From St. Emilion, where we bade au revoir to the Bordeaux district, we made a brief sally into Gascony, stopping in Bergerac for the night. Here antique enthusiasts and beret collectors reveled for several hours, and most of the crew collected tins of pâté and truffles to be sent home.
Dinner that night, notable for good bourgeois cookery, was also notable for some unusual wines. We were all delighted with the charm and dryness of the Château Panisseau. This rather little-known white wine is one you might choose with pleasure when you find it on a wine list. The gigot de mouton which was served us that night should have been preserved as a lesson in how to cook lamb or mutton to the point of perfection. Each slice was hot and juicy and pink; it was one of the dishes so perfect in its simplicity that everyone starred it even after the trip was over. Just another proof that the simplest dish may be gourmet food if it is lovingly and knowingly prepared. With the lamb we drank another wine of the district, a red Pécharmant 1943 of charm and grace, though in no way great. The famous sweet white wine of the region, Monbazillac, came with our dessert, and for a fancier of the really sweet wines this is a most delicious example.
A winding trip through the narrow streets of Bergerac preceded a pleasant evening spent on the banks of the Dordogne discussing—of course, wines and food.
Off early the next day through some particularly wonderful country with a stop for sightseeing at the historic town of Montpezier, a tiny walled village which the English built as a fort during the Hundred Years' War. There is a charm and flavor about the place far more English than French. Then on to Millau, a rooming manufacturing town and very close to Roquefort. We paused for two days as far as wine was concerned and concentrated our tasting powers on cheese, specifically on Roquefort—the king of cheeses.
Roquefort
It amazed me to learn that not only is the town of Roquefort responsible for the great cheese that bears its name, but also for fine gloves, glue made from the bones, gelatin used in clearing wines, a good deal of the lamb and mutton eaten in the district, and woolen cloth. The cheese industry requires a great deal of ewe's milk, for which large herds of sheep are raised on the rocky crags; most of the young are killed when one month old to guarantee the milk for the cheese. The other industries are the outgrowth of this cheese manufacture.
We were taken through one of the finest glove factories in France and saw the hides prepared from the raw wool-covered article to the most expertly cut and finished gloves imaginable.
Then on to Roquefort where one of our finest meals awaited us. We had been told that we should find good food there, but few of us were prepared for the really excellent luncheon. I think this is one of the menus worth repeating in full:
Les Perles du Charentais an Vin de Liqueurs
(Balls of perfect melon which had been marinated in line port and were served well chilled.)
Le Feuilleté Roquefortaise
(The most exquisite puff paste, light and delicate and filled with a paste of butter, Roquefort, pepper, and salt. The puff paste slices were at least three inches high.)
Le Gratin de Queues d'Ecrevisses à Notre Façon
(This was the first of many times we were to taste this dish of crayfish tails in its several versions. This one had a very rich brown sauce and was gratinéed under the broiler before serving. It was smooth and flavorful.)
Le Coq des Causses au Vin de Clairette
(An admirable version of coq au vin, but covered with a tasty crust and baked in the oven.)
Les Petits Pois à la Saveur du Jambon du Pays
(Tiny French peas cooked with bits of smoked ham which gave distinctive contrast to the chicken.)
Gigot de Mouton du Larzac Rôtis à la Broche
(Leg of lamb cooked à point—meaning that it had its juice and its pinkness and worlds of flavor.)
Le Roquefort, Roi des Fromages
Bambe Belle Hélène
Petits Fours
Fruits
Moka
After such a luncheon, we needed the strenuous exercise of climbing the rugged cliffs and trekking up and down through the fabulous natural cellars which have been divided into a many-storied building underground. These caves have been used for untold generations for the storage and seasoning of cheese, and no other place where such cheese is prepared can achieve quite the same flavor. Perhaps the most interesting angle of our trip to Roquefort and the caves was to discover the different flavors and stages of curing which are used in various cities and districts. Monsieur Mittaine had a table arranged with nine different cheeses, each marked with the name of a city. We sampled and found tremendous difference in each one. Paris and New York, for instance, have almost the same taste in the length of time the cheese should be aged. Marseille wants a riper cheese, a city in South America prefers one less well aged, and so on. I found that my taste coincided with that of the people of Roquefort, who prefer their cheese really well aged and filled with the blue mold which gives Roquefort its great and unique character.
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