65

Whether entertaining at his farmhouse or creating recipes for his Le pain Quotidien cafés, aLain coumont Loves shoWcasing vegetabLes—even, sometimes, in deLectabLe vegan dishes. by rebecca rose photographs by martin morreLL

Alain Coumont uses purslane, a lemony weed, to add tang to chilled zucchini soup (recipe, p. 71).

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n the late-afternoon quiet in the Languedoc region of southern France, Alain Coumont, the 48-year-old founder of Le Pain Quotidien, is madly pulling together a fistful of lavender from his garden for a dinner party.

For most of the year, Alain is on the road. But from May to September, he, his American wife, Louella, and their young daughter, Inès, live in their house on a hill-side about 30 miles outside of Montpellier. The stone house is an 18th-century bastide, a grand hideaway orig-inally designed for aristocrats who wanted to live off their own land. With 100 acres on which to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs and wine grapes, Coumont uses the house not only as a retreat, but also as the testing ground for pretty much everything, including new dishes, sold at his steadily expanding line of cafés.

Le Pain Quotidien, a French phrase meaning “the daily bread,” began in 1990 as an artisanal bakery in Coumont’s native Belgium. At the time, Coumont was the chef at a restaurant in Brussels called Le Café du Dôme; frustrated with the city’s breads, he decided to make his own as a sideline. At a communal table not unlike the long wooden one at his Languedoc house, customers ate simple salads and sandwiches made with fresh, local, organic ingredi-ents and terrific whole-grain bread. Over the past two decades, Coumont has opened more than 100 Le Pain Quotidien cafés in 15 countries, all with the same rustic

feel (he still employs the same furniture maker who designed his first shop). “LPQ was originally a hobby,” Coumont says. “Now it’s a business.” A business with a unique selling point: a menu that is increasingly, quietly, vegan.

“I think it’s the future of food,” Coumont says. “Every time we bring in a vegetarian or vegan item, our customers jump on it.” Along with tofu versions of popular mainstays, like their curried chicken salad, LPQ has gradually begun intro-ducing vegan desserts, including an apple mousse made with cashew butter and a brown rice pudding made with soy milk and agave syrup. Coumont’s goal is to make 30 to 40 percent of LPQ’s menu meat-, egg- and dairy-free.

Coumont wants the vegan options to succeed, and not just because they taste so good: He believes that even a partly vegan diet is healthier and more environmentally friendly. But he does not want to be known as a vegan missionary. “The

Coumont’s garden provides the basil in his limeade slushy (recipe, p. 92), the tomatoes he stuffs with goat cheese (recipe, p. 92) and the baby artichokes he braises in wine (recipe, p. 72), opposite.

66 foodandwine.com

Rebecca Rose is the deputy books editor for U.K.–based

newspaper the Financial Times. She lives in London.

68 foodandwine.com

vegan dishes have to be fun, and fun to eat. When we taste-test these products, we don’t tell the staff that they’re vegan,” Coumont says. “We just want to be sure they’re fantastic.”

As with most every decision he has made about LPQ, the semi-vegan approach is how Coumont chooses to live himself. “Our kitchen doubles as the R&D department for LPQ,” he explains. He’s quite rigorous about it: Four times a year, he invites LPQ’s leading chefs to the bastide for a week of culi-nary experimentation. He calls them his “flying chefs,” because when they’re not in the Languedoc, they’re flying to LPQs around the globe on quality-control missions. “I lock myself up with the flying chefs for four to five days,” he says. “No mobile phones, no Internet. On the last day, a team of tasters comes and either raves about—or kills—our recipes. We’re not afraid of experimenting. We’re not like a super-high-end restaurant, where every move can make or break you.”

Coumont, who counts world-renowned chefs like Daniel Boulud, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Dan Barber as his friends, has invited several chefs to road-test their own res-taurant recipes at the bastide. “It’s a good place to develop dishes,” Coumont says, “because there’s nothing else to do. You can pick vegetables in the garden, then drink wine until 3 or 4 a.m.” In 2005, the founder of Manhattan’s Fig & Olive restaurant came to plot his menu; Fig & Olive’s current chef, Pascal Lorange, is among the guests for dinner tonight.

The Coumonts so love to cook for friends, they maintain an open-door policy—literally. “I don’t have a key to the door, because someone is always home. People just come in,”

Along with Le Pain Quotidien breads, Louella Coumont serves lemony brown rice pilaf, opposite (recipe, p. 93).

chiLLed zucchini soup p. 712007 Nikolaihof Hefeabzug Grüner Veltliner

braised baby artichokes p. 72 2007 Patianna Mendocino Sauvignon Blanc

oven-roasted tomatoes With goat cheese p. 92

pan-seared apricots and figs p. 92

basiL Limeade p. 92

herb frittatas p. 92

broWn rice piLaf p. 93 2006 Domaine du Closel La Jalousie Chenin Blanc

summer bLackberry custards p. 93

dinner brunch

70 food & wine • august 2009 foodandwine.com 71 food & wine • august 2009

Chilled Zucchini Soup with Purslaneactive: 25 min; total: 45 min

plus 3 hr chilling

1 2 s e r v i n g s

Alain Coumont’s cool vegan soup gets

its creaminess from pureed zucchini, sau-

téed onion and garlic. It’s brightened with

purslane, a lemony weed that Coumont

plucks from his Languedoc country gar-

den; if purslane is not available at your

local farmers’ market, substitute baby

arugula leaves instead.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil,

plus more for drizzling

1 small onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

1 bay leaf

8 small zucchini (3 pounds),

thinly sliced, plus long zucchini

shavings for garnish

Kosher salt

3 cups water

2 tablespoons finely shredded basil

2 cups ice

Freshly ground pepper

2 cups purslane or baby arugula

1. In a large saucepan, heat the 2 table-

spoons of olive oil. Add the onion and

garlic and cook over moderate heat until

translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in the

thyme and bay leaf and cook until fragrant,

about 1 minute. Add the sliced zucchini,

season with salt and cook, stirring occa-

sionally, until tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the water and bring to a boil. Remove

the saucepan from the heat. Discard the

bay leaf and stir in the shredded basil.

2. Working in batches, puree the soup in

a blender until very smooth. Transfer the

zucchini puree to a large bowl. Stir in the

ice. Refrigerate the zucchini soup for at

least 3 hours, until thoroughly chilled.

3. Season the soup with salt and pepper.

Ladle into shallow bowls and top with a

small handful of purslane and zucchini

shavings. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

make ahead The zucchini soup can be

refrigerated for up to 1 day.

Coumont pan-sears apricots and figs in honey infused with southern France’s iconic lavender (recipe, p. 92).

“Sulfites are necessary in very small amounts, so that the wine can travel,” Coumont says. “But it is such a small amount, you can drink two bottles of this stuff, and you won’t have a headache the next day.” Clearly intent on testing his theory, he grins and grabs a dozen bottles before heading back to the house to greet his guests.

Along with Lorange, tonight’s other dinner invitees include Gilles Valeriani, Coumont’s business partner in his wine operation, and Alain Allier, a neighbor and fourth-generation vigneron, who brings the Champagne. Once everyone is seated, Louella carries out the first course, a chilled, silken soup of pureed zucchini from the garden topped with zucchini ribbons and sprigs of purs-lane, a crisp, lemony wild green (recipe, opposite page). For the main course, Coumont brings out the braised arti-chokes and a steaming bowl of buckwheat couscous, a newfound favorite grain. “Make sure you drink one glass of wine for every glass of water,” he advises his guests as he passes a basket of whole-grain sourdough bread, per-fect with the warm, basil-flecked goat cheese filling in the side dish of oven-roasted tomatoes (recipe, p. 92).

After dessert—luscious figs and apricots, pan-seared in honey that’s been infused with the lavender blossoms Coumont had gathered earlier in the afternoon (recipe, p. 92)—Damien De Lepeleire, an artist friend of the Coumonts, lays out some recent prints on the graveled

courtyard. Covered in a maze of colorful small dots, they resemble something between 1960s psychedelia and Australian Aboriginal art. The guests admire them under the moon light; someone suggests that the prints would make great wine labels.

The next morning, proving his theory about low sulfites in wine, Coumont is full of energy. As he finishes preparing a restorative brunch, he dashes around his vast kitchen, dodging the large wild mushrooms drying from meat hooks overhead, as well as his many Le Creuset pots. Everyone has stayed the night. As his guests emerge, bleary-eyed, he brings out thin egg pancakes seasoned with parsley and mint from the garden (rec-ipe, p. 92) and a tomato salad, while Louella sets out a large bowl of a citrusy brown rice pilaf studded with chopped Lucques olives (recipe, p. 93). The creamy rice is exquisitely vegan, except for the aged Provençal goat cheese Louella shaves over the top. “That’s why we need a choice,” Coumont laughs. “Cheese and cream are hard to resist.”

Coumont says. As a result, he regularly finds himself foraging for dinner at the last minute—often in his abun-dant garden, where he grows everything from pears to figs to olives that a local press turns to olive oil. “There are quick tricks,” he says, as he snips off stalks of basil for the savory tomato sauce he’ll drizzle on a tangy vegan salad of baby artichokes braised with carrots and bay (recipe, p. 72). “Organic brown rice and whole wheat pasta are both easy main dishes,” he says. “Just choose a few aristocratic vegetables, like artichokes or wild mush-rooms, to serve with them. They will trigger conversation around the table and will also do everyone good.”

For one last errand before returning to the house, Coumont takes the quick walk from the garden to his winery. The Languedoc region has a reputation for icon-oclastic winemakers, and Coumont is no exception. In the 19th-century stone barn on his grounds, he recently began producing 150,000 bottles of wine a year. They are called RN13, for Rouge National, 13 Percent. The wines, a red, a rosé and a white, are all blends marketed as VdP, or “vin de pique-nique,” a play on the French regional classification vin de pays. The wines are sold at LPQ, in glass bottles with resealable flip tops resembling classic French lemonade bottles. Typical of the natural winemaking techniques in vogue with some producers in the Languedoc, they’re made with minimal sulfites.

agave syrup “I like agave syrup because it’s a

raw sweetener—it’s squeezed from the agave plant [the same succulent used to make tequila]. It has a fairly neutral taste, so it’s great for baking.”

casheW butter “It has the fat content of cream or butter, as well as the fiber and protein content of nuts. It can give baked goods and mousses great texture.”

coLd-pressed oiLs “To make refined vegetable oils,

factories grind the ingredients, mix them with water and pull out the oil with a solvent.

The flavor goes into the air. Cold-pressed oils don’t go through this process, so they have more nutrients, and they still taste of something.”

dairy-free miLks “Soy milk is an easy substitute

for dairy. Almond and rice milks are also delicious.”

WhoLe-grain fLours

“The difference between whole-grain wheat flour and refined all-purpose flour is like the difference between cornmeal and cornstarch. Cornmeal tastes like corn; cornstarch doesn’t taste of anything.”

72 food & wine • august 2009 foodandwine.com

wine The Grüner Veltliner grape produces

crisp white wines that often have a distinc-

tive green note, making them good part-

ners for vegetable dishes—and ideal with

this velvety soup. Try the vibrant 2007

Nikolaihof Hefeabzug or the lively 2007

Soellner Wogenrain, both from produ cers

who farm biodynamically (a spiritual

approach to organics based on the writings

of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner).

Braised Baby Artichokes with Tomato Coulisactive: 45 min; total: 1 hr

1 2 s e r v i n g s

This healthy, zippy Provençal classic is

known as artichokes barigoule. Served over

whole-grain brown rice or buckwheat cous-

cous, it makes a lovely vegan main course.

2 lemons, halved

36 baby artichokes (3 pounds)

¥ cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves, quartered lengthwise

2 carrots, thinly sliced on the bias

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon thyme leaves

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

wine Artichokes are tough to match with

wine because they contain cynarin, which

for most people makes wines taste overly

sweet. To combat the effect, pick a tart white

with good acidity, like a Sauvignon Blanc.

Two good choices, both from California

and made with organic grapes, are the

grapefruity 2007 Patianna Mendocino and

the lime-scented 2007 Sterling Vineyards.

Tomato Coulistotal: 15 min

m a k e s 1 ¼ c u p s

4 medium fresh tomatoes,

quartered

4 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes,

drained

1 garlic clove

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

5 basil leaves

Pinch of crushed red pepper

Kosher salt and freshly ground

black pepper

In a blender, puree the fresh tomatoes

with the drained sun-dried tomatoes,

garlic, olive oil, basil and crushed red pep-

per. Season with salt and black pepper.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

‚ cup dry white wine

» teaspoon salt

Fresh Tomato Coulis, for serving

(recipe follows)

1. Squeeze the lemons into a bowl of water.

Working with 1 artichoke at a time, snap off

the dark green outer leaves. Using a sharp

paring knife, slice off all but 1 inch of the

remaining leaves. Peel and trim the stems.

Halve the artichokes, scrape out the hairy

choke and drop them into the lemon water.

2. In a large, nonreactive skillet, heat the

olive oil. Add the garlic, carrots, onion,

thyme, bay leaves, black peppercorns

and coriander seeds and cook over mod-

erately high heat until the onion begins to

soften, about 2 minutes.

3. Drain the artichokes and add them to

the skillet. Cook until the onion is trans-

lucent, about 2 minutes longer. Add the

wine and salt, cover and cook over moder-

ate heat until the artichokes are just ten-

der, about 10 minutes. Discard the bay

leaves. Spoon the artichokes and their

juices onto plates. Drizzle with the Fresh

Tomato Coulis and serve.

make ahead The cooked baby artichokes

can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Gently reheat before serving.

aLain coumont says his country house is a great pLace to deveLop restaurant dishes, “because there’s nothing eLse to do. you can pick vegetabLes in the garden, then drink Wine untiL 3 or 4 a.m.”

The Coumonts pick wild blackberries to make a summer custard, opposite (recipe, p. 93).

c o n t i n u e d o n p . 9 2

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Goat Cheese active: 25 min; total: 1 hr 15 min

1 2 s e r v i n g s

For these buttery-soft roasted tomatoes,

Coumont boosts the flavor of the creamy

goat cheese filling with garlic and basil. The

result works both as a side dish or a main

course with a salad and crusty bread.

12 medium tomatoes (3 pounds)

1‹ pounds fresh goat cheese

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons finely chopped basil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¥ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

¥ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. Slice off the

top » inch of each tomato and reserve the

tops. Scoop out the tomato cores and

seeds. Cut a very thin sliver off of the bot-

tom of each tomato to help them stand up

straight. Arrange the tomatoes in a 9-by-

13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.

2. In a bowl, combine the goat cheese with

the egg, garlic, basil, salt, pepper and 2 table-

spoons of the olive oil. Spoon the goat

cheese mixture into the tomatoes, mound-

ing the filling » inch above the rim. Cover

with the tomato tops and drizzle with the

remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

3. Bake the tomatoes for 35 minutes, until

tender and browned in spots and the

cheese is hot. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Pan-Seared Apricots and Figs with Honey and Lavender

total: 25 min

1 2 s e r v i n g s

Coumont’s simple dessert delivers a lot

of flavor without a lot of work. Try it with

any combination of summer fruits, such as

plums, peaches or raspberries, or use

thyme instead of lavender. It’s also delicious

with crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.

» cup honey

2» tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¥ teaspoon dried lavender blossoms

12 apricots, halved and pitted

18 fresh figs, halved lengthwise

12 mint sprigs, for garnish

1. In a large nonstick skillet, boil the honey

with the lemon juice and lavender over high

heat until reduced slightly, 1 minute.

2. Arrange the apricots in the skillet, cut

sides down. Cook over high heat until just

tender, 2 minutes; turn and cook until

softened, 1 minute longer. Using a slotted

spoon, trans fer the apricots to plates.

3. Add the figs to the skillet and cook over

high heat, turning once, until softened, 2

minutes. Spoon the figs and juices over the

apricots. Garnish with the mint and serve.

Basil Limeade Slushiestotal: 20 min

1 2 s e r v i n g s

A splash of soda water makes these tart

slushies pleasingly bubbly. With a little

rum, they’d also make great cocktails.

8 cups ice

4 cups water

3 cups fresh lime juice

3 cups lightly packed basil leaves,

plus basil sprigs, for garnish

1» cups sugar

1» cups soda water

In a blender, working in batches, blend the

ice with the water, lime juice, basil leaves

and sugar until slushy. Pour the limeade

into chilled glasses. Top with 2 table-

spoons of the soda water, garnish with

the basil sprigs and serve.

Herb Frittatas with Minty Tomato Salad

total: 25 min

1 2 f i r st- c o u r s e s e r v i n g s

These frittatas are so thin and light, they’re

almost like crêpes. Coumont serves them

with juicy tomatoes tossed with mint, but

nearly any summer salad would work.

4 large tomatoes, cored and diced

¥ cup coarsely chopped mint, plus

3 dozen mint leaves, for garnish

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

3 scallions, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

» teaspoon ground cumin

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

¥ cup extra-virgin olive oil

92 food & wine • august 2009 foodandwine.com

farm-fresh french from p. 72

c o n t i n u e d o n p . 9 3

Summer Party Primer r/o

1. Set a strainer over a bowl. In a medium

bowl, toss the diced tomatoes with 2 table-

spoons of the chopped mint and season

with salt and pepper. Scrape the tomatoes

into the strainer and let drain.

2. Meanwhile, in another bowl, toss the

chopped parsley with the scallions, garlic,

cumin and the remaining 2 tablespoons

of the chopped mint. Stir in the eggs and

season with salt and pepper.

3. In a large cast-iron skillet, heat 2 table-

spoons of the olive oil. Pour in half of the

egg mixture and tilt the pan to spread it

into a thin pancake. Cook over moderately

high heat, turning once, until browned and

crisp, about 4 minutes. Transfer the frittata

to paper towels to drain. Repeat with the

remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and

egg. Cut the frittatas into wedges. Spoon

the drained tomatoes alongside, garnish

with the mint leaves and serve.

Brown Rice Pilaf with Green Olives and Lemonactive: 30 min; total: 1 hr 30 min

1 2 s e r v i n g s

Coumont makes this creamy (yet cream-

free) rice dish with lemony Lucques olives

and nutty organic Camargue red rice, but

almost any green olive or short-grain

brown rice would be terrific. Vegans should

leave out the tangy goat cheese shavings.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil,

plus more for drizzling

2 medium onions, finely chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

10 cups water

3 cups short-grain brown rice

1 thyme sprig

1 bay leaf

Kosher salt

1» cups pitted small green olives,

halved (6 ounces)

» cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

¥ cup chopped basil, plus 24 basil

leaves for garnish

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Freshly ground pepper

4 ounces aged goat cheese,

shaved with a vegetable peeler

1. In a large saucepan, heat the 2 table-

spoons of oil. Add the onions and garlic

and cook over moderate heat, stirring occa-

sionally, until softened, 8 minutes. Add the

water, rice, thyme and bay leaf and bring

to a boil for 1 minute. Remove from the

heat, cover and let stand for 30 minutes.

2. Stir 1 tablespoon of salt into the rice.

Cover and simmer over low heat, stirring

occasionally, until most of the water has

been absorbed, about 30 minutes. Remove

from the heat; discard the bay leaf and

thyme. Stir in the olives, parsley, chopped

basil, lemon juice and lemon zest and season

with salt and pepper. Spoon the rice into

bowls. Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with

the goat cheese and basil leaves; serve.

wine This pilaf needs a wine with sub-

stance, like a dry Chenin Blanc from France’s

Loire Valley. From Savennières, try the

melony 2006 Domaine du Closel La Jalou-

sie, or from Montlouis, the honeyed 2006

François Chidaine Clos du Breuil. Both

wines are made from organic grapes.

Summer Blackberry Custards active: 15 min; total: 1 hr

1 2 s e r v i n g s

Coumont makes these ethereal, citrusy

custards with wild blackberries gathered

from his property. Try them with blueber-

ries, raspberries or pitted cherries, too.

6 cups blackberries (2 pounds)

1» cups whole milk

» cup heavy cream

2 large eggs

‚ cup packed dark brown sugar

» cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

» teaspoon grated orange zest

1. Preheat the oven to 450°. Spread » cup

of the blackberries in each of twelve

4-ounce gratin dishes. Arrange the gratin

dishes on 2 baking sheets.

2. In a bowl, whisk the milk with the cream,

eggs, brown sugar, flour, vanilla, lemon

juice and orange zest until smooth. Ladle

¥ cup of the custard into each dish; bake

for about 15 minutes, until the centers are

set. Transfer the custards to wire racks

and let stand for 30 minutes. Serve. •

93foodandwine.com food & wine • august 2009

farm-fresh french from p. 92

herb frittatas continued

Andreas Viesta r/o