No Plans In Les Vans (part 1) – PEACH PIE and CAILLETTE

Les Vans

As we wound along the edge of the Ardèche valley on our way to Les Vans we were eager and nervous.

15 years ago

Eager to see the town we visited 15 years ago and see whether our memories remained true. We were nervous because our temporary landlord and longtime friend is now 87 years old. 

Lifelong resident

Mr Roussel is a lifelong resident of this wild part of the country and owns a number of properties in and around Les Vans. Unfortunately, he does not have Internet so our correspondence was done completely by snail mail. Originally he had a studio for us to rent but our dates changed and at last communiqué (a month before the trip) he said not to worry he would have something for us. I was a little worried about what we would end up in or even if he would remember that we were coming.

He called out

Arriving at his door, we rang and he called out for us to come in, it quickly became apparent that he had aged considerably and his general mobility was very limited. Yet, although his body was lagging he was still mentally sharp and was quite eager to catch up, he even spoke a little English with me.
“Ok,” he said, “let’s go out to the house”.  “House?” we said. It turns out that he decided that we should stay out at his 4 bedroom farmhouse a ten-minute drive into the country.

The property

When we were there last he was renovating the property from its original state and we remembered it being huge. We carefully and slowly loaded him into the car and drove out to the house while he made a few comments on what had changed and what had remained the same in the area. When we arrived at the house he got out of the car and directed us on what to do to open it up and get everything going (water, gas, etc.), when he was satisfied all was in order we delivered him back to his apartment.

Stone farmhouse

The stone farmhouse dates back to the early 1800’s. Mr Roussel has done extensive renovations to it, putting in a modern interior including a huge rear patio, windows, bathrooms and, a large country kitchen. It was too much space for just the two of us but after all the sleepless nights in tiny accommodations on this trip, we weren’t complaining. After a quick walk of the grounds that had a vineyard on one side, a large vegetable garden on the other and a view of the hills out the back, we discovered a mature fig tree full of ripe fruit, wild thyme, mint and rosemary, blackberry bushes, apple trees, a pomegranate tree, peach trees and a scattering of wild mousseron mushrooms. The Ardèche valley is lush, to say the least, so if you plant it, it will grow.

A few goodies

Settled in with a few goodies in the fridge and a couple of decent bottles of wine we really enjoyed the solitude and quiet of the country. Soon though we started looking for something fun to do and decided we should hike one of the 400 km of trails the area has to offer.

Top of the hill

Our first hike was a round trip up to the top of a hill that had a tiny church perched on top and offered up some stunning 360-degree views of the surrounding valley.

Fresh air

The weather was sunny, over 30 degrees, the fresh air was plentiful and best of all, we were the only people on the trail.

Caillette

Arriving back at the house it was time to put that big kitchen into action. Caillette is a dish that we were introduced to on our first visit to Les Vans by Mrs Roussel, who has since sadly passed away. Caillette is a large meatball made up of ground pork, pork liver, Swiss chard, and herbs.

Ardèche comfort food

The mixture is heavy on the greens so keeping the meat together sometimes requires wrapping them in caul fat. Caul fat is a lacy piece of fat that surrounds the organs in cows and other animals. It is used to wrap pâté and other dishes that need support while cooking and pretty much melts into the product, keeping it moist with no added flavour. Caillette is Ardèche comfort food and is great with a salad and fresh tomatoes. It can also be eaten cold like a pâté and makes a killer sandwich with a smear of mustard. After an afternoon of hiking, a yummy Caillette dinner and a couple of glasses of Côtes Du Rhone it wasn’t long before it was lights out.

Market day

The next morning we got up early because it was market day in Les Vans and we wanted to get there before the crowds.

The whole town

The market basically takes over the whole town for the morning with the food stalls filling the streets in the old town centre. There are also stalls selling clothing, books and anything else you can think of but we were there for the food.

Fish and seafood

Fishmongers with huge arrays of fish and seafood, local butchers, poultry farms, sausage makers, multiple cheesemongers, and of course many farmers, with produce, picked that morning, were around every corner.

Crêpes and cakes

People, cooking crêpes and cakes or selling some wild vegetable they had foraged. Soap makers and beekeepers selling their products with handwritten labels listing the flowers or herbs from which it was made. Olive growers with fresh tapenade, a myriad of different flavoured olives and obviously olive oil all grown within miles of the market. Bakers with still warm loaves in every shape and variety and their sinful croissants.

We were done

There was even a guy selling his own chestnut beer. Two trips to the car later we were done. Deals of the day included Picodons (small, aged rounds of local goat cheese) for €1.30 each, a flat of super ripe and sweet white peaches for €3 and a bottle of freshly pressed apple cider for €2.50. Lots of fresh vegetables, some chestnut confiture and a slew of other goodies filled our shopping bags.

Loaded the cupboard

Back at the house once again, we filled the fridge and loaded the cupboard. The flat of peaches was too good to pass up but now we had loads of ripe peaches.

Peach tart

It had been a while since I had made a tart from scratch but peach tart is one of my favourites so I decided to turn one out.

Next hike

This peach tart was a little different though, I made a chestnut frangipane to spread on the shell and lay the peaches on top. Peach and chestnut pie? Oh my! That night, over pie, we planned our next hike and we were going to need it because there was lots of cooking and eating to do.