Haute Louisiane en Automne

28 October, Thursday

52 Degrees F

Partly Sunny, Strong N Winds

With changes of the season sweeping through the bottomlands on strong northerly winds, that night would be the first strong frost of the fall. Work in the garden focused on the harvesting of the garden’s seasonal crops, while leaving some to withstand the colder temperatures. Carrots, leeks, lettuces, radishes, spinach, turnips and one last watermelon were pulled from the beds. Produce was gathered, compost and leaf mulch were added to amend the soil and to prepare for next year. While clearing the beds, a few visitors lay among the ruins of this past growing season.

Black Swallowtail Caterpillar

They were a reminder of the ever renewing cycles of nature, each with its own season and form. Even as there was much to be enjoyed in the autumn’s harvest, a bittersweet pleasure lingered as we realized this year’s growing season was coming to an end.

Once home from garden travels, my thoughts turned to the uses for these vegetables of the past. Using as a guide the ingredients that were on hand, recettes were reviewed to determine what could be prepared with our historic and heirloom vegetables. A warm beginning for our harvest meal would be a white turnip soup, potage aux navets blancs.  Next a salad was made utilizing jardin lettuce, spinach and carrots making a simple dressing of the juice of a lemon, mustard and oil. A souffle of gruyere and leeks accompanied with a black Spanish radish remoulade and freshly baked bread prepared for the main course. The last of our Georgia Rattlesnake melons completed our autumn repast with its perfect sweet taste as a final reminder of the summer past. 

Though this meal was created from modern sources, the recipes were not far off the historic mark. As seen in regionally historic recettes and in 18^th century French cookbooks, a meal of the French ancestors of this region might have easily included a ramekin, slaw made of turnips or radishes, a chicken bouillon or a potage of leeks or turnips, and sallet of greens. Historic harvest meal recipes are listed in our new blog recette file. The recipes for the modern versions made for the harvest meal can be viewed by clicking on the individual dishes mentioned above.

The next Jardin posting on the Fort events page will feature a late fall holiday spent at the Fort and the activities and food we enjoyed as we made our annual journey into 18^th century Pays des Illinois.