France I: Cèpes

I am visiting southern France at precisely the right moment: on time for champignon season. Today I visited the Saturday market in Montpellier with my dear friend who spotted freshly harvested cèpes, still muzzled in wild soil from the forest floor nearby. She was flooded with memories of her father who passed away around 50 years ago. He taught her the way he learned to make cèpes growing up in Bordeaux and today she offered to prepare them for me in this way. She has been working abroad for years, and this was the first time she enjoyed fresh cèpe mushrooms from home in well over a decade. How lucky for me to learn and share this autumn tradition.

INGREDIENTS

  • Freshly harvested cèpe mushrooms, cooked within 24 hours of picking (you could substitute for girolle or chanterelle or oyster mushrooms)

  • Roughly chopped garlic clove per cup of cèpe

  • TBSP of duck fat/lard per cup of cèpe for cooking in

  • Freshly chopped parsley, salt and pepper for garnish

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METHOD

  • Gently brush off all the soil from the cèpes and rinse with cool water and pat dry if needed.

  • Melt the duck lard in a deep frying pan at a low temperature and add the thickly sliced mushrooms and garlic. (You could substitute cooking fat if you had to, but it won’t be right!)

  • Simmer for an hour or more, letting all of the moisture out of the mushrooms then evaporate to reduction while absorbing the lard and flavours.

  • Garnish with fresh parsley or thyme or oregano.

SERVE WITH & WINE UNDER $20

This is a beautiful little dish on its own, served with a wedge of bread. Or as the star beside a simple roasted fowl.
I had a glass of Merlot (4.50 euro bottle) from the the region. My friend prefers a delicate German Gewurtztraminer on the dryer side.

Lara Hill