Food, Wine, Photography Cycling & Gardening. Discover more about Life in Burgundy on The Hungry Cyclist Blog
Winter in Burgundy is a time of heavy hearty food. There is plenty to do in the garden stripping ivy, cutting logs and digging beds and what energy isn't used on work is burnt trying to keep warm. While I hope the mill will be cool in the summer, at this time of year it is freezing cold. A fire in the evening and plenty of woollen layers help but coming in at noon it is a hard earned lunch that warms the soul.
Read MoreWe don't much go for the endive in England. The spear-shaped member of the chicory family perhaps getting over shadowed by the air-puffed bags of salad that stuff our shelves. The French however can't get enough of this bitter cluster of crunchy leaves . A native of Belgium, unlike most salads the endive can be grown all year round, including throughout the winter.
Read MoreI ate the last courgettes from my garden last night. Lovingly wrapped in newspaper, and lined up like nuclear warheads, they were delicious and a fond memory of late summer. My first year in the vegetable garden here at The Hungry Cyclist Lodge has been a success.
Read MoreWhoever discovered you could eat an artichoke? So well defended is the artichoke it’s baffling to imagine how we humans ever discovered they were edible. These armour-plated member of the thistle family look more suited to a medieval torture chamber than our dinner plates, yet get beyond their aggressive exterior pleasure await.
Read MoreOn any Hungry Cyclist cycling holiday excellent food is guaranteed. Whether you are dinning in Michelin starred restaurants, tasting cheese and truffles at a local market or eating amongst the locals in a popular café, I make sure my guests get to enjoy the very best cuisine Burgundy has to offer.
Read MoreCeleriac is not a pretty vegetable. Resembling the shruken-heads of some jungle tribe, they sit a little neglected on the green grocers shelves in England. Many customers are either put off by their unaesthetic appearance while others are just baffled with what to do with this chunky pale root. But ignore the celeriac at your peril because under its ugly surface lurks a flesh that is crispy when raw, silky smooth when cooked and that has a delicate taste which suggests the flavours of celery of which brows above ground if allowed.
Read MoreThe summer is over. The evening light now hangs low over tight bunches of grapes and leaves rustle and whisper against a cool wind that will soon be their downfall. Wine makers wear their heavier clothes, last seen in April, and the faint odour of burning wood is just recognisable in the dampening evening air.
Read MoreShort days. long nights, deep mists and damp air. Winter in Burgundy has its downsides but one of the benefits of the arrival of this new season is the abundance of good shellfish at the local market in Beaune.
Read MoreAfter a glorious morning cycling in Burgundy, you arrive at your picnic spot and it's time for lunch. A rug is laid out on the ground, crusty bread is cut and the cork is pulled from an excellent bottle of wine. In the shade of of a tree you rest the legs, enjoy the view and refuel on healthy salads and local produce.
The best cycling picnics are made from the best seasonal ingredients and are prepared in minutes. In the late summer in Burgundy succulent figs hang on their branches and it is a crime not to enjoy them. These jammy-sweet sacks of goodness, pair perfectly with a well -aged Comte from the mountains of the Jura, that lie to the east of Burgundy.
Good Comté should have a nutty flavor, which becomes more pronounced the older it gets. Most Comtés are sold having been aged a minimum of four months, and those that fall between six and twelve months have a milkier, creamier flavour than the older, slightly dried cheeses. For this salad I like to use a cheese that has been aged for at least eighteen months. It breaks up easily and the nutty 'twang' of the cheese pairs with the super-sweet flavour of the figs and the salt of the ham.
serves 4
1. Add the salad leaves to a shallow bowl. Add a little olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and a cap full of vinegar and turn through with your hands,
2. Cut the figs into quarters and place on top of the salad.
3. Loosely tear up the ham in your fingers and add to the salad, making sure to discard any chewy pieces of rind.
4. With a sharp knife whittle away at the cheese so that thin slices fall over the salad.
Nothing betters eating outdoors in the summer months in Burgundy and wether we are enjoying a gourmet cycling picnic or a bbq in the garden, we eat outside as often as we can.
Read MoreAnother cycling tour here in Burgundy and this week I am lucky enough to have a couple of vegans cycling and tasting wine with me. On first inspection the Burgundian regime might not be the first choice for our animal-loving friends but one thing Burgundians do get right is growing first-class produce.
Read MoreWhen the mercury rises and the sweat pours, it’s those little things that make all the difference. A glass of chilled water by the bedside, a cool towel across your forehead, ice and a slice in your water bottles… but why stop there.
Read MoreThose red currants that make it back to the kitchen are perfect for a quick cycling picnic. Their sharp tang pairs perfectly with the creamy mascarpone and sweet meringue.
Read MoreAbove lush tendrils and leaves, swallows swoop and dart picking-off the insects that hover and glisten in a balmy evening light. The air smells sweet and the rhythmic hum of a tractor dilutes the calm, methodically climbing and descending the luminous rows of vines that carpet the landscape.
Read MoreA rigid wind tugs and pulls at tree-tops. In the low sky, herds of dense cloud push East across the horizon. There is a promise of rain in the air and as the church bells ring out the hour, vingerons in their tired white vans hurry from their lunch tables, along dirt roads back into their vines.
Read MoreA meticulous task that can only be done by hand, this selective process involves the inspection of each and every vine in order to determine which young buds will go on to produce the years vintage and which will be cut away to enable the vine to focus all its efforts into its remaining branches.
Read MoreThe villages of the Cote d’Or are eerily quiet in late April. Cats sleep in sharp late morning shadows; tree blossoms scatter and mix with dust disturbed by gusts of wind channeled through narrow streets. Lazy silences are broken only by the wispy clapping from the wings of the doves moving from the safety of a medieval belfry to a new roost.
Read MoreThe nights are fresh, the days are hot. Bird song and the tap-tap-tap of a woodpecker mingle with the distant hum of a lawnmower and juvenile butterflies navigate between the years first wild-flowers. Spring has arrived in Burgundy.
Read MoreA cool glass of aligote to quench my thirst at the end of a days ride and perhaps a warm gougeres to nibble on. Made from ingredients that are almost always at home, these warm cheesy puffs make a perfect snack for any Apéritifs.
Read MoreTorrential rain is driven by a stiff wind. Falling on the steep hillside it forms streams that run energetically between rocks and vines. Beneath dense clouds, that roll in from the west, the village of Meursault wakes up to another cold and wet February morning.
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