French Peasant Foods

Socca de Nice (Vegan)

Cassoulet (Vegan)

Coq au Vin
Ratatouille (Vegan)
Pistou (Vegetarian)

Socca de Nice  - Make Two 50-cm plaques

This traditional dish is very simple and easy to make, although some practice will no doubt be necessary to get it just right, and modern ovens and implements can replace the wood ovens and copper plaques of yesteryear.

Socca and Cade are Provençal pancakes that go back at least to 1860. Cade de Toulon, probably the most ancient, was made from corn flour and the Socca de Nice that evolved from it is made from chick-pea flour. The Marseilles version is today made with a mixture of flours, using only a small amount of chick-pea flour; in Marseilles this was called "tourta tota cada", meaning "tourte toute chaude", or nice hot tarts. It was mentioned in 1879 by Frédéric Mistral as "gâteau de farine de maïs qu'on vend par tranches à Marseille" (or in the vulgar tongue "corn-flour cake sold by the slice in Marseilles").

In that ancient time, there were cade/socca sellers at the marchés and at work sites where they provided the favorite morning meal of the workers. The cade/socca sellers used special wagons with built-in charcoal ovens to keep their wares hot while they announced them with the appropriate cries of "cada, cada, cada" or "socca, socca, socca caouda". Some of the ambulatory socca/cade sellers (or their descendents) are still to be found in the markets at Nice, Toulon and la Seyne-sur-Mer, where the slices are served in paper cones. In Nice, the Cave Ricord has been selling socca continuously for the past 80 years.

Socca is made on a large round (50-70 cm diameter) copper "pie tin" (plaque) and cooked in a very hot wood-fired oven for about six minutes, until the top is golden. The copper is important for spreading the heat evenly.

300 g chick-pea flour

500 ml water [eau]

2 Tblsp olive oil [huile d'olive]

1 teasp salt [sel]

pepper [poivre]

Variations: try different flours

1. Pre-heat the oven to 300°C (570°F)

2. Pour the cold water into a pot and use a whisk to mix in the olive oil and salt, beating thoroughly to remove any lumps.
The trick is in the batter, which should be slightly more runny than typical crêpe batter (which is thin, like Swedish pancakes).

3. Lightly oil the plaque. Pour the batter through a conical collander onto the plaque, covering it evenly.

4. Slide the plaque into the pre-heated oven and cook until the top browns nicely, possibly even going black where the bubbles rise.

5. Remove, slice and serve hot, peppering to taste.

Cassoulet
 - It is always instructive to compare cookery books. Scrote has been looking up two authentic recipes for cassoulet, one actually in French, and says they differ even on major points like the basic ingredients.

Cassoulet is a classic French peasant dish, from Toulouse. You need (according to the French book) in English measures, about a pound and a half of dried haricot beans, two pounds of belly of pork cut in cubes, 10 cloves of garlic, a bay leaf, thyme, a clove (smashed), a tomato, about half a pound of pork rind, six pieces of goose or duck, 4 Andouilles (meat sausages made of chitterlings), and about 15 inches of Saucisse de Toulouse (a pork sausage). The French recipe continues:

Rub the pieces of goose with spiced coarse salt. Put them in a dish and leave overnight. Put the dry beans in a pressure cooker, cover well with water, cook for 20 minutes and drain. Remove the meat from the brine, drain and wipe. Fry the pieces of goose in their clean fat until they become lightly golden. Roast them gently in a shallow dish for about 2 hours (depending on the age of the bird) in low oven. Watch the cooking so the pieces do not dry: the fat must remain clear. Salt and pepper the fresh pork pieces, brown them in the goose fat, add the haricot beans, then the garlic, the bay, the tomato (peeled & de-seeded) and the pork-rind, blanched and tied up in little packets. Cover with warm water and casserole for one and a half hours. Lightly grease an earthenware casserole, and tip in the preparation. Add the pieces of goose, the Andouilles (pricked) and cook for 20 minutes in a hot oven. Add the Saucisse which has been browned without fat in a frying pan and return the dish to a medium oven for 10 minutes. Serve on warm plates.

Coq au Vin
 Note that it's not "poulet au vin" but "coq", meaning an adult rooster with its tough stringy meat. This peasant's way of stewing the old bird's sinews to oblivion in cheap wine has become this gourmet symbol of French cooking.

Ratatouille  Serves 4

4 Zucchini
2 Eggplant
4 Ripened Tomatoes
3 Small Green Peppers
1 Medium Red Pepper
1 Medium to Lg Onion or 4 to 5 small fresh onions
2 cloves Garlic
Flat Parsley
Chopped
Basil
Salt
Pepper from the mill
Olive oil for cooking

** NOTE: The order of cooking is important, so keep the vegetables separate when preparing them.

Slice the onion and chop the garlic finely.

Cut the peppers in two and remove the storks, seeds and white fleshy parts, then cut into 1/2 inch squares.

Without peeling them, cube the Eggplant and Zucchini to an equivalent size.

Remove the stem and seeds from the tomatoes and cut the flesh into small pieces.

Chop the parsley and basil, keeping a few small leaves as garnish.

Cooking

1. In a frying pan, sauté the onion, garlic and peppers in olive oil over a brisk heat, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper as you go along. When the peppers are 3/4 cooked (they should be nice and crunchy), remove from pan and keep warm.
2. Sauté the eggplant until they are cooked through and nice and golden. Set aside with the peppers.
3. Sauté the zucchini.
4. Add the tomatoes and parsley as the zucchini start to golden, and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Return the peppers and aubergines to the pan, mix all the vegetables thoroughly and add the basil.
6. If required, deglaze the pan with a little water and then reduce.

    Transfer to a serving dish and garnish parsley and basil leaves.

Broad Provençal Bean Soup with Basil    Serves 6

This is the prince of soups! Originally simple, delicious family fare to savour together the different bean crops as they ripened in the garden, Soupe au Pistou now features on the recipe list of every smart hostess or host for a "dîner entre amis" on a lazy summer evening. There are as many recipes as there are cooks in Provence, but the real secret lies in the "pistou", the wonderful blend of basil, garlic, olive oil, tomato and cheese which gives this dish its personality.

Some purists will say that it is made solely with vegetables, I have heard that plenty of Provençal folks add plenty of smoked ham or bacon. You can choose between the two methods.

For the soup
900 g Smoke-cured ham, bacon or gammon. If using streaky bacon, choose a cut with the least fat possible. (optional)

500 g Fresh haricot beans
500 g Fresh red kidney beans
500 g Large runner beans or large flat green beans
4 Large courgettes (zucchini), diced (but not peeled)
4 Medium-sized potatoes, diced
1 Tomato, skinned and pipped, and cut into pieces
1 Thinly sliced white onion
Salt Pepper from the mill

For the "Pistou"
2 to 4 cloves of garlic (according to taste)
The leaves and tender shoots of 3 sprigs of basil
1 Tomato, skinned and seeded, and cut into pieces
80 g Gruyère finely grated
80 g Matured Dutch cheese finely grated
Olive oil

Shell the haricot and kindey beans and prepare and trim the flat

green beans into inch-length sticks. Prepare the other vegetables.

In a large pan put 2 litres of water to heat. If you have opted for the

recipe with smoked ham or bacon, remove the rind from the bacon

and cut into 6 or 12 equally-sized portions. Place the rind and the

meat into the pan, bring to the boil and simmer for about 20

minutes. Remove any scum.

Add the three varieties of beans and continue to simmer for 30

minutes. Season with salt and pepper. If you have added ham or

bacon, take into account the salt which the meat will bring to the

preparation. Then add the courgettes, potatoes, onion and tomato

and cook for a further 20 minutes. At the end of this period, the

soup should be nice and thick.

During this time, pound the garlic and basil leaves and shoots using

a mortar and pestle. When thoroughly blended, add the tomato and

continue the process, and then add the cheese. Finally, slowly blend

in sufficient olive oil to obtain a smooth rich sauce. (This operation

can be done in a blender if you prefer).

When you are ready to serve, check the seasoning of the soup and

remove the bacon rind. Add the "Pistou" to the soup, mix in

thoroughly, and cook gently for another 2 minutes.

Note :

Serve with crusty French bread or rolls, or toasted country bread.
 Out of season, when fresh beans are not available, dried beans will work equally well provided they are soaked for the required time (usually overnight). Cooking time will be the same. If large flat green beans are unavailable, you can replace these with normal green beans or "pois gourmands", but reduce their cooking time to about 30 minutes. As a last resort, unflavored tinned haricot and kidney beans can be used. Cooking time will be about 20 minutes, and if not preserved in brine, their juice can be added to the soup.