Butternut Squash Gnocchi

You know, when it comes to legends and superstitions – or rather popular beliefs- Brittany is not too far off Ireland in that department. Hollsent is our Hallowe’en, when we celebrate the dead, the departed to another world but the rules don’t always start and end in October! Oh no! We have a whole lot of characters that most of us take very seriously, oh yeah! We have of course An Ankoù, from the old Celtic God of Death Ankouvos, the tall, skinny and lanky valet of Death, patrolling our beautiful country at night to collect the passed over souls with his horse, as meager as him,  his squeaky carriage for the lift. If you are unfortunate enough to cross his path at night, well, it was nice to meet you as you are probably on the list and I think it’s too late I am afraid… If you hear the creaking of his cart’s axle, the tip is to run away in the other direction, home will do, hide under the duvet and keep singing “lalalalalala…” and you might have a chance to live for another year!

Then we have the less known “Yannick An Od” or “Little John of the Strand” now there is a funny character; not as lethal but quite tricksy! If you walk on the shores at night and you hear someone calling in a playful manner, chances are it is Yannick An Od; if you answer him back, he will travel – and very fast- half the distance separating you to him(seriously don’t), then he will call again. If you are unfortunate enough to respond, he’ll be right there he’ll give you a hiding, a correction to remember and a mistake never do be done again, unless you are into that kind of thing…

There are also some rules you must follow, and they are so many that I wouldn’t know where to start! One I can vividly remember, and since I have been out at night during my Birdwatching years on the Island of Hoedic, is that you should never whistle after 10 pm while walking near gorse bushes… You see, when Bretons pass over to the next world, they go into a spiritual waiting room; some call it purgatory, but it was then known as penitence, until your fate was to be decided. The souls of the departed, spirits known in Brittany as Anaon and they all serve their time in the gorse. It isn’t a good idea to disturb the anaon, unless you want to become one pretty pronto; just don’t whistle in the gorse after 10 pm, I mean come on, that’s fair enough!

We almost have the same Fairies, leprechauns and others sharing this land yet on a parallel world. We call them “Korriganed” or simply “Korrigan”; which is interesting knowing the number of Corrigans in Ireland, I do know a couple! They are quite playful, mischievous but are also known to be able to help you if you are in trouble. We also have the equivalent of the “Banshee”, the white witch who calls at night in a terrifying shriek… Recent studies (my own) show that it was probably the poor unfortunate Barn Owl and if you haven’t heard a Barn Owl’s calling at night, it is quite eerie and ghostly, white silent hunter, so silent in fact that you wouldn’t know it had just passed you… A pity that this poor animal had such a bad reputation with natives from all over Europe and the Americas, barer of bad news… I think we are over it now.

To finish, I couldn’t go without speaking about Dahut; she was hot and lived her life to the full without anyone complaining! Dahut was the daughter of King Gradlon from the City of Ys, now long gone, swallowed by the ocean. Some folks think that Ys is in fact Douarnenez, the western Breton City and get away to the Cap Sizun, others believe that it was Atlantis… To be honest, I think it’s gone. Kêr-Is in Breton, was like a giant party city, and Dahut knew how to “keep it lit”. Drinking, music and debauchery was norm which didn’t really please early Saint Gwenole who ordered the king to run away from the city as it was being punished by higher forces, engulfed by the seas. Gradlon ran away with his daughter on his magical horse called Morvarc’h ( sea horse) but Dahut fell into the coming waves and Gradlon survived… If you listen well, you can still hear her calling on some stormy nights! I don’t want to be controversial or anything, but apparently, Paris was named after Kêr-Is, the City of Ys or “Pareille á Ys” ( same as Ys) became Paris… But I know that they will never accept that… Their loss!

Anyway, I hope I didn’t scare you too much! Here is my Hallowe’en recipe, I decided to drift away from the usual pumpkin and went for butternut squash instead, here it goes:

For the gnocchi: You’ll Need ( all organic)

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 250 g of pasta flour
• 2 egg yolks
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

How to?

Cut the butternut squash in half, crisscross it with a knife but make sure you don’t pierce the skin at the bottom. Sprinkle some olive oil and bake in a hot oven ( 200 c) for 30 to 40 minutes with the garlic cloves in their skin. Cut the bottom of the cloves and the tip of the squash before doing so…

Scoop the butternut squash in a bowl and squeeze the garlic out. Mash the lot into a bowl, add a sprinkle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper…

In a bowl, put the flour, egg yolks and butternut squash together…

Knead the whole thing into a beautiful dough and add flour or water if to dry or wet. Rest in the fridge for an hour…

Roll the dough in a couple of “cylinders”, ready to be cut…

Cut the dough into thumb nail size pieces, do not hesitate to use a bit of flour…

Use the back of a fork to make a funky gnocchi design; this time, I pressed on the four corners to make little rectangles if you know what I mean; if you don’t, here is the picture…

Put the gnocchi in a pot of salted boiling water for about 7 minutes. To be honest, once they pop up to the surface of the water, it means that they are done… Sieve, cool, and set aside…

For The Whiskey Sauce: You’ll Need

• about 6 button mushrooms
• 1 garlic clove sliced
• a pinch of dill
• a drizzle of soya sauce
• 10 cl of Irish Whiskey
• a pinch of dried dill ( fresh if you can)
• 25 cl of fresh cream
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

Slice the mushrooms and garlic together with salt, pepper and dill. When golden, pour a dash of soya sauce and the whiskey together…

When almost reduced, pour the cream and let it simmer until thick enough. Put the cooled gnocchi in, sauté or toss for a bit and serve with fresh Parmigiano Reggiano ( parmesan) shavings…

Keep Well and Eat Happy

Slán Tamall

Franck