Avignon cuisine

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The Avignon cuisine ( Cuisine avignonnaise ) is the regional cuisine of the city of Avignon and the surrounding area. It is typically Mediterranean and specially classified within the Provencal cuisine .

In 1835 the first book appeared, which dealt with the southern French and especially with the Avignon cuisine in general. Young Pierre Chaillot's book was a collection of more than 800 recipes of different origins, brought together from different strata of society.

Classification within the Mediterranean cuisine

Avignon stave

The “real” Avignon gastronomy is typically Mediterranean and is particularly characterized by the use of olive oil , onions and a large selection of aromatic herbs. The use of olive or other oil is also typical of Occitan cuisine , in contrast to northern France, which mainly uses butter.

Avignon is also represented in Provencal cuisine with a wide variety of recipes. A lot of vegetables are used, especially legumes such as lentils, beans, chickpeas , but also tomatoes, artichokes , aubergines and zucchini . The use of grains such as spelled , but also spices such as garlic and thyme is characteristic of Provence . The typical Provençal can be found in numerous local dishes that are still prepared by the Avignonese today: daube , aioli , ratatouille , spelled soup, etc.

For several centuries, one of the main characteristics of this kitchen was the almost exclusive use of mutton , which was served with a variety of sauces. In 1784 the Polish Count Moszynski ate an extremely sumptuous meal in an inn in Avignon, consisting of mutton soup , mutton chops , boiled mutton, mutton feet in the style of Sainte-Menehould , a mutton's head in vinegar, grilled mutton tails and a roasted mutton breast. He wrote to a nobleman: "All in all, I had about half a mutton for dinner, for which one would have to pay nine livre and the remains of which were fed three servants."

As for the festive meal, a so-called “ Gros Souper ” (or lo gròs sopar , lou gros soupa ) is prepared on Christmas Eve , which is quite sparse. It is mostly prepared with grown or wild herbs and cardoons , gratinated or with white sauce , served with fish or snails . For dessert there are the “ Thirteen Desserts ”.

Within the Provencal cuisine, Avignon belongs to the domain of Arles and the Comtat , known for the preparation of fresh and dry vegetables, especially the tian . The tian is originally a typical Comtadin dish and consists of a gratin made from vegetables and olive oil. The word tian also refers to the terracotta casserole dish with which the gratin is served. The truffle (Tuber melanosporum) is also well represented in the kitchen . B. eats on omelettes or scrambled eggs . As elsewhere, Jewish influences can also be seen in the cuisine of Arles and the Comtat. For example with raïte (also raita or raito ), which consists of fried cod, is fried in red wine and is typically Jewish-Comtadin.

Traditional specialties

There are at least four typical Avignon specialties, which, even if they cannot be confined to the Avignon area, have a clear Avignon identity. On the other hand, the berlingots or berlinguettes ( berlingetas , berlingueto ) could represent a fifth typical recipe. These are hard-boiled eggs that are filled with anchovy paste, bread and egg yolks and are gratinated as a casserole.

Steamed allis shad

Allis shad fishing on the shores of Barthelasse Island, painting by William Marlow (1740–1813).

Steamed allis shad (in French alose à l'étouffée , alausa a l'estofada , al likewise à l'estoufado ) or Avignonesian allis shad ( alose à l'avignonnaise , alausa a l'avinhonenca , alausa à l'avignounenco ) is a dish on Base of fish and sorrel . The allis shad is steamed for many hours and is provided with sorrel (Rumex acetosa) or other types of dock ( called lapaç in Provencal ) and alcohol or brandy . The addition of alcohol and sorrel "melts" the bones of the fish, which is very easy to eat this way. The allis shad has become very rare in the Avignon area and may have disappeared due to the construction of dams. In addition, the consumption of fish from the Rhône is now prohibited since it was contaminated with PCBs .

The allis shad (Alosa alosa) resembles a very large sardine and was caught in the Rhône, particularly with the help of the vira-vira (or vira-blanchard ). It was a large, mesh-equipped bike that many Avignonese still remember. The wheel was installed with two boats east of the Île de la Barthelasse . One only had to look for the fish on the bottom of one of the two boats. Both the vira-vira and the “ allis shad with sorrel” are still known in many communities on the banks of the Rhône and are particularly associated with Avignon.

Avignon stave

The Avignonese stave ( adòba avinhonenca , adobo avignounenco ) is a variant of the classic stave . Instead of ox meat, lamb or mutton shoulder is taken and marinated with white wine. The recipe is reminiscent of the Karbonade ( carbonada , carbounado ), the Mistral in his Pouèmo Dou Rose is mentioned and boatmen was served. The recipe was described in 1950 by René Jouveau in Armana prouvençau . The carbonade is a dish based on braised mutton with vegetables and white wine. It can be prepared with white beans and artichoke bases.

Papeton d'aubergine

The Papeton d'aubergine is a typical Avignon flan based on eggplant caviar and eggs. The name can be traced back to the cake pan, which is reminiscent of a papal crown . The papeton is served with fresh tomato puree. However, it is not mentioned in the Tresor dóu Felibrige von Mistral, the name probably came about later.

Crespèu

The crespeou is a cake made of stacked herb omelettes and vegetable layers, which is served cold or eaten with tomato puree. The recipe is native to the Avignon region and became popular throughout the Comtat Venaissin and Provence .

Modern specialties

Navarin en avignonnaise

One of the dishes of Provencal cuisine is always the “ navarin en avignonaise” , which is lamb stew with oranges, olives and various vegetables.

Papaline d'Avignon

Papaline d'Avignon

The Papaline d'Avignon is a dessert consisting of oregano liqueur wrapped in two fine layers of chocolate. The name is reminiscent of the Avignon popes, but the invention of the papaline did not go back to before 1960. The exact recipe for making the oregano liqueur remains a secret. It was invented in 1870 and is obtained by distilling, soaking and infusing the plants in selected types of alcohol, to which honey of very high quality is added. 60 plants go into the production of the liqueur, which are picked from the foothills of Mont Ventoux and the surrounding countryside.

It takes 72 hours to give the papaline its shape, which is handcrafted and only sold in the Vaucluse department .

Wines and spirits

Wines

Vineyard at the Rocher des Doms .
Inner-city vines, at the foot of the Jardin des Doms .

During the papal era of Avignon, the Vinea Vespalis ("Bischofsweinberg") on the Plain-de-Lunel was one of the most famous wine-growing areas within the city walls. It belonged to the canons of Avignon until July 11, 1364 . On this date, Pope Urban V allowed his brother Anglic de Grimoard to dispose of the vineyard at will. In a bull the Pope authorized him to exempt his vassals on the Vinea Vespalis from all tax burdens and the cathedral chapter expropriated his vines in order to grant them to his youngest brother. The other vineyards are located in the eastern part of the city "Grands Jardins", an undeveloped area between the city walls, and in the southern Champfleury, which served as a plague cemetery in 1348 .

But these vines, which were grown as high vines, were long enough to supply the papal city. Each Pope bought local wines as well as other wines that had come to Avignon by the river. Eventually a vineyard called Grand Avignon was planted . In the Comtat Venaissin , the wines from Malaucène , Bédarrides , Valréas , Carpentras , Apt and of course from Châteauneuf-du-Pape had priority. Vineyards from Languedoc such as those of Saint-Gilles , Tavel , Bagnols-sur-Cèze or Villeneuve-lès-Avignon supplied the papal wine cellars . In the Provence wines came from Manosque , Toulon and Saint-Remy . Certain types of wine came up or down the Rhone , such as the Cante-Perdrix , the famous Beaucaire wine , the Clos de Vougeot and the Hermitage .

Four centuries later, Honoré Bouche mentioned in his chorography de la Provence , published in 1654 , that the wines from Avignon still supplied the wine cellars of the Vatican : “There you have the white, the red, the straw yellow, the clear, the nutmeg, the Malvasia , and the extremely good, strong and fiery ones. And I saw in Rome that a few bottles of Provencal wine are best kept for the Holy Father's table. "

Anne-Marguerite Petit Dunoyer confirms in one of her letters that some of these wines were still valued in Avignon: “See for yourself, Madame, if in a land that could be described as the island of Kythira , where one takes refuge in laughter and games who drive the misery of the times out of France, where you can eat well, where you can drink Hermitage and Cante-Perdrix wines, which can be called the wines of the gods, since they are the same ones intended for the palate of the Holy Father in Rome they themselves, I say, that I then long for such a lovely country. "

Avignon is currently claiming the title of “Capital of the Côtes du Rhône”, as the city has the headquarters of Inter Rhône in the Hôtel de Rochegude , which as an umbrella organization brings together the wine associations of the Côtes du Rhône and the AOC de la vallée du Rhône .

spirits

1884 began Jules-François Pernod with the distillation of absinthe in his factory of Montfavet and was due to the sale of green drink rich quick. He died in 1916 at the age of 89. His son and successor Jules-Félix Pernod introduced the Anis Pernod brand in 1918 .

Origan du Comtat is a liqueur made from oregano and is a specialty of the A. Blachère distillery , one of the oldest in Provence, which was founded in Avignon.

The Manguin distillery has been located on the Île de la Barthelasse since the 1950s and produces fruit brandies from white fruits, especially from the Williams pear .

literature

  • Fernand Benoit: La Provence et le Comtat Venaissin . Ed. Aubanel, Avignon 1996, ISBN 2-7006-0061-4 .
  • Pierre Chaillot: Le cuisinier méridional d'après la méthode provençale et languedocienne . 1984 (reprint from 1839).
  • C. Chanot-Bullier: Vieilles recettes de cuisine provençale - Vieii receto de cousino prouvençale . Marseille 1990.
  • Bernard Ely: La cuisine des provençaux - Saveur, santé, art de vivre . Edisud, 1997.
  • Sonia Ezgulian: Cuisine provençale . Editions Stéphane Bachès, 2007.
  • Marc Maynègre: La visite de Louis XIV à Avignon et Le massacre de la Glacière . In: De la Porte Limbert au Portail Peint, histoire et anecdotes d'un vieux quartier d'Avignon . Sorgues 1991, ISBN 2-9505549-0-3 , pp. 56-58, 61 .
  • Jean-Pierre Saltarelli: Les vins des papes d'Avignon . In: Bulletin de la Société scientifique, historique et archéologique de la Corrèze . tape 127 . éditions Stéphane Bachès, 2007, p. 73-78 .

Remarks

  1. ↑ Pierre Chaillot, Le cuisinier méridional d'après la méthode provençale et languedocienne, 1839; rééd. 1984
  2. ↑ a b c d e Bernard Ely, La cuisine des provençaux - Saveur, santé, art de vivre. Edisud. 1997.
  3. ↑ Fernand Benoit , La Provence et le Comtat Venaissin , Ed. Aubanel, Avignon, 1996, ISBN 2-7006-0061-4 , p. 108.
  4. ↑ Fernand Benoit, ibidem , p. 109.
  5. ↑ Not to be confused with the tetrahedral candies from Carpentras.
  6. ^ Anthology, La cuisine provençale , EditProjet, 2000.
  7. ^ Lou Trésor dou Félibrige ou Dictionnaire provençal-français
  8. ↑ C. Chanot-Bullier, Vieilles recettes de cuisine provençale - Vieii receto de cousino prouvençale , P. Tacussel éditeur, Marseille, 1990.
  9. ↑ L'alose sur encyclopeche.com ( Memento of September 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ Bruno Eyrier, Le Rhône. Halage et batellerie - La vie du Rhône autrefois , Edicioun Prouvenço d'aro Avignon, 1996.
  11. ↑ On the Rhône arm, which at that time was still the "living arm" (bras vif) and only became the "dead arm" (bras mort) through the investments of the Compagnie nationale du Rhône .
  12. ↑ Sonia Ezgulian, Cuisinière provençale , éditions Stéphane Bachès, 2007.
  13. ↑ a b Pèr Prouvènço, Garbo de tèste en lengo nostro - Parla dóu Rose et de la mar , Publications du center de recherches et d'études méridionales, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, 1983.
  14. ↑ Ouvrage collectif, L'alimentation provençale et la santé, 150 recettes traditionnelles , Mutualité sociale agricole et Éditions A. Barthélemy, Avignon, 1989.
  15. ^ Jacques Marseille, Dictionnaire de la Provence et de la Côte d'Azur , Ed. Larousse, Paris, 2002, p. 246 ISBN 2-03-575105-5 .
  16. ↑ http://programmes.france3.fr/tout-a-cote/cote-cuisine/?page=ficheincuisine&id_article=12967 (link not available)
  17. ↑ a b c Tiré de Vaucluse terre de Provence - Route des saveurs , édité par le Comité départemental du tourisme de Vaucluse.
  18. ↑ "La papa line en Vaucluse - Provence" ( Memento of 16 May 2006 at the Internet Archive )
  19. ↑ Chanoine Albanès, Ulysse Chevalier, Gallia Christiana Novissima , T. I à VII, Montbéliard-Valence, 1899–1920.
  20. ↑ Joseph Girard, Evocation du vieil Avignon , S. 247th
  21. ^ Jean-Pierre Saltarelli, Les vins des papes d'Avignon , Bulletin de la Société scientifique, historique et archéologique de la Corrèze , t. 127, 2007, pp. 73-78.
  22. ^ Jean-Pierre Saltarelli, Les vins des papes d'Avignon , Bulletin de la Société scientifique, historique et archéologique de la Corrèze, T. 127, 2007, p. 78.
  23. ^ Anne Bourret-Porée, Demeures secrètes du vieil Avignon , Ed. Équinoxe, Barbentane, 2000, p. 15.
  24. ^ Official website of the Inter-Rhône
  25. ↑ Marc Maynègre, pp. 56-58.
  26. ↑ Marc Maynègre, p. 61.
  27. ^ Page of the A. Blachère distillery
  28. ^ Page of the Manguin distillery