Dispatch no. 13: on-again, off-again spring
HAPPY TO BE BACK HERE! | seeing double in Paris | it's May! aka onion tart season | channeling the late great Andre Soltner | MY Tarte a L'Oignon
Hello hello, I am happy to be back here following a * brief * ( NOT ;-) pause. After wrapping up a year (!) of newsletters, I needed to focus on another task that was demanding more and MORE of my time, the completion of our brand new house here on this tiny island off an island, Chappaquiddick.
This post, my lucky 13th! is FREE, available to all as I get back into the swing of things. So without further ado, welcome (or welcome back) to my world, I hope you’ll stay awhile.
Yes, at last…it’s May! but here on our little island in the Northeast, I’m learning that the month of May doesn’t always guarantee being awash in warm sunny days. When the North Wind blows across the outer harbor straight at us, it can feel a lot more like… March. That is to say, just when you’re conjuring in your mind a table graced with spring-y dishes of rhubarb and peas, it’s much more likely that the ingredients available, if you’re a locavore like myself, are those that have survived storage or been in the ground all winter. Like potatoes, like beets … like ONIONS.
Therefore, this is The Story Of An Onion Tart that was discovered fortuitously many years ago, and never forgotten.
When my husband Mike and I were a brand-new item, participating in the proverbial long-distance relationship, we were regularly apart for weeks at a time. So it was all the more exhilarating when we were — at last ! — together again. During this early courtship, we shared a fantasy that one day we would fly in from our disparate locations and meet for lunch in Paris. Just the idea was tantalizingly romantic.
Possibly even more thrilling was the revelation that Mike had a restaurant in mind for our would-be rendezvous, a place he’d stumbled upon his very first time in Paris, many years before I met him. That time, he’d landed at Charles-de-Gaulle after a long exhausting NHL scouting trip to Russia. As Mike tells it, on the second afternoon of his first trip to Paris, he went to an organ concert at Notre-Dame Cathedral and afterwards crossed the river and wandered into a brasserie on the corner, joining a group of clearly regular patrons standing around the bar.
It was around 5 pm and Mike watched as the day bartender circled the bar at the end of his shift and shook hands with every one of his customers before departing. He then watched as the evening bartender shook each patron’s hand at the beginning of his shift. In this convivial atmosphere, Mike ordered a beer, and ended up staying for dinner. He spoke zero French and the waiter barely spoke English – but when a fragrant plate of meat, sauerkraut and potatoes wafted by his table, he and the waiter exchanged some pointing and nodding and he was introduced to his first ever Choucroute Garni, soon accompanied by the house red wine served a la ficelle (when you only pay for what you drink from the bottle). This is when La Brasserie de l’Isle Saint-Louis became Mike’s favorite restaurant in Paris ;-).
A couple of years before I met Mike, I was visiting Paris for the umpteenth time and this time was to retrieve my 12-year-old daughter Sophie who had arrived in Paris a week earlier, accompanied by my dear French friend Catherine and her daughter Marion. Pas mal ;-).
On our own, Sophie and I revisited all our familiar Paris spots together, walking through our favorite Jardin du Luxembourg with the espaliered apple trees at peak bloom; basking in the masterpieces at our beloved Picasso Museum; and planning a trek to Berthillon for its legendary ice cream.
On the afternoon we were making our way to Berthillon, by the time we walked across the Pont-Marie, we realized we wanted something a little more substantial first. We happened upon an outdoor cafe that looked perfect. It was right across from the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, so I was sure it would be a complete tourist trap — but it was so pretty and we were so ready to eat that we didn’t even care.
But, not at all — it was an authentic, un-touristy Alsatian brasserie, crowded with local Parisians. Always a sucker for a savory tart, it took me all of un minute to order the house specialty, Tarte a l’Oignon Maison !
Well. It seems I have never stopped dreaming (or talking, clearly) about that onion tart. What was it, the moment? the setting?? The dreamiest spring day in Paris avec ma fille?! Oui, oui, and oui! Or was it the tart itself, that perfectly flaky buttery crust, the rich sweet onion filling, the simplest bibb salad on the side, the glass of chilled Muscadet to accompany. The second glass of Muscadet ? ;-)
Back home in Connecticut, still dreaming of the tart, I screwed up my courage and begged Catherine in Paris to go to the restaurant in person to ask the Chef for the recipe. Surprisingly (she would never have otherwise) , she agreed to indulge her eccentric American friend. However, even when the inquirer was an elegant Parisian woman, and even though the chef was somewhat amused, he nonetheless emphatically replied (en Francais) "but, it's just as if you were asking me to give away one of my children!”
In other words, an emphatic NON.
Now, if you are still with me … ;-)
It was several years later but Mike and I finally DID end up in Paris together— no, we did not arrive separately as in our fantasy version, but still! On our first evening, Mike was tres excited to introduce me to “his” restaurant and I was all too eager to finally see this legendary place. We walked from our cozy hotel, chatting away, Mike leading the way and me not paying attention and then suddenly we’re standing right in front and he’s announcing triumphantly “Here, this is it!” and I’m saying “ wow! wait, oh my gosh, I have BEEN here!”
I couldn’t even fake it, I was so caught off guard. But there was no mistaking it.
And while I definitely could not remember the name of the place, and while he’d never been able to actually pronounce it when he was describing it to me, here we were. Together. At a restaurant that had lived in both of our hearts + minds, separately, all these years.
Crazy, right?! of all the places in Paris!
Naturellement, our evening at La Brasserie de l’Isle Saint-Louis was beyond dreamy— a perfect meal in Paris with my love, a memory that has endured all this time.
FIN
(The End)
Well, not quite the end … ;-)
One day, all these years later, I happened to be flipping through my copy of The Lutece Cookbook by the recently departed legendary Chef Andre Soltner (coincidentally a Dean of FCI when I was a student) and voila, encountered a recipe for a Tarte a l’Oignon that finally felt like “The One” ! Plus, Andre Soltner was Alsatian! as was our favorite brasserie!
Below is an excerpt of what Chef Andre says about the onion tart he served daily for 43 years at Lutece in NYC:
“…sometimes my mother would take me shopping with her to Mulhouse, the big town nearby…In Mulhouse, in some of the bistros, I remember there was a sign in the window: TARTE A L’OIGNON PRÊTE À QUATRE HEURES. These places served no other food, just the onion tart and at four o’clock everyone would go to these bistros…When my mother was finished with her shopping, we would go too.
Onion tarts are still popular in Alsace in the cafes. …the best ones are more basic. The tart we make at Lutece is based on my aunt’s recipe…”
Don’t you just love that?!
The only problem was when I made his tart, it definitely was not THE tart.
Now, I would never dream of suggesting that Chef Andre, practically the Patron Saint of Onion Tarts, had proffered a sub-par recipe — so it had to be me who had done something wrong. The filling was delicious but the pastry wasn’t right at all, also it was too thin. I wanted a heftier slice because that was how Sophie and I remembered it.
So, I went off-book, and decided to make it in a pie plate and to use more onions for a more intense onion flavor in the filling. And while I did not remember there being bacon in the onion tart(s) I’d had, the menu on the Brasserie ISL website refers to the Tarte Oignon … avec Lardons (Onion and Bacon Pie) and the addition of a small amount of bacon was delish. Completely optional.
So after many (delicious) attempts this may not be IT, but it is so very close and surely has me dreaming of a time ( x 2) long ago in Paris.
TARTE A L’OIGNON
(inspired by the one I had at La Brasserie de L’Ile Saint-Louis in Paris)
FOR THE CRUST:
makes enough for tarts (you can freeze one disc if making one tart)
INGREDIENTS
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar (optional, i do not use)
7 tablespoons ice water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
MAKE THE DOUGH:
combine flour, butter and salt in the bowl of a food processor. pulse everything until mixture resembles cornmeal or coarse crumbs
mix ice water and apple cider vinegar together in a small pitcher or bowl
drizzle the liquid into the flour mixture while pulsing, JUST until mixture starts to come together
turn dough out onto a wooden board, bring together with your hands, divide into two pieces, wrap each piece in plastic wrap, and form into two smooth flat discs.
chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
can be made the day before.
BLIND BAKE THE CRUST:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
roll out one of the discs of dough (refrigerate or freeze the other one) on lightly floured surface to 13”, about 1/8” thick
lay the rolled dough into a 9 or 10” tart or pie pan, pushing it gently into the corners, letting it drape over the rim. trim the excess, leaving 1/2 inch overhang — fold back and press into sides or crimp (depending on whether tart or pie pan!).
prick bottom crust gently all over with a fork and chill in the fridge until firm, at least 30 minutes.
line the chilled tart shell with parchment paper filled with pie weights (I use dried beans or popcorn kernels — that I reserve for this purpose only!)
bake until the edge of the pastry is light golden and the bottom is just set, about 15-18 minutes
remove the weights and paper and bake until pastry is golden all over, about another 12 minutes. set on a rack to cool but keep oven on.
FOR THE FILLING:
INGREDIENTS:
3 slices bacon, sliced crosswise thinly into strips (optional but recommended)
3 tablespooons butter or lard
2 lbs onions, halved lengthwise, then sliced crosswise
1 1/4 tsp salt, divided
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup creme fraiche
3 large eggs, beaten
several gratings fresh nutmeg
MAKE THE FILLING:
cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until just crisp, about 8 minutes
drain on paper towels, pour off bacon fat and reserve for another use
add butter or lard to skillet, when melted add onions, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. freshly grated pepper, until the onions are just softened, a couple of minutes
cover onions with a lid or a piece of parchment and continue to cook, stirring often, until extremely soft and pale golden (NOT caramelized), about 20 minutes
stir in slivered bacon, remove from heat, let cool about 10 minutes
in a large bowl, stir together the creme fraiche, beaten eggs, remaining salt + pepper, and the grated nutmeg, then stir in the slightly warm onions.
ASSEMBLE + BAKE THE TART:
pour mixture into tart shell, spreading the onions evenly throughout the filling
bake in the middle of the oven until the filling is set and he top is golden, 25-35 minutes
serve warm or at room temperature, alongside a simple green salad and a glass of Muscadet ;-) !
Thank you for reading. A la prochaine! (and do let me know if you make the tart!)
x
phoebe
Hi, Phoebe, how nice to see this in my in-box and how charming a story about you and Mike.
I happen to need an onion tart recipe, so I will 100% try this in the coming weeks. Question to you, because you know the recipe and may be open to a tweak: have you ever tried it with a pinch of dry mustard or a tiny dollop of dijon mustard? I'd love to hear if that works. Obviously I'll try it as written first. Let me know. Despite the cool, dreary weather your home(s) on the Vineyard are dreamy. All best.
Great story, could be the inspiration for a novel. Anyway, the onion tart sounds divine.