A postcard from Burgundy

Many of us enjoy making the most of summer holidays to explore local cuisines. Here food writer Antonia Lloyd reports back on the culinary inspiration resulting from her travels in Burgundy (Bourgogne) — globally famous not only its wine, but also for the depth of its culinary traditions.

By Antonia Lloyd

Bonjour from La Bourgogne! This magnificent region of France is not just bursting with garlicky escargots, well marbled Charolais beef, robust red pinot noirs, crisp chardonnay whites, and 30 different types of fromage, it is also a rolling, rural paradise where cattle outnumber people, and quirky festivals are plentiful. 

I’ve been coming here regularly for the last 14 years and in the month of July and August the fêtes always entertain, amuse, and offer culinary delights. The Digoin Snail Fête de l’Escargot is a highlight, now in its 33rd year, where a peaceful town in Bourgogne’s southern corner of Saône-et-Loire proudly transforms itself into the capital of Burgundy snails. We were treated to a €21 six course repas (two types of ham, oeufs en gelée, a dozen snails, fromage and a fruit tart) and the chance to dance the night away.  An incredible 65,000 garlicky gastropods are consumed over a 3-day weekend and the smell of garlic is awesome. Paul Bocuse’s snail recipe is the only one to use if you seek to recreate this Burgundian classic.

Les spectacles

The history buffs in our family prize the ancient city of Autun, which was founded by Emperor Augustus during the height of Burgundy’s Gaullish period. It was the site of the largest Roman theatre in Gaul and today it is the setting for summer spectacles at nightfall. We enjoyed an evening picnic of leek and goats cheese tart, slices of saucisson, Brillat-Savarin with crisp baguette to set us up before a heady mix of high drama and battle recreation with hundreds of extras as they related the rise of Gaul, Caesar’s victory, and best of all, some excellent chariot racing. A memorable son et lumière experience that left the kids dozing off on the way home in the car. 

In the Nièvre, one of my favourite places is La Charite-sur-Loire, known as the “city of books”, where there are 30 times as many books as people, frequent book fairs and a festival of words. Streets are adorned with literary quotations and must include ‘mot’ meaning word – perhaps a thought for Wales’s Hay-on-Wye to consider. I am a sucker for French literature having studied it at university, much to the chagrin of my family who find it less exciting. We all however loved the blues festival where musicians spring from every corner of the ancient Romanesque priory and in sites around the town. The dinner was also a resounding hit– a juicy Charolais steak with bordelaise sauce (equally good made with Burgundy, though names after the Bordeaux region) and crisp French frites.

Les marchés

In between the fun festivals, there are of course the markets that spill over with beautiful produce – huge coeur de boeuf tomatoes, strings of garlic, girolle mushrooms, Bergeron apricots, mirabelle plums, even some live chickens that we took a fancy to. My personal favourite has to be the fine array of local chèvre cheese which you can only really get here. There are over 25,000 goats in Burgundy and with so many small producers, particularly in Saône-et-Loire, the majority is made on the farm and sold at market or to local restaurants.  At the Gueugnon Thursday market, due to their popularity and my daughters’ penchant for sleeping in late, I had to race around to find the last remaining cheeses. I picked up a fresh ‘aux fines herbes’ which comes with a green herb and garlic crust; a peppery ‘aux poivres’ which was punchy and delicious; and a ‘moutarde’ which was reddish hued with mustard seeds, red pepper, and paprika. There was also a triangular creamy cendré which was salty, dusted in charcoal ash, looked melancholic but lifted you up to the skies with its flavour.  We have all been liberally slathering them on fresh baguette, with fresh or dried figs, and even better with a tomato salad. I also love a classic chèvre chaud which are great wherever you are (and supermarket chèvre is fine for this). Simply slice rounds on day old baguette, drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of mixed herbs, pop under the grill, and serve with a strong mustardy vinaigrette dressed salad. Heaven! Frankly, for me, goats cheese offers the best summer eating –   salads, marinated with lemon and basil,  in a sandwich, or to accompany a chilled soup – you can’t go wrong.

Les vins

The wine is of course a special treat in Burgundy and famous for its great vintages.  Our weekend drive to Beaune took us through the Grand Crus of the Côte de Beaune with its glorious, neatly plotted rows of vineyards. The finest reds from pinot noir grapes coming from here are Volnay, Pommard and Savigny-les-Beaune and when aged for twenty years’ plus can fetch eye-wateringly high prices. The chardonnay whites are also highly prized and include Mersault, Puligny-Montrachet, and Chassagne Montrachet. We marvelled at the array in the specialist Marché aux Vins in Beaune with magnums selling for €5,000 in the cool medieval cave next to the old Hotel-Dieu.  We considered purchasing a 2022 Puligny-Montrachet (which in a way is a steal at €30, knowing what it would cost in the UK), but instead tucked into a 2022 Hautes-Côtes de Beaune – coming from the slope just above Beaune - which is delicious and more affordably priced. The other summer whites my husband and I are drinking are Chablis from the Yonne, the high quality Montagny from the Côte Chalonnaise, and Pouilly-Fuissé from the Mâconnais. [For more on the wines of Burgundy, and menus to accompany them, see the chapters on North and South Burgundy in Richard Olney’s Ten Vineyard Lunches]

Les mirabelles

The fun challenge for this week is how to do something different with our golden mirabelle plums. We are graced with two large mirabelle trees and this summer we have another bumper crop. These small cherry sized plums have yellow skin with pink flesh and make excellent desserts. Tonight we made a mirabelle sundae involving mirabelles roasted in honey, lemon and cinnamon served with a boule of vanilla ice-cream. Tomorrow perhaps a mirabelle crumble, a fun Anglo-French mashup, and delicious cold. Then, when friends come next week we’ll whip up a mirabelle tart and serve it with lashings of crème fraiche. The final ripest batch will go towards compotes and of course mirabelle jam (easily adapted from a greengage jam recipe, the fruits being very close cousins). As we’re still finishing the 2023 vintage preserves, this will extend breakfasts and porridge toppings into 2025, avec plaisir. I’ve yet to try making something alcoholic with our mirabelles, but perhaps this will be the year to attempt Jane Grigson’s mirabelle liqueur.

It's hard not to fall in love with food here and I haven’t even mentioned the patisserie delights that we have been indulging in, from fat choux bun religieuses to tartes aux citron. Perhaps it’s a coincidence but many of the finest French chefs that settled in Britain were originally from Bourgogne from the late Roux Brothers to Raymond Blanc. British-American Anne Willan, one of the foremost authorities on French cooking, set up École de la Varenne in Paris in 1975 and ran courses from her house in Burgundy. She named her school after François Pierre de la Varenne, the 17th century Burgundian chef. Anne’s book ‘The Cooking of Burgundy and the Lyonnais’ is a fantastic way to explore the classic dishes and culinary traditions of this region from red wine treats like oeufs en meurette and gougères (cheese puffs) to dishes that celebrate the Burgundian taste for mustard. For me, I think the beauty of this region comes down to fine food, the finest wine, and closeness to rural producers – you just can’t beat it.

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