Autumn is harvest time. Normally, by November, the tomatoes and grapes have ripened and been harvested. Winter squashes (
courges)are still ripening and often plentiful. The ones above are of the local variety called la sucrine du Berry. I don't know what the English name would be. Here's a
link to more information.
Above left is a close-up of two
sucrines. They seem to be members of the
cucurbita mosquata family of winter squashes. Here's a
link to a source for seeds. The
sucrine du Berry, which is the old province just to the east of Saint-Aignan, is delicious the way its cousin the butternet squash is. Above right, the
courge musquée de Provence is another member of the same family that we sometimes grow. One name for it in English is the Fairytale pumpkin.
Another good November food is figs. The ones on the left above are cooking in a sugar syrop. Prepared that way, they make a very good accompaniment to
foie gras de canard. And sometimes in November we find bunches of grapes that have been left behind by the harvesting machines. They are often very sweet and some
vignerons use them to make
"ice wine" — late-harvest dessert wines made from grapes that have been touched by November frost or that have even been frozen while still on the vine.
Autumn is harvest time. Normally, by November, the tomatoes and grapes have ripened and been harvested. Winter squashes (courges)are still ripening and often plentiful. The ones above are of the local variety called la sucrine du Berry. I don't know what the English name would be. Here's a link to more information.
Above left is a close-up of two sucrines. They seem to be members of the cucurbita mosquata family of winter squashes. Here's a link to a source for seeds. The sucrine du Berry, which is the old province just to the east of Saint-Aignan, is delicious the way its cousin the butternet squash is. Above right, the courge musquée de Provence is another member of the same family that we sometimes grow. One name for it in English is the Fairytale pumpkin.
Another good November food is figs. The ones on the left above are cooking in a sugar syrop. Prepared that way, they make a very good accompaniment to foie gras de canard. And sometimes in November we find bunches of grapes that have been left behind by the harvesting machines. They are often very sweet and some vignerons use them to make "ice wine" — late-harvest dessert wines made from grapes that have been touched by November frost or that have even been frozen while still on the vine.
The figs look yummy cooked like that. Are those your squash? They look like good eats also. Bon Dimanche.
ReplyDeleteThose squashes were our Nov. 2016 harvest. This year we got about 8 nice sucrines. We need to bring them in this week. So far we've cooked one and made a pumpkin bread. The rest of the pulp from that one went into the freezer for the winter.
DeleteI don't know that I've ever had ice wine. I'll see if I can find some here this Thanksgiving. Figs are great - our neighbor has a tree that produces a lot of fruit, but they take beacoup sugar to be edible.
ReplyDeleteI remember getting very good figs in California. They grow a lot of them on the North Carolina coast too. Our tree here gave us a few figs this year. American friends a few miles upriver have a tree that produces hundreds of them most years, and the friends are generous with them.
DeleteOoooh, I guess some of these sucrines are headed for a Thanksgiving pie? Yumm!
ReplyDeleteYes, pumpkin pie this week. Pumpkin loaf cake last week. All good.
DeleteIf you didn't identify your Sucrines du Berry, I was going to say it looks alot like the butternut squash I bought for soup. I have been checking the various stores's prices as they are not cheap. 14 - that is a nice harvest quantity. I have never had iced wine, either. At this time of the year I think I would pass (too cold!).
ReplyDeleteI buy figs year round. They are dried and not the fresh ones like yours.
The supermarkets are selling a lot of winter squashes right now, at about 5 euros apiece. Butternut squash is very popular here in France now. Last spring Walt planted what he thought was pumpkin seeds, but instead they turned out to be sucrines du Berry. It's just as well. They are as good, and since they're smaller than pumpkins they are easier to work with. Hope you will have a happy Thanksgiving.
ReplyDelete