A month has passed since I was last in France (my how time flies!), but I’m still milking those experiences for class projects. Our trip to a Bresse chicken farm was particularly memorable, so I converted that into a magazine-style piece that I will submit for evaluation.
Update Dec. 9: I’ve made a couple corrections per request by François Frères.
Vinoscenti spend a lot of time debating the minutiae of varietals, vintages and vineyards, but what about the scrutinizing the whole package? I am of course referring to the barrels that wines are typically aged in, handcrafted vessels used by France’s prolific wine industry to add and mellow flavors as a wine matures.
One rainy afternoon, we headed to François Frères Tonnellerie, a cooperage founded by Joseph François in 1910 and celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The tonnellerie is currently managed by 4th generation family members, and works with a number of prominent Burgundy and international winemakers. Daily production is now 140-160 barrels a day (compared to two per day in 1910), with an annual production of about 40.000 barrels and gross sales of €2,4 million!
Continue reading Barrels of Fun: François Frères Tonnellerie
Anyone who has even briefly investigated livestock production at industrial farms knows that the process is wholly unnatural, with animals reduced to meat-generating machines, forced to live in dirty, cramped conditions.
At Ferme des Levées, owners Anne and Jacques Volatier firmly believe in treating their pigs with respect and raising them with traditional, organic farming methods. Jacques began raising pigs in 2000, and prior to purchasing this farm, he had no farming experience and worked as a civil engineer in town planning. “I don’t know how exactly to describe it, but I had an intuitive sense that I wanted to find a way to help grow the planet and start a project that would benefit the local economy. The intuition has now become certainty and a way of life in the countryside.” He attended an agricultural training program for a year, acquired the necessary capital and decided to launch a pig breeding operation because it was a product that could be raised and transformed entirely on the farm.
Continue reading Ferme des Levées: the Happiest Pigs in France
Le Renard s’en saisit, et dit : « Mon bon Monsieur, / Apprenez que tout flatteur / Vit aux dépens de celui qui l’écoute : / Cette leçon vaut bien un fromage, sans doute. » -Jean de La Fontaine
“Have you ever tried Époisses cheese?” I shook my head no. “Well, you know how they ban carrying the durian onto trains in Singapore because the fruit is so smelly? Époisses is sort of like the durian of cheeses.” With that in mind, I walked into the Fromagerie Gaugry cheese factory and my nose curled from the sharp olfactory assault of ripened cheese. The Époisses smell was pungent and earthy, somewhere between unwashed socks and West Coast hippies. As this NYT article highlights, its reputation and odor precede it. On the plus side, within a few minutes, my nostrils adjusted to the odor and I was breathing regularly again.
France boasts many stinky cheeses, but the Époisses is one of the most prominent cheeses of Burgundy, with production dating back to the 16th century. Over the years, Époisses has acquired the moniker “King of Cheeses,” and it was a favorite of Napoleon and famed gastronome Brillat-Savarin. At the 1815 Congress of Vienna, it seems that the delegates had a bit of free time after deciding what to do about Napoleon, and they held a tasting contest with 49 cheeses. Époisses came in second place after Brie, though one might argue that this was because Brie came from the Talleyrand region which sponsored the competition.
Just when I feel like I’ve settled in after summer travels, it is time for the UNISG masters students to take off again! This time we are heading to France for a week, to the region of Burgundy, most famous for wines of the same name. We’ll be staying in Lyon for a couple days, then moving to Dijon for the rest of the week. As you can imagine, this week will involve a lot of wine tastings, but there are a lot of breaks for products like cheese and Bresse chicken. Lest you think gastronomy school is all fun and games, I inform you that for this stage I am mandated to write a journalistic producer profile. Then, I need to write a synthetic supplementary document to explain my methods and discursive decisions. Adobe InDesign and infographics await!
A sample itinerary (for Thursday, Sept. 16th):
8:00 – Breakfast
9:15 – Departure for Nuits Saint Georges
10:00 – Arrival at Domaine Chantal Lescure vineyard
11:30 – Departure for Beaune
12:00 – Lunch
15:00 – Visit and tasting at Moutarderie Fallot
17:00 – Departure for Dijon
18:00 – Arrival at hotel City Loft
20:00 – Dinner
Time for an 8-hour bus ride; see you there.
