The "Blonde" of Aquitaine

Michel serving the "Blonde" of Aquitaine

A couple of weekends ago, I had to be in the Bordeaux region, more precisely in the area known as Entre-Deux-Mers, which is not between two seas (its literal translation) but is a pennisula of land created by two rivers, the Gironde and Dordogne, which come together before entering the Atlantic just north of the city of Bordeaux. In the wine world, the area is primarily known for its dry white wines made mostly of sauvignon blanc, which were especially popular in the States in the late 70s and early 80s before California whites, especially its chardonnays, began to dominate due to quality, price, and oak (or what one wine nut I used to know called the Louisville Slugger in the head).

In this area in the small town of Targon, I have a truck driver friend, Michel, who has one of the best wine pallettes I have ever come across, bettered only by the legendary, now retired, Paul Provost, of Yankee Spirits and Table & Vine fame, and the late Willimantic, Connecticut poet Alex Smith. Whenever I show up, Michel breaks into his good collection of little known but excellent red Bordeauxs from around Entre-Deux-Mers aged anywhere from 10 to 20 years.

He then puts me to the test of tasting and comparing several different bottles and years (I usually fail most of his questions with semi-educated guesses much to his delight) usually over a dinner of between five and seven hours with anywhere from five to twelve courses usually with a large screen television looming over the table showing news or the latest race car results. Michel is a race car fanatic; driving cars fast is the second most popular « sport » in France. It is important, though, to understand that in Bordeaux, even more than other parts of France, they take not only wine really seriously but also food. For example, they have food lotteries where you can win, say, a side of beef or several cured hams or a whole collection of foodstuffs in baskets instead of money. They don’t usually do this for a charity or to feed the hungry, but as amusement like Americans at work will have a Super Bowl lottery. And the only canned goods you might get if you win one of these lotteries are duck or goose confit or cassoulet (the foie gras you might win is always fresh not canned).

Of course, besides testing me on wines, Michel almost always tries to find some local food I might not have tried or known about. He realized he could do this when in my first marathon meal with him, he was surprised that I had never had the special « Blonde » beef of Aquitaine, which is an ancient breed of beef cattle particular to that region of the Garonne river valley, similar in uniqueness and traditional use as a draft animal to the Chianina beef of Tuscany. On this occasion large slabs of beef (enough for 16 people and we were 8) were grilled outside on vine cuttings with just salt and pepper and tyme, and cooked not just rare but blue or essentially raw. Served with it were meaty, sauteed cépes mushrooms. I am not a great fan of raw meat. I am a medium rare guy or will sometimes even take an end cut of roast beef, which I guess puts me in France as a borderline gourmet barbarian. But the « Blonde » beef is special because grilled, with a resulting cooked crust on the outside, the raw inside of the meat melted in your mouth like butter. And the left-over was still good to eat the next day cold for lunch, of course, with a good local red.

M-P and Michel about to have seconds of the "Blonde" of Aquitaine

© 2010 J. Livernois