That is no longer the question.

On April 8th 2010, Maubourguet celebrated the grand opening of the bypass on the road from Tarbes to Bordeaux. It took 30 years to transform the first idea into reality. Maubourguet is at the crossroads of an important route from Northern Europe to Spain and from East to West. Almost 4 miles long,it was built to avoid large trucks running through the center of the village.
This by-pass is part of a huge project aiming to ease the traffic in the North of the Hautes Pyrénées and to facilitate communications (roads, highways, high speed trains)
It will be easier to come and visit martinn, it will be pleasant to sip a nice drink at a coffee shop in the center of the village without the company of lorries.
Maubourguet is now a village to see, to live in and to enjoy …

To see : nice strolls in the village, along the Adour and Echez banks, the medieval Romanesque church and the soon to be opened soon the “Dieu Ocean” museum (Gallo-roman).
The central position occupied by Maubourguet with the Pyrenees to the South, the Atlantic coast to the West, to the North the Madiran wine district and directly on its eastern boundary the seductive countryside and ancient bastides of the Gers, makes the small town a tourist hub with easy traveling to numerous places of interest.
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To live :typical Gascon houses,lively market on Tuesday mornings, numerous associations offering a wide range of activities, new night life on Friday evenings at the café de centre, the Rencontres de Maubourguet the third weekend of August and all what’s going on around : music festivals in Vic-Fezensac, Mirande and above all Marciac and its famous jazz festival. A new movie theater in Tarbes with large parking, just when you enter the town from Maubourguet.

To enjoy: - and to eat this is a generous land, excellent for agriculture and cattle breeding. Maybe too much maize (nothing like a good corn on the cob…. Yum, I am missing them) but it feeds the cattle and you benefit from it when enjoying delicious chickens, guinea fowls or foie gras. Difficult to escape duck here but there are so many ways to enjoy it and I will introduce you to nice recipes “with a twist” such as Tajine Duck, poached and Pot au feu foie gras, roast, tempura, marinated in juice and honey from Ballot Flurin…
Not to be missed the Armagnac from château Castex, the Madiran and Pacherenc (I recently attended a 2-day workshop in Madiran) and of course the colorful and tasty Basque cuisine.
Another local specialty is the black pig from Bigorre ; you’ll enjoy this tasty meat, the cured ham and sausage in local restaurants.
The local white beans (Haricots Tarbais) are excellent with the garbure (a tasty soup with vegetables, sometimes with duck or pork as well) or in a more refined soup with Madiran and Portobello mushrooms. I like to cook them in Lebanese hummus or Chili con carne.
The piment d’Espelette, a small red chili pepper, will give flavor to your Basque dishes, Lamb, replacing paprika in a Hungarian Gulyas.
You can indulge your sweet tooth in cakes such as Pastis landais, (pound cake with anise), Gâteau à la broche (a thick pancake dough gently poured on a mold and turned over a fire), the croustade aux pommes (thin layers of puff pastry dough and caramelized apples).
Want to sip ? The famous Pousse-rapière, the other famous Armagnac, the ‘healthy’ Madiran wine and tasty Pacherencs are here for your pleasure. Like all things, better enjoy them in reasonable quantity but sleeping at martinn will certainly avoid the “drink/drive” issue.

Like all of France we experienced an early summer at the beginning of April with some 30°C (86°F), only to go back to a damp cold a week later. Tarbes had record of high and low temperatures. Fortunately no frost to damage trees, flowers and crops.
Sun is now back, in full, and as usual my first swimmers for the season were Dutch people. They even got sun-burned!

In mid–April I hosted a group of 5 young Japanese ladies for a Basque cuisine workshop.
They hired a taxi from the Airport in Tabes-Ossun to discover the Laffitte Teston winery and then the organic honey farm in Lahitte ( Ballot Flurin). They had lunch in a local restaurant in Maubourguet and on the next morning, we shopped in the market - I wonder who was the most amazed at this unusual visit? Our Japanese ladies in rural France or people in Maubourguet ?
They admired the fishmonger, enjoyed his smoked salmon tasting and the “brandade de morue” as an aperitif. It was a full day between the early gourmet breakfast, the shopping, the cooking and finally the dinner. We took some breaks for coffee and cocktail with brandade, Porc Noir, foie gras and rillettes. They discovered the techniques for peeling peppers, my Basque macarons, an excellent vanilla ice cream, how to prepare a good piperade and cooking the poulet basquaise.
Nest morning they had a train to catch at 7 in Tarbes so they asked for breakfast at 6 AM !
The experience I would say was intense, not something we would do everyday, but really interesting and enjoyable.

It has been a quiet start of the season, so I took advantage to discover some nice addresses for quality products. There are so many good producers around I was not disappointed at all!
Together with a friend of mine, we went on the hilly roads of the Gers to discover the “Rabasse d’Astarac”, an organic farm owned and run by a charming and passionate young couple. They grow real saffron and truffles. Régis shared with us some of his knowledge, and we bought some nice honey, syrup, vinegar with saffron and of course some pistils -you will enjoy them for breakfasts, in some nice recipes, and see them in my gourmet cupboard or we’ll visit the Rabasse. This is real, awesome saffron, which I immediately used in cakes with strawberries and in macarons with raspberry marmalade. We’ll go back in season for the truffles (January, February) with rice curry and tajine.

http://www.larabassedastarac.fr

Another farm in Hérès where Philippe Verdier –Matayron (la Ferme du Piarrot) grows peanuts (!), organic lentils (excellent in salads with smoked salmon), and makes organic tasty colza oil or grinds nice lentil flour to use in cakes.
http://www.monpaisgourmand.fr/en_savoir_plus_producteur.asp?CodeProducteur=70&CodeProduit=%2022&ViensDe=LesTresors

In my cupboard you’ll find wine by Laffitte Teston, Armagnac by Castex, honey by Ballot Flurin, duck by Lacere, and recipe booklets.
http://www.chateau-laffitte-teston.com/
http://www.orangerie-chateau-de-castex.abcsalles.com/prive/fr/fiche.php?n=2608
http://le-cognac.com/armagnac/castex/
http://www.ballot-flurin.com/

If you want, I’ll be happy to design a customized gourmet tour for you with some of these quality addresses and some famous tables. I’ll be happy to share with you some knowledge about saffron, truffles and Madiran.

A 2-day workshop on vineyards, making wine, keeping and serving it. I would not say I am an “oenologue”, a knowledgeable specialist, but I discovered a complex universe, where the human genius is at its best: all these people who work hard to give us the divine liquor deserve our respect. I now know why I like the Madiran wine and why I am so fortunate to be able to offer it to you at the table d’hôtes.
http://commune-madiran.com/PAGE1.htm

Don’t miss the summer activities in Château Viella
http://www.chateauviella.com/

Don’t miss the Clos Basté. The owner, Philippe Mur, is getting the certification for “wine made from organic grapes”.
http://www.vins-madiran.fr/domaines-madiran/clos-baste-38.html

I have been a good student during these 2 days and took some notes.
Our œnologue Bernard Fage checked them and I am now ready to share with you.

I am thinking of putting up some wine events with Bernard? Would you enjoy that ?

- a wine evening ? discovering the “mondovino” and tasting ?

- strolls in Maubourguet and villages around organized by the Tourist office
“ à la rosée ou à la fraiche” once a week morning or late afternoon in July and August.
1 €
(program upon request)

- July 17th : a gourmet contest, the theme is the milk-fed veal calves, local cured ham and Lectoure cantaloupe. Enjoy quality local products, eat healthy and save the planet at the same time : buy local.
http://www.saveursetpassions.com/notes/Fete-du-veau-sous-la-mere-de-Maubourguet_b1476793.html

- July 3Oth till August 15th Jazz-in-Marciac
http://www.jazzinmarciac.com/
martinn offers special buffets, an art exhibition, a musical evening and special schedule for late evenings.

-Rencontres de Maubourguet August 20 th, 21st and 22nd
A joyful event mixing art and sport and summer revelry
http://lesrencontresdemaubourguet.over-blog.com/


and many other events to discover all over the summer : exhibitions, medieval days in Montaner and Termes d’Armagnac, antique fairs (antique fairs, brocantes and vides-greniers), plant and flower shows …

Flowers and sun …
Saffron cake
Serves 6 to 8 people
If you have one, use a silicone and fiberglass mold.
3 eggs
125g sugar ( 4.5 oz)
5 infused saffron threads (best marinated a few hours in milk)
1 stick (110gr) of salted butter softened
160gr flour (5.5 oz)
2 tsp baking powder

remove the oven grid and set your mold on it.
Preheat your oven to 180°C = th 6.

In your food processor or with a whisk, beat the eggs with the sugar until pale yellow. Then add the softened butter, the flour, saffron and last baking powder.
Pour the batter into the mold and bake for about 30mn.
Let it cool down for about 5mn then remove from the mold.

You may soak the cake with some orange juice, and decorate it with strawberries. Colorful and delicious !

What are the volumes of the following bottles?
La fillette, Nabuchodonosor, Jéroboam, le Balthazar, Mathusalem, le Magnum,


The first to send the correct answers wins a bottle of Madiran Château Lafitte-Teston Vielles Vignes to collect either from Maubourguet or from Paris.