Ed. note: Ellen Wallace is posting stories on food during Jonell’s absence; she’ll be back in mid-September.
La Potagère in St-Pierre-de-Clages, Valais, is a mix of gourmand excellence, no frills and over-the-top whimsy
By Ellen Wallace
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There might be another food shop somewhere in Switzerland that equals this one for sheer fun, whimsy and great quality, but I have my doubts. I was in two neighbouring villages, Chamoson and St-Pierre-de-Clages in Valais, to write about the Vinea wine fest over the weekend. I had one of those accidental and serendipitous food discoveries that make the art of cooking and the joy of eating that much more fun.
Winemaker Claude Crittin from Maurice Gay wines invited several journalists to climb the hillside above Chamoson, to better view the magnificent hillside of vines there. We were offered one of the most beautiful, as well as tasty, aperitif tables I’ve enjoyed: good wine with excellent thin rye bread, Valaisan slivered meat that is dried in the open air, and a spectacular fruit basket.
The table was dotted with charming bottles of homemade pickled fruits and vegetables. I was still admiring the fruit basket when I popped pickled square of pumpkin in my mouth and stopped in my tracks because I have never had anything like it. Slightly spicey, gently pickled and simply beautiful, as were all the other vegetables in the jar (zucchini and onions). Then I tried the small pickled asparagus, crunchy, barely cooked and so delicate, a far cry from the usual fresh fare or canned ones, that I decided I had to find out who made these.
It turns out that everyone in the world except me (and, I suspect, you) knows about La Potagère, but it’s still worth mentioning. Marie-Cécile and her husband Jean-Francois Buchard, have been running this small shop off the main street of St-Pierre-de-Clage for 32 years. They are open seven days of the week and have never taken a vacation. You can only do this if you really, really love your work, and it’s clear that they do. They have fun.
They make elegant fruit baskets, such as the one the Maurice Gay winery offered us, but their core business is a very good fresh fruit and vegetable indoor market that is a collection of plain crates of great food. Their reputation has much to do with magician Marie-Cécile’s open-minded approach: anything that strikes her fancy goes into the big jam-making pot.
The quality of the produce they sell explains why their own homemade confitures and pickled foods are so delicious, but it’s the owners’ sense of fun that is responsible for the odd combinations and whimsical names, such as jams called l’Escalier de l’artiste and La danse du café. They recently had a visit from a Swiss public television crew that wanted to see how the latest confection, from cherries and balsamic vinegar, was made. It was diplomatically named Couch de cerises sur le pain and was inspired by a comment made by retiring Swiss federal councilor Pascal Couchepin, from nearby Martigny, who reportedly plans to become an apprentice when his job as a politician ends in October.
After much browsing I settled on jars of pickled asparagus, pickled pumpkin and a jam: melon with pear, largely because the elegant colour was so appealing.
The couple sell other artisans’ goods, such as wonderful pastas, wines, cheeses and numerous regional products. I couldn’t resist what turned out to be excellent, delicately flavoured mini-meringues that you pop in your mouth. I opted for pale green pistachio ones but I was tempted by all of the other 10 or so flavours, made by Scrunch. The walls are plastered with odd posters and magazine articles. The corners hold strange collections of objects and it was only as I was leaving that I tripped over a nook with interesting soaps. I’ll check them out on my next visit.
Not to miss, this little corner in Valais! But you might have to ask for it once in the village, as the entrance is off the street, down a driveway and around the corner. On the other hand, everyone knows where it is.
Related: TSR, June 2009, portrait, Marie-Cécile Buchard