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A weekly recipes letter for those who love French food in all its glory.

Autumn Reverie:

A Four-Course Feast from the Heart of France

When the air turns golden and the vines blush red, every French kitchen becomes a temple of warmth and slow delight.

There is a moment each year — somewhere between the first falling chestnut and the last cicada song — when France exhales. Markets glow with pumpkins, cèpes, and wild pears. Winemakers lean against barrels, tasting what the summer sun left behind. And in kitchens across the country, we start to cook not for speed, but for soul.

This week, we offer you a menu that tastes like a slow Sunday by the fire: a four-course ode to the quiet elegance of autumn.

Starter

Starter:

Velouté de Potimarron et Noisettes

Creamy Pumpkin and Hazelnut Velouté

It begins softly, like a whisper before the first fire of the season. Potimarron — that deep orange squash with its hint of chestnut — simmers gently with onions and butter until it gives in completely. A touch of cream, a sigh of nutmeg, and the soup turns to silk.

Scatter toasted hazelnuts on top, drizzle a thread of olive oil, and watch the golden surface gleam. It tastes of wool sweaters and early dusk.

Recipe (serves 4):

• 1 small potimarron (about 1 kg / 2.2 lb), cubed (skin on)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 30 g / 2 tbsp butter
• 700 ml / 3 cups vegetable stock
• 100 ml / ½ cup cream
• A pinch of nutmeg, salt, and pepper
• A handful of toasted hazelnuts

Melt butter, sweat the onion until translucent, then add the pumpkin and stock. Simmer until tender. Blend until smooth, stir in cream, and season to taste. Garnish with hazelnuts and a dusting of nutmeg.

Wine pairing: Chablis or Côtes du Jura Chardonnay — crisp enough to balance, warm enough to embrace.

Main Course

Filet de Bar aux Lentilles Vertes du Puy

Sea Bass with Puy Lentils and Red Wine Jus

A dish that could have been invented by a poet from the Auvergne who fell in love with the sea. Earthy lentils from Le Puy — famed for their peppery perfume — meet the tender salt of sea bass. The red wine jus ties it all together in quiet harmony.

Recipe (serves 4):

• 4 sea bass fillets (about 150 g / 5 oz each)
• 200 g / 1 cup Puy lentils
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 250 ml / 1 cup red wine
• A few sprigs of thyme
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Simmer lentils with carrot, shallot, garlic, and thyme for 20–25 minutes until tender but firm. In a separate pan, reduce red wine by half, then whisk in olive oil and a knob of butter for a silky jus.

Pan-sear the fish, skin-side down, until crisp. Serve it atop the lentils, spooning the dark wine reduction around it like a painter’s brushstroke.

Wine pairing: Sancerre Blanc or Muscadet sur Lie — light, mineral, and effortlessly elegant.

 Magret de Canard au Cassis

Duck Breast with Blackcurrant Sauce

The soul of Burgundy on a plate. The duck’s skin crackles like a log in the fireplace; the flesh blushes tenderly beneath. And then comes the cassis — the region’s signature liqueur — simmered with shallots, red wine, and a touch of honey until it turns to velvet.

It’s a dish that doesn’t just feed you; it lingers.

Recipe (serves 2):

• 2 duck breasts (magrets)
• 100 ml / ½ cup red wine
• 2 tbsp crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur)
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 tsp honey
• Salt and pepper

Score the duck skin and sear it skin-side down over medium heat until crisp and golden. Turn briefly to brown the other side. Pour off excess fat, then set aside to rest.

In the same pan, sauté shallots, deglaze with wine, add cassis and honey, and simmer until thick and glossy. Slice the duck and spoon the sauce over it.

Wine pairing: Pinot Noir from Nuits-Saint-Georges or Mercurey — deep, sensual, with whispers of berries and oak.

Dessert

Rustic Pear Tart with Chestnut Honey

This dessert doesn’t strive for perfection — it flirts with it. Thinly sliced pears fanned across a crisp puff pastry, brushed with chestnut honey and kissed by the oven’s caramel heat.

It’s the kind of tart you can eat warm, straight from the tray, without ceremony — only sighs.

Recipe (serves 4):

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• 3 ripe pears, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp chestnut honey (or acacia)
• 1 tbsp butter, melted
• A pinch of rosemary (optional)

Arrange the pears on the pastry, overlapping slightly. Brush with butter and honey, then bake at 200°C / 400°F for 20–25 minutes until the edges brown and the fruit turns golden. Drizzle with more honey before serving.

Wine pairing: Monbazillac or Coteaux du Layon — golden, floral, a final sigh of sweetness.

Recipe Articles

The Dordogne region is celebrated for its understated culinary riches, from truffles and duck confit to its iconic dessert, the tourtière.

This rustic apple pie is crafted with nearly transparent dough, filled with apples kissed with sugar and a splash of Armagnac, invoking warmth and local tradition.

Many travelers recall discovering this pie in villages like Monpazier, arriving at the table warm and sugar-dusted, a family secret passed down with a gentle smile.

Baking a tourtière involves thinly rolling homemade dough, layering fresh apples, and letting everything bake until the crust turns golden and crisp.

Locals recommend pairing a slice with chilled Monbazillac or sweet cider—echoes of the Perigord countryside in a glass.

Tourtière is not a showy dish, but beneath its delicate layers is a reminder to savor life’s simplest pleasures.

Crémets d’Anjou embodies the quiet grace of the Loire Valley — a soft, airy dessert born in Anjou’s gentle countryside, where vineyards lace through sunlight and rivers wind past château walls.

Pillow-light, pure white, and subtly sweet, this treat is made from whipped cream and fromage blanc, delicately folded together and served chilled in simple glasses, perhaps topped with fresh berries.

Locals in Saumur enjoy it beneath linden trees, savoring each spoonful at an unhurried pace — a tradition that lets the nuanced flavors bloom.

Pair it with a chilled glass of Coteaux du Layon or Quarts de Chaume for a truly local experience; both are golden Loire Valley dessert wines known for balance and elegance.

This is a dessert meant for quiet moments and soft evenings — a taste of Anjou's soulful hospitality.

And so…

In these four plates, autumn breathes. You can almost hear the leaves rustle outside, the fire whisper, the cork pop.

And if you’re ever in Burgundy on a Sunday evening, you’ll find us at the kitchen table — soup steaming, duck resting, and a pear tart cooling by the window.

Bon appétit

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