Dordogne Delicious

Daniele Mazet-Delpeuch

On a recent visit, chef Laura Schmalhorst of Vagabond Gourmet and I spent an afternoon with the amazing Daniele Mazet-Delpeuch who was once the personal chef of ex French president Francois Mitterrand, and whose roots are deeply seeded the Périgord and traditional cooking methods.

Watching her prepare duck confit (confit de canard) in her grandmother's ancient pots over an open fire in her living room taught us more about the region's culinary patrimony than any of the books we had read. And a morning spent with a local ice cream maker, Roland Manouvrier, revealed an astonishing magic that brews inside the kitchens and imaginations of the Dordogne. We left Roland's place, convinced he was an alchemist with his ability to conjure up ice cream and sorbet that had flavors and texture never before tasted in all our years of eating. His tomato-basil sorbet, goat cheese ice cream, and other flavors pulled from the Périgord's prolific bounty astonished us.

Among the dozens of people we met, there was a common thread among them, passion. And Reine Roches, the matriarch of five generations of family working side by side on their ancestral winery Domaine du Haut Perchermant, is the epitome of passion. Her story of personal loss and triumph over a male dominated industry is an inspiration that transcends culture and age, and her pintade (guinea fowl) stuffed with grapes is a recipe we will try to replicate for years to come at our own tables.

We quickly discovered that dining is the glue of social life in the Dordogne, and as we bounced (or perhaps rolled) from table to table, we imagined the decades of decisions, arguments, trysts, and revelations that transpired behind these doors.

Homemade walnut cake and walnut liquor with Virginie Bouyou lead to an historic tour of her family home at La Source Bleue in Touzac, and the private suite of famed French actress Marguerite Moreno, Virginie's aunt.The walls were covered imemorabilia, paintings and old photographs of her famous family and friends, like well-known writer Collette. We could almost here the victrola's tinny cry and smell the stale cigarette smoke when Virginie described the parties that took place here.

Once at the table we found the people of the Dordogne delightful and eager to sharetheir stories, and if you look closely, food tells you a lot about life in these small rural villages. Like language, food is culturally significant in France. Days are planned around meals, shops are closed from noon to 2 p.m. for lunch, and expressions related to food are pervasive in colloquial chatter. Perhaps the one that resonated the most was, Vous avez du pain sur la planche, meaning, "You have your work cut out for you." Yes we do!

Surprising to us was the amount of seafood and nouvelle cuisine making its way onto menus. Fish and eel pulled from the Dordogne River and scallops from the seaside were unexpected additions to many of the menus. One chef really making splash is Nicolas De Visch at his restaurant La Bruceliere in Issigeac, a small medieval market town known for its weekly food market.

Nicolas, once the seafood chef at the elaborate Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai, now wows locals with his, quel horreur, no duck menu! His terrace in the summer is the hottest table in town, and it is clear from the waiting list that tourists and locals alike are welcoming the new style cuisine emerging in the region.

To really understand the Dordogne and its secrets, I implore you to pull up a chair and take edible journey down roads less traveled and into the homes and hearts of some remarkable people. The best of the Dordogne will reveal itself to be more than just a glossy picture on the front of a postcard, but also a living and breathing tapestry woven with the thread of tradition and colored with the dye of eclectic people and butter stained recipes of cultural heritage.

Bon Appetit.