12 French Weekend French Week September 24-30, 2010

Tangy beetroot saladAn autumn vitamin boostAfter all those restaurant meals with guests over thesummer, treat yourself to a detox salad. Raw beetroot isa bit of a wonder food: known to be a great livercleanser, it helps to reduce high blood pressure and hasbeen used in the treatment of colon cancer. It certainlycontains vitamin B 1, 2 and 3, vitamin C and folic acid.

The orange and lemon juice bring out the fruitytaste of the beetroot, all the more so if you let the saladrest before serving.

Ingredients� 2 medium-sized beetroots, raw� 4 small carrots� 1 lemon� 1 orange� 2 tbspns olive oil� basil, parsley� salt and freshly ground pepper� 2 small heads of chicory for garnish

Method� Squeeze the lemon and orange. Put the juice into

the salad bowl, add salt and pepper.� Grate the carrots and beetroot. Mix with the juice. � Chop the basil and parsley and stir in. � Dribble over two tablespoons of olive oil

and stir in.� Leave to marinate for an hour.� Arrange chicory leaves around the outside of the

bowl. Use the leaves to scoop up the salad.

Adam Brown’s Recipe

For those who aspire tobe food critics as wellas those who are avid

followers of Michelin starsand awards, MichaelSteinberger’s latest offeringis now available inpaperback at a reasonable

price and is definitely worthreading.

‘Au Revoir to All That –The Rise and Fall of FrenchCuisine’ (not to be confusedwith his earlier books ofsimilar titles) gives afascinating insight behind

the scenes and thoughts ofMichelin inspectors whileanalysing the change thathas take place in Frenchrestaurants in the pastcentury. The ability todestroy a chef’s reputationand his livelihood by thewithdrawing of a Michelinstar makes one realise justhow powerful these starshave become – yet are theyreally worth all the hype?

The book tracks thehistory of fine Frenchcuisine through to themodern day by chattingwith current-day chefs who

have their own ideas on how the restaurant industryin France should beworking today.

The book is informative,humorous and at timesseriously sad but overall it’sa must for foodies whowould like insight into whythe plate in front of youcould be the best, the worst,the most expensive or themost creative cuisine youhave seen. Endorsed bycontroversial chef MarcoPierre White it proves there is life after theMichelin star.

Published by Bloomsbury in paperbackin July 2010. Available from Amazon France for€10.88 with free delivery in France orAmazon UK for £6.03 plus a whopping£5.25 for postage to France.

Gliding and flappinggracefully past inbuoyant flight or

circling higher and higheron the thermals, the red kitecuts quite a dash throughour skies in the autumn andearly spring.

It is one of the mostbeautiful birds of prey. Thewhitish head, chestnut bodyand long forked tail areparticularly striking. Thecontrasting shades ofplumage, with large palewing patches (viewed frombelow) also help to identifyit. At more than 30cm longand with a bigger wingspan,it is larger than our commonresident and winter visitorthe common buzzard, or thefrequent summer visitor toFrance’s main river valleys,the black kite.

As a breeding bird inFrance, the red kite is athreatened species, probablyas a result of themodernisation of forestryand farming. The nestingpopulation has beendeclining for many yearsand is now largely restrictedto the foothills of the mainmountain ranges, the MassifCentral, Pyrénées and theeastern mountains.

The red kite likes remoteareas with woods andtraditional farming. TheDordogne is on themigration route for kitesnesting in France and otherEuropean countries such asGermany and Sweden.These birds are flying to orfrom their winteringgrounds in the Iberianpeninsula and North Africa.Look out for them in lateSeptember through October

and again in February andMarch. Occasionally birdsare seen in mid-winter. Theytravel singly or in smallgroups. They may captureyour attention by their shortmewing call not unlike thecommon buzzard, or awhistling ‘wee-ooo’.

In medieval Britain andsoon afterwards, asrecorded by Chaucer andShakespeare, the red kite

was a common bird aroundthe villages and towns, oftenscavenging for scraps in thestreets. However, withpersecution and changes inagriculture it became veryrare and the breedingpopulation was untilrecently reduced to smallnumbers in the wild hills ofcentral Wales. In recentyears the Royal Society forthe Protection of Birds andpartners have been

conducting a verysuccessful red kite re-introduction programme invarious areas around thecountry. This has been sosuccessful that there arenow, for example, hundredsof wild birds in the ChilternHills and Vale of Oxford,which are easily seen fromthe M40. They seem verycontent and reluctant tocolonise new areas.

David Simpson is the author of ‘BirdingDordogne’, ISBN 978189811-05-21,available from www.birdguides.com orfrom him price €8 inc p&p at Cabant etSaint-Meyme-de-Rozens, 24150Mauzac-et-Grand-Castang. He leadswildlife trips and holidays (cottage:tinyurl.com/34sakq3). Emailaudave2505@yahoo.fr.

For up-to-date sightings of birds visit theLPO website: http://milan-royal.lpo.fr orwww.faune-aquitaine.org or www.lpo.fr

The red kiteMilan royal – Milvus milvusby David Simpson

Book ‘Au Revoir to All That – TheRise and Fall of French Cuisine’by Michael Steinbergerreviewed by Frances Beasley

Until 25/09 Paris. ‘Pari fermier àBercy’ Farmers’ market near the CourSaint-Émilion, raw and cookedspecialities from all over France.Place des Vins de France (12th arrdt)24/09 Mont-de-Marsan (40) ‘Fête duMarsan’ Free live concerts on Fridaynight. Saturday noon, hugecommunal picnic, shows andentertainment in the afternoon.Bodega food in the evening andfinale of the Intervillages du Marsanat Plumaçon. 24-26/09 Luz-Saint-Sauveur (65)‘Fête des Côtelettes’ in honour of thereturn of the flocks to the valley.Sheepdog demonstrations and allsorts of shows and entertainment,farmers’ market and tastings of thelocal AOC mutton. 25/09 La Chapelle-en-Lafaye (42)‘Journée champignons’ MushroomDay, meet up for coffee at the sallecommunale before an outing to pickmushrooms in the woods with aspecialist. Lunch at the sallecommunale and analysis ofmushrooms in the afternoon. Bookingrecommended, tel: 04 77 50 22 38. 25/09 Muzillac (56) ‘Horizon Bio2010’ 15th Organic fair: conferences,shows, markets on the square and inthe Vieux Couvent. 25/09 Granville (50) ‘Toute la mersur un plateau’: seafood festival inthe fishing port. Eat shellfishprepared by top chefs. Buy shellfishfresh from the sea, tastings, shows,cookery demonstrations.25-26/09 Jarcieu (38) ‘Voyageculinaire au Moyen-Age’ at theChâteau de Jarcieu. Workshops onMedieval cuisine, exhibition andguided tour of organic gardens. Entry€4 covers everything. Sat 25, 1-6pm;Sun 26, 10am-6pmTel: 04 74 79 86 27, marie-catherine@chateau-de-jarcieu.comwww.chateau-de-jarcieu.com25-26/09, 02-03/10 Eguisheim (68)‘Fête du vin nouveau’ Taste the newwine along with farm-baked bread,flambéed tarts, walnuts and bacon,market with local specialities, livemusic on the place Saint Léon IX(town centre) and concert on Sundaymorning (place du château).25-27/09 Sarrebourg (57) ‘LesEscales du Goût’ Cookery demos inthe Salle des Fêtes with the region’stop chefs preparing a fish dish. Plusin the Place du Marché, eat thechefs’ preparations, catch and buyyour own fish from a pond. Taste andbuy local pastries, chocolate,charcuterie. Gala evening on Mondaynight. www.lesescalesdugout.fr 26/09 Cambo-les-Bains (64) ‘Fêtedu Gâteau Basque’ Contest for thebest gâteau Basque, 90 stands oflocal produce and crafts, cake-making workshops, steel bands,Basque singing and dance01-02/10 Ollioules (83) ‘Fête del’Olivier’: The olive tree and fruit in allits forms, how to grow it, taste it,local market, traditional festivities.01-02/10 Moissac (82)‘Salon du Chocolat’ Thanks to www.keldelice.com/guide/

FOODY FÊTES

PHOT

O ©

CLA

UDE-

ALAI

N FA

USER

- WW

W.FO

ZAIR

.NET