Pink Saturday - Un kir

Pink Saturday - Beverly at the blog "How Sweet the Sound" hosts Pink Saturday. Let the color pink inspire you!

In France, when asked if you want an apertif, you can't go wrong if you say"Je prends un kir, s'il vous plait."

We were in Dijon, in the wine country of Burgundy. We were guests at a medieval townhouse in the old part of the city. Our hostess settled us into the guest room, above what is now the garage, looking over the inner courtyard. We climbed out the French doors onto the balcony, and she brought glasses, a bottle of white wine, and a small bottle of a thick, dark syrup - creme de cassis, or liqueur of blackcurrants.

She poured the wine, and then glugged in a small dollop of the syrup. It settled in the bottom of the glass, a deep rosy flush. She swirled the stem a little and the wine suffused pink.

 Named after Felix Kir, the mayor of Dijon after the second World War, a Kir is traditionally made with the  white wine made from Bourgogne Aligote grapes.

 It was a popular drink in Dijon cafes after the war, because the sweet dark flavor of the blackcurrant syrup enhanced the thin, cheap, acid wine that was all people could get during those days.

We sat on the balcony planted with pink oleanders, overlooking the cobblestones, the apricot tree heavy with fruit, blooming hydrangeas beside the white-washed walls. The plants were still damp from an early afternoon rain shower, but the sun was out, warming the mellow ancient stone carved with lion heads and lion caryatids.

You can make a kir with a little bit of syrup - just enough to tint the wine a pale salmon - or you can make it with a generous dollop, for a deeper color and more sweetness. Either way, it's a pretty drink, simple enough to sip at a cafe on a warm summer evening, or before a meal.

We enjoyed it so much in Dijon that when we returned to Paris, we stopped in the bar at the Gare de Lyon and had one there, in the Big Ben Bar.

Le Train Bleu

If you dine at the Gare de Lyon's famous Le Train Bleu restaurant, you might want something a little fancier, like a kir royale, made with sparkling white wine or champagne. In France, you can also order a kir made with syrups from other fruits, such as mûre (blackberry) framboise (raspberry) or pèche (peach).

Here in the United States, it's hard to find Bourgogne Aligote wine, and if you do, you'll often pay up to $20 for it - which is foolish. A simple sauvignon blanc works fine, or any cheap French white wine, like La Vielle Ferme blanc, easily found in American supermarkets.

You'll pay a price, too, for the creme de cassis, especially if you buy one from Dijon. But do buy one from Dijon, instead of the cheaper brands of Hiram Walker or Marie Brizzard or Bols. It will go a long way. And you can sip your kir this summer on a lovely Pink Saturday evening, and imagine you are sitting on a 16th century balcony, over a cobblestone courtyard, in the ancient city of wine, food, and medieval palaces.