Fete du Vin Cuit, Grangettes (FR)

October 2-4, 2009. And what is vin cuit? A concentrate of fruit, apples or pears - in this case the latter, some 5,500 kg of them, pressed to make 4,000 liters of juice, cooked out in the open over wood fires in ten cauldrons for three days and two nights. While this is going on (yes, it is a little smoky) you can watch, and there is vin cuit for sale. It is used in cakes and tarts, meringues, truffles,  and of course the jam-like moutarde served with saffron bread at Fribourg’s festive harvest-season Bénichon meals.

This is the 15th vin cuit festival. It starts Friday at noon. If you go between 7 and 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday you get breakfast for free . On Friday and Saturday nights, from 6:30 p.m., you can buy dinner: ham or a horse steak and frites. (Ham and horse are also on the menu at lunch, served Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 a.m.)

More at www.skiclubgiboulees.ch/vincuit/index.html. For lunch and dinner reservations, call 079 647 18 74.