Tour De France '20 - Stage 18: Méribel to La Roche-sur-Foron.
This stage was beautiful: full of epic, wide views of the Haute-Savoie naturescape that soon will be covered in snow. It was also a challenge: even some of the best riders, in total command of their craft, could and did crash and burn at any moment. Coincidentally, that day included one of my most challenging dishes as well: Farcement. Would I suffer the same fate as the downed rider? All I had was the description in Joel Robuchon’s French Regional Food; a bunch of recipes online using tools I never heard of, nor could obtain stateside; many recipes only in French, of which I can't speak; and the ones in English just didn't feel right. I decided to search YouTube and found great videos of jolly, and sometimes emotional, French women describing, seemingly, how these recipes and techniques were handed down from their mothers and the dishes were mastered over time. I had no such reservoir of knowledge and no time to learn as this was my first go at the dish. But, I had years of watching my mother approach food, and even though she's Italian, she would roule avec (roll with it), from time-to-time, and the results would always be delicious. I had to scramble for the last hour to make it perfect, but I'd like to think I finished the day, much like the stage’s winners: arm-in-arm crossing the finish line, with my mother.
Farcement (Bacon Cake)
Not gonna lie. I had nightmares about this dish beforehand, panic attacks during, and pretty much winged it the whole time. Follow the below guidance and all you’ll have to worry about is chilling the wine, post-assembly. American bacon is extremely fatty. The slab bacon at your deli counter may be leaner and I would recommend you asking for 2 lbs of that and then having them slice it. If using standard bacon, Place the slices on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, rendering some of the fat out and dry the slices with paper towels once cooled.
2 lbs lean bacon, thick cut
½ cup golden raisins
8-10 oz dried dates
4 oz diced lardons
Onion, ¼ inch diced
2-3 medium sized potatoes
3 large eggs
½ cup cream
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Brandy
2-3 medium potatoes
1 tbsp flour
Spray a small bundt mold or angel food cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. If the mold is a two piece (separable) mold, wrap the bottom and exterior walls with aluminum foil to prevent seepage from water bath. Place raisins and dates in separate bowls and cover with warm water and let rehydrate. Place bacon into cake mold, including on the bottom and up the interior column and external sides, overlapping the pieces, and draping excess bacon over the edge. Preheat the oven to 350. In a non-stick pan, melt a tbsp of butter over medium-low heat, render the lardon for about 4 minutes then add the diced onion and a pinch of salt and sweat, not letting it brown. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and cream. Add the nutmeg, a pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper, and a splash of brandy. Peel and grate the potatoes. Place the potato shreds in a dish towel, wrap tightly, and squeeze as much moisture out of the potatoes. Add the potatoes, cooled onions and lardons, and drained raisins to the large bowl containing the eggs. Drain and halve the dates, adding them to the bowl along with a pinch of salt and freshly ground balck pepper, mixing everything well. Sprinkle the flour atop the mixture and incorporate. Then, carefully pour everything into the bacon-lined mold. Fold over the bacon from the interior column first and then the excess from the exterior wall.
Fill a large dutch oven with hot water about half way full. Place the farcement pan into the water bath. The water should come ½ to ⅔ of the way up the farcement mold.Cover the pot and place in the oven and bake for 3 hours. Check the farcement around 2 hours to see if fat is pooling on top. If so, carefully pour the fat out and return to the water bath. Check back every 30 mins. After 3 hours if you feel the mold has not set and are still pouring out fat, remove from the water bath and bake an additional 30 minutes. Once the bacon has cooked and the farcement is set, let stand for 10-15 minutes, then unmold inverting the pan onto an oven-safe platter. If you’d like to brown the bacon more, place under the broiler.
Copyright 2020, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.