Claude Monet’s Peaches à la Bourdaloue

The inspiration for this recipe came from The Monet Cookbook: Recipes from Giverny by Florence Gentner and Francis Hammond. This colorful book presents recipes inspired by Monet’s culinary journals during his life at Giverny, as well as reproductions of his art work.

Monet moved to Giverny at age 43 with his second wife and their eight children and wound up living there another 43 years. His original motivation for the move was to gain more studio space and to enjoy a more pastoral life, however Giverny also allowed him to pursue his love of good food.

Monet found sheer joy through food but was not a cook himself, employing several cooks to prepare the food. Drawing on fresh fruits and vegetables grown from his own garden, Monet’s kitchen produced “simple dishes made of fresh ingredients and prepared according to very basic yet authentic principles.” I can just picture the gatherings around Monet’s huge dining table, that included members of his own large family, as well as frequent guests such as Renoir and Cézanne.

From Monet’s food diaries, we know that he preferred his asparagus under cooked and liked to season the duck wings himself with salt, pepper and nutmeg, before sending them back to the kitchen to be “roasted in the fires of hell.” He and his family also enjoyed making spontaneous trips inspired by their passion for food. Once, following a conversation regarding the delicious fruit tarte tatin, the entire family suddenly decided to pile into two cars and drive to Lamotte-Beuvron, home of the Tatin sisters who invented this famous tart.

Tarte Tatin recipe in ‘The Monet Cookbook‘

Some of the recipes in the cookbook are quite simple containing only 4-5 ingredients and some are recipes that were given to Monet by his friends, such as Paul Cézanne and his recipe for Salt Cod Bouillabaisse. I decided to try Peaches à la Bourdaloue due to its simplicity and the fact that I love peaches!

What are Peaches à la Bourdaloue?

This recipe consists of layers of custard cream (crème pastissière) and peaches that have been poached in a sugar syrup. The dish is then finished with a crispy topping of either crushed shortbread cookies or French macarons.

Interestingly, the name Bourdaloue comes from a small oblong ‘porta potty’ that women in the 1700s could hold underneath their skirts to relieve themselves while standing up. (I’m not sure how this name relates to the recipe, though)!

Photo of a Bourdaloue chamber pot

What are steps in making the recipe?

First, the peaches are peeled and halved, then poached in a sugary syrup for about 10 minutes. If you’re ‘adventurous’ like me, I added a few drops of Grand Marnier to the syrup (optional)! You could also use canned peaches, in which case you could skip this step of poaching.

While the peaches remain soaking in the syrup, begin making the Pastry Cream Custard (Crème Pastissière).

Here, egg yolks and sugar are first whisked together, then gradually whisked into a mixture of hot milk. The custard should wind up being smooth and pliable, but not runny like pancake batter.

Now it’s time to assemble the dish: place a layer of the pastry cream on the bottom of a serving dish, followed by a layer of peaches.

Final Topping for the recipe- crushed cookies or French macarons?

Next, the peaches are topped with a final layer of the pastry cream, then finished with a crispy topping. The recipe in the cookbook calls for a topping of “4 almond macaroons” that have been crushed. I believe this is a mis-print and should read macarons insead of macaroons (many people tend to confuse almond-based ‘macarons’ with the coconut-based ‘macaroons’).

Anyway, I used crushed shortbread cookies mixed with a few crushed pink macarons that I just happened to have on hand. You could use just the crushed cookies if you wish.

Claude Monet once said, “Beyond painting and gardening, I am good for nothing.” I think at the end of the day, Monet could also add his enjoyment of food to this brief list of things he was good at!