Every Saturday and Sunday, Vanessa Zhâ and Marion Sauveur make us discover some nuggets of French heritage.
Head to Alsace today, to celebrate spring, a pretzel in hand.
Direction Alsace this morning, we leave from Colmar to celebrate the arrival of spring.
Because celebrating spring is an ancestral tradition as important as Christmas.
There are also Easter markets, as there are Christmas markets.
And it starts this weekend, with the Osterputz, spring cleaning, at home in your house but also for yourself.
It's a kind of good detox before Easter.
This is precisely why Maundy Thursday is also called Green Thursday.
We only eat green (shoots and vegetables) to clean ourselves.
And then we live green: we make bouquets and Easter trees, with the twigs to decorate the houses and the streets, and we hang eggs, representations of all the spring animals, like the lamb but also the Hare.
What's special about him?
Forget the bells!
We are interested in the Osterhase in Alsace.
Caroline Bronner, who is a fascinating tour guide in the Colmar area, tells us more.
"The Osterhase is the Easter hare. In Alsace, it is not the bells that return from Rome to distribute eggs on the fly, but it is indeed the Easter hare. It is the messenger of spring and he can, if we have been wise, lay chocolate eggs in nests made by children. "
Eggs, chocolates, sweets but also gifts which can be even substantial like a bicycle, a good memory for Caroline besides.
What types of tours is she offering for this spring?
Several formulas around Colmar.
It could be "Vineyards and Discoveries" visits like Osterberg sur Ribauvillé, one of the exceptional wines of Alsace.
But it can also be "Culture and Traditions" visits to typical small towns like Kaysesberg.
And then, another natural suggestion, but on the wildlife side.
It takes place in the Valley of Munster.
We can follow in the footsteps of chamois with Mathieu Dischinger, from Terredesylphe.
The cool thing about him is that he takes you to see them up close, with respect.
He takes just what is needed.
"I always have with me, in my backpack, what is called a monocular, with a magnification of 45X. I put my tripod down and I will zoom in so that we can see the animal properly. When? you have binoculars, it's more complicated. With a monocular, you can see the details of the animal, how it evolves in its environment. "
And the most suitable time is in the evening between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. (preferably in summer).
But if you want to get up early, that's possible too.
You can also wake up deer in the Riede Valley, higher up on the Obernai side.
Good addresses?
B. Cottage, a luxury cottage away from Riquewhir in the middle of the vineyards.
A family home side with Riquewhir decor not far from Ribauvillé.
Marion Sauveur, what Alsatian specialty do you want to tell us about?
The pretzel, the Alsatian Proust madeleine.
I'm not talking about the dry little aperitif biscuit.
But of an indefinable delicacy, between a bread and a brioche, the size of a hand and at the same time crunchy on the thin part and soft on the thick part.
And a pretty golden brown color.
With a good salty taste.
Has the pretzel always been Alsatian?
Rather Germanic.
Several legends surround this salty delicacy.
My favorite says that a baker of a count condemned to death had to invent a pastry through which the sun could shine 3 times to save his head.
It was by observing his wife, arms crossed, that he had the idea of the pretzel.
But during his preparation, his cat jumped on the plate, and overturned the pretzels ready to cook in a brine (water and salt) ready for a dish.
The baker did not have time to remake the dough and he baked the pretzel like that.
Is the pretzel easy to make?
It takes a real skill.
This is what the starred chef Thierry Schwartz, who has his bakery in Obernai, explained to me.
“It's a bread dough, therefore water, leaven, flour, salt.
Knead, then add a large amount of butter.
We repeated.
We let it rest: we do a first shoot.
And then, we put the shaping that we want, in the shape of the pretzel.
It is true that it takes a helping hand.
And then we will dip it in this saline solution and cook it.
It is precisely this salt water that will give the slightly particular taste and this beautiful brownish color ”.
The trick to successfully shaping the shape is to make a long, thicker sausage in the center.
Fold the dough by crossing the ends twice before folding them over the first loop to form the cross of the pretzel.
It is a delicacy that does not keep well.
It is better to eat the fresh pretzel during the day.
You can keep it 2-3 days in a cloth, and before tasting warm it in the oven.
Pretzels
Ingredients:
500 g Flour
20 g Baker's yeast
15 cl Milk
15 cl of water
75 g Softened butter
70 g Sodium bicarbonate
2 liters of water
Salt flower
Production :
1. Mix the yeast in the milk and lukewarm water for 15 minutes.
2. During this time: mix the flour, salt, sugar.
Add the melted butter.
Then incorporate the water-milk-yeast mixture until a smooth dough is obtained.
3. Cover with a damp cloth.
The dough will rise and double in size.
The ideal is to leave it in a warm place (= an oven off and preheat to 40 degrees) for at least 1h30.
4. Preheat the oven to 200 ° C.
Knead the dough again to make it firm, supple and elastic.
The dough must come off the bowl.
5. Divide the dough into a ball of 100 grams each.
Make sausages, about 50 cm thick, thicker in the center.
6. To shape the pretzels: grab both ends of each strip and form a loop.
Cross the ends twice, then press each end on each side of the middle part.
7. Immerse the pretzels in a mixture of lukewarm water and baking soda.
They should be drained with a skimmer, before placing them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper.
Sprinkle them with fleur de sel, before putting them in a hot oven for about fifteen minutes (200 degrees).
They are ready when they are golden.
And when is it eaten?
Alsatians will get back to you at any time of the day when you're feeling peckish.
It is an aperitif classic, with beer.
For a long time it was the snack of children's recess.
But it is also eaten in a sandwich: you cut it in half lengthwise and you garnish it with ham, for example.
The pretzel is also eaten sweet.
This time it's more of a brioche, with spices.
Usually this brezel is three times bigger.
Tradition has it that we offer it on the New Year.
It is also used by men to declare the importance of their feelings to those chosen by their heart.
If we are in Alsace, where do we go to eat the best pretzels?
Before, bakers made all their pretzels.
Unfortunately today it is increasingly rare.
The majority buy them frozen.
Ask them before you buy.
If you go to Obernai, I advise you to stop at the bakery of chef Thierry Schwartz, rue du Marché.
It offers pretzels with fleur de sel, cheese (Vosges square) and a peasant bacon version - very gourmet cheese.
But what to taste if you go to his bakery is the knack'zel: his Alsatian version of the hot dog (a knack, a sausage rolled up in pretzel dough and baked in the oven).
The chef is currently offering ready-made meals, which can be delivered throughout France.
And you can add pretzels.