grape festival

Isabella, Riesling, Chasselas, Pinot, Muscat, Cardinal… White, amber yellow, pink, blue or black, the grapes appear in abundance in vases with fresh fruit in autumn. But not only! The sweet flesh of its sun-ripened berries also garnishes salads, hot dishes and cheese platters, giving them a divine sourness. The berries burst in the mouth and release delicious pulp that is refreshing and delicious. True pleasure!

Our ancestors, hunters and gatherers, ate Vitis vinifera sylvestris, the forest grape: they ate the berries and squeezed the juice out of them. And the desire to domesticate wild grapes appeared about six thousand years ago in the Middle East, when a fermentation process was discovered that turns juice into wine. And although the Greeks and Romans also ate table grapes, it truly reigned on the royal tables during the Renaissance: the greatest sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Suleiman the Magnificent, brought the Chasselas vine to King Francis I of France, who ordered it to be planted in Fontainebleau. Subsequently, Louis XIV did the same at Versailles.

Like other fruits, grapes are rich in sugars, minerals, and B vitamins, and are low in protein and fat. But what sets it apart is its content of powerful antioxidant flavonoids, especially resveratrol, one of the most effective anti-aging molecules. It is she who gives the wine its famous ability to protect the heart.

Grapes are refreshing and invigorating. One of the seasonal varieties, golden “chassela” with its delicate taste and almost brown color due to the very high sugar content, does not tolerate heat treatment and is mainly served with cheeses and salads. Muscat, in turn, is surprisingly suitable for meat. And Italian white grapes, with their heavy clusters and large, crisp, sweet berries, are especially loved by children.

Salted grape carpaccio with mature parmesan

For 4 personsPrepare: 10 minutes

• 1 large bunch of large pink grapes
• 8 young sweet bulbs
• 2 twigs of basil
• a small piece of mature parmesan
• 4 Art. l. olive oil
• Fleur de sel sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

Preparation

Cut the washed grapes into quarters and arrange on plates. Add thinly sliced ​​young onions, a few basil leaves. Drizzle with olive oil, season lightly with freshly ground pepper, a pinch of salt and grated Parmesan. Serve on the table.

Puff appetizer with grape puree

For 4 persons 25 minutesPreparation: 10 minutes

• 4 young turnips with a diameter of 3-4 cm
• 1 bunch of muscat grapes
• 2 small young zucchini
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 100 g soft goat cheese or feta cheese
• a few leaves of purple basil and leeks
• butter
• 4 Art. l. olive oil
• Fleur de sel sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

Preparation

Wash the turnip well and cut into thin circles with a slicer. Cut the grapes in half and place in a saucepan with butter and apple cider vinegar. Sweat everything for about 10 minutes – until the consistency of a thick puree.

On each plate, alternate layers of turnip slices and stewed grapes to make a vegetable version of the puff pastry. Arrange basil leaves and leeks around, drizzle with olive oil, season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Crumble the cheese on top and add a few thin slices of fresh zucchini. Instead of these vegetables, or along with them, you can also add others – as your imagination tells you.