If you are motoring through France this summer and have no particular allergies to mountain roads, less than-immaculate village Streets, and Romanesque churches, the dramatic province of Average should provide one of the most memorable episodes of your trip. It is a magnificently picturesque part of France, one whose rugged landscape keeps you wide-eyed. hut it has its softer side, too. Its luxurious spas and watering places welcome countless visitors, ailing and otherwise, to the gentle pursuit of taking a cure or merely playing boule in the casino.
The strict boundaries of Auvergne contain only the two départements of the Puy-de-Dôme and the Haute-Loire, but our map, out of kindness, has included the neighboring Cantal and Lozère, two distinctly forlorn regions for the epicure. This month I will attenuate the flamboyant adjectives which cluttered up the stories on Savoy and Dauphiny, for the cooking of Auvergne, while hearty and good, belongs in the middle category.
A range of volcanic mountains runs through Auvergne, and they are the highest in central France. The earth's crust has always been restive here, and there is a chain of colossal carbuncles to prove it. Some seem to have healed only yesterday. Others, after a few million years, have flattened into plateaux. If you arc in the mood, you can climb an extinct volcano in your car. It is called the Puy-de-Dôme, and its conical stupe is nearly perfect. The road winds around it effortlessly, and your radiator shows only a slight rise in temperature. But don't think you are a pioneer. At the top are the remains of a temple of Mercury built by the Romans!
The native of Auvergne is supposed to be a rather dour individual, avaricious and taciturn. We looked for such overcas characters during our recent trip but must confess that almost everyone was bedecked in smiles whenever we asked a question. Of course, it could have been my frayed nylon shirt or my wife's hat. The prize Auvergnat of all, from the American point of view at least, was anything but a long-faced materialist. He was Marie-Joseph-Paul-Roch-Yves-Gilbert Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, and he was born in the Chateau de Chavagnac, in the Haute-Loire, in 1757. The generous, gallant, Utopian Lafayette was a complete contradiction of the reputed Auvergnat character.
The Auvergnat farmer is accustomed to rude toil. Beasts rather than tractors are his agricultural helpmates. As a result, his village streets and barns, in the words of my favorite guidebook, “recall but dimly Flemish spo'.lessness or the (lowered gaiety of the Touraine. This sturdy toiler ignores coquetry.” As you travel over the hillsides, you will see his practical approach to farm problems. Scattered over the slopes are fenced enclosures where the cattle are corralled nightly during the warm months. This enclosed parking space, cal.ed la fumade, is moved regularly after the area is well fertilized. Any belter ideas?
But Auvergne is not all picturesuresqueness and hommy-handedtoil. It has its reposeful side and is well endowed with thermal stations where one may take a cure or just luxuriate. You will recognize these towns by one phenomenon—a shuffling figure in a bathrobe and sandals en route to la source. He is about to drink some of that health-giving water, or to gargle or inhale it or perhaps to bathe in it. He will be in Vichy, Royat, Châtel-Guyon, Le Mont Dore, La Bourboule, or SaintNectaire, respectively, depending upon whether he has trouble with his liver, heart and arteries, intestines, respiratory tracts, asthma, or kidneys, also respectively. All these are familiar names in your travel (or ailment) folder. Architecturally, these towns may produce shudders, but the comfort of their hotels is unquestioned. Some of them, happily for the visiting gourmet with unimpaired innards, think of him as well as of the man with the wan look and the strict diet. A few of the hotels which cater to the hateful, hearty sybarite are listed on a later page, their gastronomic rewards making one forgetful of the lesser blessed.
Romanesque churches are a difficult diet for some travelers, a pure delight for others. Like beer, bouillabaisse, and bridge, they are an acquired taste. Auvergne provides the best possible first sampling of this subtle twelfth-century delicacy. The sober beauty of these serene, round-arched masterpieces in stone seems to awe the most casual visitor. Six of the most significant churches are spaced in a rough rectangle: Issoire, La Chaise Dieu, Brioude, Saint-Nectaire, Orcival, and the church of Notre-Dame-du-Port in industrial Clermont-Ferrand, and it is an unforgettable experience to visit them.
If six are too many, two stand out as particularly gratifying. One is La Chaise Dieu, whose massive abbey, founded by Pope Clement VI of Avignon, is a thing of towering splendor and whose cloisters and tapestries are incomparable. The other church is at Saint-Neetaire, a hilltop Romanesque lour de force which is a legend with architects. Visit these two, and Le Puy, and you have touched the architectural peak of Auvergne. The greatest curiosity of them all, of course, is the astonishing Le Puy. considered by many a critic to be the most picturesque place in Prance.
A summary of the epicurean resources of Auvergne sounds rather routine. Its somber forests yield game in quantity, and its rivers are well stocked with trout. The salmon of Brioude has earned a certain reputation. Cattle graze on the plateaux of Auvergne, but it is the fundamental pig which leaves the major imprint on its regional cookery.
The cheeses of Auvergne make up a more original contribution to the well-being of French gourmets. Cantal is substantial, and Bleu d'Auvergne is a worthy emulator of Roquefort, though made with milk from the cow. not the ewe. Finally there is Saint-Nectaire, a round, flat, well ripened cheese which seems to be the star of the lot. Its quantity is limited, and the best way to taste it is to buy a whole one, right there in Saint-Nectaire.
Auvergnat wines arc strictly local ones and not calculated to arouse jealousy in near-by Burgundy. One stands head and shoulders above the rest—Les Chanturgues, and when you can find an authentic bottle of a good year, you have an estimable companion indeed!
Although Auvergne is not one of the great gastronomic provinces, it has a good quota of restaurants where the standards arc high and the comfort is cushioned. Here are a few of them, mostly concentrated in the Puy-de-Dôme:
Ambert (Puy-de-Dôme)
This unassuming town offers the traveler a very modest but spotless hotel for an overnight stop before visiting near-by La Chaise Dieu and its celebrated abbey. If there are any bibliophiles or paper-makers present, please note that beautiful handmade paper is still produced in two ancient mills on the Val de Laga, some six miles from Ambert, and that visitors arc very welcome.
The place which merits your attention is the HÔTEL LIVRADOIS on the place Foirail. It is unpretentious but carefully supervised by a young hôtelier who rejoices in the name of Monsieur Joycux. If you have the good fortune to land in front of his hotel at the conclusion of market day, as we did, a picturesque sight awaits you. The hotel's terrace swarmed with farmers in well-laundered blue smocks, black felt hats, and wooden sabots, clinking glasses over newly made cattle deals. The market place was a colorful bedlam. Cows, calves, sheep, and pigs joined in a ceaseless rustic symphony. Gradually the farmers' wives and children, laden with new purchases, straggled back, extracted papa from bis cafe companions, and headed for their two-wheeled farm carts. Down the road went a motley collection of recently purchased beasts bellowing to the end. By seven o'clock all was quiet. Only the aroma remained.
On such a busy day you might not expect much of an evening meal from the exhausted Monsieur Joyeux, but he came through handsomely, first with a good country soup, then with a perfect omelette, and finally with a poulet an porto (thicken in port) which left us enchanted, Then we tried the local cheese, Fourme d'Auvergne, found it strong but palatable, and wound up with a cherry dessert. The bill, including service and a bottle of a charming local red wine, came to a little over three dollars for two.
Châtel-Guyon (Puy-de-Dôme)
This, of course, is the celebrated thermal resort whose waters arc beneficial to faltering digestions. For the completely cured or the incorrigibly healthy, one hotel in particular holds some delicious temptations, This is the HÔTEL HERMITAGE, beautifully situated in the middle of a park facing Mont Chalusset and the Valley of Sans Souci. Monsieur Laconde is a very accommodating host, and his chef, Monsieur Pol Weiss, specializes in regional dishes, among them tsuite gratinée à la crème (trout breadcrumbed in cream) and particularly seductive feuilletée an Gruyère (cheese puff paste).
Pont-de-Dore (Puy-de-Dôme)
This little town near Thiers welcomes you with a sympathetic auberge happily situated on the batiks of the Dore River. It is the RESTAURANT DE LA MÈRE DÉPALLE, and Madame Donat-Dépalle welcomes you herself to enjoy an apéritif in the sheltered garden before lunch. Or perhaps you would like to paddle a canoe, swim, or fish a bit before tasting her Auvcrgnat specialties. That is equally feasible. After a shimmering plate of frifuse de goujuns (deep-fried fish), an aromatic coq eu vin will taste doubly good. The prices arc very fair, and the porlions are more than generous.
Royat (Puy-de-Dôme)
The Romans knew (he beneficial waters of Royat well and built magnificent baths here. In succeeding centuries Royat was forgotten, but its waters flowed on. Not until 1862, when the Empress Eugénie gave the revived town her patronage, did it become reestablished. As an epicurean note, it is interesting to observe that one of the most fashionable chocolate factories in the world is located here. If is the Cbocolasorie de la Marquise de Sévigné, and it welcomes summer visitors. The old town of Royal boasts the fortified Romanesque church of Saint-Léger. The Chie, new town of hotels and parks can be proud of One establishment in particular. This is the HÔTEL DE L'ECU DE FRANCS, near the Parc Bargoin. Here is an excellent place to try the traditional coq au vin de Cbanturgues, prepared, coincidentally enough, by a smiling chef named Monsieur Lecoq.
Saint-Nectaire (Puy-de-Dôme)
If the watering places of Auvergne were limited to the ailing customers, I think 1 would prefer to have kidney trouble, for this ailment would lead me to Saint-Nectaire, home of one of the loveliest Romanesque churches in Christendom and of one of the most distinguished valley cheeses in France. In the Middle Ages a chateau, now disappeared, stood above the village. It was the seat of a Saint-Nectaire family, whose most illustrious member was a young and pretty widow, Madeleine de Saint-Nectaire. Invariably followed by sixty horsemen, she took a heroine's part in the religious wars and with her own hands killed the king's emissary in Auvergne.
This is a one-street valley town hemmed in between steep, wooded hills. At one end is the old town and the superb church, dating from the end of the twelfth century, perched on a promontory. At the other end are the baths, the casino and the hotels. Two of the latter have good references. We tried the HOTEL DE PARIS ET CASTEL MARGUERITE but found them booked up. (This was one of the few times during the entire summer when we arrived unannounced and found no accommodations. There always seems to be an extra room somewhere in a French hotel.) However, we did very well at the MODERN HÔTEL, a simple summer hostelry catering to the water-drinkers. However, there was a gourmand section of the dining room where we fortunate normal people could savor Monsieur Sarliève's cocbonailles d' Auvergne (sausage meat) and his delicate chicken specialty, accompanied by 8 fragrant heady wine called Montaigut. You can buy one of those incomparable Saint-Nectaire cheeses for picnics at a shop next door.
Tournoël (Puy-de-Dôme)
Your most romantic luncheon in Auvergne may well take place on this lofty hillside overlooking the extended valley, with the pink roofs of Riom dimly visible in the distance. From the neighboring town of Volvic you climb a precipitous, bumpy road until the car finally comes to the base of the Chateau de Tournoël, a feudal ruin with few equals in France. It dates from the twelfth century and has undergone weird series of sieges and cbâtelains. Among the latter was the gallant Charles de Montvallet, who was its seigneur in 1665 and who had so many illegitimate children that he almost solved the doinestic-help problem. He brought them all up in the chateau with the idea that they would grow up to be good servants. One of them had considerable authority and bore the proud title of chef des bâtards. His authority stopped when he arrived home, however, for the records show that his wife beat him unmercifully!
Even without such savory lore, the Château de Tournoël will prove a memorable ruin to visit. Our photograph Shows the lower of its dungeon against a cloud-laden sky.
At just such a spot, with the Château towering above and the panorama of all Auvergne stretched out below, there really should be a good restaurant. If you make the climb, you won't be disappointed. There are two of them, side by side, both acclaimed by the critics. We chose LA CHAUMlÈRE for no better teason than the kitten who happened to be frolicking on its front step. The capable Madame Rabanet installed us at garden table with a breathtaking view and produced a fine Auvergnat luncheon with ham, mushrooms, and a soufflé aux liqueurs to be recalled to our grandchildren. There are a few rooms to be had also. If you seek magnificent solitude, plus plane and solid gastronomy, for a few days, this may be your dish!
Thiers (Puy-de-Dôme)
Two of the most picturesque towns in Auvergne are Salers, whose GrandePlate is a treasure of civic architecture but whose restaurants, alas, are mediocre, and Thiers, the cutlery capital of France. Thiers occupies a dramatic site and still retains a number of ancient half-timber houses along its narrow streets. It is well worth a visit, and if you arrive toward luncheontime, you will find an adequate menu awaiting you at the HÔTEL DE L'AIGLE D'OR.
Saint-Germain-Lembron (Puy-de-Dôme)
This is a quiet town without particular distinction except for the RBSTAU RANT LA BEAUGRAVEÈBRE. This gracious establishment, located some hundred and fifty yards from the Route National,boasts a tranquil garden encircled by high walls. Monsieur Brioudes couldn't have been more cordial, and the luncheon he served was worthy of praise without stint, particularly (he poulet grillé sauce diable. It was a thoroughly pleasant interlude in a sylvan setting.
Mozac (Puy-de-Dôme)
Just as the radio stunt men build up to that S64 question, we are saving the prize parcel until near the last. This is an unexpected old Auvergnat manor house, you might call it, about half a mile west of Mozac. near Riom. It is called LE PAILLARET, and you will probably find better cooking here than in any other establishment in Auvergne. It is a handsome, formal old house, rather like a small château, encircled by a fine cluster of trees. There are some halfdozen large, comfortable rooms furnished with taste. The hallway is embellished with prints which are frankly puzzling. They all deal with the dawn of the automobile in Detroit, Michigan. You won't solve the puzzle until you cajole Monsieur and Madame Faure into speaking English, Then you learn that they Spent almost a quarter of a century in the United States, but it was Monsieur Faure's dream to return to France, and here they are—dispensing the most inspired dishes in the entire province. If your French is shaky, if you seek I quiet spot under the trees for a few days, if you would sample the topmost category of Auvergnat cooking and the best of French wines at very fair prices, write in your native American to Mr. or Mrs. Faure, Le Paillaret, Mozac (Puy-deDôme), France.
Tence (Haute-Loire)
Outside the département of the Puyde-Dôme, few towns in Auvergne have much to tempt the epicure. The beautiful Le Puy has adequate hotels for an overnight slop, but it's no citadel of gastronomy. A box lunch is the best companion for the imposing hill towns of Polignac and Saint-Flour, By some fortunate quirk of fate, however, two good places for your noontime déjeunerhave sprouted in the little town of Tence. At either the GRAND HÔTEL or the HÔTEL MOURGUE you will find delectable fare at reasonable prices. Madame Placide at the Grand Hôtel welcomes you with quenelles and a truffled duck pâté. Monsieur Mourgue tempts you with trout and crayfish and an exquisite truffled sausage embedded in a brioche. Which to choose? I'll let you solve it when you get there.
This rough and robust country doesn't incline toward cooking subtleties but toward powerful, nourishing family dishes. La posée is one, a strength-giving classic which is first among our recipes this month. The traditional coq au vin is another. The hillside porker plays a heroic role in Auvergnat cooking. You will find him in many pleasant disguises, particularly jambon en croûte and galantine de cocbon au hut. I'm not so sure that all readers of this family journal will be as enthusiastic about tripoux d'Aurillac which turn out to be stuffed lamb's trotters encased in portions of lamb's tripe. Here are a handful of Auvergnat recipes to lend a little of the atmosphere of Auvcrgne to your American kitchen.
The Auvergne is known everywhere for its potée, a noble dish which crops up all over Frame with slight variations. This hearty soup is one of the two best known Auvergnat dishes—(he other being the time-honored coq au vin—but many are the lesser known specialties in this rough and mountainous region. Because this dish belongs to the soil and is a staple, complete meal in most peasant families of Auvergne, it is included here, even if the very first ingredient may give you pause.
Of course, if you just don't happen to have a salted pig's head handy, the potée is still fairly nourishing with the other meats.
La Potée Auvergnate
Put into a large soup pot 1 salted pig's head, cut in four pieces, 2 pounds of lean bacon, all one piece, and 1 pound of ban: with the bone (cut from the lower part of the leg). Cover with about 4 ½ quarts water, simmer, and skim. After ½ hour, add 3 or 4 carrots, 2 or 3 white turnips, a bunch of leeks, and a few Stalks of celery, all peeled and cut in coarse pieces. To this add a bouquet garni and 2 cloves of garlic, mashed. Cook, covered, on a low fire for 1 hour.
At this point add 2 cups dried beans. which have been soaked and half cooked in boiling water, and a fine head of cabbage, which has been quartered, blanched for a few minutes in boiling water, and drained. Cover and cook for 1 ½ hours. Add 8 potatoes, peeled and quartered, and a large cervelas sausage, or several of the frankfurter type, and simmer for ½ hour. Watch the level of the water and add a little more from a steaming teakettle, if necessary. The salty meats are seasoning enough.
When the time comes to serve this ample dish to eight or ten hungry guests —who should have been laboring in the fields all day fully to appreciate it drain the meats and arrange them in artistic fashion in the center of a large platter, surrounded by most of the vege' tables arranged in little piles. The soup itself, with the remaining vegetables, is placed in a large, hot tureen from which it is ladled forth into big, deep soup plates containing thin slices of French bread which have been dried in the oven.
Colin Bonne Femme Comme à lonzac (Baked Fish jonzae)
In a shallow baking dish place 2 strips of bacon and a layer composed of 1 carrot, I onion, 1 shallot, and ¼ pound mushrooms, all finely chopped, and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, 1 teaspoon chopped celery, ½ teaspoon chopped thyme, and 2 tablespoons diced ham. Reserve a little of this mixture, Season the rest with salt and pepper and place on this fragrant bed a 2-to 2 1 /2-pound slice of halibut or other fish suitable for baking. Sprinkle over this the small amount of mixture held aside, season with salt and pepper, and pout in ¾ cup dry white wine. Dot with butter and bake in a moderate oven (375° F.) for about 45 minutes, or until the fish is cooked and the sauce somewhat reduced. Sprinkle with lemon juice and serve.
Fricassée de Poulet à p'Auvergnate (Fricassee of Chicken Auvergne)
Cut a tender roasting chicken in serving pieces and place it in an earthen baking dish with a piece of bacon rind or a slice of bacon, I onion and 1 carrot, both sliced, 1 small stalk of celery with leaves, 2 cloves, 1 bay leaf, ½ teaspoon thyme, 2 cloves of garlic, unpeeed, and a large sprig of parsley. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar, about I ½ cups water, salt and pepper to taste, and butter the size of an egg. Cover and cook in a moderate oven (375° P.) for about 45 minutes, or until the chicken is done.
Remove the pieces of chicken and strain off the stock. There should be about I ½ cups of liquid. In another pan blend I ½ tablespoons butter with 1 tablespoon flour and gradually stir in the hot slock. Add the pieces of chicken and simmer together for 1 or 2 minutes. Add ¼ pound mushrooms, sliced and cooked, and 1 teaspoon chopped parsley and thicken with 1 egg yolk mixed with a little of the hot sauce.
The Auvergne is the home of a fine Bleu cheese, and this recipe of the region would indicate that a Roquefort dressing is not so purely an American innovation as has been assumed.
La Salade Aveyronaise
Mash in a salad bowl 4 tablespoons Roquefort or Bleu cheese and blend with 2/3 cup cream until perfectly smooth. Add to this 4 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice, a little salt, plenty of freshly ground pepper, and 2 teaspoons each chopped chervil and tarragon. Mix with enough shredded lettuce to serve six. This is excellent served with a dark bread like pumpernickel.
Le Milliard (Cherry Flan)
Butter a pic plate and cover the bottom with a layer of black Bing cherries placed fairly close together but not touching. They can be fresh cherries with the stems removed or canned ones drained of their juice. In either case, the pits are left in, as (his is considered to add to the flavor. Put ¾ cup sifted flour, a pinch of salt, and ½ cup sugar in a bowl and make a hole in the center. Into tin's pour 3 beaten eggs and stir in the flour very gradually until all is well blended and free of lumps. Add gradually I cup milk, stirring constantly. Pour this over the cherries in the pie pan and bake for about 40 minutes in a moderate oven (375° F.). When done, sprinkle with sugar and serve warm.
Checklist for French Provinces Available
For those fortunate gourmets who arc sailing or flying to France this summer, we have assembled a handy checklist of the restaurants and hotels recommended thus far by Samuel Chamberlain in “An Epicurean Tour of the French Provinces,” which began in GOURMET in March 1947—We will be happy to send you this checklist at your request.