Le Château d’Oléron-Saint-Martin-en-Ré (Charente-Maritime), 09/08/2020
The Tour (meaning
the racers… and the “writing cook”!) took a day off in La Rochelle on Monday
before a totally flat stage between the island of Oléron et the island of Ré
(they are both connected to mainland by a bridge) through La Rochelle.
La Rochelle is a beautiful
city on the Atlantic coast which, on top of being a beautiful city where it feels
good to live with its “already-a-southern-city” atmosphere, is worth a special
journey for:
· its exceptional vieux
port (vieux port) and its two “chain towers”, its old shipowner houses and
its fishermen neighborhood, and its plane tree shaded squares that would fit
very well with those Beaudelaire’s verses : “There, all is order and
loveliness,/ Luxury, calm and voluptuousness”…
· its surroundings
with islands of Ré, Oléron, Aix, the old city of Brouage kept “as was” when it
was a military harbor fortified by Richelieu… before the sea progressively withdrew
a couple of miles away, and the many fortifications, inshore and offshore witnessing
the strategic role of the region in the 17th and 18th
centuries;
·
and last but not
least, the fish and shellfish caught or farmed in the area, between the islands
and the Gironde estuary: oysters (the Fines de Claire, referring to
the way they are “refined” in former salt marsh pools which, thanks to a micro
algae, gives them an emerald color and an hazelnut taste, the best oysters in the
world), mussels (the Bouchots named from the stakes on which
those bivalvia are grown), sardines (from La Cotinière in Oléron), céteaux (a
variety of small sole, so delicious and delicate), shrimps (the bouquet a
small pink shrimp with a fabulous taste that, as a kid, I was fishing with a small
round net between the rocks), langoustines (aka Norwegian lobsters), palourdes and
praires (both, a type of clams with a very delicate taste and a very
addictive iodine taste. Another bounty of my childhood foraging sessions ), langoustes (a
lobster with no claws, or very small ones in fact, twice as good as the
lobster... and twice as expensive too!), étrilles (a crab of a
similar species as the soft shell crab, that I used to fish from a dam with a
net dropped in the water, named balance), etc.
Well, you might have
guessed that I am in love for this region. In fact, since the age of 10, I have
spent most of my summer and other vacations in the island of Oléron, camping
there before my parents bought a small house in a pine-tree forest 200 feet
from a 5-mile long, blond, and fine sand beach! There, I used to sail, windsurf,
bike, fish or forage all types of fish and shellfish... Needless to say that I
know every turn and every hill (easy, there are very few of them) of the roads biked
by the Tour de France racers yesterday!
Églade makes me glad
Églade is probably
the iconic specialty of the area. The word comes from aiguille (needles)
obviously referring to the pine needles used to cook this dish really
unique. Aiguillade became églade and also éclade. If
the latter term might be now the most common one as this dish has become very
popular in the upper class island of Ré, the first time I had it, more than 50
years ago in Oléron, this was an églade. So, I stick to this word… plus it
rhymes with glad!
Show me your mussels
Making an églade is
the simplest dish in the world, and probably the best way ever to prepare
mussels. The only difficulty is to find the right pine needles. Then you just
need a natural wood board, of a minimum thickness of 1”, on which you will
dispose the mussels following a star-shaped pattern. Cover the mussels with a
thick layer of dry pine needles and ignite the needles. The heat created by the
flaming needles will be just the right amount to open the mussels. It's simply
delicious, as the mussels are just cooked perfectly and flavored with the pine
sap flavors.
* During the Tour de France, combining two of my passions, biking and cooking, I will try to present (almost) every day a recipe from ) the route followed by the peloton.
|
Levels of difficulty |
Cost |
Preparation |
Resting |
Cooking |
|
n The only
difficulty is in fact to find good pine needles |
$ |
15 minutes |
5 minutes |
|
Ingredients and material 1. A safe place Last but not least, of course, it should be done outside in a
safe and open place (gravel or grass) 2. A board: A (not painted, not varnished, not treated of course) 1+ inch
thick wood board, large enough to accommodate a sufficient quantity of
mussels. A little trick is to put 4 to 6 nails in the middle of the board.
Those will help to hold the first mussels of your star pattern. Some people soak the board in water to avoid that it takes on
fire (which never happened). 3. Mussels: Count 1/1.5 lb. per head for a main course and 0.5 lb. for an
aperitif/starter. Use big mussels (outside and inside). In the USA, I particularly
like the wild black mussels from Maine (Moosabec) The mussels should be rinsed and roughly cleaned, but unlike
traditionally cooked mussel dishes, you can be lazy on that, the flames will
do the job! 4. Pine needles Don’t choose any pine needles, and in particular don’t use those
from cedars or the likes. First, they are not adapted for the églade, but
must importantly, they are not adapted for cooking as they are said to be
toxic. Choose the long and thin needles from the pine trees growing by
the seaside in a sunny climate, ensuring that the needles are dry and
flavorful: stone pines (also named umbrella or parasol pines, and
incidentally those giving the pine nuts) or maritime pines. Plan a sufficient quantity to cover your board with an 8/10"
layer, and some more in the possible case where you have to further cook the
mussels not opened after the first “flambée”. 5. A lighter or a cooking torch! To ignite the needles, of course, not to smoke a cigarette… 6. Bellows They will be very useful to blow on the fire to ensure that all
the needles burn, and to blow out the ashes at the end. Otherwise, a thick cardboard
sheet… or a bike pump will do the job! |
Instructions 1. In fact, the trickiest part is
the very start, i.e. laying out the mussels on the board. The mussels should
not lay flat, but “on the edge”. In this respect, there are 2 schools (yes,
indeed!). Either you lay them on the “hinge” edge so that they open “up”
(meaning facing the sky) and the juice remains in the shell, or you lay them
on the opening edge so that they open “down” (facing the board), which
protects the mussel from the ashes. Let’s say that in the US, I use the
“clean” way… and the “juicy” way in France! 2. Position the needles, intricating
them in order to form a star pattern (see picture). Keeping the first ones
standing up on edge (either the “clean” or the “juicy” one) might be a bit
tricky as they will keep on falling. This is where the 4-6 nails knocked in
the board can prove very useful. Otherwise, you can take a few needles and
dispose them in a star-shape to help holding those first mussels. Once the
first ones are positioned, it becomes easier to dispose the other ones. 3. Then, cover the mussels with a
layer of needles, of around 8/10 inches thick, ignite them… and enjoy the
beautiful flame if you do it at night, and soon you will hear the mussels
“singing” as they open. Let the fire extinguish by itself, but use the
bellows if some blocks of needles are not totally burned. It only lasts a
couple of minutes. It is possible that you will need a second flambée in
case if some mussels, positioned outside and less exposed to the fire, did
not open. 4. Then, blow away the ashes and
possible twigs mixed with the needles, using the bellows (better) or a piece
of cardboard, a bellows or even a bike/mattress pump. 5. They are now ready to eat, either
directly around the board, or on the table. As it is a “dirty” dish, I like
to serve it with another dirty dish such as fingerling potatoes BBQed with
their skin. Accompanied with a bottle of Muscadet or a Pineau des Charentes,
the local Cognac fortified wine… and a roll of paper towel! As I said
somewhere else, it is deliciously decadent |
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