Food: the hazelnut has many flavors

The hazelnut season is over. At the wheel of his tractor, Clément Javoy makes his very last visit to the rows of his hazel grove in Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Mesmin (Loiret). “This year, it’s half a harvest because we had climatic problems with flowering this winter”admits the producer. Once sucked, the hazelnuts are sorted and the quality is there. “There is the table hazelnut with a lot to eat and the industrial hazelnut, which is smaller, to fit into chocolate bars”details Clement Javoy. The family farm produces only hazelnuts, 80 tons per year, sold to a cooperative around two euros per kilo.

At the end of the chain, the starred chef David Everything has made hazelnuts its flagship product. In his Parisian restaurant, he offers a vegetable recipe. He incises a cuttlefish which he bakes at low temperature, before coating it with a preparation based on cream and roasted hazelnuts. “I was careful to keep the skin which will give us a slight bitterness and we will find this flavor of undergrowth in this cream”develops David Everything. Then comes a cream of fresh hazelnuts and a hint of hazelnut vinegar for acidity. A variation of flavors and textures after the addition of shavings and whole hazelnuts. To complete this forest journey, the chef adds a few slices of porcini mushrooms to crown the dish.