Catching a Rainbow

The Coco de Paimpol is a semi-dry white bean grown in the Tregor-Goëlo area of the Cotes d’Armor region of Brittany in North West France.
The name Paimpol comes from the port of the same name where it is believed the beans were first imported from South America in the 1920’s. (3° 02' 43" W 48° 46' 43" N)
The beans are now a staple of the Breton diet and their harvest between July and October is eagerly awaited. The Coco is a fragile crop, which has to be harvested by hand and cannot be undertaken when it is raining as the excess water causes the pods to rot.
The Coco Pluckers, as they are called, descend on this region for the harvest and can be seen ‘plucking’ the crop, seated, in small groups, very often under the shade of a parasol. The same families return year after year to bring in the harvest, selecting the best pods and renew acquaintances with old friends. A good plucker can pick anything up to 150Kg of beans a day. To celebrate the new harvest a large fete is organised in August every year with competitions to find the best plucker of the year.
The mature Coco bean is often overlooked by the British visitor as the pod has an unappetising dried up appearance and the yellow skin marbled with red and violet can give the impression that the bean is rotten. In fact in any lot of Coco-beans one will always find slightly better looking pale green examples, which are in fact under ripe and will not have the wonderful chestnut flavour that develops in mature examples.
They are easy to cook, once de-shelled; requiring much less time than other dried varieties of bean and require no pre-soaking. About 35 minutes in boiling salted water is usually enough, any longer and the beans begin to lose their form and become ‘mushy’. They are great in soups and casseroles where they keep their form over prolonged cooking periods
The beans are rich in fibre and Vitamins B5 and B1. They are a good source of Iron and essential oils.

The Coco de Paimpol was the first vegetable in France to receive the much acclaimed
Appellations d'origine contrôlée. The origins of AOC date back to the 15th century but the Law for the Protection of the Place of Origin the first modern law was passed in 1919.This law was to specify the region and commune that any given product must be manufactured in. Its remit was later broadened to also including setting down how certain products could be produced. In 1935, the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO), a branch of the French Ministry of Agriculture, was created to manage the administration of the process for wines.
In 1990, the scope of work of the INAO was extended beyond wines to cover other agricultural products, including the famous Coco de Paimpol.

References and acknowledgemets.
Institut National des Appellations d'Origine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appellation_d%27Origine_Contr%C3%B4l%C3%A9e


The Coco de Paimpol
http://www.prince-de-bretagne.com/presse/dossiers-presse/pdf/dossier-presse-coco-paimpol-07-2005.pdf

More information (French)
http://carnetsdebord.over-blog.net/article-3467148.html

A new film show
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My favourite restaurant but by no means the most expensive.
Le Gouermel is a small beachfront Crêperie in the Anse de Gouermel found between Plougrescant and Bugéles in the Cote d’Armor. It provides nearly everything eating out in Brittany has to offer. Wonderful scenery, the pleasure of eating outdoors under a large umbrella- or not as weather permits. Local food, cold wine beer or cider, gracious and inviting hosts and the completely relaxed and unhurried attitude the French have towards eating and entertaining.
This restaurant does not offer expensive faddy food, but provides inexpensive, well-cooked simple food to be enjoyed at leisure and in company.
The restaurant resembles a beach hut, the inside décor is bleached wood, wooden tables, the walls being used to display paintings by local artists as well as one or two other works of art.
The view at high or low tide is spectacular and adds to the atmosphere of the place, but is best enjoyed at high tide in the early summer, before it gets too hot and the summer crowds.
A perfect place for a spot of lunch after a walk along the beach.
The restaurant is open six days a week from midday but is closed Sunday evening and Mondays. From September onwards opening is usually just on Friday Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes. The restaurant is closed from Christmas to Easter approximately.




Reservations tel 0296 92-55-26

Blé Noir, Sarrasin, or the common Buckwheat is awarded an almost mythical status in Brittany and forms the base of the famous Galettes de Blé Noir, a savoury pancake a speciality in Brittany.

Blé Noir (pronounced Blay nwar), which means black wheat, can be found all over the world and is made from the common buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum. It is the seeds of this plant, ground into a powder, which make the famous farine de Blé Noir or farine de Sarrasin which gives a clue as to how it came to be in France.



The buckwheat plant is in the same plant family as sorrel, dock weed and rhubarb and is not related to wheat or the other grasses as one might first expect. The plant has been cultivated in China for over a thousand years but wild varieties have been gathered and used as food for humans and fodder for livestock as long ago as 6000 BC.



It is generally accepted that Buckwheat was introduced into France by the crusaders returning from the Holy Lands. However, the plant was being cultivated in the Middle East long before then and was more likely introduced into the country during the ten years of Islamic expansionism following the death of their leader Mohammed.

The etymology of the word buckwheat also has differing theories of origin. One is that the name is of Scottish decent coming from the Anglo-Saxon words Boc for Beech and Whoet meaning wheat. The grains of buckwheat are similar in appearance to the nuts of the Beech Tree, being small and triangular in shape - but how the Scots came to be involved with a word of Anglo-Saxon descent is anyone’s guess.
The other claim to the name is of Dutch origin for the same reasons of beech and wheat. Which is true is not clear but it was the Dutch who introduced Blé Noir into France, commercially, in the 1500’s.

The Dutch may not have given the plant its name but it is believed that they were the first to introduce the crop into the USA. Although now a much-reduced crop in the USA, New York State is still one of the main production areas for Buckwheat in North America. Production reached a peak in the late 1800’s but by the mid 1960's the land set aside for Buckwheat had declined to about 50,000 acres and most of the world supply now comes from China and Russia.

How the famous grains came to be in Brittany and why the Bretons adopted them as a national food are more to do with climate and poverty rather than any particular national involvement. The mild damp climate of Brittany together with its soil is perfect for the growth of this inter crop. From a horticultural perspective buckwheat is known as a hundred day plant, being planted in June and cropped in August and can be grown on meagre soils in areas where other crops would suffer and fail. Originally a fodder crop meant for animals the buckwheat flourished even when the wheat crop failed and in Brittany this often meant the difference between survival and starvation.

Buckwheat, if not buckwheat flour has and is still eaten all over the world. It is extensively cultivated in the Himalayas where Hindus often eat it during days of fasting, as a permitted food.
The Russian Army marched on rations of buckwheat and in Germany it forms the basis of a type of porridge.
In Brittany the grain is also malted and fermented into beer as well as being distilled in to Whisky.
In Poland the grain is used instead of barley in fruit cordials.
The Japanese mix the flour with hot water to make Soba noodles, which are often served with spicy sauces and stocks. Because noodles made out of pure buckwheat can easily fall apart when cooked, the buckwheat flour is usually mixed with binders such as wheat flour.

In Japanese law, for a noodle to be classed as Soba they must contain at least 30% buckwheat flour which makes noodles with high buckwheat content more desirable. This may be because they are more difficult to prepare, are less readily available and are generally more expensive. Soba is Japanese for buckwheat.

Buckwheat noodles are different and more difficult to make than their wheat counterparts. Wheat noodles, which include nearly all the different types of Italian pasta are held together by gluten, a long stranded protein.
Buckwheat on the other hand contains no gluten and so it is very difficult to make into noodles successfully, without them falling apart during cooking. Buckwheat is often combined with wheat flour, the latter acting as a binder holding the noodles together and making the preparation easier.
People with gluten intolerance should be aware that although buckwheat is free of gluten, buckwheat noodles seldom are as they are inevitable mixed with other binding agents, which contain gluten.

In Korea, buckwheat starch is used to make a jelly called memilmuk and in Eastern Europe the husks are used to make Kasha a type of porridge.
In Ukraine, yeast rolls called hrechanyky are made from buckwheat.

Unlike the widely consumed seeds, the buckwheat leaves are toxic to humans. Eaten in sufficient quantities, they can induce fagopyrism, which is an acute sensitivity to sunlight. Light pigmented livestock especially sheep and pigs and fair skinned people are particularly susceptible. However, buckwheat is the best-known source of high quality, easily digestible protein in the entire plant kingdom. It has high levels of vitamin B, phosphorus, potassium, and dietary fibre and also contains rutin, an organic compound that is effective in reducing cholesterol levels and keeping blood vessels strong and flexible. Buckwheat also contains eight essential amino acids, which the body cannot produce itself and is classed as a complex carbohydrate.



To see a fascinating video of noodle making in Japan click on the noodle making machine and be surprised

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Making Soba Noodles from Buckwheat flour


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References
http://www.linternaute.com/femmes/cuisine/magazine/dossier/0501crepes/tradition.shtml
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2341.html

http://www.pancakeparlour.com/Organics/Buckwheat/buckwheat.html
http://www.moulin-de-charbonniere.com/