Rest Day | Haute-Savoie
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Diots de Savoie, a difficult goodbye and time to reset
We’re still blaming Tom Pidcock.
But today, even the Tour gets to stop.
After fifteen stages, the race has reached its second rest day in Haute-Savoie, before tomorrow’s individual time trial from Évian-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains.
And after yesterday, the pause feels particularly welcome.
Stage 15 ended with the deeply unfortunate sight of Jonas Vingegaard being forced to abandon the Tour following a crash.
One of the defining riders of this generation, suddenly gone from the race.
A reminder that however carefully everything is prepared, Le Tour can change in a moment.
Today’s Rest
No start line.
No categorised climbs.
No summit finish.
Today is about recovery, repair and getting ready to go again.
The riders will eat, sleep, stretch, speak to the press, ride just enough to keep their legs moving and try not to think too much about what is still to come.
A rest day at the Tour is not really a day off.
It is maintenance.
Which is something we understand.
Today’s Kitchen
We’re keeping the food local, restorative and entirely uncomplicated.
Diots de Savoie with creamy Beaufort polenta.
Diots are small Savoyard pork sausages, traditionally cooked with onions and local white wine. Polenta is one of their classic accompaniments, particularly when enriched with a little butter and mountain cheese.
Brown the sausages properly.
Soften the onions slowly.
Add dry white wine, thyme and enough time for everything to come together.
Then serve the lot over soft polenta finished with Beaufort.
Not delicate.
Not fashionable.
Exactly right.
Rest-Day Recipe | Diots de Savoie with Creamy Beaufort Polenta
Ingredients
Serves 2–3.
- 4 diots de Savoie or good coarse pork sausages
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 20g butter
- 1 teaspoon plain flour
- 250ml dry white wine
- 150ml chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 150g quick-cook polenta
- 600ml chicken stock or water
- 30g butter
- 60g Beaufort, grated
- Black pepper
Method
Brown the diots in the butter, then remove them from the pan.
Cook the onion and shallot gently until soft and lightly coloured. Stir in the flour, followed by the white wine, stock, mustard, thyme and bay leaf.
Return the sausages to the pan and simmer gently for 25–30 minutes.
Cook the polenta until smooth, then beat in the butter and Beaufort.
Spoon the polenta into bowls, place the sausages on top and finish with plenty of the white-wine onion sauce.
Eat properly.
Then get ready to go again.
Why This Dish?
Sometimes we take inspiration from brilliant cooks such as @jhbfoodiecyclist.
Sometimes we simply let the road decide.
Today, the Tour is resting in Haute-Savoie.
That calls for local sausages, mountain cheese, Savoy wine and a bowl of something substantial.
No reinvention required.
In the Workshop
Rest days are not idle days.
They are the days when equipment is inspected, cleaned and repaired.
When small problems are found before they become large ones.
When everything is put back in order for the road ahead.
The same principles apply in a workshop.
Start with proper materials.
Take your time.
Pay attention to the details.
Make sure it is ready to do the job for which it was made.
For the duration of Le Tour, we are continuing to offer complimentary Tour Yellow hand stitching on our handmade-to-order belts and leather apron straps.
Tomorrow, the road calls again.
We’ll be ready.
Food from the road.
Handmade in England.
Inspired by Le Tour.