Tuesday, March 31, 2009

VIN CUIT FROM SWITZERLAND

Today, I'm going to talk about a typical Vaud and Fribourg (two cantons situated in the Western part of Switzerland/Romandy) speciality that is named "Vin Cuit" and "Raisinée", but is also known under the name of "Cougnarde", "Coignarde" or "Poiré"...

Although it's name "Vin Cuit" (meaning "cooked wine") is misleading, this 100% natural, deliciously sweet and sour, viscous, thick, sticky, molasses-like, syrupy substance is made from the juice of pressed pears (and sometimes apples) which is then cooked and stirred for around 30 hours over a wood fire, in a big copper cauldron.

The preparation is often made between friends, neighbors, or even at the time of certain harvest festivals in certain villages. In order to obtain 7 liters of "Vin Cuit", 70 liters of pear/apple juice, which are extracted from a hundred of kilos fruits, are needed.
After having cooked the juice for several hours and after having let it cool, one obtains a concentrate which can be preserved for a very a long time, out of the bottle, without special precautions as it cannot ferment anymore.

In the past, making "Vin Cuit" was a good way to not throw away perishable fruits. This speciality was also employed as replacement for sugar, and was also administred to weak people because it was believed to act as a fortifier.

This reduction is used in several recipes, one of the
m being the delicious "Gâteau A La Raisinée" which is a tart consisting of a pie crust (shortcrust pastry) filled with a mixture of "Vin Cuit", thick cream and eggs (and cornstarch, depending on the recipes). Another well-known Gruyère speciality which utilizes "Vin Cuit" is "Moutarde De Bénichon" and is also made with candied sugar, spices such as cinnamon, star anise, cloves and mustard powder. It is generally eaten together with "Cuchaule" brioche (see recipe). "Vin Cuit" is delicious when used in desserts or savory dishes such as cakes, yogurts, müesli/granola, parfaits, meat sauces, etc... It’s unique taste makes it the ideal ally when cooking or baking.

Pour les fracophones, voici une série de liens intéressants qui vous éclaireront:
Lagruyere.ch (voir lien)
Terre & Nature (voir lien)
Wikipedia (voir lien)

46 comments:

  1. Merci de me faire connaitre ce produit qui m'a l'air délicieux et que je ne connais pas !! bise sandra

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  2. Buon giorno Cara Rosa...sai che da noi, in Calabria si usa come calmante per la tosse...é delizioso e sono anni che non lo assaggio.
    Belle foto golose!
    Buona giornata

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  3. Dear Rosa, it seems to be really delicious ! I did not know it before reading your post. I would like to used it in order to prepare a cake which would be very tasty ! Many thanks to you for sharing this product !

    Cheers,

    Miette

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  4. Thanks for introducing us to this Rosa. It sounds delicious and I have been using pomegranate molasses lately with excellent results in cakes.

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  5. Hmm, I've never tried "vin cuit", but it sounds delicious. There's a kind of cider they make from pears in Normandy also called "poiré", but it doesn't seem to be related to this.

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  6. par chez moi le raisiné est fait avec du ..... raisin
    je ne connaissais pas ce vin cuit on dirait du caramel , dans un bon yaourt miammmm!!!!! ça doit être bon !
    bises

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  7. ça doit être délicieux, merci pour les liens... bisous

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  8. ..merci de penser ainsi à moi(la francophone lol!!)..tu es bien généreuse ma chère Rosa;)

    ~nancy xx

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  9. Merci du partage , je ne connais pas du tout ce produit.On dirait un sirop .

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  10. ça ressemble drolement à de la mélasse , je n'en avais jamais vu !

    Bises et merci de tes découvertes

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  11. je ne connaissais pas du tout, ça donne envie de gouter en tous cas

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  12. Très intéressant un vin cuit à base de fruit, je ne connaissais pas du tout et ne demande qu'à goûter!

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  13. Thank you so much for the information on Vin Cuit - it sounds like a wonderful ingredient!

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  14. j'ai jamais mange de la cuchaule avec du vin cuit, mais le jour ou j'arrive a faire une version vegetalienne qui est le perfect match a la cuchaule, je serai tres contente.
    miam, moutarde du benichon.

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  15. Interesting ingredient. I learned something new. Thanks for the info!

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  16. I had no idea this even existed. Very informative and thank you!

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  17. Rosa, ton article, drôlement bien rédigé, tombe à pic pour me rappeler que j'ai deux bouteilles de ce nectar à la cave. J'ai failli les oublier !

    Bien à toi
    verO

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  18. Thanks for the great information about these 2 cantons.
    Really I'd like to experience these sweet wines, surely ideal for tasty desserts :))

    Cheers!
    Gera

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  19. What a valuable info Rosa, I never seen this. I'd love to try it, and hoping that it will available in our area one day.
    Cheers,
    elra

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  20. me too, I have never seen this before but it must be one of those indispensable secret ingredients that cannot be left out of the dish. I hope to see one of these interesting sounding pastries on your blog soon!

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  21. Je ne connais pas du tout, on dirait du "sirop de liège"...à découvrir donc!
    Bises

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  22. If I was travelling to Europe there are so many products that I would discover. Thanks for sharing.

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  23. I wish I could try some of this it sounds so very delicious. I love molasses and the lieks so I can well imagine how tasty this could be.

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  24. Merci pour les liens. Bonne soirée.

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  25. View your blog and found it very interesting ... Parabens

    I would ask you could put the link in my blog on your site: http://do-nariz-a-boca.blogspot.com/

    May be?

    When you send a mail to ask here: pirusas.carvalho @ hotmail.com

    Abraços

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  26. Surprenant, c'est la première fois que j'en entends parler. On doit pouvoir l'utiliser comme une crème de balsamique ! J'essaierai d'y penser la prochaine fois que j'achèterai une cuchaule.

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  27. I've never heard of this, but it sounds quite yummy!

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  28. Je ne connaissais pas ce produit, quel découverte! Ton texte est fort intéressant!

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  29. Never heard of vin cuit before, but I'm imagining it would be divine spooned over a scoop of ice cream?

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  30. je pense nous appellons ce produit "Birnendicksaft" en suisse allemagne-

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  31. Hi Rosa
    This product is new to me, never heard of Vin Cuit before.
    Really loved its consistency and colour.
    Ana x

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  32. Je ne connaissais pas non plus, c'est vraiment tentant merci !!

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  33. We have something similar in the Netherlands made from apples and/or pears (and even combined with other fruit like banana or dates). I don't think anybody makes it at home as it is readily available in the supermarket ;)
    Will check out the recipes...

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  34. This sounds so wonderful! I must look and see if I can find some here in the States!

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  35. du jus de fruit concentré à l'extrème, un peu comme de la mélasse de canne à sucre mais en version Suisse, alors?

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  36. ah je ne connaissais pas ce produit!! merci de nous faire partager ces merveilles!

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  37. RAUL e JOEL CARVALHO: Thanks for passing by and for leaving a kind comment! We can do a link exchange if that's ok... What do you think? Cheers, Rosa.

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  38. Never heard of it! Very interesting...and intriguing. Do you know if is available in Los Angeles?

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  39. I haven't heared of this either! I am going to look for it.

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  40. Je ne connais pas ce produit. Merci pour la découverte Rosa.

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  41. oh God, How come I have NEVER heard of such a delicacie? I must get one on my next travel to France.

    I can't wait to taste it. Thanks so much for sharing this amazing product with us Rosa!

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  42. Oh my gosh, that looks so good, Rosa! And those scenic shots are majestic.

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  43. hi rosa! thanks so much for commenting and sharing this link with me. i'm so happy to see what real raisiné is! definitely learned something new today :)

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  44. Hello,
    do you think there's any place where you can buy vin cuit from, outside Fribourg, in the english speaking world?
    Would love to havse some, same like Cuchaule and Moutarde de Benichon.
    Cravings that just don't come handy when you're stuck on the British Isles.

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