5 Things

1) It's getting festive around here

2) Minerve memories




3) The doors have eyes

4) Pad thai like I've been craving for years, available just around the corner. Life is good.




5) Dans le métro 



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Photo du Jour - Minerve

The variegated canyon walls surrounding the village of Minerve. Pin It

Photo du Jour - Vineyard View

An early spring view over the vineyards and the garrigue.
Just over that hill is Minerve, one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Pin It

Photo du Jour - Beekeeping

Our friend's beekeeping equipment. His bees make the most flavorful, succulent honey!

miel de romarin - rosemary honey - my favorite!
miel de garrigue - garrigue honey - the hives are kept near Minerve
miel de montagne - rich, dark mountain honey from the Montagne Noire
miel de bruyère - heather honey - lovely and rich Pin It

Camembert Férmier

Camembert Férmier  
In all its fragrant glory.



This is not your typical, wrapped up, perfectly round Camembert from a box.

This is a pure, lush, stinky Camembert made from the raw milk of six dairy cows that are kept by the Coopérative Cravirola, a small farm near Minerve . A young woman from the Coopértaive arrives each Tuesday at the Olonzac market with a glass case heaving with their luscious fermier cheeses.
I'm trying to slowly work my way through their selection, having already tasted their sublime Tomme de Maquis and the forgettable la Maquisarde.

The flavors of mushroom and hazelnuts were expertly balanced with hints of clean, green grass and wild thyme from the garrigue. It was gooey and velvety and melted in my mouth. As I savored each and every bite, I was really impressed by its depth and complexity.
The Camembert Férmier is a truly exceptional cheese!

We found the best wine match to be with wine produced here in the Minervois. We tasted it with an AOC red from the local wine co-op, les Trois Blasons, and with a white Muscat Sec from Domaine de Blayac.



It may well be the perfect cheese.


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La Fête du Fromage - From North and South

We tasted two cheeses this week. One that was produced up north in the enchanting Loire Valley and the other from the stunning and aromatic Mediterranean scrublands.

Voilà, Sainte-Maure de Touraine and la Maquisarde.



I've been waiting ages to try one of France's best loved goat cheeses from the Loire Valley, Sainte-Maure de Touraine. It is easily recognizable by its long, cylindrical shape and the piece of straw piercing its center. Historically, the straw was placed there to protect the young cheese from falling to pieces during handling.

Sainte-Maure is a striking cheese - a snowy, white interior surrounded by a wrinkled, grey-black crust. It has a lovely, walnut aroma and mild and nutty flavor that is perfectly balanced. The texture is dense and creamy. This is a (dare I say it?) very seductive cheese.

The production of Sainte-Maure de Touraine can be either fermier, coopérative or artisinal. It was awarded AOC status in 1990 and is available to enjoy any time of the year.
White wines such as Vouvray, Sancerre or Chablis or a red from the Loire such as Chinon are perfect matches for this cheese.





The scrub lands of the region where we live, called la garrigue, are heavily perfumed with wild thyme, juniper, lavender and rosemary. The cheese from this region has subtle hints of these wonderful aromas, creating a unique tasting experience.

I bought a piece of unpasteurized cow's milk cheese called la Maquisarde at the Olonzac market last Tuesday. It is produced at a small farm near Minerve, the Coopérative Cravirola, who also made the incredible Tomme de Maquis that we tasted a couple of weeks ago.

The flavor seemed young and underdeveloped with too much tanginess, and it had a heady, barnyard aroma that was rather unpleasant. Usually, smelly cheeses don't bother me but this time it did. Compared to the Tomme de Maquis, la Maquisarde was a disappointment. I definitely expected to enjoy this cheese more.
Oh well... They also make a Camembert that I want to try.
We had a glass of local, Minervois red with this cheese.


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Photo du Jour

The beautiful village of Minerve.
My friend Michael was reading a novel recently that featured Minerve. The name triggered something so he sent me an email asking if it was close to where we live. Yes, just five minutes up the hill from our village! Pin It

A Drive Up the Hill

Minerve
A village named for the Roman goddess Minerva and the site where 180 followers of the Cathar religion were burned alive in 1210 for refusing to deny their faith during one of the bloody crusades led against them by the Catholic church. A stone plaque marks the massacre with these somber words; "Ici pour la foi Cathare 180 Parfaits sont morts par les flammes."

Minerve has a dramatic history and a dramatic situation. From our village it's about a ten minute drive on a narrow and very windy road up and over one hill, down into a gorge and up another hill. The road makes a final, sharp turn and the village appears before you. Perched on a rock island between two river gorges, Minerve does not fail to impress.

It is a beautiful, if not eerie, place to visit and is classified as one of les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Minerve is home to several artists, a few restaurants, a couple of museums and a church that was consecrated in 456 A.D. Around the village are spectacular walks in the gorges and the garrigue.

The best time to visit is in the spring or autumn. The summer can be be very hot and crowded.

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