’s just not a tourist attraction, you go there to shop.
The weather was beautiful and the sun was getting stronger and stronger. There is a gorgeous, cleverly designed park separating the town from the waterfront. Towards the end of that park leading to the beach, there is a pond. The pond has some water lilies, a little blue bridge and a line of trees around it, under which a couple of families were picnicking on the grass. The scene was so evocative of Monet. The beach itself is very wide and easy to walk on but not the prettiest. With no better plans we just walked along until we saw a beach front restaurant, a very happening place thronging with locals. We had a great lunch: oysters, a seafood platter, cold beer and we got some sun on our faces too, finally.
Deauville
After two nights in Honfleur we drove inland stopping in Deauville on the way. Deauville is a rather posh and pretty coastal town, very popular with Parisians for the weekends. It was Sunday, a market day in Deauville with a bustling happy atmosphere. We sat down for a coffee and a couple of waffles soaked in salted caramel, absolutely to die for. In Normandy you’ll see caramel everywhere: plain, salted, with Calvados or even cider. Pancakes are served at a later hour of the day with all the array of flavoured caramels to choose from. We had stayed in Deauville in the past and we both have very fond and tender memories of it. It had been during an autumnal weekend and it felt slightly more demure back then. A lot has changed over the years, the restaurant we wanted to go back to wasn’t the same anymore, so we settled on a portion of “Moules à la Crème” -with a creamy cider sauce- in a happening bistro, before driving to our next port of call, somewhere between the villages of Camembert and Livarot. Pays d’Auge is Normandy’s most emblematic verdant green area exuding rural charm. It’s here where the picturesque apple orchards meet historic towns, half-timbered manor houses and farm-fresh produce. The weather turned, the temperatures dropped and it started to drizzle. The earthy notes of nature had never smelt better.
Beuvron-en Auge&My Normandy Apple Tart
Duck Parmentier with Pipérade
On the fallowing morning we drove to a large local (food-only) market in the village of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives. It was here where I bought 2 kg of glistening in the early spring sun white asparagus, 3 kg of fragrant and flavoursome chantecler apples (for baking and eating back home), some fresh cheeses, bread with figs and a cured ham from Sardinia for supper. After that we visited the quaint and quiet Beuvron-en Auge village. It started to rain quite heavily by then and luckily we found a cosy restaurant for a long lunch, with hearty traditional food eaten by the fire. It’s here where I tried a Duck Confit Parmentier, I imagine you could call it a duck confit pie, for the first time. Back in London I made my own version of it, alternating the duck confit meat with a Basque style stewed peppers spiced with pepper d’espellete. All covered with a layer of garlic and thyme potato puree, baked until slightly crisp and golden in colour. It is a great dish, easy to make, a sophisticated version of a crowd pleaser. The white asparagus I turned immediately into a velvety potage finished with some chives and a few pinches of pepper d’espellete. Steamed, both white and green asparagus, we truly enjoy alla Veneta, decorated with chopped boiled eggs, partially turned into a thick sauce along with olive oil and a splash of a good wine vinegar. The Calvados, which works wonders in the kitchen, I’ve been using for baking a whole Camembert cheese (also with honey and thyme) to be scooped out with hunks of fresh baguette and/or crunchy endive leaves. After our recent Normandy trip I baked us an apple, cinnamon, crème fraîche and Calvados tart, something I used to bake in the past, this time with the addition of cinnamon. So delightful, even when reheated!
“My crêpes au Calvados” drizzled with salted caramel or caramel au Calvados may actually become our regular treat for a spoiling lazy breakfast at home.
In a few words, our long weekend excursion to the continent couldn’t have been any more delicious !!
