July 19, 2005
Gratin de Nectarines à la Noisette
[Hazelnut and Nectarine Gratin]
In French, a portrait chinois (literally "Chinese portrait") is a kind of riddle in which one person tries to guess a famous person's name by asking a set of questions and working by analogy: if he were an animal, what would he be? And if he were a flower, a city, a song, a color, a movie? Since this is incredibly difficult -- I mean really, if Charles de Gaulle were a flower, what the heck would he be? I'm telling you, you don't want to be trapped in a car with people playing that game -- the portrait chinois is more often used as a poetic way to ask someone about his own personality. It is also a popular interview pattern, although it has been used so much now that the interviewer is obligated to come up with clever questions, otherwise everyone (interviewee and readers alike) will be bored to tears.*
And the reason why I am telling you this -- yes! there is one! -- is that while I was making this nectarine gratin for our dinner party the other night, lovingly coring and quartering these plump ripe nectarines, the juices running down my wrists and the occasional bite accidently flying into my mouth (well you do have to make sure they're of satisfactory quality for your guests, no?), I came to the following realization: if I were a fruit, I would want to be a yellow nectarine. I'm not sure what it is about it exactly, but it has been my favorite summer fruit for as long as I can remember. White nectarines and peaches are fine, but the yellow nectarine is really something else -- smooth-skinned and warmly sweet and the color of sunshine.
I am quite content to eat them out of hand, or paired with redcurrants in my mother's fruit salads. But they lend themselves really well to baking too, so I prepared this simple dessert, in which the nectarines are thinly coated with a bit of cream and sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts, before going into the oven for a bit of flavor-deepening, flesh-softening, roasting action.
*Now that I think about it, maybe this would be a fun idea for a food blog meme, short and sweet -- if you were a condiment, a kitchen gadget, a spice, a herb, a pantry staple, a food chemistry phenomenon, a dish, a cookie, what would you be? Hm. I'll have to think about this.
Gratin de Nectarines à la Noisette
- 10 ripe nectarines (it is often difficult to find just ripe nectarines at the store, so try to buy them a few days in advance, it will give them time to soften in your fruit basket)
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/4 C maple syrup
- 1/4 C heavy cream
- 1/4 C hazelnuts
(Serves 6 to 8.)
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
Toast the hazelnuts in a dry skillet, let cool, and chop roughly. Set aside.
Rinse and dry the nectarines. Cut them in one-inch chunks and set aside in a large oven-proof dish.
In a medium mixing-bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, maple syrup and heavy cream. Pour this mixture over the nectarines, toss to coat, and spread evenly in the dish. Sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts.
Put into the oven to bake for twenty minutes, until the nectarines have softened. Put the oven in the grill position and grill the nectarines for five minutes.
Let cool for a few minutes on the counter and serve just warm or at room temperature, on its own or with a scoop of ice-cream.
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Comments (31)
Permalink | Posted by clotilde in Cakes & Desserts - Recipe Inside!
Perhaps, "If you were a vegetable......?" Because there are so many to choose from, and they are of such different sorts. Part II could be, "How would you be prepared?"
Posted by Lindy on July 19, 2005 12:24 PMwell there are no prizes for guessing which fruit I would be!! A ripe, juicy, blood plum each and every time!
As dear Suzanne Vega would say
"See how the flesh
presses the skin,
It must be bursting
with secrets within,
I've seen the rest, yes
and that is the one for me"
plum
Posted by plum on July 19, 2005 1:12 PMAs for me, as long as I can remember my favorite summer fruit was the "brugnon", but it seems as it doesn't exist any more!
Posted by CelineCook on July 19, 2005 3:56 PMWhy did it disappear, and be replaced by "nectarine"?...even if it's gorgeous too, it's not the same!
Posted by Patsy on July 19, 2005 4:14 PMAh, how lovely: pie-ness without having to make pastry. Bless those gratins! I've been looking for the perfect, easy dessert during a very busy summer and you gave it to me. Merci!
condiment: moutarde a l'ancienne
Posted by anna on July 19, 2005 7:15 PMkitchen gadget: puree stick
spice: fennel pollen
herb: rosemary
pantry staple: pasta
food chemistry phenomenon: baked alaska
dish:
cookie: ginger-molasses
I will never forget my first ever bite of a yellow nectarine, aged 14, in Landes, France. (In the UK at that point we could only get peaches)
Posted by sam on July 19, 2005 8:46 PMI love them too. They don't taste so good in California, I tell you. I have been disappointed with all the ones I've tried at the Farmers market. Too much sweetness and none of that flavour.
Btw - the English play that game too. My favourite question of anyone is - if you were a dessert what would you be?
me? i'm think'n artichoke, cumquat, spaghetti squash.
am acutely aware that these analogies may change according to mood. :)
Posted by Alisa on July 19, 2005 10:22 PMHow much fat is there in French heavy cream? Are you using something for this dish that is close to American heavy or whipping cream, or is it richer?
Posted by pyewacket on July 19, 2005 10:22 PMPS there are plenty of politicians I can think of who could be described as a "spotted dick" ;)
Posted by sam on July 20, 2005 5:00 AMThat dessert does sound delicious, I often do something vaguely similar on the stove for just myself and the roommate when I want something dessert-y but not too fattening. (Not using the cream makes it pretty low fat).
But I have a question - do you really core nectarines 'lovingly'? No matter how much I like a fruit or the dish they are going into, I can't imagine describing the act of coring has something I'd do lovingly. Just wondering, thats all.
Posted by Deanna on July 20, 2005 10:14 AMCeline - Ah yes, the brugnon! A cross between plum and peach where the nectarine is a cross between apricot and peach, I believe. I have read that brugnons progressively disappeared from stores because they are more fragile and don't travel as well than the nectarine...
Sam - Well, if *you* were a dessert what would you be? I think I'd be my mom's tarte aux fraises.
Pyewacket - The regular crème fraîche is 40% fat -- you could use a reduced fat version I guess, but it may curdle a bit.
Deanna - Funny this should surprise you! I love handling fruits and vegetables, and always prep my fruit with loving care, making sure I don't squish or bruise them -- and in the case of nectarines, gently twist-pulling the stone from the flesh to detach it...
Posted by clotilde on July 20, 2005 11:03 AMCeline and Clotilde, I have seen brugnons at the Galeries Gourmand at Porte Maillot - maybe it's the start of a come-back?
Posted by Meg on July 20, 2005 12:15 PMClotilde - I can just imagine you as A Tarte au Fraises - small, sweet and perfectly formed.
Me - I think I would be a Raspberry Pavalova - hard but also soft. A little tart but sweet too. Light but not without substance. Uneven around the edges, but structured in layers. A slightly haphazard appearance but designed for good effect.
What do you reckon?
sam
Posted by sam on July 20, 2005 4:23 PMAs yummy as the nectarine dessert sounds, I'm still interested in Stephan's loubia and cousous! Willing to share?
Posted by suzy on July 20, 2005 6:11 PMMeg - Good to know, thanks for the tip!
Sam - Loved the explanation of why you're a raspberry pavlova. Most convincing!
Suzy - I will ask Stéphan, but I know there is no recipe -- he's more of a "throw a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, oh maybe a bit more" kind of cook -- so it's going to be difficult. However, next time he cooks that kind of dish I can try to watch and make notes!
Posted by clotilde on July 20, 2005 6:23 PMThe nectarine isn't a cross (though Mel Brooks' 2000 year old man thought it was--"half a peach, half a plum, that's a hell of a fruit") but a very close relative of the peach.
"The genetic profile of peaches and nectarines differs by only a single gene, the one that makes peaches fuzzy, and nectarines are properly classified as a subspecies of peach, Prunus persica var. Nucipersica."--Alice Waters, "Chez Panisse Fruit"
Posted by john on July 20, 2005 8:16 PMJohn - Hm. I had found the info on a few websites in French (for instance: http://www.e-sante.fr/guide/article_2260_125.htm ). Just goes to show, yet again, that you can't believe everything that's written out there!
Posted by clotilde on July 21, 2005 12:46 AMI've recently fallen in love with pluots, a cross between an apricot and a plum. Sweet, but not as messy-juicy as a plum-- you know, when you take a bite and are left with only the skin because the flesh of the plum has liquefied and dripped down your chin.
Posted by Shelli on July 21, 2005 3:24 AMHi Clotilde--I got the message "objet introuvable" when I clicked on that link. On reflection I probably shouldn't have asserted categorically that the nectarine isn't a cross, though Alice Waters is usually pretty reliable.
L'enquête continue...
Posted by john on July 21, 2005 4:29 AMAccording to Alan Davidson in A Connoisseur's Guide and Cookbook, the nectarine is "a true peach, not a cross between a peach and a plum as some suppose."
Posted by Cynthia on July 21, 2005 5:03 AMTo be more specific, the botanic name for a peach is Prunus persica and the botanic name for nectarine is Prunus persica var. nectarina.
Posted by Cynthia on July 21, 2005 5:05 AMHow well I remember such a game ~ years back. Elio, married to my sister-in-law, said he'd be roularden on Gabrielle's plate! My Oh My!
As for me ~ fruit? the summeriest of cherries...
Posted by joan on July 21, 2005 7:12 AMNectarines are definately my favourite stone fruit too :)
Posted by clarexican on July 21, 2005 2:21 PMI love the nectarine most of all the fruits - and that's saying something because I feel like I can often gauge my moods by what's in season - cherries : energetic, pears : mellow, nectarines: happy, happy, happy.
What makes me sad, and ultimately more appreciative, is that nectarines aren't available as jam, preserves, etc., So, I eat, eat, eat them while they are in season and fully ripe, knowing that all too soon I'll end up with a grainy fruit and that will be the end until the next summer.
Thanks for sharing a recipe - I'm going to try it although I'm not sure that anything can rival the nectarine in its' simplest form.
Posted by Christy on July 21, 2005 7:40 PMthank you for such a marvelously simple but delicious recipe!
Posted by Becca on July 24, 2005 2:25 AMThought I should tell you that I have now made the gratin several times and thought it was so amazingly good that I've dedicated an entire post to encourage my family and friends to rush to your site and get this recipe ... thank you for making summer that much more enjoyable for me!
Posted by Becca on July 26, 2005 7:32 PMIf I were a fruit I could only be a mango.....
Posted by tilo on July 26, 2005 10:42 PMWhich fruit - I'm torn between a perfectly ripe peach (fuzz and all) and a truly ripe fig. Fresh figs that are actually ripe are so hard to come by where I am (Lexington KY, USA). After so many disappointments with dry fiberous figs, when a good one comes along it's soft syrupy flesh should be celebrated!
Posted by jennifer on August 1, 2005 5:27 AMfound this site thru French word of the day
Posted by Phyllis E. Morton on August 6, 2005 2:26 PMI went nectarine picking yesterday, and was looking for a way to use some of the fruit I picked. This recipe looks perfect!
Posted by Bumblebee on August 7, 2005 2:46 PMcoolest recipe for nectarines so far
Posted by Mrexplainall on May 27, 2007 5:19 AM