Cyclamens at Chenonceau

Every year we post photos of a carpet of cyclamens photographed somewhere in the Touraine Loire Valley to usher in the autumn. This year the cyclamens are in the grounds of the Chateau de Chenonceau.

Pear and Chocolate Mousse

If you have a pear tree that delivers a multitude of rather small pears, as we used to have, this is a useful recipe that I developed to use up what we had on hand.

 

Photo from our archive of our homegrown Beurre Hardy pears, ideal for this recipe and in season now.

 

Quarter, core and peel 10 small pears. Poach for 20 minutes in a syrup made from ¼ cup of red wine and ¼ cup of sugar, with half a split vanilla pod added. Meanwhile, melt a block of chocolate. Blitz the pears and syrup to a purée. Mix 250 ml of thick cream into the chocolate, then mix that into the pear purée. Serve with a sponge finger.

Photo from our archives of Doyenne de Comice pears and nashis (Asian pear) in our orchard.

An Evening with Fabre

As any entomologist and many naturalists know, Jean-Henri Fabre was an extraordinary man. He worked as a teacher in the south of France in the 19th century, but his real passion was observing and recording wildlife behaviour. He wrote extensively and remarkably accessibly about the natural goings on around his home. I highly recommend reading him, either in French or in translation. You can find many of his essays and learn more about him in English on this site: http://www.efabre.net/

Not long ago my friend Richard invited me to an evening he was holding at his home. A friend of his was going to talk about Fabre and Richard knew I would be interested. I was having a busy week, with clients for chateaux walking tours every day, but I promised to make it to his evening with friends.

Boy am I glad I did! I was expecting a fairly standard, entomology conference style, lecture about Fabre the man and his legacy, or somesuch. What we were actually treated to was a performance, developed and delivered by Richard's friend, a professional actress and singer. She in turn, had been introduced to Fabre by Richard's partner, Patrick, and she had fallen in love with Fabre's writing.

Because the weather was inclement the performance was in the upstairs of Richard and Patrick's barn, a wonderfully rustic and intimate setting. We heard several of Fabre's stories, including one about a dung beetle, interspersed with the sounds of nature, and song. It was marvellous. At the end a hat was passed around for the audience to contribute as they wished.

Afterwards we all gathered around for drinks and nibbles, and discussed what other local venues would be suitable for such a performance next year.

Hopefully, a Mystery Solved

*Warning. Bodily functions are about to be mentioned*

For the past 4 days I have been suffering from a very upset stomach. This is particularly distressing when taken in conjunction with my radiotherapy treatment, causing a delay in treatment because my bowels have to be empty, but my bladder full. This means the radiology nurses have been sending me off to have a poo, and then filling up with 4 cups of water in 10 minutes. It started last week when I was delayed getting to the hospital and my preparation was interrupted.

I was really demoralised by this, and I was at my wits end trying to work out why, all of a sudden, I couldn't get it right. I started this week feeling ambitious, and increased the amount I was drinking so I arrived fully ready to go. Unfortunately the problem wasn't solved, and Monday in particular was embarrassing to the point I was beginning to wonder if it was worth the effort. I had to reload 3 times, and my 8 minute treatment took almost 2 hours.

I was close to tears.

Then I had a thought... where was all that liquid coming from?

I wondered if drinking too much water could cause diarrhea. Checking Dr Google I discovered that when your body gets more water than it can handle, it can throw off the balance of salts, like sodium, that help control the fluids in your intestines. This makes water move too quickly through your system, which leads to loose, watery stools. Too much water can also water down the acid in your stomach, making it harder to break down food.

So yesterday I reduced my water intake, and bingo. I arrived at the hospital wondering if I had reduced it too far, but no. I arrived, was called, and 10 minutes later I was finished.

I just wondering why no-one at the hospital thought that force feeding me water was the cause, not the solution.

Today, hopefully, these doors will not be the doors to humiliation.

An Unusual Food Blog

I've written before about my new boring diet. Here's photographic evidence:

White ham (de fatted), mashed potato (as plain as possible) and boiled carrots. It was about all I could face yesterday.

On My Way

One of the most tiring parts of my radiotherapy treatment is the 150km round trip to the hospital and home. I have to do this in the passenger seat of a taxi 5 days a week.

At least the scenery is interesting.

Approaching La Celle-Guenand

Big skies

A prehistoric camp

Village streets

Yesterday wasn't a good day for me. I had a badly upset stomach, and it took me ages to get my levels right. This meant an embarrassing and demoralising hour waiting for treatment and a really uncomfortable day. It continued into last night, so I'm slightly worried about today.

Don't Poison Yourself

Don't poison yourself this mushroom foraging season, and even more importantly, don't poison anyone else!

 

Toxic or treat? There are two species of mushroom on this table. If you can't tell the diffence, don't eat either of them.*

Poisonings from ingesting toxic mushrooms are on the increase in France. The reasons seem to be threefold.

 

Red-capped scaber stalk  Leccinum aurantiacum (Fr. Bolet orangé des chênes), edible if well cooked. Often abundant it is used to bulk out the more prized ceps, and is usually a major component of commercial dried wild forest mushrooms mixes.

l

First, weather conditions. After a series of dry summers and autumns, we had a couple of wet autumns. This resulted in an abundance of mushrooms and a longer picking season, so people had more opportunities for misidentifying the mushrooms they had foraged and poisoning themselves and their friends.

 

Bay Bolete Imleria badia (Fr. Bolet bai), nearly as good as a cep, except for its unappetising staining on the sponge (but most people discard that anyway).

Second, there has been a resurgence of interest in mushroom foraging because people are interested in traditional activities, because they like the idea of free food, and because they like the idea of providing for themselves in a sort of self sufficient and independent way. So many people out there are beginners, and from my observations, absolutely clueless and in some cases hubristic. A lot of these people are not using tried and true methods of learning how to identify mushrooms, partly because they don't know how or where to access them. They don't know how to use a field guide and they don't know anyone who can mentor them through learning how to identify mushrooms. Last year a group of three or four experienced mushroomers set up the Facebook group Champignons du 37, concentrating on the art of gathering edible mushrooms in the Tourangelle forests (mainly Loches and Chinon). Within weeks they had 4000 members, and after 6 months there were 7400 members, which took them and me by surprise. I was expecting more like 400 people to sign up. Reading the posts it became painfully obvious that the majority of members were absolutely clueless. But they did at least want to learn. I imagine it came as quite a shock for them to find out just how much there was to learn.

 

The lovely but inedible velvetiness of Tripe fungus Auricularia mesenterica (Fr. Auriculaire poilu).

And that brings me to the third reason poisonings are increasing. The use of identification apps, which do little more than picture match. Please, if you are foraging for mushrooms for the table, I cannot stress enough that THERE ARE NO GOOD IDENTIFICATION APPS FOR FUNGI!!  DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES RELY ON THEM IF YOU ARE GOING TO EAT THE MUSHROOMS. Identifying a mushroom takes more than just matching a single photo taken from the top or the side. In many cases mushrooms cannot be accurately identified from photographs no matter how experienced you are. There are just too many lookalikes, too many variables, and identification requires your sense of smell and touch in some cases, even occasionally your hearing, as well as being able to see all parts of the mushroom, including the whole stem (not cut off), underneath the cap, and a cross section (cut the mushroom in half from top to bottom).

 

An old Earthstar Geastrum sp (Fr. Géastre) in really poor condition. NEVER eat any mushroom in this condition, even if you think it is an edible species (which earthstars are not anyway).

There is a widespread belief in France that your pharmacist can identify any mushrooms you bring in. This was once the case, but is no longer true. Ask your pharmacist by all means, but you will likely find that they do not offer this service. If you are lucky, as we have been until recently in Loches, they will offer their professional opinion. If you are even luckier they will lead outings in the forest so you can learn about mushrooms. Be prepared for it to take years to feel confident in your own level of expertise, even with a good mentor and a good field guide.

 

False Turkey Tail Stereum hirsutum (Fr. Stérée hirsute) being consumed by Golden Ear Tremella aurantia (Fr. Tremelle orangée). So the Stereum is eating the wood, and the Tremella is eating the Stereum.

Even when you are confident of the identification, if the mushrooms are old or in poor condition, don't eat them. Mushrooms that are past their best or poorly preserved may develop toxins even if they are normally considered edible. Make sure they are well cooked too. Cooking can destroy some toxins, but not all. Do not eat wild mushrooms more than once a week and do not give them to children under the age of seven.

 

This is a delicious and prized Field Mushroom Agaricus campestris (Fr. Rosé-des-prés), but there is a common lookalike that won't kill you, but will send you to Accident and Emergency with severe stomach cramps. Do you know how to tell the difference? **

In summary:

• There are around 15 000 species of mushroom in France, with over 250 edible mushroom species; over 350 toxic species and 39 of them are deadly.
• Don't use an ID app to identify mushrooms. Apps work well these days for plants, but aren't good enough for other groups, especially for mushrooms if you are planning to eat them. The most popular app in France is Champinouf. It just picture matches, so is more or less useless.
• Never rely on colour alone to identify a mushroom. Always use a suite of characteristics to arrive at an identification.

 

*In the first photo, roughly speaking, there are Blushers Amanita rubescens (edible if well cooked) on the left, and Panthercaps A. pantherina (toxic) on the right. 

**Always check Agaricus mushrooms by scratching their stems. If they stain yellow you have the toxic Yellow Stainer A. xanthodermus (Fr. Agaric jaunissant).

The Scourge Sent by God and Other Local Sights Around Yzeures

The other day I walked 7 kilometres with les Galoches along the flood plain of the Creuse River from Yzeures. 

 

A quince tree in a garden.

The Creuse River.

An intriguing inscription which refers to a tremendous flood in the mid-19th century as 'a scourge sent by God'.

Wooden dividing wall in a barn.

Sorghum (Fr. sorgho) crop.

Big Sheath Mushroom Volvopluteus glioicephalus (Fr. Volvaire gluante) growing in the horse manure and straw left after a weekend event which included gypsy caravan rides.

The Creuse River.

A Big Fly and Some Tiny Ants

The other day I photographed a magnificent horse fly on our barn wall. I'm a big fan of horse flies, so anyone who wants to carry on about how they bite can scroll on.

 

This one is a female Giant Dark Horse Fly Tabanus sudeticus (Fr. Taon des Sudètes). The species is supposedly the heaviest fly in Europe and females are about 25 mm in length. You can encounter adults on the wing throughout the summer, in dry pasture or woodland clearings. The larvae on the other hand are aquatic and eggs are laid on waterside plants.

Giant Dark Horse Fly females may bite you if you are wearing dark clothing, breathing heavily and warm and sweaty. But really they are more interested in getting their obligate blood meal from a cow or a horse. Without the nutrients they gain from biting a large mammal and sucking some blood they cannot lay viable eggs. If you are unlucky enough to be bitten, disinfect the wound immediately and take an antihistamine. You'll be fine unless you are unusually sensitive, in which case it may develop into a hard red lump about 10 cm across. Don't scratch the bite because it will get it infected.

I was so delighted to have a cooperative horse fly to photograph that I didn't even notice the ants until I was processing the photos. I didn't recognise them so I did what everyone does these days -- asked in the appropriate group on Facebook. A local entomologist got back to me to tell me they are Temnothorax sp.

Temnothorax ants are only 2 or 3 mm long, and live in small colonies of a couple of hundred individuals in dry dead wood or small cavities in rocks. There are at least 25 species in France and they occur throughout the country.

Our Unused Front Door

I've been looking at our front door, which we haven't used as such since we moved here in 2009. It's much less convenient than the door in the kitchen, and it's a bit fragile.

I don't want to replace it, as that would be costly, and it doesn't need to be fully insulated as it only leads into a porch which is fully insulated and has double glazed doors. It's also very large - and original. I'd like to re-putty it, paint it, and leave it at that.

The problem is the existing putty which is haphazard and very old, and two pieces of glass which are cracked (marked with red dots in the photo). I'm worried I'll crack more glass trying to remove the old putty.

I like the mismatched glass and the old sticker and would like to keep them (heritage and all that). I just have to work out how to do that.

Peach Cobbler

 Last week our neighbour Edouard knocked on the door and presented me with a basket of vine peaches (Fr. pêches des vignes). He had decided to strip the tree as storms were predicted. He's allergic to fresh peaches, and there's only so much jam his wife can make, so he thought of me. He also told me he's had a number of thefts from his potager. The usual stuff like tomatoes, but this year someone stripped half his quince tree! We both thought that was quite odd. 

 

Anyway, I was very grateful for these lovely peaches, which were all perfectly ripe and delicious. I had baked some biscuits only an hour before so I was very pleased to be able to exchange the peaches for some biscuits. I immediately blanched a couple of kilos of peaches and sliced them to make a cobbler, and the rest I halved and poached in heavy vanilla syrup. The latter will get used for Peach Melba or served with Greek yoghurt/fromage frais battu and such like.

 

Ingredients

1.5 kg peaches (vine peaches are small so this is about 16 peaches)

¼ cup soft brown sugar

Juice of a lemon

1 tbsp cornstarch

¼ tsp ground cinnamon + a pinch for sprinkling on top

Pinch of nutmeg

1.5 cups plain flour

1/3 cup sugar + 1 tbsp for sprinkling on top

1.5 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

85 g butter, cold and cut into centimetre cubes

¼ cup milk

Method

1. Turn on the oven to 180°C and butter a lasagna dish.
2. Pour boiling water over the peaches and leave them sitting in it for 2 minutes, then slip their skins off, stone them and slice them into a large bowl.
3. Toss the peaches with the brown sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. 
4. Spread the peach mixture evenly over the bottom of the lasagna dish.
5. For the topping, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
6. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients with your fingers.
7. Add the milk and mix until a soft dough is formed.
8. Tear off walnut sized pieces and flatten them a bit before lay them on top of the peaches. Distribute the dough evenly, but leave gaps.
9. Brush the dough with milk and sprinkle with the extra sugar and cinnamon.
10. Bake for 50 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
12. Serves 8, with vanilla ice cream.

Best served on the day of baking. It will hold in the fridge overnight before baking, so you can prepare it well in advance. After baking it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, but beyond that the topping goes unpleasantly soggy. An uncovered reheat in the oven can help.

Reflections

It hasn't all been about my treatment this week. We have been for the occasional wander as well. I'm surprised that this photo turned out this well - I didn't spend any time on it.

 Yesterday my fluid loading went well. I'm hopeful that I can round out my first week with another win.

A Piece of Good Planning

I mentioned yesterday that men exiting the radiotherapy suite tend to have an air of urgency around them.

Luckily, the architect knew what he was about, and the dressing rooms are next to a room bearing this sign. It's reserved for patients.

Yesterday I was again under full. I was about to get a finger wagging, when I showed the radiologist my drinking schedule. That mollified him, he agreed it was a good plan, but made some suggestions for change. As a stopgap I drank 3 cups of room temperature water and walked around for 10 minutes. We're all friends now.

Fingers crossed - then legs crossed!

Two Down, Thirty-three To Go

On Monday I started my 7 weeks of radiotherapy. This involves a lot of planning and a lot of blocks falling into place.

Because the treatment is "down there" I have to be prepared, which starts 3 hours before treatment. I have to drink the right amount of water at set periods (I've never been so hydrated) so that my bladder is holding no less than 350ml (but not much more) at exactly the right time.

Then the taxi/ambulance has to arrive between 75 and 90 minutes before the treatment, and get me to the hospital 70km away not too early (and definitely not too late).

Finally, the treatment has to happen and finish before the urge to explode takes over. This is tricky, because the treatment entails lying on a table for 15 minutes and "bougez pas!" This means no jiggling, even involuntarily.

On Monday I got my level correct, but yesterday I was about 60ml under, which is annoying and earned me a finger-wag. It shouldn't be too difficult to adjust.

If you're ever in a radiotherapy unit and you see a man looking stressed and waddling, make way. He's a man on a mission.

Finally then, one can relax - until tomorrow, when the whole lot starts again.

The Great Hall of the Palace of the Dukes of Aquitaine

Simon enjoying the stylish chairs in front of the gigantic 17th century triple fireplace.

Eleanor of Aquitaine had the Great Hall of the Palace of the Dukes of Aquitaine in Poitiers built some time after 1160. It replaced an older great hall. The sculptors who worked on it also worked on the nearby Cathedral. Eleanor's Hall features a new entry, aligned with the Roman bridge, and including an impressive flight of stairs.

 

The grand entrance to the Hall.

In modern times the Hall has mostly been referred to as the Salle des pas perdu (the room of lost steps). This is by virtue of its function as a vestibule for the courthouse (palais de justice). Large rooms such as this which are spaces where the public can gather outside of the tribunal are known by this rather curious term. The etymology is very uncertain, with several dubious anecdotes commonly told to explain the expression. The term has been used since at least the 17th century.

 

Eleanor, I assume.

Detail of carving on the fireplace.

Detail of carving on the fireplace.

Detail of carving on the fireplace.

Detail of carving on the fireplace.

Looking up one of the chimneys.

Detail of carving on the fireplace.

Detail of carving on the fireplace.

Simon's Radiotherapy Diet

Simon starts seven weeks of radiotherapy today. As part of his preparation he has to be able to retain 350 ml of urine in his bladder while the machine delivers the dose over 15 minutes. This has meant he has been diligently recording his intake and output times and quantities so he can establish a pattern and arrive at hospital in just the right state. It's much harder than it sounds as it's over an hour from home to the hospital.

 

Banned.

He is also not allowed to have intestinal gas. We've been given a diet sheet, which is a list of foods to avoid and a list of foods that are encouraged. It has meant a quite radical change in our diet and a lot of thinking on my part.

 

Banned.

Number one on the banned list is anything in the onion family, so I've made batches of chicken and vegetable stock with celery, parsley and carrots, no leeks, no onions. So far he has enjoyed my special chicken noodle soup, and there is vegetable, and tomato to come.

 

Banned.

Number two on the banned list is green vegetables, mostly anything Brassicae, but also chard and spinach, green beans and peas. Zucchini seems to be fine, and soft lettuce such as oak leaf is positively encouraged. Green asparagus is allowed too, but a) he doesn't like it, and b) it is out of season. 

 

Banned.

The only truly safe vegetables that he can eat and likes are carrots and potatoes, so long as they are peeled and cooked. I am going to be so sick of them by November, and sick of peeling them. 

 

Banned.

Other banned veggies are peppers, most root vegetables (cooked carrots and beetroot are the exceptions), cucumber and white asparagus. I'm taking the view that as tomatoes and aubergines are not mentioned they must be okay.

 

Okay.

Naturally the other big group of banned foods are pulses (leguminous veggies such as dried beans, chickpeas and lentils). This is a food group that we would normally eat several times a week!

 

Okay.

He can eat hard cheeses but needs to avoid soft cheeses and blue cheeses. Yoghurt is okay, and desserts such as rice pudding. I've been doing him stewed fruit to have with yoghurt, and he can eat all sorts of plain cakes and biscuits. Toasted white ham and cheese sandwiches are okay and now a mainstay. He's encouraged to eat honey, but he doesn't like it.

 

Okay.

The herbs and spices he can have are limited and I've been doing my best to liven some bland dishes up. He can have cumin, dill, fennel, cardamon, basil and turmeric. Saturday night I did a sort of pretend white chilli, with turkey, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and just about all of the allowed herbs and spices.

 

Banned.

Meat is restricted to chicken, turkey and white fish. I've no doubt he could have rabbit too, but he doesn't like it. Luckily we have a good new fishmonger at SuperU in la Roche Posay so I can get good fish easily.

 

Banned.

Considering that we are a household that easily reaches the recommended 30 plant species per week in our normal diet, and usually manages double that, this is going to be challenging. I've been scouring the Monash University FODMAP recipes for inspiration, but even they are not always suitable. They were designed to help people with IBS and a couple of other bowel problems though, so they are a good starting point.

 

Okay.

Further reading: the Monash University FODMAP website https://www.monashfodmap.com/about-fodmap-and-ibs/