La bonnotte de Noirmoutier: a chef’s advice for cooking the star potato

Of course there will be potatoes on the menu. At this season, when you are a restaurant owner on the island of Noirmoutier, like Patrice Millasseau, owner of Etier for twenty years, the question does not arise. The tuber from the Andes is one of the stars of local gastronomy! But beware, not in its “potato” and invigorating version, no, in a magnified and labeled version: the scoop.

Thanks to its mild winters and sandy soils, the mimosa island produces the earliest French potatoes. The season begins in mid-March with the sweet-tasting, yellow-fleshed Sirtema, harvested until mid-June, ending with Lady Christl, Iodéa and Annalisa, on the stalls of the mid-May until August 15. Between the two, from the beginning of May, but for a period limited to three weeks (this year until May 20), the delicate Bonnote arrives in majesty.

Originally from Barfleur, this small round potato was planted on the island between the two wars and the 22 families of producers of the Noirmoutier Agricultural Cooperative, guardians of its gastronomic treasures, particularly pamper this slightly sweet variety with a hint of iodized, whose fine gourmets appreciate the inimitable taste. And there is reason: planted in February, then harvested by hand so as not to alter its fragile skin, just before its maturity, the beauty owes its survival, in the 1960s, to their determination to maintain its production. Today hailed by the finest tables, the bonnotte has become a delicacy that, insists the chef from l’Etrier, should be enjoyed with ease:

“We love the bonnotte just as it is, with its slightly soft texture and unique taste. But as it doesn’t keep too long, now is the time to go… So we’ll steam it with just a little seaweed court-bouillon, to appreciate all the flavor. »

This sunny Thursday in May, the chef also sent “two of his guys look for sea lettuce in the ocean, at Le Vieil in Noirmoutier, to make the court-bouillon”. Then, he will put the bonnotettes to boil with their skin. About ten minutes to a boil if their size is medium. And he will serve them with Noirmoutier salt, possibly accompanied by a homemade saffron milkshake.

And for lovers of sautéed apples, the Noirmoutrin reveals an old local technique to remove the skin: “As their skin is very thin, I put them in a large jute bag with their tops and I shake everything vigorously. » Cut into halves or quarters depending on their size, the potatoes will then be browned with fleur de sel butter. The cooking time? It depends, answers the professional, explaining that it is the sugar level of the potato that makes their color. We will therefore brown them in a pan that is not too hot so as not to burn them… but above all, we will stir them constantly. Because if there is only one piece of advice to remember, insists the happy owner of this former oyster hut located between the canal and the marshes, it is not to take your eyes off them.

The tier, restaurant, place called Etier de l’Arceau, route de l’Epine, 85 330 Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile. Such. : 02-51-39-10-28, www.restaurant-letier.fr.

New potatoes cooked with seaweed and its milk shake

Ingredients for 8 people
8 large Noirmoutier early potatoes
algues
25 cl of milk
5 cl of cream
25 cl chicken broth
6 threads of saffron
salt and pepper
Preparation

• Wash the potatoes.
• Wrap in aluminum foil with the seaweed.
• Bake for one hour in the oven
• Empty the potato pulp
• Mix and infuse the saffron with the ingredients: potatoes, chicken broth, milk, cream, salt and pepper
• Pour the mixture into the siphon.
• Dress and incorporate the mixture