IT was a harvest day like any other at Clos Roche Blanche vineyards in the Loire Valley. The weather was mild, the sky by turns bright and cloud-dimmed, the grapes dusky and ripe. Flanking the leafy vines, experienced pickers squatted, knees splayed, on moist soil, clipping bunches of gamay into large plastic buckets. Some sang, some complained, some joked, but all moved agilely, clearing row after sticky, grueling row. I lagged behind, harvesting grapes with the awkward persistence of someone not wanting to look like a wimpy, desk-bound city girl.
After four hours, my thigh muscles were molten lead and my hands were inky purple and bleeding where I'd snipped my skin instead of a stem. But I was determined to keep going until lunchtime. Finally at 12:07, the winery owner, Catherine Roussel, gave the signal to stop. There was a collective sigh of relief. Empty buckets were upturned into improvised stools and cigarettes were lit; bottles of red wine were opened, passed around and quickly drained. Then something discordant with my pastoral fantasy of a hearty harvest feast occurred. Instead of filing into a picturesque tent for a wine-soaked meal, the pickers filed to their cars and went home for a two-hour break.
It's a scene that's becoming more familiar all across the Loire Valley. Over the last decade, the centuries-old tradition of a grape pickers' midday feast has begun to wither, for a variety of reasons. One is the prevalence of mechanical pickers, which are replacing people in regions where hand-harvesting is not mandated by law. This means that there are more local workers available to pick for wineries that don't harvest by machine. And local workers can go home for lunch.
Another reason is cultural. As women become more active in wineries and less tied to the kitchen, and as their mothers grow too old to do all the work themselves, lunch duty has been shunted to caterers, if there is lunch duty at all. For Ms. Roussel, this shift has been a blessing. ''For years my mother and I had to make lunch for all the grape pickers,'' she said as she watched the pickers drive away. ''Every day we cooked for more than 20 people. It was too much work.'' The intense workload made her contemplate extreme measures. ''I even thought I'd try a mechanical harvester so I wouldn't have to cook anymore,'' she said. She gave up the machine after a few years, but by that time, expectations had changed. She was free.
Now, each afternoon Ms. Roussel and her winemaker and business partner, Didier Barrouillet, sit down to a smaller yet nonetheless festive meal cooked by Ms. Roussel's mother, Solange Bonin. Over the three days that I was there trying to help with (or at least not impede) the harvest, Ms. Bonin served a variety of local harvest specialties. They included a savory pumpkin tart with onions, and tiny green lentils cooked with plump pork sausages. One day, we were presented with an omelet stuffed with tiny mousseron mushrooms that Ms. Roussel gathered in the vineyard, then cooked in browned butter until they were nutty and golden. At the end of each meal, there was local goat cheese, and, once, baked apples glazed with Ms. Roussel's homemade blackberry jam. All was accompanied with Clos Roche Blanche's minerally, fragrant wines, which tasted like the sauvignon blanc and gamay grapes we were picking.
Down the road 20 miles in Les Montils, another winemaker, Thierry Puzelat of Clos du Tue Boeuf winery, cleaves closer to tradition, and every day feeds his flock of pickers -- vendangeurs -- lunch, prepared by a friend. As has always been the regional custom, this year he secured a quarter of a cow, two freshly killed lambs and dozens of chickens and rabbits to supply the feasts -- including the lively party and end-of-harvest feast that almost every winery, including Clos Roche Blanche, looks forward to holding. But Mr. Puzelat's reasons for providing the lunches are less culinary than social. ''They do it because it gives the team of vendangeurs a sense of solidarity,'' said Joe Dressner of Clos du Tue Boeuf's importer, Louis/Dressner Selections of New York. ''That solidarity is important if they are going to work well and do a good job in the vineyards,'' he said by e-mail.
Butchering a pig before the harvest and using every bit of it to feed the workers is another longstanding custom that is waning these days, because, as Ms. Roussel remembers, ''it was a lot of work during the busiest time of the year.'' This said, she is nostalgic for the rich, flavorful meat of her neighbor's pigs, which she and her mother used to slowly simmer in their own fat over an open fire into melting rillettes. Although she doesn't make the rillettes herself anymore, Ms. Bonin still buys them to spread on baguettes for sandwiches.
Every day at around 10:15, she packs them into a wicker basket and brings them to the pickers for a midmorning snack, along with some bottles of red wine and strong espresso in a thermos. And by that time, after picking grapes in the hot sun for over two hours, everyone (and especially me) desperately needed a break.
SAVORY PUMPKIN TART (CITROUILLAT)
Time: 2 hours plus overnight resting
For the filling:
2 pounds pumpkin (sugar or cheese, for example) or butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
Pinch kosher salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
3 garlic cloves, peeled
Freshly ground black pepper
For the pastry:
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
1 egg yolk, slightly beaten
1/2 cup heavy cream
1. The night before serving, toss squash with salt in a bowl. Place a heavy weight on top, cover with plastic, and refrigerate overnight.
2. To make pastry, combine flour and salt in a large bowl. With pastry cutter or fork, cut in butter until it forms coarse crumbs. Add 1 to 11/3 cups very cold water, a few tablespoons at a time, until mixture just comes together. Form dough into a ball, cover with plastic, and refrigerate overnight.
3. The next day, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease large baking sheet. Drain squash. In saucepan over medium heat, melt remaining butter. Sauté onion, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden, 7 to 10 minutes.
4. On floured surface, roll out dough into a 17- by 12-inch rectangle. With long side facing you, spread squash evenly over right half of dough. Top with onion, parsley and garlic cloves; season with salt and generous grind of pepper.
5. Dab edges of dough with water. Fold left half over filling and pinch edges firmly to seal. Brush crust with egg yolk. Using knife, cut slit in center of crust, pulling back edges slightly to form a 2 1/2-inch hole.
6. Transfer crust to baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until squash is fork tender and crust is well browned, 35 to 40 minutes longer. Slowly pour cream into crust vent. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
GRUYÈRE PUFF
Time: 45 minutes
3 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup grated Gruyère cheese (about 3 ounces)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Whisk together eggs, milk, flour, salt and pepper in bowl until smooth. Stir in cheese.
3. In 9-inch ovenproof skillet, melt butter. Swirl to coat all sides. Pour in batter. Transfer to oven. Bake until puffed and dark golden, 30 minutes. Sprinkle with salt, serve hot.
Yield: 4 servings
BAKED APPLES WITH BLACKBERRY JAM
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
4 Golden Delicious apples, peeled and cored
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons blackberry jam
Crème fraîche or sour cream, for serving (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place apples in baking dish.
2. Stuff each apple with 1/2 tablespoon butter and then 1 tablespoon jam.
3. Bake, basting occasionally, until apples are very tender and glazed, about 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature, with crème fraîche or sour cream, if desired.
Yield: 4 servings
BRAISED LENTILS WITH GARLIC SAUSAGE
Time: 1 1/2 hours
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large white onion, peeled
1 celery rib, sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled; 1 finely chopped, 1 halved
2 pounds fully cooked pork sausage such as French garlic sausage (see note), sliced 1 1/4-inch thick
1 pound French green lentils, rinsed
5 sprigs fresh thyme, tied with kitchen string
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus additional
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus additional
Red wine vinegar, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Dijon mustard, for serving
1. Heat oil over medium heat in large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven. Slice onion into quarters; cut quarters crosswise into 1-inch chunks. Add onion, celery and garlic to pan; cook, stirring, until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Do not let vegetables brown (lower heat if necessary).
2. Add sausage, lentils, thyme and enough water to cover. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer, partially covered, until lentils are tender, about 1 hour.
3. Season with vinegar and additional salt and pepper. Discard thyme. Stir in the parsley. Serve warm, with mustard alongside.
Yield: 6 servings
Note: Fully cooked sausage, which is traditionally used in dishes like cassoulet, is sold at specialty markets or online at dartagnan.com. Or, substitute other cooked sausage.
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