Josettes pear crumble

It was in 2023 when, while working on a book for Maison Courvoisier, I got a hold of the late Josette's cookbook and her cooking notes. The handwritten book was full of notes, scribbled just so that she would remember the measurements but with full knowledge that she knew the rest. It took some time for me to understand her French writing and her ways of cooking, yet every time I did succeed in making her recipe, it was perfect. It was when I imagined how she made this for her husband, Michel, and her guests at their house not far from Jarnac. I imagined how they sat outside on the terrace in the middle of the vineyard and distillery and enjoyed their food.