Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Atelier du Cuivre...


Time is marching on, so maybe we’ll adopt a “small plates” approach and dole out little bites instead of a complete meal….

One of the places we stopped was in the little town of Villedieu – les – Poéles, because of a particular place there.  A hint is apparent on the town square




In particular the



Quick French lesson;  Atelier translates as “Studio” or “Workshop”, and Cuivre is “Copper” ; So you go down the little tunnel to the little shop



and upon entering, you are presented with a dizzying slice of culinary heaven



Anybody who studies about or does serious cook, knows that copper is the ultimate material for cooking equipment.   This place is one of the oldest fabricators of copper cookware still in operation in France.  You appreciate it not only for its obvious beauty, but mostly for its cooking properties (which we’ll talk about that in a bit). Just look at those things.  Enough to make you swoon! (as are the price tags, but who cares).  You pick up one of the pans, and the first thing that strikes you is how heavy they are.  Beautiful things.

We were given a tour of the workshop, preceded by a very informative introductory talk, from a lady who was a Brit, so language was not a problem



She talked about the reason that copper is the preferred material for cookware is because of its superior heat conducting properties.  For instance, when a pot is used made of another material with less heat transfer properties, the temperature of the (sauce pan) decreases the farther from the heat source.  That is, as you move toward the top of the pot, it gets cooler.  In a sauce with say, butter, the fat will migrate away from the hottest part to the cooler, resulting in separation and breaking.  She claimed that with copper, the temperature remains pretty much constant from bottom to top.  Said you could leave your sauce overnight on heat and it would never break.  That’s what she said. Their pots are lined with tin, and now they are making some lined with silver.

After the demo, we moved into the workshop.   One might say we also moved back in time



 

The pan starts its life as a disk of copper that is mounted to the lathe (above) and gradually formed into a vessel



No automation here, it is all in the hands and skill of the artisan.  After the pot is formed, it is moved over to another station for more hand work.  You know when you look at some bowls they have dimples on the side?  She explained how they do it



For the size of pan he is working on, there are about 4000 strikes of his hammer



Ping! rotate… Ping! rotate… Ping! rotate… Ping! rotate... Ping! rotate… Ping! rotate… Ping! rotate.. Ping! rotate… Ping! rotate…  repeat this four thousand times and you have a finished product. Oh, and they were all in neat rows, evenly spaced.  Amazing process.  All by hand for the most part.  Besides the cooking products, they also do art pieces, we saw a complete bathtub, which she said was around 250,000 Euros.  I was struck by the fact that the two workers we saw were not young.  I asked if they were working younger apprentices into the business and she said it was hard.  Nobody wants to do that anymore.

Their cookware is famous; it has its own registered watermark, and is used in kitchens throughout France.  And MFO made sure that it will be used in kitchens throughout the Digs..



What a unique opportunity.  Another reason why we like to visit France.
 
On our way back to the little bus, I ran across this sign



With my expert command of culinary French, I assumed the “derriere” was a reference to the anatomy of the swine (with Andouille), but alas, our guide informed me that it meant something like 100 meters behind there is a store that makes sausages..  Oh, well..

Our next stop was Mont Saint-Michel



wherein the Feeder learned that the knees are weaker than the brain...but I think we’ll make this our next course.
 
 
Bon Appétit!
 

 

 

 

 

 

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