Autumn in the Haute Savoie – A feast of Nature

Autumn in the Haute Savoie, is there a more beautiful place on earth? As summer fades to a distant memory, we’re still enjoying soft breezes and warm days. 

The skies are still azure blue, the sun still shining and the hillsides are a riot of colour. The thick forests of the Haute Savoie have cast off their assorted green hues and are clad in jewel-like rich golds, vibrant reds, and ambers.  It’s a last celebration of nature at its finest and one that, in my book, deserves an Oscar.

I can smell Autumn dancing in the breeze

On the Autumn menu

Autumn also has other gifts to offer.  Now that the grape harvests are over, it’s the turn of the humble mushroom, the fat succulent apple, and the soft golden pear to take centre stage. Not forgetting of course, the centuries-old French tradition of hunting, not my cup of tea, but extremely popular in the Haute Savoie.

Wild about the game

A recent conversation in our local supermarket went a bit like this…

‘Squirrel?  Nobody eats squirrel’!

‘Yes they do, look, it says there ‘chevreuil’, see…. ‘squirrel’.

Cue long-suffering look from other half. ‘That’s deer, a roe deer in fact’ he says rolling his eyes. ‘Are you sure’ I mutter peering closely at the label. Of course, he was right… as always. Autumn is when all sorts of strange things appear on the menus of local restaurants. It’s hunting season in France or ‘La Chasse’. Here in the Haute Savoie, the season lasts from 11 September 2022 to 15 January 2023.

Restaurants proudly advertise their ‘Carte de Chasse’ detailing a variety of ‘gibier’ or wild game, most with incomprehensible names. There’s the ‘Sanglier’ or wild boar which according to the hunters are overrunning the world, and baby wild boar or ‘Marcassin’ which look a lot less cute when they’re lying on a plate.

There are ‘chamois’, the majestic mountain goats you might have spotted clinging to a rock face.  There are the elusive ‘Pedrix’ or partridge, very tasty with honey and dried fruit apparently, not to mention the poor old pheasant, ‘le Faisan Sauvage’ who really doesn’t stand a chance.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness – John Keats

Basically, just about anything that moves in the forest from mid-September till February has a chance of ending up on a plate. Which is why we don’t walk or hike through the woods during the autumn months. But…..we do still enjoy all the other wonderful things that Autumn in the Haute Savoie has to offer.

Autumn Mushroom Foraging

Mushrooms! Hundreds of delicious mushrooms.  There’s a saying in English ‘to know your onions’ which means to know a lot about something, to be an expert. Here, it’s not onions that are important, it’s mushrooms.

Foraging for mushrooms is a favourite French pastime, (how they don’t all get shot in the forests is a mystery to me) but with over 3000 different varieties, many of them deadly, it pays to know your mushrooms.

The most popular types of foraged mushrooms in France are Girolles, Chanterelles, Ceps, Bolets and Morilles. If you’re hell-bent on picking your own then any French pharmacy will identify them for you free of charge. You’re also advised to take a photo of your mushrooms before you cook them so if you do keel over after eating them you can show the photo to the Anti-Poison Centre.

The etiquette of mushroom picking

Mushroom foraging has a certain etiquette. Far from wandering the countryside and filling your pockets with mushrooms, there are certain rules that should be followed. No foraging on private land without permission for one, and there are limits to the quantity you’re allowed to pick. Apparently, you should only use a wicker basket and the mushroom should be cut with a special curved blade. Who knew that the humble mushroom could be so exotic?

An apple a day…

While we’re on the subject of food…it’s also apple season in France.

There are apple festivals in many Haute Savoie villages around this time of year. At St Paul en Chablais they celebrated their ‘Fete de la Pomme’ last Sunday and it didn’t disappoint.

Small white tents dotted like mushrooms around the community centre sheltered everything from rural arts and crafts to beekeepers, from cheese sellers to jam makers.  Apart from the children carving small wooden toys with chisels and bandsaws, other highlights were the super-talented local orchestra rattling out a medley of big band sounds.

All of this accompanied by gallons of freshly pressed apple juice and a very quaffable ‘pommier’ made with white wine and apple syrup, a heady mixture that, I thought, made the band sound even better.

All this talk of autumnal food has reminded me of my favourite apple dessert, yes you’ve guessed, it’s the ubiquitous Tarte Tatin.  There are lots of delicious apple tart and apple cake recipes online. You might like this one by Raymond Blanc.

Autumn the year’s last loveliest smile

So, while Paris in the Spring offers romance, elegance, and sophistication, here in the Haute Savoie in Autumn you can be shot in the woods, poisoned by mushrooms and let your children run riot with a variety of wood carving tools.  What’s not to like?