R E C I P E S

Prunes in Red Wine for Roquefort

By Edward Behr

To be more or less regionally consistent, the prunes for this cold-weather combination would come from Agen, which, like the village of Roquefort, is located in the South of France. In late fall, serve the prunes and cheese with a bowl of newly harvested walnuts to crack. I’m not a fan of most of the sweet things that are served today with cheese; it’s not that the combinations are necessarily bad but that most of them — especially chutneys with their complicated flavors of fruit, dried fruit, and spice, and tastes of sweet-and-sour and even salt — compete head-on with the cheese. However, a few sweet items work very well with cheese. Apart from these prunes, the Basque complement of cherry preserves matches firm Pyrenees ewe’s-milk cheese, just as quince goes well with a wider number of firm cheeses. Any cheese has more flavor at cellar temperature than it does cold. When I serve Roquefort, I like a generous wedge (and no other cheese), about 1½ pounds (750 gr) for 6 or 8 people, expecting that some of the cheese and perhaps prunes will be left over. Fresh bread is essential, ideally a tan sourdough loaf (not toast, and never, ever the crisp buttered toast grimly offered today in some restaurants). It’s hopeless to try to match this pair with wine; better to pause and return to your glass afterward.

 

2 dozen prunes

2 cups (250 ml) nontannic red wine

1 tablespoon sugar

 

Soak the prunes overnight in the wine. Pour off the wine into a nonreactive pan, and reduce it over medium-high heat by half. Add the prunes and sugar, and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Serve tepid with cheese and fresh bread. Serves 6 to 8.

From The Art of Eating Cookbook