Hiking and Cooking in the South of France

Moules frites, mussels and fries, was voted the second favorite dish in France a couple of years ago. It lost narrowly to duck breast. Actually, moules frites is thought to originate from Belgium. About one litre mussels is fine per serving. I prefer the small tasty French mussels. An 1,4 kg package of moules de bouchot du Mont Saint Michel AOP is enough for us two, although it is a bit less than 2 litres. The quality is superior.

Instead of frites, I prefer to serve my moules with good whole wheat bread to mop up the good sauce.

Wash the mussels and discard any that are damaged or do not close if you knock them.

Add bouquet garni, black pepper and the white wine in the casserole and bring to the boil. Add the mussels and cover the casserole. The small Brittany mussels need about 4 minutes cooking time after the wine has started boiling again. Give the casserole a shake now and again and check that the mussels are well open. You should discard any that have not opened.

Divide the mussels in deep bowls and decorate with parsley.

The highest mountain pass la Bonette was opened for public traffic in 1961. The paved road makes a loop around the mountain and climbs to 2802m. There are several mountain roads in Europe higher than this but none of them connects a town or a region. Even so, this road is open for traffic only during the snowless period. Further down the road D64 is the hamlet of Bousiéyas, the highest village in Alpes Maritimes. The last allegedly permanent inhabitant, Madame Delmas, passed away alone there during one harsh winter in the 1960s. Today, there is a gîte during the summer season. The tour presented here is a classic hike ascending to the mountain crest of la Blanche south of Bousiéyas. After the initial ascent to the long crest, the scenery is extraordinary even for a seasoned hiker. You are in the middle of high terrain with an unobstructed view of major peaks in all directions.

In September 1943 over a thousand Jews escaped from Saint-Martin-Vésubie to Italy using the ancient mountain passes. The mountain pass of Cerise above Boréon was one of the routes used. Already in the 15th century, this route was used to collect the salt tax from the area above Nice to the County of Savoy.

The hiking trail from Le Boréon to Col de Cerise is inside the Mercantour National Park. The vertical ascent is about 1050m and duration 5 hours. French guides grade the tour as “sportif” but the trail itself is technically easy. It’s just the long ascent that may take its toll.

Map: Vallée de la Vésubie TOP 25 no 3741 OT.

Music courtesy of Sabrina Malheiros “Sintonia”(Instrumental) New Morning De Luxe Edition; Far Our Recordings.

The traditional diet of the majority in the arrière-pays, in the mountains behind Nice, has always been rather meat-poor. Meat was a special treat used sparingly for Sundays and holidays. Of course the hunters took the occasional hooved game, but birds and rabbits were more frequently the prize. Hunting is still a popular pastime in the arrière-pays, and hikers are advised to wear colourful clothes and stay on the marked trails during the hunting season. Nowadays, rabbit is also very popular on the French Riviera, and farm-raised rabbit is easy to find in local supermarkets.

Rabbit meat is lean and delicate, a bit like chicken. It needs to be simmered an hour in a heavy casserole, my trusted Le Creuset is super for this.

Heat the rapeseed oil in a heavy casserole, and fry the rabbit legs on both sides until golden brown. Clean the spring onions and discard the green parts. Add the spring onions and garlic to the casserole. Add the white wine, zest and juice of ½ orange, bay leaf and rosemary. Grind a few rounds of black pepper in the casserole.

Cover the casserole and reduce the heat.

Let simmer for about ½ hour turning the legs and stirring regularly. Chop the tomatoes into quarters and add to the casserole. Continue simmering for ½ hour longer.

Meanwhile cook quinoa. I prefer to serve quinoa, because it best compliments this rabbit casserole.

Decorate with black olives and fresh basil leaves.

French cooks are very keen on cooking almost everything en papillote, in a parcel of baking paper. I often cook fish this way which is super to seal in moisture and taste. The following recipe is with chicken breast, and the result was surprisingly good. It is important of course that the chicken breast is tender. I have found that the tenderness is somewhat variable here, it seems that in France taste is sometimes more important than tenderness. I wonder if others have similar experiences.

2 servings

Preheat the oven to 210 ⁰ C.

In a pan, sauté the chicken breasts in rapeseed oil about 5 minutes on both sides until golden brown. Set aside on a plate. In the same pan cook the mandarin slices in white wine about 5 minutes.

Cut two squares, about 30 x 30 cm, out of baking paper. Place the chicken breasts on the baking paper squares. Top with the mozzarella slices and wrap with the Parma ham slices.  Grind a few rounds black pepper and drizzle 1 tsp olive oil on each breast. Arrange the mandarins around the chicken breasts. Scatter basil leaves over the chicken, save some for the final decoration.

Wrap the baking paper into tight parcels and cook in oven for about 15 minutes. Serve with brown rice.

At 3050m, Mont Pelat is the highest mountain in the westernmost part of the Mercantour national park in Southeastern France. An excellent network of hiking trails of different levels can be found between Col de la Cayolle and Allos. In either case, your starting point can be over 2000 m. Keep in mind that this is a national park where rules apply. The ascent can be done in one day. To be able to start early, an overnight stay in one of the nearby villages is recommended.

Apart from the last 50 m scramble, the climb is basically a strenous 6 to 7 hour hike. No special skills are needed but you have to be in a good physical condition. It is strongly recommended to check the French weather reports for the local mountains. Weather information for nearby Barcelonnette and Allos is particulary useful.