Double-Yummy Lunch

“It’s all about good cooking.”

That was Ann talking after her second helping of the beef daube I had ordered. She had already pretty much worked over her duck confit.

We were having lunch at Auberge Peyrepertuse in the small village of Rouffiac, a curve on the D410, a very minor road a few kilometers from the Cathar Castle of Peyrepertuse.

She was right, of course,. This was the kind of restaurant where you should always take the waiter’s suggestions. He’s most likely married to the woman we could glimpse in front of the stove in the kitchen.

Peyrepertuse seats maybe 20-35 people with two more two-tops in a small entry bar. The walls are the exposed stone of two or three centuries ago. The tile floor has seen a good bit of traffic. A few high windows give glimpses of an even more ancient stone wall a few meters away.

The waiter brought two kirs which we enjoyed while checking the wine list. Every wane on the list was local, from the Corbieres AOC. It being lunch with a warming sun shining on the terrace (too early in the year for it to be set up) we ordered a rosé from Grand d’Arc, a winery we knew well that is just down the road from Rouffiac.

The food was beyond good. The daube was easily the best I’ve ever tasted. An unexpected treat: a black radish in the daube, gleaming in the sauce. A generous serving of white beans, perfectly seasoned and with enough pork fat to keep them honest, had come with Ann’s duck. Yummy.

What else? A terrific onion tart lingers on the palate. The glass or three of Maury Rancio wine. The excellent espresso. And rice pudding. A double yummy.,

This is the kind of French down-home cooking that is too often overlooked in the race for the ‘latest.’

Worth a trip. Call ahead for reservations at the weekend: 04 68 45 40 40.

Larry Walker