A Taste of the Good Life

Our cries are answered by a ruddy-faced Frenchman in his 60s who looks oddly familiar. When he introduces himself as the “French Bill Clinton”, we see why. The resemblance to the former American president is uncanny, and the Clinton clone gets his share of local press attention each time there is an election in the US. Tickled at the prospect of rescuing damsels in distress, Bill takes less than 15 minutes to drive us to Bizanet, the village which houses Domaine de St Jean, our chambres d’hôte, the French equivalent of a bed and breakfast.

Domaine de St Jean is one of the most idyllic spots in Corbières. The charming B&B is set on a working vineyard, with beautifully decorated country-style rooms. Martine, our host, and her husband Didier Delbourg, are leaders in wine tourism here, and opened this B&B 18 years ago. The 1880s house is surrounded by vineyards, and Didier has converted the ground floor of the cellar into a cosy lounge and dining room.

Martine is also the local jam queen, famed for her repertoire of confiture, which she serves to her guests along with crusty bread, local cheeses and homemade yoghurt each morning. She handpicks the fruits from the village of Fontfroide, and the variety of flavours is staggering. Cherry and orange, tomato and orange, tomato and grape, courgettes and strawberries, pears and ginger, figs and almonds, and wild cherries laced with rum.

The secret to a great jam, she tells us, is to cook the fruit at a very low temperature for a long time. This helps retain the texture so there is no pulp and the fruit pieces are intact. As we pile our plates high, the conversation moves on to the cuisine of Corbieres. Martine says that it tends to be rich, with a predominance of red meat, duck, escargots, foie gras, and unpasteurised sheep’s milk cheese. Village bistros specialise in hearty cuisine, from the traditional cassoulet to seafood such as squid and cod. The Catalan influence in food is strong due to the proximity to Spain (nearly 80 per cent of the people here have Spanish roots).

Coming from a variety of terroirs, the local gastronomy is also known for its eel, fish, game, snails, confits, wild boar, goat cheeses, meats, caragolade or grilled snails with sausage, not to forget the famous cassoulet. All these reveal their flavours when accompanied by the local wines. In fact, Corbières wines are the largest AOC-certified group in the region. The mostly red wines from this region are distinguished by their spicy, fruity and bold flavors and “garrigue” scent — thanks to resinous herbs like lavender and thyme that grow wild across the countryside.

Martine Delbourg, the local jam queen. (Source: Sona Bahadur)

Abbaye de Fontfroide, an 11th-century Cistercian abbey and a cultural institution in the Corbières, has been making wine for 900 years. At first Benedictine, it became Cistercian in 1145. Marya and I spend a day appreciating the church with its modern stained-glass windows, the cloister with Romanesque columns, the majestic, marble-columned chapter house, and the buildings for monks and common people. We lunch at the Restaurant La Table de Fontfroide where the menu revolves around regional products and the wines of the abbey.

A major attraction of Languedoc is the cassoulet, the staple dish of this region made from slow-cooked haricot beans, pork, duck confit and herbs. It’s the epitome of comfort food, sort of like lasagna in Italy. We try it at Restaurant Le Tournedos which enjoys a privileged location between Narbonne and Carcassonne, on the road of Cathar castles, making it very popular with everyone.

Our cassoulet comes in a cassole, the traditional terracotta bowl with a thin crust on top, bubbling gently around the sides of its golden, bread-crumbed crust. As we tuck into the silken stew of beans and generous chunks of meat, it becomes clear why the dish has earned its spot in the French comfort food canon. Gooey and melty, just one bite is enough to banish the blues. It seems impossible to improve on the creamy mess but pairing with a bottle of Minervois makes it even more complex and flavourful. We scoop up every last bit of the decadent mess.

The duck pâté is another of my favourites from Corbieres. I learn that pâté doesn’t have to mean difficult or snooty French food. It is everyday fare in the region and not meant to be reserved for special occasions — the spread comes in different meats and flavours, and we eat it almost every day that we are here.

The local cheeses are incredible and are produced on small farms and cooperatives in the area. The Brebis des Corbières, is made in the style of Camembert, from unpasteurized sheep’s milk, and Tommette des Corbieres is a hexagonal hard cheese that’s aged for three months in Grenache wine.

On the days that follow, we meander through the country, feasting on local treats that come our way. We buy crusty baguettes from little boulangeries, pass by cheese shops to try oozing raw milk cheeses that smell of the countryside, and sample regional dishes like bulots or sea snails with a garlicky aioli.

Food in Corbieres doesn’t taste better because we had travelled halfway around the world to eat it. It tastes better because the cuisine in this part of France has stayed faithful to its humble roots, relying on fresh local produce and eschewing fussy execution. It’s the very antithesis of haute cuisine.

On our last night in Languedoc, we decide to stay in and have an alfresco feast under the stars, on our terrace. Out comes a large platter from Martine’s kitchen with a sublime, oozing ripe Brebis cheese; two orange-brown blocks of Tommette des Corbieres; and, a wedge of cave-ripened Roquefort. There’s foie gras, too, and some wonderful tapenade.

As we pop open a bottle of bubbly, Marya says to me. “Let’s come back here every year.”  I slather some Brebis on a baguette and smile. “Only if the French Bill Clinton is around to bail us each time.” We raise a toast to that thought.

Sona Bahadur is a Mumbai-based writer-photographer.