Yes, but THESE are French Peanuts!

         The Landes region of southwest France is famous for its culinary delicacies: foie gras sautéed with grapes, white asparagus, sole with cèpes, confit de canard. Where does a plebeian peanut fit on that list? Well, thanks to a handful of Soustons farmers, the little nut has risen to the dizzying heights of French gastronomy.
         The Relais de la Poste, the elegant Magescq restaurant with two Michelin stars, features a luxurious dessert of dark chocolate fondant atop peanut-perfumed mousse and tender but toothy peanut biscuit, accompanied by an ever-so-delicate frothy peanut drink.
         "I wanted to highlight such a fine, locally-grown product," said chef de cuisine Jean Cousseau. "So at harvest time, we go out to the peanut farms, choose the finest nuts, and then blanch them to use later. We concoct highly original desserts and accompaniments to main dishes. In autumn, for example, we serve a dish of wild fowl and peanuts steamed with fig leaves and almond butter. They have a delicate taste similar to chestnuts."          
         Mmmnnn....
         Of course, Thai and Indonesian chefs have long been worked magic with peanuts, using them to complement sweet fiery foods. Generations of American boys and girls have grown strong on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Peanuts are a party staple around the world, a salty-crunchy offset to a cold drink.          
         In fact, most all of us know and love peanuts, which strictly speaking, are not nuts but legumes, like peas and beans. They were imported to Europe in the 16th century, aboard the ships of Spanish and Portuguese explorers. But peanuts were cultivated by the Aztecs long before then. In fact, the French word for peanut, cacahuète, comes from the Aztec word tlacacahuatl. "Peanut" is far easier to pronounce!
         Today, over 20 million metric tons of peanuts are grown every year, placing it among the top-25 world food crops. The main producers are China, India, the United States, Nigeria, Senegal and Indonesia. They are grown in many other places, too, but in only one place in Europe -- Soustons, les Landes, France.
         The Delest family of Soustons, like many in the area, had been planting peanuts in the garden patch since the early 40s. Then in 1995, Alain Delest was listening to a radio show about how peanuts could be the next cash crop for the southwest. Seems the Landes region is ideal territory for the crop: a temperate climate, loose, sandy soil, lots of sun and rain. No one had ever tried it, but the Delests and three other farming families decided to take the plunge.
         "The other cultivators here probably thought we were crazy," said Alain Delest. "It's been profitable though, about the same as for seed corn. And in some ways it's a better crop. It takes less water and fertilizer, and it can be planted as a rotation crop instead of letting a field go fallow."
         Though peanut farming in the Landes is still a family affair, with no associations or cooperatives, many farmers are carefully following its development.
         In Soustons, more than 75 acres of the bushy plants are now under cultivation, with a yield of between one and a quarter to three tonnes per acre, which compares favourably with yields around the world.
         The Tarn-based food company Menguy's helped the Souston farmers get started, sending agricultural experts, loaning specialized harvesting machines and even taking some of the farmers to visit a research station in Georgia, home of Jimmy Carter, the former American president and peanut grower. Menguy's also buys and markets all the Soustons crops.
         "In the 13 years of growing peanuts, we've evolved and developed techniques to suit our area," Delest said. "The weather some years is more humid than it should be for peanuts, and the harvest is difficult -- it's a delicate business getting the peanuts pulled and then dried correctly. We've almost mastered the process, but the battle is never over!"
         For one thing, peanuts take their time -- about five months from planted seed to dried pods. As it is a plant susceptible to frost, the weeks before harvest are harrowing for the local farmers. Their search for varieties that can be harvested earlier has been fruitless. So they make do with the Valencia, the most precocious of peanut varieties, and plant as early as conditions allow.
         The seeds are raw peanuts. "We reserve part of the harvest for seed, then just before planting, we shell them and sow with the corn sower, a few centimetres deep."
         The young plants soon emerge and blossom about a month later. For two or three months, bright yellow button-like flowers open at dawn, get fertilized by bees during the morning, and wither and die by noon. From each flower stem, a stalk (called a peg) then grows, curving downward and penetrating several centimetres into the soil. Over the next two months, the peg swells and finally matures into a peanut pod.          
         To harvest, the entire plant is pulled up and left, peanut side up, to dry five to six days in the field. This drying eliminates a very mild toxin contained in raw peanuts.
         "At harvest time, we hope for sunny skies. Rain will not affect the peanuts at all, but it makes the shells darken. In 2006, it rained during harvest, and we could not package the peanuts whole. People want light, unblemished shells."
         So most of that crop went into peanut oil, such as Guenard's "huile vierge, avec un goût fin et délicat," but a portion of it was processed into France's first and very own peanut butter. Watch out, Skippy's!          
         Whether the French are ready for peanut butter remains to be seen, but there are many other uses for this versatile legume. Peanuts are made into livestock feed and fertilizer; vines and their leaves into high protein hay; shells into wallboard and insulation. The oil is used in items ranging from shaving cream, soap, medicines, cosmetics, lubricants and plastics.
         As a food, peanuts are one of the most complete nutritional resources around. They contain from 36 to 50 percent fat -- mono and polyunsaturated, the "good" kind that lowers cholesterol -- and from 25 to 40 percent protein, so high a protein content they form the basis of many vegetarian recipes. With six percent dietary fibre, peanuts are great for the digestion. They are one of the most concentrated food sources of Vitamin E, and are full of B6 and folic acid, magnesium, copper, zinc and selenium, calcium and iron. They contain beta-sitosterol, known to inhibit cancer growth and protect against heart disease, as well as isoflavones and saponins, which have anti-cancer and antioxidant properties.
         In other words, a guilt-free snack and gastronomic delight
         The neurologist Dr. Alain Hirsch, who surveyed the snacking habits of 800 volunteers to try to relate snack food preferences with personality traits, claims that people who like to snack on nuts tend to be easy-going, empathetic, understanding, calm and have a very even-keel nature. Hmmn…time to stock up on some peanuts for my teenagers!


Panang Gai (Chicken Curry with Peanuts)
Ingredients:
         750gm skinless chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
         1 teaspoon fresh or tinned green peppercorns, crushed
         2 tablespoons plain flour
         100ml peanut oil
         2 tablespoons red curry paste
         225ml coconut milk
         1 tablespoon sugar
         2 tablespoons fish sauce
         60gm (about 2oz) roasted peanuts
         Chopped fresh basil leaves
         Rub the chicken with the peppercorns and toss in flour. Heat the peanut oil in a wok until fairly hot, then stir-fry the chicken until golden and nearly cooked. Remove the chicken to a platter and set aside. Pour off most of the oil and reheat the wok if necessary. Add curry paste and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce and peanuts and stir well for 5 minutes. Add the chicken and stir until the whole mix is hot. Turn out onto a platter and garnish with basil.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
         110gm (0.5 cup) butter
         110gm (0.5 cup) peanut butter
         275gm (1.25 cup) brown sugar
         1 egg
         1 teaspoon vanilla essence
         1 teaspoon salt
         325gm (1.5 cup) self-rising flour
Method:
         Preheat oven to 180C. Beat the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla and salt together until smooth, slowly adding the flour while beating.
         Roll tablespoon-size portions into balls (about 2 dozen) and place widely spaced onto a greased baking sheet. Flatten each cookie with a fork, making a nice design. Bake 10 to 15 minutes. (The cookies should be moist and chewy rather than hard.) Store in an airtight container.

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