One day last summer I visited the little copper museum in Durfort with my sketch book hoping that I would be allowed to sketch the antique copper vessels for the rest of the afternoon. I was given a chair and permission to stay as long as I liked. Another world opened up to me, the world of pots and pans made for cooking local dishes the old fashioned way, in a fireplace. Each one of the pots in the museum was designed for a specific purpose. For instance the “tourtiere” which has an indented lid to hold coals becomes an oven when nestled in a bed of coals.
The “blachi” has an indentation on the bottom because it was carried on the head. For centuries women used blachis to carry water from the spring down the road where we get our water today. People come from miles around to collect the sweet water from our little spring. Everything in the museum is made from copper, from the great cauldrons used to boil the woad that was the base for the special blue dye that made the region rich in the 15th century to the long narrow lechieres that caught the drips from meat roasting on the spit.
Lunch menu
- Breaded Fish (Hake)
- Roast zucchini and carrots
- Salad with string beans, red pepper, radish, cucumber and lettuce with yogurt/garlic sauce
- Dessert: Fruit Crumble
Fruit Crumble
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Pie Crust:
– 2 cups flour
– 1 cup shortening
– 6 T cold water
– pinch salt
Put flour in bowl, cut shortening into flour with two knives until it resembles coarse meal Sprinkle ice cold water on top and toss with fork until moist and crumbly.
Press mixture into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover. Chill for 15 minutes. Unwrap dough and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Roll out lightly to fit pie pan.
Slice peaches, nectarines, plums
Combine the following to make a coarse crumble:
– 1 cup butter
– 1 cup sugar
– 2 cups flour
Layer fruit and flour mixture over pie crust, ending with flour mixture on top. Bake for about 40 min. or until bubbling
