Fausse Barigoule

Fausse Barigoule

Une recette de ma grand-mère Jeanne Hérbrad 

 

 

Jeanne, Françoise, (4yo) and Simone (15yo)

 circa 1940

Pictured above is a photo of my grandmother with her two daughters Françoise and Simone. Five years later, Jeanne would lose her battle to tuberculosis that had already taken hold before this photo was taken. Ironically she passed  just months before the antibiotics that could save her would become readily available. They were in short supply during the war and reserved for the soldiers.

I know very little about her except that she wrote this recipe and my mom used it during the time she took over household duties. You see, Jeanne was sent away  to live in a TB sanatorium during the war while Simone stayed home to help run the house, and attend school whenever possible. As you can imagine, her teenage years were radically different than mine.  Later for us, my mom took great pride in cooking great meals, even when working full time. Her teenage years were formative in this regard.

This is a humble dish using artichokes, lemons, carrots, onions and potatoes that grew easily in the area. And certainly the lardons were easier to come by during wartime then the richer, high demand cuts of meat.

True French lardons are cut from what we would called the pork back fat.  A reasonable approximation readily available in America would be bacon or preferably. pancetta. Cuts of meat vary greatly between the two countries. Something my mother would always grumble about. You can imagine which method of butchery she would favor?

French Cuts

American Cuts

Fausse Barigoule

Ingredients

4 artichoke hearts soaked in lemon juice (I use frozen ones that have already been cut into 4ths.)
4 potatoes, peeled, washed and cut in  small pieces 13 oz (2 large or 4 small red potatoes)
4 carrots, peeled, washed and slides
10 black olives (pitted) 
4  garlic cloves 
1 med onion (optional) 
1 lemon
2 Tbs of dry or fresh thyme, 
2-3  bay leaves
2 or 3 slices of  Bacon cut in pieces. (Pancetta would be even better)
1 tsp Salt (to taste) 
Pepper to taste 
3 Tbs olive oil. Enough to coat the bottom of a creuset.

 

Method

In a cooking pan, such as Le Creuset, pour 3 tbsp olive oil until it is very warm

Add the carrots, the potatoes, the pieces of bacon, the artichokes pieces,

Brown the vegetables, mixing them so they are all coated with the oil, 

Add the leftover lemon juice,The olives, the laurel leaves and 

the thyme. and 3/4cup water, 

Cook  slowly, covered, 45mn to 1 hour. Turning occasionally. 

Et voilà, Bon appétit

 

 

We were so hungry I forgot to take a photo until after we ate a serving or two!  It was delicious. I think the lemon and herbs really make this dish. If truth be known, I added a lot of extra thyme and put it in a sachet. An extra squeeze of lemon doesn't hurt as well. 

Many thanks to Françoise Grab who translated the recipe for me. She is a family friend who is also an accomplished French cook! I hope someday she will be a guest blogger. She still has so much to teach me.