Gout de France 2019 and review of The 7 Wonders of Olive Oil

©Goût de France/Good France 2019

Goût de France 2019

Today, 21st March, is #GoutdeFrance #GoodFrance or taste of France day; an annual event where chefs of the world are encouraged to celebrate French food, with the emphasis on fresh, seasonal and local produce. I love French food and I am loving the play on words here too! Goût de, translated, means taste of, but rather than #TasteofFrance day we have Good France day – get a Frenchman to say, “goût de France” and “good France” and they will sound the same.

The 7 Wonders of Olive Oil
by Alice Alech and Cécile le Galliard

Provence

This year the spotlight is on the food of Provence and I’m sure you’ll agree, nothing says Provence produce quite like Olive Oil, so it’s a perfect day to review The 7 Wonders of Olive Oil by Alice Alech and Cécile le Galliard. Alice, who lives in Provence, has already published An Olive Oil Tour of France and in this new book she has teamed up with Cécile, a French expert in olive oil tasting.

The 7 Wonders of Olive Oil by Alice Alech and Cécile le Galliard

The main focus of this book is explaining the 7 wonders of olive oil; seven powerful claims about the health benefits to our bodies when we regularly use extra-virgin olive oil, from our brain cells (Alzheimer’s) to our bones (osteoporosis), our hearts (strokes and heart attacks) to our skin (largest organ in our bodies) and more (the big C). It is a lot to take in and backed up by a lot of studies, reports and findings, but it doesn’t feel that it’s written for scientists or food experts, so never swamped me or lost me. Alongside the research there are personal case studies, tips and recipes and it certainly helped my understanding of the different types of fats we eat; good ones and bad ones, as well as explaining the different types of olive oils on the market and what the labels really mean. As you would expect this book promotes the Mediterranean diet and use of olive oil in our kitchens, but that isn’t all, there are beauty tricks too, using olive oil rather than chemical-containing over-the-counter cosmetic products.

At the end of the book there is also a 25-question quiz, with comprehensive answers; whether this is there to ensure we were paying attention as we read it, or to provide a quick and easy reference point, I don’t know, but either way I thought it was a great idea.

This would be an excellent book for those of you like me who prefer the idea of prevention rather than cure and who do your best to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle to help prevent illness. One message that came over for me was the sad fact that we have forgotten the importance of the quality of our food, have lost interest in where our food comes from and what processes were involved in getting it to our plates. What we eat really does have an impact on our long-term health and it has made me think about the oil I buy, and I know I will be adding a tablespoon or two of good extra virgin olive oil into my daily diet.

You may also enjoy

My review of An Olive Oil Tour of France by Alice Alech.

Alice’s Provençal Style Yoghurt and Olive Oil cake recipe.

My France et Moi interview with Alice.

Gout de France 2018

Bon apetit and I hope you get the chance to enjoy some delicious French food today.

Provençal Style Yoghurt Cake with Olive Oil and Quince

Provencal olive oil and yoghurt cake

Provençal Style Yoghurt Cake

Following on from yesterday’s France et Moi interview with Alice Alech here is the recipe she has kindly shared from An Olive Oil Tour of France, for a Provencal style yoghurt cake made with olive oil and quince. This cake is a simple French classic. A cake that is often the first thing that French children learn to bake because they do not need to be able to read any scale to make it because the “pot” used to measure the ingredients is the first yogurt pot, emptied, rinsed and dried. It also helps with the confusion between grams, oz and cups!

Recipe

1 quince

2 pots of plain yogurt

1 pot of sugar

2 pots of flour

2 pots of ground almonds

1 pot of olive oil

4 eggs

A 15g sachet of levure chimique (baking powder)

1 lemon zest

Method

Core the quince then place in a saucepan with a spoonful of sugar and cover with water. Bring to the boil, cook uncovered until tender.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

In a large mixing bowl whisk eggs and sugar until quite pale.

Stir in the yogurt, olive oil and lemon zest until all the ingredients are fully incorporated.

Add the flour, baking powder and almonds and combine.

Grease a baking tin and pour in the batter. I used one with a hole in the middle purely as my oven cooks cakes better this way.

Arrange the quince on top.

Bake for about 45 minutes checking the centre of the cake with a fork to make sure that the cake is cooked.

Leave for 10 minutes or so before removing from the cake tin.

Our quince blossom this week

Olive Oil

Thank you Alice, this recipe is likely to become a favourite here as it is moist and delicious, plus we make our own yoghurt and grow our own quinces (if only we had a productive lemon tree too). This week I made it without fresh quince, but instead added some cooked rhubarb. However as our two quince trees are heavy with blossom at the moment I am looking forward to using them later in the year and I may even get Ed interested enough in what goes on in my kitchen to give it a go too.

More recipes and information on French olive oil can be found in Alice’s book An Olive Oil Tour of France, available on Amazon. You can read my review of it here and my interview with Alice here.

France et Moi with author Alice Alech

An Olive Oil Tour of France by Alice Alech

Welcome to ‘France et Moi’ where this week I’m talking to Alice Alech, author of An Olive Oil Tour of France, about what France means to her.

About Alice

Alice, who considers Provence home, has lived off and on in France for a number of years only leaving to follow her husband on his foreign affairs posts. Alice writes non-fiction and especially likes researching her projects and getting people to open up and talk about their passion. You can read my review of her book here.

France et Moi interview

Firstly, I think France is a special place and it is famed for many things including its cheese, wine and diverse holiday locations plus, dare I say it strikes and dog poo littered streets. What do you think makes France so very unique and ‘French’?

Alice: For me it’s all about the diversity and the sheer abundance of French culture. Each region with its own food specialty, its own architecture – churches, monasteries and world class museums. There’s so much to discover, so much to learn, I guess that’s why France is the number one tourist destination.

2) When you first arrived in France what was the best thing about being immersed in French life and the scariest thing?

Alice: I spoke hardly any French when I first arrived in Paris; everyone, it seemed, was in a hurry with little patience for poor me; but then one day while gazing  at the tv screen, it happened -- for the first time, I got  the gist of the news. I still remember downing two gin and tonics one after the other, such was my joy.

The scariest? Going through divorce procedures in a foreign country within one year of marriage – now that’s another story.

3) Every region in France has it’s own culinary specialty, do you have a favourite regional dish?

Alice: No, I don’t. I love it all, especially when made with a good dollop of olive oil that which makes Provencal cuisine so special, so healthy.

4) France has many different cheeses, a silly question, but which French cheese are you? A hard and mature Tome, a soft, fresh and lively goat cheese, the creamy and rich Camembert or maybe the salty and serious Roquefort?

Alice: Tome or Tomme de Savoie, despite the hard thick exterior, the cheese itself is tender, smooth and earthy.

5) Where did your love of olive oil start?

Alice: When I started writing for an American on line journal covering olive oil news, reviews and olive oil stories in France. On one of my first interviews I was taught how to taste olive oil from a lovely producer in the Var, my department. He was patient, understanding and passionate about his oil. I wanted to know more.

6) If you could choose just two accompaniments to olive oil what would they be and how would you serve them?

Alice: More than anything, I learnt that olive oil can replace butter.

Olive oil and mashed potatoes are a sublime combination especially if you use good extra virgin. Mix some garlic in olive oil over very gentle heat for about 10 minutes. Add this to the mashed potatoes instead of butter and season well. You can then add milk until you get the right consistency.

If you like sweet red peppers, grill them, remove the skin and serve with a mixture of olive oil, salt, garlic and lemon juice. Simple, sweet and healthy.

7) I enjoyed the fact that your book An Olive Oil Tour of France had information, case stories and recipes. Were these your own recipes? Do you have a recipe you would like to share with us?

Alice: No, I’m not that good in the kitchen. My good friend Madeleine, who runs the traditional Cooking in Provence School kindly, shared some of her favourites.

Tomorrow I shall post the recipe for a Provencal style yoghurt cake made with olive oil and quince that Alice has sent me this week and it is delicious.

8) How would you explain that very unique French concept of ‘terroir’ and does it have a bearing on olives as well as wine?

Alice: Although the olive oil regions are principally in the south of France, the soil and climatic conditions of these regions are not the same – Provence and Corsica for example have different soil content, and weather conditions – you can even add savoir faire to the list if we are talking olives. It’s the geographic and environmental conditions – the complex relationship - the terroir that will make the olive and olive oil from a region so unique.

In my book I compare wine and olive oil; there are similarities yes, both rich with tradition and heritage provoking many discussions on production methods, health benefits and tastes. There are dissimilarities though.

9) If we are lucky enough to find an olive oil mill whilst we are visiting Provence do you recommend we stop for a visit?

Alice: Most definitely. Olive oil mills, especially the old traditional ones which are slowly disappearing, are fascinating and all the producers I’ve met love telling a story or two. You get to taste oils, tapenades and other olive oil delights. If you can get to an olive oil fair, that’s even better.

10) If money and commitments were no object where in France would you like to own a property and what sort of place would it be?

Alice: It would be a little hideout in Corsica. Corsica has always fascinated me – the wild beauty, the history, the   people, their unique culture and yes, the beaches of the Mediterranean beauty. But my love for sea, sun and solitude would take me to the west coast. I would love to be able to escape to a little house near the Golf of Porto with a huge balcony where I could admire the Calanques, the bright red cliffs   and rocks that plunge into the deep Mediterranean.

Finally do you have any current projects you would like to tell my readers about?

Alice: My short-term plan is to distribute An Olive Oil Tour of France in France. Granted, it is an unusual subject but if you live  in France it’s good to  understand why French olive oil is not on the middle shelf on our supermarkets, why extra virgin is so expensive and more than anything, to appreciate this little known product.

Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about France and you.

Alice: Thank you Jacqui, for including me in France et Moi, and congratulations on your blog which is now one of my favourites, you write from the heart, all good all relevant. 

An Olive Oil Tour of France is available from Amazon as an ebook and also a small (69 page) paperback.