The Annual Pot-au-Feu Celebration in Le Puy

 The annual "Pot-au-Feu" celebration was held on Saturday, March 24. Citizens from the Le Puy area were all invited by the Super U grocery store to attend.

Pot-au-feu is a French country tradition that literally means "pot to the fire." The dish has been around at least since the 11th century where it was cooked in a big pot over a fire. 

According to Chef Raymond Blanc, pot-au-feu is "the quintessence of French family cuisine; it is the most celebrated dish in France. It honours the tables of the rich and poor alike." 

The main ingredients of pot-au-feu are some kind of cartilaginous meat (oxtail or marrowbone), carrots, turnips, leeks, celery, and onions. The spices used are bouquet Garni, salt, black pepper and cloves. 

The pot-au-feu in Le Puy took place in some nippy weather with overcast skies, but the hundreds of people who attended the annual event were not dissuaded. The wait in line wasn't very long either.  



Servers from the Super U staff as well as members of the Le Puy community joyfully and efficiently dished out this fine repast. 

The pot-au-feu followed a regular French déjeuner format, which also included an entree of saucisson, a generous wedge of cheese, baguette, eclair, wine, water, and coffee. 

The pot-au-feu celebration was held courtesy of the Super U, which prepared and offered the meal for free (gratuit) as a community service project. It seemed that all of the people of Le Puy were there and Eluiza and I joined in on the fun!

Le Puy is basically rural mountain country, so local farmers brought their animals to proudly display them. The Super U contracts with these farmers to stock their meat counters. It also seemed that through the presence of these animals, farmers were trying to help people recognize the farm-to-table connection.

French cows are usually white or white with brown spots.

The butcher who processes beef is called a boucher and his shop is the boucherie. 

These huge cows (about 5 feet high) were lined up. There was a contest going on for people to guess the weight of 25 cows and win a prize. Below is their front side.

Pork is an important and widely-used meat in France. Regular cuts are popular as well as various prepared foods like bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galatines, ballotins  pâtes, and confit. 

The butcher who processes pork meat is called a charcutereur and his shop is the charcuterie. 

These porkers seemed cozy with one another, but one didn't hesitate to  strut his stuff or let the others know who was tops in the pecking order.

Sheep producers brought their black sheep, which are unique to the Haut-Loire area. The males are used for meat while the females are used for wool and for milk that will be turned into a delicious cheese called fromage de brebis. 

The animals were pretty mellow, but one seemed willing to communicate with onlookers.

Farmers are greatly revered in France. News outlets frequently feature stories about them and French agriculture throughout the year to tout the quality of French food. A couple weeks ago there was a huge agriculture exhibition in Paris. President Macron was there to observe and support farmers. It is also important to note that the French local food movement is alive and well, although it continually struggles with industrial agriculture. 

Also on hand at the pot-au-feu event were dancers who demonstrated some pretty good line dancing accompanied by American country music. Although they seemed a bit out of place in France, it was yet another example of  how American culture is imitated around the world. After all, who wouldn't want to be a cow poke? Just hearing the music transported me back to the USA for a while.