Caramany. Correspondents’ cuisine: Philippe Destrem’s Christmas bougnettes

Born in Rouen, Philippe Destrem lived there until he was 16. With a Polish emigrant mother and an Ariège father, he spent his holidays in Ariège. “I am a Pyrenees at heart. My grandfather was a sharecropper farmer. I appreciated this rural world. My uncle, a tobacconist and watchmaker in Hauterives, took me fishing and hunting. We spent part of the summer to camp in Agde. His father is a woodworker. He spends time in his workshop, helping out. “The profession of farming interested me, but I easily gravitated towards that of my father. I knew the life I was committing to”. Philippe enjoys woodworking, but deep down, it is violin making that interests him. Self-taught, he made his first instruments. The family moved to Limoges and created their own staircase manufacturing business. Passionate about manual trades, he trained as a slate installer, cabinetmaker, marquetry maker. But the violin making project is still present. “Self-taught, and with the help of professional luthiers, I continue to train.” Since the age of 10, he has practiced traditional Music extensively, specializing in the hurdy-gurdy. Through associations, he contributes to writing books and making recordings of old musicians. “This allowed me to join the National School of Music on a traditional music component”. With the help of two friends, he founded the first department of traditional music at the Limoges conservatory. To teach the hurdy-gurdy and the bagpipes, he passed two state diplomas, and the certificate of aptitude in 2001. He traveled to different capitals of Europe to pass on these practices. “At the same time, I have an important artistic activity in which I train students. I still continue violin making but in a world of creation”. Philippe retires and settles down in Caramany in the family home where he has come regularly since 1995. In his wooden workshop, he creates sculptures which he exhibits every year at the Balade d'artistes exhibition. Strongly involved in local life, he admits to having always liked it here, becoming a correspondent for The Independent. “I like people to have an image of the active life of this village, to give voice to the inhabitants through the newspaper”.

He suggests the family recipe for bougnettes from Nadine and Claude Dimon which remind him of the Christmas earpieces of his childhood.

Ingredients : 4 eggs, 500 g flour, 2 packets of vanilla sugar, 1 block of baker's yeast, 125 g of melted butter, 2 tablespoons of milk, zest of 1.5 lemons, oil, powdered sugar.

Recipe : mix all the ingredients. Cover with a cloth, leave to rest for 2 hours in a cool environment. Cut the dough into small balls, roll out thinly, immerse them in hot oil, place them on absorbent paper, sugar them.