Baking, Touring & Much, Much Eating in Northern Normandy
Wherein I wax enthusiastic about chateau living, cheese smuggling, & the art of tarte tatin
First, apologies for the recent delays to my Friday posting schedule. While great for content, my European vacation really cramped my Substack style. I’m back on it today, with my second French communique, reporting mainly from northern Normandy, with a little Nashville thrown in at the bottom for good measure.
I know all of our attention spans are shot, but bear with me through this extra-long post (it’s been a busy few weeks, guys). You’ll be rewarded if you read to the bottom, where there’s a special deal on a natural wine subscription and news about the fabulous duo that is The Watson Twins.
But first — France!
One of the main reasons I made my recent trip to France was to join a week-long culinary experience hosted by Reverie, a Nashville-based food-centric travel company that’s the brainchild of my friends, chefs Lisa Donovan and Julie Belcher.
Each of them has an impressive resume and industry respect. Lisa’s renown comes from her work as a pastry chef in the kitchens of award-winning Nashville restaurants, not to mention her food writing (she won a James Beard Award in 2018 for this essay). Julie’s well-known for her magical way with bread, an art she refined during many years working in kitchens in France. During our stay, both of them shared their expertise with our 10-person group via mini classes in which we prepared elements of our group meals.
And oh. my. God. — the food. I have never eaten so many amazing meals in such quick succession. Decadent barely touches it.
Every morning, the Reverie team, which included Nashville chef Mayme Gretsch (she landed in Nash as part of Catbird Seat’s OG lineup) and Lisa’s daughter, Maggie, gave us reason to get out of bed by laying out a (subjectively) light petit déjeuner that included croissants, brioche, and pains au chocolat. Every morning, they were sourced fresh from a patisserie the next village over from Bazincourt-sur-Epte, the home of Chateau du Saussard, the centuries old manor home that served as Reverie HQ.
Midday welcomed a hearty déjeuner, the most extreme example being the day we had towering Gruyère-laden Croque Madames, accompanied by homemade potato chips served with caviar and crème fraiche, bowls of white asparagus, and individual pots de crème au chocolat for dessert. It was easily in my all-time top five lunches ever.
In the evenings, our group o nine Nashvillians and one Coloradan gathered for long dîners of bouillabaisse, beef stew, or, for one especially notable installment, a picnic of steak and moules frites. As an appetizer, there were fresh Normand oysters that we shucked before Mayme doused them with butter and fresh lemon juice and threw them on the grill. Winner-winner, poulet dinner!
Regional wine and fresh baguettes were always on the table, and a dessert course came with every meal — think Crepe Suzette and tarte tatin (more on that below). We were on French time, so meals started late and ended late, though PM hours could be hard to judge because of the time of year and where France sits latitudinally. It was usually still light when the last of us left the table well after 10.
Au Chateau & On The Road
On the rare occasions when we weren’t eating (seriously – my stomach may be permanently stretched), there were hands-on cooking classes. Those who didn’t care to see how the saucisson was made used that time for exploring in and around the chateau, which clocks at least 40,000 square feet (my estimation). The main part of the home dates to the 16th century, though some of the earliest elements, like the tower on the far left of the first photo, were built in the 1300s.
Inside, there were three ground-floor salons and a dining room for hanging out, an underground sauna and swimming pool in the basement, and an open kitchen where we were always welcome to lend the team a hand. Ultimately, there was never any pressure to do anything but your own thing.
Outside, we had the run of 20 acres of mainly forested grounds that included gardens, tennis courts, beehives, and a stretch of the beautiful Epte River, where I did some major foot-dangling (it’s better than meditation). Some days, we took our meals riverside, under towering 300-year-old plane trees. Very Déjeuner sur l’herbe, but with clothes and folding picnic tables.
Three days were marked for “off-campus” ventures. On the agenda: a visit to the Sunday vegetable market in nearby Gisors; a road trip to the coastal city of Fécamp, where we picnicked on white chalk cliffs overlooking the English Channel; a tour of the centuries-old production headquarters of the herbal liquor Benedictine, also in Fecamp; a drop-in at a multi-generational cider farm; dinner at France’s oldest restaurant, La Couronne, in Rouen; and, most memorably, a meeting with master cheesemaker Jean-Marie Beaudoin, whose namesake fromagerie produced the gorgeous organic dairy products we enjoyed throughout our stay.
One of Jean-Marie’s specialties is tomme au foin, a cheese so-called because the last two weeks of its natural maturation is spent wrapped in fresh green hay. I fell big-time for its slightly musty, just a tad bit stinky taste — so hard that I bought a 7-inch wheel to bring home. (I kept it cool in the chateau’s wine cave and then the fridge of my Paris hotel before I quadruple-covered it in plastic wrap and hid it inside a sweatshirt in my suitcase for transatlantic transit. Miraculously, my contraband arrived in Nashville still cool and in great condition: I had some for lunch today.)
Tarte Tatin de Donovan
One of the things we learned to make on the Reverie retreat is Lisa’s recipe for pate brisee, or pastry dough, and tarte tatin, the famous French apple dessert. Lisa can make each of these from memory, and probably without using measuring cups or spoons. But us mere pasty mortals will surely appreciate these more precise instructions.
Tarte Tatin
1 recipe Lisa Donovan’s pate brisee (click for the link to her recipe for F&W)
4-5 apples (go for something firm and tart, like a Pink Lady, or Granny Smith)
1 T vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
¼ tsp lemon zest
Pinch of salt
½ cup sugar
3 T butter
Pinch of salt
2 T butter, melted
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Peel and quarter apples and remove cores. Add a pinch of salt, lemon zest and vanilla. Stir.
Pour sugar into a heavy-bottomed pam (we use cast iron). Place over medium heat and allow sugar to caramelize. Do not stir. Once sugar has reached a deep caramel color, take off heat. Add butter and stir.
Arrange apples on top of caramel with cut side facing up. Put into oven for about 20 minutes, until apples are just tender.
While the apples cook, roll out pie dough to ¼ inch thickness. Using a plate or a bowl, cut a circle just larger than the diameter of your pan. Make small docks with a fork in the dough. Place into the freezer to chill while apples continue to cook — this will maximize flakiness.
When the apples are nearly tender, pull from the oven and brush with the melted butter.
Then, place your pie dough on top of the apples and tuck the edges around the edge of the apples.
Bake for another 25-30 minutes until the crust is golden. Pull from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes, and then flip onto a serving plate. If you’ve waited too long and the caramel has hardened, pass the pan over low heat for 1 minute to soften caramel and allow for easy release.
Serve with crème fraiche or whipped cream.
Upcoming Reverie Dates
Reverie is releasing their 2024 schedule this August, with a lineup that includes stops in Ireland, St. Lucia, and more time in France. Sign up for their email list via the company website to find out when new dates drop.
The Best Costume for the Day
I only brought one large suitcase on this trip, which for me amounts to “traveling light.” Normally, packing entails me emptying a quarter of my closet into at least two solid suitcases no matter the length of my trip (an exaggeration, but barely). The mix changes every time, save for a few tried-and-true travel standbys.
One of these evergreen packs is this red caftan, featuring seashells printed on top of a squiggly “brain coral” pattern, by the boffo British designer Zandra Rhodes. I got it on Etsy about a decade ago for way less than it’s worth, as Zandra’s earlier designs are as collectible as they are memorable.
I love this piece for the volume of the skirt, the batwing sleeves that end in bracelet-like ties, and the sexy decollete it gives. It doesn’t need much to be ready for public consumption, just a good pair of shoes (I’ve worn everything from flat gold gladiators to tall black boots to off-white Chuck Taylors) and maybe a necklace.
To me, it’s an all-season piece. I’ve pulled it out in the fall and worn it over a black turtleneck and tights with the above-mentioned boots. But I really prefer it in the summertime, with sandals and light (fake) tan.
What’s Up In Nashville
Celebrating Natural Wine at Folk
If you’ve been keeping up with my posts, you know that I don’t drink. I am, however, very supportive of the folks who do tipple enjoying it fully. That includes understanding what’s in their glass. To that end, I got an email a few days ago from the the NYC culinary communications guru Jay Strell with some related intel that I wanted to share.
Next Thursday, June 29, Folk is welcoming two visiting natural wine experts to take over the curation of the restaurant’s wines-by-the-glass list for the night. The special guests are buzzy natural wine importer Jenny Lefcourt of J&F Selections and Billy Smith, Chief Wine Officer of The Waves, a natural wine subscription service and editorial platform.
You can make a reservation via Folk’s Resy page. With Jay and Folk owner and chef Phil Krajeck involved, I can promise it’s going to be a quality evening. Salut!
Special offer for Callaway Report readers! Sign up for a subscription with The Waves using this unique link and receive a $50 store credit PLUS 20% off your first month’s shipment.
Something to Holler About: The Watson Twins’ New Album
Congratulations to my dear friends Leigh & Chandra Watson, aka The Watson Twins, on the release of their new album, which dropped today. Holler has been almost a year in the making and the Twins'; their producer, the excellent Butch Walker; and their equally excellent band, have been working hard to make today happen. I’m so proud of you, ladies!
If you want to give Holler a listen, you can stream it here. But you know how it would sound even better? Listening to it on vinyl.
Out of towners can order a copy here. Nashvillians, head down to Grimey’s this weekend and get yourself a copy. Better yet, if you can wait until next Tuesday to get your Watsons fix, do: on Tuesday, June 27, the Twins will be there performing songs from the album live.
I will report back with instructions!
Need to know more about those grilled oysters.