Don Diego
Jedi Master
Poùt (pronounce poot,because of the sound it makes during cooking) was the daily food of high valleys people here in Pyrenees since ancient times and for centuries;Buckwheat was always grown in association with rye(straw for the roof,grain for cattle feed)
It is "blé noir" in french(blackwheat) or "Sarrazin" and in dialect "Talloch"
It's been several months now I'm searching the original recipe to share with you,as buckwheat has become very famous around here!I finally found a lovely 80's nanny in a little village who kindly teached me,unfortunately she didn't want me to take pictures because she's too shy.
When I was a kid in the mid seventies we used to eat poùt just during transhumance celebrations two times a year and I remember I loved it.My parents and my friends parents didn't really want to cook it at home,it was too old fashionned or it reminded them old times of starvation.
They are many variations depending on families tastes but the basis is the same: to feed 4 people during 2 or 3 days we need:
1 kg buckwheat flour-4 liters of liquid (milk or water)-500gr fat (butter or duck fat)-4 teaspoon of salt that's all!
Some families used half flour half fat but it's very heavy(maybe for winter time use)others banned milk...
Traditionally cooked in a copper cauldron on a chimney hook in the fire place,nowadays better in a cast iron pot,pour the flour in salted boiling water mixing and shaking them carefully to avoid lumps then let cook 2 hours minimum without stopping to move (here's the big deal!) then you add fat,mix it, pour all in a flan tin and let it cold;when it's cold you turn it out on a plate,better a wooden circle;the loaf is better when cut into 1cm strips,some made them fried with lard while others prefered sweetened with honey orsugar xylitol
Now that I've read the "life without bread" thread I'm a bit puzzled by what I've learn about these people of my area from 19th century ethnological studies which describe their lifestyle and diet: the most part of them ate meat only once a week,cattle was raised for dairies or for labour,they worked 12 to 16 hours a day on high and sloping lands,it's a tough job indeed.When cheap corn from the lower lands came they alternated with buckwheat,exactly same process with corn,loaf was called "Touradisse".Then eventually buckwheat crops totally disappeared at the end of fifties definitely replaced by more "efficient" corn seeds...
It is "blé noir" in french(blackwheat) or "Sarrazin" and in dialect "Talloch"
It's been several months now I'm searching the original recipe to share with you,as buckwheat has become very famous around here!I finally found a lovely 80's nanny in a little village who kindly teached me,unfortunately she didn't want me to take pictures because she's too shy.
When I was a kid in the mid seventies we used to eat poùt just during transhumance celebrations two times a year and I remember I loved it.My parents and my friends parents didn't really want to cook it at home,it was too old fashionned or it reminded them old times of starvation.
They are many variations depending on families tastes but the basis is the same: to feed 4 people during 2 or 3 days we need:
1 kg buckwheat flour-4 liters of liquid (milk or water)-500gr fat (butter or duck fat)-4 teaspoon of salt that's all!
Some families used half flour half fat but it's very heavy(maybe for winter time use)others banned milk...
Traditionally cooked in a copper cauldron on a chimney hook in the fire place,nowadays better in a cast iron pot,pour the flour in salted boiling water mixing and shaking them carefully to avoid lumps then let cook 2 hours minimum without stopping to move (here's the big deal!) then you add fat,mix it, pour all in a flan tin and let it cold;when it's cold you turn it out on a plate,better a wooden circle;the loaf is better when cut into 1cm strips,some made them fried with lard while others prefered sweetened with honey or
Now that I've read the "life without bread" thread I'm a bit puzzled by what I've learn about these people of my area from 19th century ethnological studies which describe their lifestyle and diet: the most part of them ate meat only once a week,cattle was raised for dairies or for labour,they worked 12 to 16 hours a day on high and sloping lands,it's a tough job indeed.When cheap corn from the lower lands came they alternated with buckwheat,exactly same process with corn,loaf was called "Touradisse".Then eventually buckwheat crops totally disappeared at the end of fifties definitely replaced by more "efficient" corn seeds...
) is not my thing, generally. Does it rise at all? I might halve the recipe and see what it's like.
