Recipes from "A Week on the Water": Mustard and White Wine Onion Soup

Founder of Boutique Hotel Barges and "A Week on the Water" author, Hazel Young, is a graduate of the French National Cooking School in Beaune. She has run numerous cooking seminars and culinary cruises aboard her former barge Fandango, and planned the boutique barge's extraordinary menus for over two decades.

Dijon mustard originated in 1856, when Jean Naigeon of Dijon substituted verjuice, (the acidic juice of under-ripe grapes) for vinegar in the traditional mustard recipe.  Although still produced in France, French Dijon mustard is now made from seed and wine imported from North America.

Mustard and White Wine Onion Soup

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon grape seed oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 potato chopped
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig of parsley
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 white of leek, sliced and washed
• 4 oz slice of smoked bacon
• 300 ml (2 cups) white wine
• 800 ml (41/2 cups) water
• 1 tablespoon Dijon grainy mustard
• 1 tablespoon Dijon smooth mustard
• 1 teaspoon vegetable stock paste
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup liquid cream
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Heat oil and butter in saucepan.

Add onion and leek, and gently fry until translucent.

Add other vegetables, cook for three minutes stirring occasionally then add water and white wine, mustards, stock paste. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf and parsley sprig, blend and adjust seasoning.

Stir in cream and pour into individual bowls, decorate with chopped parsley.

Highlights of Burgundy: A Trip to the Dijon Market

Even on a grey day at the end of the barging season in late October, a trip to Dijon's fabulous Les Halles market is a guaranteed pleasure for anyone with a love for food. The covered market occupies an expansive 19th-century structure, designed and built by Eiffel Tower architect, Gustave Eiffel.

On market days, the shopping begins before you even enter the market. Vendors line the street, featuring everything from seasonal produce to tee shirts. On our fall trip there were tables heaped with late-season crops, the stars of which were les champions — the mushrooms.

Inside, Les Halles hums with activity, filled with stalls offering shoppers every sort of wonderful food imaginable. Fruits, vegetables, fish, meats, cheese, eggs, dairy products, sausages, snails, pate, bread and pastries, endless varieties of jams and jellies, wines and liqueur de cassis — all as much a delight for the eyes as for the taste buds.

A stop at the fromage counter finds the amicable vendors eager to offer samples and make recommendations for new and enticing types of French cheese to try. Our purchases on this visit included some Saint Marcellin, Fourme d'Ambert and and a particularly decadent and creamy Pont l'Evêque, later enjoyed back at the barge with a loaf of crusty bread and a bottle of sparkling Crement.

The biggest market days are Tuesday and Friday. Thursday the market is only inside Les Halles. It's always best to go early in the day. You will be done with shopping in time for lunch in one of the many small cafés and bistros within walking distance of the market.

Learn more about barge cruises that include a visit to Dijon at Boutique Hotel Barges.