The Chasse Dinner
Last Saturday night was the local chasse dinner at our new village hall.
What’s a chasse I hear you ask? The chasse is the hunters who go out on Sundays and Wednesday from September to March to hunt. Our local chasse hunt mainly wild boar and deer, Whilst I do not want to join in the chasse, I understand why they do it.
Firstly, hunting of wild animals was the prerogative of the privileged few before the revolution and the ordinary people only gained the right to hunt after 1789. The people who hunt now do so partly to keep this bond with the revolution. Secondly, the French hunt for the pot – killed animals are eaten. The third reason is that if the population of boar and deer is not kept under control then crops are damaged and people’s livelihood is affected.
Back to the dinner – each year the hunters have a dinner, using some of the meat that comes from the hunt, and we are invited to join them. For a small fee, we had a six course meal with wine and coffee. The two main courses, were a wild boar casserole and roast venison, both cook to perfection. The wine was from the local vineyards – maybe not the best you have ever drunk, but drinkable.
The dinner started at 8pm, well that’s when we arrived although the first course was served at 9pm. Coffee was served after 1am! Last year Chris didn’t get home til after 3am so this year we had an early night.
Village meals are common in this area of France. Our small village has at least 2 per year and all the villages around us seem to have them as well. To save on the work, we all take our own crockery and cutlery which we bring home to wash. What a great idea; nobody stuck out the back washing up so all can join in the fun. In the winter they are held in the village halls or the local school whilst in the summer they are held outside. The main course at the summer meal in our village is chicken casserole with about 4 other courses and like the hunters meal it goes on late into the night. The children tend to stay awake for this meal as at the end we have fireworks.
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