Pastry chefs, champagne, quaint villages & more
PEOPLE
Johanna Le Pape
French pastry without guilt
Named World Champion of Confectionary Arts in 2014, Johanna Le Pape has made her mark as an innovator in French pâtisserie by creating edible masterpieces with healthy and sustainable ingredients. Who would have thought that French pastry could be enjoyed guilt-free!
What made you decide to become a pastry chef?
I have always loved watching people cook and bake. At the age of 21, while living in Australia, I found a job as a manager at a French pastry shop. I believe that fate had something to do with it. Seeing how a multitude of pastries were made using impressive techniques dazzled me. It was obvious that one day I would also become a pastry chef.
In 2016, your focus became creating healthy pastries. What inspired you?
I decided to launch my company after a burnout. My philosophy toward food changed, and my goal was to reinvent pastries by making them healthier. Did you know that you can replace butter and refined sugar in a cake with ingredients such as courgette and sweet potato?
Describe one of your healthy pastries.
My signature pastry is the ECLAT, an antioxidant cake made with raw cocoa, argan oil, vanilla from Madagascar and coffee. The recipe doesn’t call for much sugar, and the ingredients are really good for you. Raw cocoa helps regulate blood pressure, lowers bad cholesterol and balances the nervous system.
Want to learn how to cook and bake according to Johanna’s philosophy? Join in on one of the workshops offered at Johanna’s Atelier Auraé in Neuilly-sur-Seine, just a stone’s throw from Paris.
johannalepape.fr
OUT & ABOUT
Picnic in the vines
One of best ways to savor that French art de vivre is with a lavish picnic – especially if it’s served in a memorable setting. At the Loire Valley’s historic Château du Petit Thouars, you can enjoy an informative tour of the vineyards and ancient cellars, followed by a wine tasting at the château and a picnic that includes seasonal salads, artisanal charcuterie, local cheeses and a bottle of their cuvée Les Georges (a light-bodied, thirst-quenching red wine made from Cabernet Franc). Dessert is the delectable tarte vigneronne, a local Chinon specialty of flaky pastry topped with thinly sliced apples and a red wine glaze.
Countess D’Arcy du Petit Thouars: “We have a lovely spot on the property that has views of the vines, the château and our ancient dovecote. It’s very private, and there’s amazing bird song all around.” To make the experience extra special, the picnic is served on a beautifully set table with Staffordshire porcelain, proper glassware and cutlery.
€40 per person, with reservation
chateaudptwines.com
Miramont-de-Guyenne
Miramont is one of the often overlooked treasures of the Lot-et-Garonne department. It isn’t a tourist magnet like Monpazier, and it doesn’t have a handsome château like Lauzun or Duras. Yet despite the lack of major attractions, the quiet bastide (fortified medieval town) founded by English King Edward I in 1278 is certainly worth exploring.
Built in the checkerboard layout so typical of the bastides established by the French and English between the 12th and 15th centuries, most of Miramont’s hustle and bustle still takes place on its main square, just as it has throughout the ages. On Monday morning, a lively market wraps around Hôtel de Ville, one of the town’s eyecatchers. Erected between 1843 and 1845 to replace the ancient covered market hall, it once housed a school, shop, municipal theatre and library. In 1983, however, the town hall underwent renovations and all the spaces were converted into offices.
What’s in a name
Miramont did not escape the Hundred Years’ War unscathed. In fact, it was rebuilt in 1453, even obtaining a second charter under French rule in 1494. There are a few medieval buildings which can still be admired to the right of the Hôtel de Ville, but to really get a feel for the town’s history, stop by the tourism office on neighboring Rue Pasteur and pick up a copy of the brochure outlining the two-kilometre ‘Circuit des Ruelles’ tour. It leads you through a maze of ten of Miramont’s alleyways, explaining how each got their name. Ruelle du Kroumir, for example, was named after the sheepskin slippers that brought the town prosperity from the end of the 19th century until the late 1970s when the industry ceased to exist. Speaking of names, it wasn’t until after the Great War that ‘de Guyenne’ was added to ‘Miramont’ in order to avoid confusion with the five eponymous French towns.
The tour also takes you past Église Sainte-Marie, Miramont’s landmark. Records show that a church stood in this area when the bastide was founded. It was badly damaged during the Hundred Years’ War and ultimately torn down in the 1860s to make space for a new one. The church was consecrated in 1876 and its bell tower completed in 1893. Renovations were carried out in 1962, giving the church its contemporary appearance. Take note of the colourful geometric patterns of the stained-glass windows, executed by German artist Emil Wachter in 1968.
Via the cornières (arcades) in front of the church, you will be guided back to the market square where you can stop for a drink at the Panama Café or a bite at Le Commerce before waving the town à très bientôt.
EDIBLE HISTORY
The liquid gold from the Périgord
Walnuts have a long cultural and gastronomic history in the Périgord (or Dordogne). According to archaeological finds, the Cro-Magnon people ate walnuts as early as 17,000 years ago and they even served as currency in the Middle Ages. In the 13th century, taxes were paid to the Cistercian monasteries with walnut oil, which was as precious as gold back then.
Walnut oil was used in lamps, in painting, for cooking and to make soap. As of the 15th century, the oil provided a major economic impulse and not much later, exports to other European countries such as Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands began via Bordeaux.
In the 18th century, walnut oil was indispensable in regional cuisine. While butter was preferred in the north of the country and olive oil was preferred in Mediterranean, three-quarters of the population from the Limousin to the Pyrenees used walnut oil for cooking. Almost every household had a walnut tree and every village had at least one oil mill. Nothing from the walnut tree was wasted: from the leaves they made an aromatic vin de noix; beautiful cabinets, tables and other furniture were made from the wood; and the finely ground shells were sprinkled on the floor of bread ovens to keep the bottom of loaves free of soot.
After Grenoble, Périgord is the second-largest producer of walnuts in France.
In 2004, La noix du Périgord received the Appellation d'Origine Protégée (A.O.P.) certification, and in 2021 official recognition was also awarded to the oil. There are four different types of walnuts in the area (the Marbot, Franquette, Corne and Grandjean), but about 80% of the production is made up of the Franquette, which is oval in shape and has a slightly milder taste than the rest. What is special is that this walnut can be eaten fresh and that it is extremely suitable for making fragrant oil.
Curious about the production of Périgord’s liquid gold, I recently visited Le Moulin de la Veyssière, located in Neuvic-sur-L'Isle in the Périgord Blanc. In this lovely watermill dating back to the 16th century, the Elias family not only makes walnut oil, but also beautiful hazelnut and almond oils. When Jacques Elias bought the mill in 1857, it was one of 31 working mills in the valley of the Vern. It is now the only one that still produces oil in a traditional way on a daily basis – and no less than 500 liters per day. This means approximately 40,000 liters of oil annually, 25,000 of which are pressed from walnuts from Sarlat.
On a busy Wednesday afternoon I meet Christine (who took over the company from her father Jean-Jacques in 2012) and new guide Pauline. Inside, the two huge millstones were spinning at full speed and the tantalizing aroma of roasted nuts hung heavy in the air. The scene that unfolded before me has remained unchanged for centuries and I felt thrown back in time. The flint mill spinning slowly and transforming the walnuts into a thick, light brown paste with a grainy texture that reminded me a bit of wet sand after a rain shower. Each time 40 kilos of walnuts are ground, which will make approximately 20 liters of oil. The millstone weighs half a ton, and after half an hour the paste is ready. This is the first step of the process and in my opinion, the most impressive, especially since the millstone has been faithfully doing its job since the 16th century.
“Our production doubled last year, so we bought a second millstone in July,” explains Pauline. “It is made of granite, weighs twice as much and is also twice as efficient. The grinding is done after fifteen to twenty minutes.”
Once the paste is ready, it is heated in a giant cast iron skillet for about 45 minutes at 90°C. This requires skill and precision: if the paste isn’t heated long enough, you’ll end up with a tasteless oil. Cook it too long and it will become bitter.
During the last step, the oil is pressed. The cooked paste is wrapped in 'scourtins', a canvas cloth that works like a coffee filter. The oil is then squeezed out under a weight of 40 tons. This will take about 10 minutes. After this, the oil goes directly into a stainless-steel vessel in which a sediment is formed after seven days. Two to three weeks later, the oil is filtered and bottled. Each bottle gets a specially made cork. A simple aluminum cap is out of the question here. “Not only much prettier,” says Christine, “but also better for the environment.” Waste is abhorred. After pressing the oil, a sort of cake (called 'tourteau') remains in the canvas. With it, they make gluten-free flour.
We walked to the shop where, in addition to oil and flour, you can also buy all kinds of delicacies made from nuts, from wine to eau de vie and from pasta to vinegar. Only the oil and flour are made on site, but everything is of high quality. In June last year they added a new product to their range: tomatoes in hazelnut or walnut oil, a collaboration with Marc Perey, the sun-dried tomato king from Bergerac. Especially delicious is the walnut oil scented with the famous black truffles from the Périgord. The taste is so concentrated and aromatic that you only need a few drops to give your egg dishes or risotto a refined finishing touch.
Pauline is happy to explain how you use the other oils: “The walnut oil is delicious with goat cheese, white beans or winter vegetables. Drizzle the hazelnut oil over a scallop carpaccio or pumpkin soup. With the almond oil you finish fish dishes, but you can also use it in a vinaigrette with citrus fruits.” My mouth was watering as she spoke.
Le Moulin de la Veyssière is prospering. They have been growing steadily for a few years and currently 10% of their quality products are exported abroad. Last summer they opened a museum and planted an orchard with walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds. After a free tour and tasting, guests can learn more about the history of the mill, the production of nuts and their biodiversity.
The delicious oils and other products of Le Moulin de la Veyssière are for sale via their website, but I suggest planning a trip to the Périgord – one of the tastiest regions of l'Hexagone – to discover this and the many other culinary addresses yourself .
WINE
Virtual visit to Taittinger’s ancient cellars
Taittinger was founded in 1932 by Pierre Taittinger and is not only one of Reims’ most famous champagne houses, but also part of the city’s rich cultural heritage. Every year, more than 80,000 visitors descend 18 metres underground to explore its ancient vaulted cellars during a one-hour guided tour that ends with various tastings.
If planning a trip to Reims isn’t in the cards anytime soon, Taittinger’s interactive virtual tour now brings a piece of the Champagne region’s vibrant history to the comfort of your own home.
The tour, available in English and French, starts with a trip to the 2nd and 3rd centuries when Reims (or Durocortorum, as it was known back then) prospered and the first vines were planted. You’ll discover why the famous chalk pits were carved out in the 4th century and how they became a part of Saint-Nicaise, a Benedictine abbey erected in the 13th century by the Comtes de Champagne. Though the abbey was destroyed during the French Revolution, the former quarries remained intact and would bear witness to the city’s turbulent history, even becoming a place of refuge for citizens and soldiers during the Great War. Taittinger’s informative tour culminates with a look at the cellar’s prestigious collection of historic vintages.
Reims is the gateway to Champagne’s hillsides, houses and cellars, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. With 288 hectares of vineyards, Taittinger is the third-largest domaine in the region. Its elegant, sparkling wines are appreciated all over the world.