The Wild Maquis of Corsica
(Page 4 of 5)
April/May 2004
By Sibylle Hechtel
To cap our splendid meal, our host offered a cheese tray with
Corsican cheeses: Corse Vecchiu is a very mild sheep cheese; U
Casarone is a sharp, pungent and aromatic goat cheese; and Ye
Suerta is less mild than Corse Vecchiu but not as sharp as the U
Casarone. Because of export laws, these cheeses can be purchased
only in Corsica.
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Detailed Distillation
The next morning, we drove into the hills behind town to visit
the Alessandri’s distillery, another family-run operation. Pierre
Alessandri does the heavy lifting while his wife Pascale Bradesi, a
chemistry professor at the University of Corte, analyzes the
essential oils with sophisticated instrumentation, including mass
spectography and nuclear magnetic resonance. The grandfather, who
lives with the family, keeps bees for honey with the flavor of the
maquis, which they bear back to the hives on every flight through
its pollen-laden flowers.
Today, Pierre distills oils from Inula graveolens, a plant
closely related to elecampane, or horseheal, (I. helenium). He
first has to find the plant, which only grows wild and not in
cultivated fields. He cuts it by hand with a sickle and rushes back
to load it into distilling vats because the plant sugars start to
break down within three hours of being cut.
“We have to hustle,” he says. For one distillation, Pierre and
his assistant need 1,500 to 1,800 pounds of fresh-cut plant
material—a lot for two people to cut and carry.
“It’s all biologique too,” he adds. Biologique is the French
standard that roughly compares to U.S. organic specifications, but
even stricter, controlling the location of potential harvest sites
to prevent pollution.
Inula contains about 25 different chemicals in its essential
oils. Pierre explains that Corsican plants differ in the north,
south, east and west because of different soils and growing
conditions. Corsican rosemary contains about 5 percent camphor, but
rosemary in Italy and Spain contains up to 30 percent camphor.
Corsican rosemary contains 9 percent verbenone, a desirable healing
compound that is absent in mainland rosemary. The Alessandris sell
oils to Estée Lauder in the United States, as well as to companies
in Belgium, Germany and Japan.
Here and Back Again
Of any European country I’ve traveled to, Corsica leads in its
use of fresh herbs and unique products. Its location as a southern
island, coupled with the hundreds of native plant species,
contribute to this abundance. The high, wild mountains and steep
hillsides are home to a profusion of fragrant herbs, which help
create the unique varieties of cheeses and honeys. To truly
experience Corsican cuisine, you should not only visit one place on
the isle, but also sample foods from the Corsican coast and
mountains.
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