from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
bryangnewman@gmail.com
The Municipal Theatre, Agen.
Photograph courtesy of Jean-Louis
Zimmermann.
www.flickr.com/photos/jeanlouis_zimmermann/4764950765/
Agen and its history
The town of Agen was
already a city during the Roman occupation 2,000 years ago. Today, Agen is a beautiful small town and the
capital of the department of Lot-et-Garonne in the region of Nouvelle
Aquitaine.
Agen is a walkable town with narrow streets and medieval houses in the center, along with a 12th-century cathedral. Just outside the town, within 50 km (30 miles), are impressive châteaux, castles, fortresses, and some of France's most beautiful villages.
Prunes
Photograph courtesy of Northern Dinkum
https://www.flickr.com/photos/101423122@N08/27641482166/
The Pruneaux d’Agen – The Agen Prune.
The gold standard in prunes around the world
The Agen Prune is what
placed this town on the medieval map, and it has kept its place in history ever
since. Monks from the nearby Benedictine Abbaye de Clairac developed the Agen
prune by crossing the local plums with Syrian plums that had been brought back
from the crusades. These plums could be dried without losing flavor and could
be kept for a year. Dried plums, prunes, were historically very important for everyone.
City dwellers saw little fruit in the winter, and sailors on a voyage of over
one week could only use food that could be stored. The dried Agen plum changed France’s diet and was
on its way to becoming a worldwide industry. If you are into the history of
plums and prunes, visit the prune museum,
in the village of Lafitte-sur-Lot just outside Agen.
Plums
and Prunes in French
The French for a plum is prune,
and the French for a prune is pruneau (pronounced prune-oh).
The Agen Prunes on
local menus:
Crumble aux Pruneaux
d'Agen, Glace à l'Armagnac - A
prune crumble served with Armagnac brandy flavored ice cream.
Crumble is as
popular in France as it is in Britain.
The dish came to France along with British soldiers in two world wars. The
original recipes were for apple and rhubarb crumble, and then the French took off on
their own, creating new and delicious recipes.
Armagnac: One of France's two most famous grape brandies (the
other is Cognac), and just as important to the Cuisine of
Lot-et-Garonne as the Agen prune. Agen
is in the heart of Armagnac country, and so you should know better than to ask for a Cognac as a digestif in an
Agen restaurant; the locals can get quite upset.
The date on a bottle of
Armagnac is its bottling date. However old the Armagnac was when it was
bottled, it does not age or improve in the bottle. An excellent ten-year-old
Armagnac bottled in1965 remains an excellent ten-year-old Armagnac fifty years
later. That is, if the cork has not dried out; usually, corks are replaced
every twenty years or so.
Civet de Canard Aux
Pruneaux D'Agen - A civet of duck with Agen prunes.
The traditional civets were wild rabbits,
hares and sometimes
young, wild
boars. However,
today, the animals will mostly have been farmed, and duck is a favorite.
Duck: Here, farm-raised ducks' legs are seared and
rendered in duck fat, which creates a rich flavor profile. Vegetables are
cooked in these natural juices before the introduction of a hearty red wine.
Here, the farm-raised ducks’
legs are seared and rendered in duck fat, which creates a rich flavor profile.
The duck is slowly braised,
while the sauce is thickened with some of vegetables that have been blended,
making a light velvety sauce with bittersweet chocolate replacing the
traditional blood.
Civet de Canard Aux Pruneaux D'Agen.
Wine braised ducks' legs with Agen prunes.
Photograph and recipe courtesy of Saveur
Magret de
Canard, Confit de Pruneaux d'Agen Cuit au Vin de
Noix Pommes de Terre Sautées Piment d'Espelette - Duck breast served with a confit (jam) made of prunes cooked in walnut wine, accompanied by sautéed potatoes spiced with the Basque Country's famous Espelette AOP peppers.
Duck- Around Agen and in its neighboring department of Dordogne/Perigord, there are ducks galore, so that duck will be on many
menus.
Vegetable confits are made by slowly cooking the vegetables with
wine, vinegar,
and sometimes added sugar and oil. Here,
a slightly sweet prune confit accompanies the main dishes.
Walnut Wine
is made using walnuts that are picked when they are still green and immature,
before the hard inner shell has formed. Then they can be macerated (steeped) in
a mixture of wine, spirit and other flavors. Using the whole, green nut allows
for the extraction of its unique flavor and contributes to its dark color.
Walnuts are France’s favorite nut.
Espelette AOP
peppers - The Piment d'Espelette is
the unique chili pepper of the Pays Basque, the French Basque Country, in South
Eastern France; it’s centuries away from its origins in Central America.
Traditional Basque cuisine is very diverse, but unifying many of the dishes in
traditional and modern Basque cuisine is the Basque Chili Pepper, the Piment
d’Espelette. The pepper is hand-picked, and the use of pesticides is very
limited.
Pruneaux d'Agen ou
Vin de Bergerac et Glace Vanilla –
Agen prunes cooked in a Bergerac wine and served with vanilla ice cream.
Bergerac wines come from the neighboring department of the Dordogne/ Perigord, and include reds, rosés and whites.
Magret de Canard,
Confit de Pruneaux d'Agen Cuit au Vin de Noix Pommes de Terre Sautées Piment
d'Espelette - Duck breast
served with a confit (jam) made of prunes cooked in walnut wine, accompanied by
sautéed potatoes spiced with the Basque Country's famous Espelette AOP
peppers.
Duck- Around Agen and in its neighboring department of
Dordogne/Perigord, there are ducks galore, so that duck will be on many menus.
Vegetable confits are made by
slowly cooking the vegetables with wine, vinegar, and sometimes added sugar and
oil. Here, a slightly sweet prune confit accompanies the main dishes.
Walnut Wine is made using
walnuts that are picked when they are still green and immature, before the hard
inner shell has formed. Then they can be macerated (steeped) in a mixture of
wine, spirit and other flavors. Using the whole, green nut allows for the
extraction of its powerful, unique flavor and contributes to its dark color.
Walnuts are France’s favorite nut.
Espelette AOP
peppers - The Piment d'Espelette is
the unique chili pepper of the Pays Basque, the French Basque Country, in South
Eastern France; it’s centuries away from its origins in Central America.
Traditional Basque cuisine is very diverse, but unifying many of the dishes in
traditional and modern Basque cuisine is the Basque Chili Pepper, the Piment
d’Espelette.
Pruneaux d'Agen ou
Vin de Bergerac et Glace Vanilla – Agen prunes cooked in a Bergerac wine and
served with vanilla ice cream.
Bergerac wines come from the neighboring department of the Dordogne/
Perigord and include reds, roses, and white wines. The Bergerac wine
accompanying this dish will be one of their excellent sweet white wines.
Bergerac is in Purple Périgord, the wine-growing center of
Périgord/Dordogne. Apart from being home
to the Bergerac wines, Bergerac is another center of Cuisine Périgourdine.
While a Bergerac wine is used
in this dish, do not ignore the IGP wines of Agenais (previously the Vin de
Pays de l'Agenais). These Agen IGP wines are whites, rosés, and reds; they make
an enjoyable change. If you prefer AOP wines, try the Côtes de Duras AOP with
red, white, and rosé wines, the Buzet AOP red and white wines, and the Côtes du
Marmandais AOP red and white wines. All are very different wines from close to
Agen. Their vineyards face those of Bordeaux across the river Garonne.
Ris De
Veau Croustillant, Boudin Noir, Choux, Pommes, Jus au Porto et
Pruneaux d'Agen
-
Crisply cooked veal
sweetbreads served with black
pudding, cabbage,
and apples.
The dish is served with a sauce made with port
wine and Agen prunes. The boudin noir in
this dish is a pig’s blood sausage, called black
pudding in English
and Irish kitchens. The sauce here is made with the natural
cooking juices flavored with Port
wine and Agen prunes.
Veal
sweetbreads. Sweetbreads
are somewhat like the most tender calf's liver from a milk-fed animal, but
that's where the comparison stops. It's similar, but definitely not the same.
Boudin
Noir - Black
pudding is made with a wide range of recipes that depend on local tradition,
though most include onions, oatmeal; the herbs and spices used may differ
widely. A French boudin noir is usually smaller than the
black pudding sausages seen in the UK, with the most popular just large enough
for an individual serving. The UK and Irish black puddings are made in
large sizes, with fried or grilled slices, not a whole sausage part of a full
traditional British or Irish breakfast. Boudins noirs will often be in
menus with a variety of apple preparations, which are the traditional French
accompaniment.
Porto– Ports are fortified wines from Portugal with a long tradition in French cuisine. These wines are made with an eau-de-vie, a young grape brandy, added to the fermenting wine in the barrel. The addition of the eau-de-vie stops the fermentation and creates a new wine with higher alcohol content. Most Ports have around 20% alcohol. Ports include red, rosé and white Ports. Sweet reds are the Port most often used in sauces.
Boudin
Noir with Choucroute.
Photograph courtesy of Robert
www.flickr.com/photos/rdpeyton/4116911187/
The chefs in and around Agen are highly skilled, and menus in Agen restaurants will include some of France’s best. So, those diners who dislike prunes will have a choice of at least 70 other local fruits and vegetables, all excellent, to choose from. In season, the land around Agen is a veritable Garden of Eden. Make a note to enjoy their incredibly fabulous Label Rouge, red label, strawberries. The local goat’s cheeses and tomme cow’s milk cheeses are excellent, and you’ll find many other cheeses made in the departments that border Lot-et-Garonne: Dordogne, Lot, Tarne-et-Garonne, Gers and Landes, including the Rocamadour AOP Goat’s Cheese, and Bleu de Causses AOP, cow’s milk blue cheese from Lot. Those who like plum brandy should try one of Agen's: Eau de Vie de Prune d'Ente with 46% alcohol.
Agen Cathedral.
Photograph courtesy of kristobalite
www.flickr.com/photos/art_roman_p/8044695946/
Vieille Eau de Vie de
Prunes d'Ente
Agen Plumb brandy.
Photograph courtesy of Distillerie
la Salamandre
Around Agen
The area around Agen is called
Agenais; it covers two valleys, three rivers, and the Garonne Lateral Canal.
The Garonne Lateral Canal connects to the Canal de Midi, which connects the
Mediterranean at the fishing port of Sete, to the northwest and Bordeaux. You may rent a
motorboat with bedrooms, bathroom, and a kitchen and sail to the Mediterranean
via the canal.
The Agen Canal.
Canal Latéral à la Garonne
Photograph courtesy of Jean-Louise Zimmerman
www.flickr.com/photos/jeanlouis_zimmermann/4765010335/
However, to see and taste Agen
and its surroundings, take the map from the local Tourist Information Office
called: Les Circuits en Agenaise, D'une Vallée à l'Autre, to see all the
best sites close to Agen in one day.
Les Circuits en
Agenaise - The routes around Agen
Courtesy of the Agen Tourist
Information office.
The map has explanations for
each stop, and to those, you may add your own side trips, for which there are
many choices. This map is an easy way to get to know the area around Agen; it
covers, altogether, it’s 100 kilometers (60 miles) and is a fantastic way to
pass a day. Traveling with this map will introduce you to the countryside, its
fruit farms, duck farms, cheese
producers,
prune growers, vineyards, wineries, a chateau, and a castle or two, and the
Abbey of Clairac. As may be expected, the map for Les Circuits also
directs you past many restaurants.
The Agen tourist information
office has a French-language website that can easily be read using Google or
Bing Translate:
http://www.destination-agen.com/
Louis Pellier
and the California fruit and wine Industry.
Louis Pellier from Agen came to the USA from France in 1849 when he heard the news of the California gold rush. After some success in the goldfields, Louis built a nursery and orchard for apples, peaches, and plums in the Santa Clara Valley. In 1854, on a return trip to France, Louis brought cuttings of the Agen plum trees and cuttings from some of France's most famous grapevines. At one stroke, Louis Pellier established the California French Prune industry and the California wine industry.
Louis Pellier's
park
Downtown San Jose, at the corner of West St. James and
Terraine streets.
Map
courtesy of Pellier Park
The site of Louis Pellier's original nursery in San Jose was reduced to a rather small half-acre park. Few in the USA, in California, or in France, will even have heard of Louis Pellier, though America owes him a little respect. Maybe the industries involved could organize one annual joint (USA and France) Louis Pellier wine and plum festival…..anyway, back to Agen prunes.
The Garonne River
Photograph courtesy of camilo
g. r.
www.flickr.com/photos/47188333@N00/14657242777/
The Great Prune Show
Every year, on the last weekend
of August, Agen's town puts on Le Grande Pruneau Show de Agen, the great
prune show of Agen. They have parades, decorations, concerts, special programs
for kids, and of course, prune/dried plum-enhanced menus in all local
restaurants. For the dates of the Great Prune Show, check with the French
Government Tourist Office.
Agen and Rugby
Agen is a rugby crazy town, playing 15-a-side rugby union rules. On the right weekend, you will be able to watch a game; check ahead.
The
Agen team playing in Toulouse.
Photograph courtesy of Pierre-Selim
www.flickr.com/photos/pierre-selim/7958788650/
Rugby lovers can follow their
favorite sport in Agen and the three towns close to Agen famous for their
wines: Duras, Buzet (Buzet-sur-Baïse,) and Marmande. Marmand is
also renowned for its Marmand AOP
tomatoes. All these four towns are absolutely rugby crazy.
The Agen French language rugby
website is:
-------------------
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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2015, 2020, 2025
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