Move Over, Santa -- Chimney Cooking in Provence

This week I’m rolling through the hills, valleys, forests and mountain-top villages of Provence, France on a Backroads biking trip.

Every day is a new culinary adventure.

Last night I spent some time with chef Laurent Wellecam at Hotel Crillon-Le-Brave in the “town” of that name. (The hotel occupies seven of the roughly two dozen buildings that made up this hilltop hamlet back in the 16^th century. Guest rooms are scattered among the craggy stone manses; the restaurant terrace is perched on the edge of the cliff; the dining room is a baronial space with a massive fireplace.

As guests started to fill the room, the 26-year-old Wellecam tended the glistening gigots d’agneau (legs of lamb) and well-burnished pork loins that were hanging above the smoldering wood fire. Carving one of the baby lamb legs – just enough meat for two people – he revealed rosy red meat and the fragrance of fresh Provencal herbs.

 

“I like simple cooking with very good products,” said Wellecam, who is from Avignon and trained in Switzerland, as well as with famed chef Marc Veyrat in Annecy, France.

“When I cook pork and lamb in the chimney over wood, very simply, you can taste the products themselves. There’s nothing on the plate that you don’t need. Everything is important. If I put a flower on the plate, it will be a delicious flower.”

Wellecam’s style is in sync with a growing appreciation, once again, for “old food,” bistro food, comfort food. There may still be plenty of hype about molecular gastronomy in the press, but most food lovers today are more interested in delicious food enjoyed at a table of laughing friends.

“To me, cooking is not about chemistry, it’s about heart,” Wellecam said.

In addition to the fireplace roasts, last night's menu included a chilled summer tomato and pepper soup, risotto made with ancient spelt wheat (instead of rice) and local mushrooms, a honey iced parfait with peach “carpaccio,” and local strawberries with crystallized lavender.

In the coming week, I'll be posting frequently about gastronomic adventures in Provence and Paris.