May 12, 2009 - Terroir or Not Terroir

I'm not a big believer in the variations of wine versus location....at least when the explanation is the terroir. I mean, how different can my lot of land be when your lot is adjacent to it? How different was the microclime as the say en francais? Sure, you may have a better wine master. And you might have been more selective in culling your grapes and choosing which grapes to squeeze. But really, my one square acre sharing an entire side with another acre, how different can my terroir be?

Well, I know I've only been in Paris less than one week and I have been to my local fruit and veg shop twice. I've cooked several meals using the fresh veggies that I've purchased from them.....so what can I say??? Let me explain. First, the vegetables looked weird. Potatoes and carrots that were still covered in dirt. Celery that had more leaves on top than celery on bottom [or at least it looked that way]. Tomatoes that were glowing and onions that screamed pungency. So what?

I made my first soup last night. It was a chicken soup. I used left over chicken from dinner and the bones and leftovers. I made it like I've made a hundred chicken soups. After boiling the bones, stripping off the meat, and adding a bouillon cube, it was time to add the veggies. I chopped the top of the celery off, diced a bunch of the leaves and threw them into the pot. Then I took a few stalks and chopped and threw them in. The onions didn't let me down....as my tears back up this statement. The carrots peeled just like carrots. But after a few hours of slow cooking, it was time to taste the concoction.

I can't describe it. We've all had chicken soup before but this was the first time that the vegetables screamed 'I am more important that the chicken!!!". We've never had carrots or celery that, in our taste world, now define what celery and carrots should....must taste like.

So does the terroir make a difference? I am still not sure about the wine but the French vegetables just blow the US veggies away [ organic et al] I know, it's just a chicken soup but we are sold on the French veggies. I made out first tuna fish salad....with diced celery....incroyable. Can't wait to make my first stew.

I know this blog is short and sweet and probably about nothing important. But you just have to eat the French veggies to understand the impact it made on Katherine and me.