Re-discovering French Markets

One of the reasons I moved to France and one of the things I still enjoy most about life here is the markets. Having written about them several times before, and been to them hundreds of times, I found myself assuming that people have had enough of reading about them. But each visit to the market is different, and if I hadn’t been going to French markets all this time, I would still want to read about them!

So…

This morning was frozen and frosty as I drove to the market. There were some wisps of mist, but I could tell that it wouldn’t be long before the sun broke through with full force.

I hadn’t intended to buy anything at the market; I just needed to get a card from a shop. But then I decided to do some market-watching and enjoy a chocolatine (the southern word for ‘pain au chocolat’) with a milky coffee. I bought my buttery chocolatine from a fantastic bakery in a market square (there are a number of market squares in Périgueux), sat outside the café next door, and ordered my coffee.

By now, the sun had indeed broken through, and I had to take my coat off. Bright blue skies and hot sun in February – after heavy frost in the morning – love it!

I tore off a piece of flakey, gooey chocolatine and dipped it in my coffee. As I put it in my mouth and looked up, I noticed that the couple on the next table were ordering glasses of muscadet. ‘How nice’, I thought.

I had my back to the café, tables on either side, the market stalls and covered market a few metres in front of me. Directly opposite was a stall selling mainly oysters – all different varieties and sizes – along with a few other shellfish. The oyster-seller was opening oysters, the liquid pouring out of each one – and putting them directly on a big platter. Even as I was eating my sweet breakfast, my mouth started watering for oysters.

Other stalls were selling bread baked in a wood-fired oven, garden produce, farm eggs, cheeses, sausages, chickens with their gizzards displayed, skinned rabbits, huge bunches of seasonal herbs, rotisserie chicken dripping tasty goodness onto roast potatoes, black puddings, foie gras, plaits of garlic, flowers, olives…. And much, much more. And times that by about 20, for each medieval square and cobbled alley packed with stalls, among the limestone walls of the old town.

The oyster man had filled his platter. I wondered whether it was a display or maybe he was offering free tasters that I could take advantage of. But as he walked towards me with the mound of oysters, he veered to the right and put it down in front of the couple drinking muscadet. I was quite overwhelmed with feelings of happiness, love for French culture, respect and jealousy. How brilliant that you can sit in a café and order wine, then have a plate of opened oysters delivered from the specialist stall opposite! And at 11:30 am! 11:30 is unusually early for lunch, but people do tend to relax their strict midday lunch custom for market day.

This event reawakened me to how there’s always something new to discover at the market, some new tradition, food or way of doing things. I never get tired of it. I thought, ‘I want to share this with everyone, but I don’t suppose they’d be that interested anymore’. That’s when I realised I had made subconscious assumptions about my readers, when actually they might really enjoy hearing more about the markets. Do you? Shall I keep giving you these anecdotes, or have you had enough?

A friend joined the oyster couple, and started tucking in with them. I had finished my breakfast and needed to get on, but before heading for the car, I was compelled to buy myself 6 oysters. The man gave me 7 and they cost me €4.

I drove home with the window down, feeling the heat of the sun and smelling the start of spring. But as I pulled up at home, the warm, sunny weather we have had for a week started to change, and some dark clouds started welling up around me.

Inside, I stoked up the fire, poured a glass of white wine, and began opening my oyster treasures. I took Tabasco, the pepper grinder, my plate of oysters, a wedge of lemon and my glass of wine into the lounge, and had myself an oyster picnic in front of the fire. Love market days.

Vegetable Garden Gallery 2010

Here’s a look back at the different stages of my vegetable garden in 2010. Now there are just a few cabbages, sprouts, and turnips left, along with some sad-looking beets and ratty callaloo.

The pigeons have pretty much destroyed my kale and sprouting broccoli crops, which is particularly painful, because the seeds came from the States and were delivered by a friend, and you can’t buy either vegetable in France.

Bring on summer! It it is time to start again, and plant the first veg of 2011 – broad beans. The sun has been warm for a week, and spring is on its way, so it feels like I don’t have long to wait for summer. I’ve still got a couple of months of bringing logs in to stay warm, but there is an end in sight.

EARLY SUMMER


Peas flowering


Sunflowers, baby aubergine plants and some happy-looking beetroot


Lots of baby plants; garden still looks quite bare

JUNE/JULY


Peas are ready now


Courgette starting to fruit


Pretty beans

AUGUST


Baby cabbages and brussels sprouts


Tomatoes ripening among flowers


Aubergines fruiting madly


Garden looking less bare now

SEPTEMPBER/OCTOBER


Lush ripe tomatoes


Haul of garden produce


Decent squash harvest

NOVEMBER


Fantastic cabbage - I'm proud of this one!

Christmas 'Fruits de Mer' Frenzy

For our Christmas Eve meal, we had the most massive fruits de mer ever in the world. I doubt I’ll remember everything, but I’ll give it a go: Prawns, smoked prawns, home-dressed crab, potted shrimps, steamed mussels, oysters, clams, land snails with garlic and parsley butter, scallops cooked with breadcrumbs and herbs, shallot vinegar, homemade mayonnaise …and chips.

Stop UK Mega-Dairies

This is important - Follow this Compassion in World Farming link on the perils of mega-dairies proposed for the UK.

Apart from the cows never seeing the light of day, there is also human cost to these and they are a disaster for diversity: I have spoken to French farmers who are already suffering from being out-priced by Dutch mega-dairies, and for several years it has no longer been possible to find local butter in the UK, as ALL UK butter is made in 2 giant dairies, and small producers can't compete on price. Local, individual, unusual dairy products will disappear or only be available to the wealthy.

If you care about:

• Nice food
• Cows
• Not having all money from dairy products going to a very few rich businessmen rather than normal farmers.

...then please take literally a minute to fill out their email form to send to your MP. The link to send the form is at the bottom of this page.

Mushrooms That Look Like A Bum/ Arse/ Fanny - Any Ideas?

Anyone know what this mushroom could be? It is a boletus, pale yellow underneath, dark brown on top, a bit like a cep/ cèpe/ penny bun, but we found it growing in pairs so close together that it looks like bum cheeks (fanny or ass in American English). The stalks are separate, but the caps had often fused together.

Didn't get a pic, because we'd hoped to easily identify them and return to forage if they were edible, but today they had ALL been picked ...which implies that they are very edible! And to 'cap' it all off, I can't find a trace of them online...

My First Puffball

For so many years, I've been dying to try a puffball - their solid mushroom flesh looked so satisfying, and it would be so gratifying to find one and then have mounds of the flesh to gorge on, free of gills and stalks.

Well I didn't exactly find my first, because it was growing in some friends' garden. There were loads of them, slow-mo popping out of the ground, like bubbles appearing in boiling water. I chose a medium-sized one (about 15cm across) and carefully pulled it off the ground. It had such a small area joined to the earth compared to the size of the mushroom.

That was last night. At lunchtime today, I peeled half of it (slugs had been munching the outside) and sliced it. It was lighter and softer than expected. I then obviously had to try my first puffball fried in butter with garlic and parsley. It was soooo damn good! Soft and silky - not slimy - with the distinct mushroom flavour.

The other half will go in an omelette for my supper.

My puffball experience has added to the loveliness of my autumny day - the first really cold day after a run of hot weather, so I lit the fire before going out into the sunny, crisp, dewy, morning to the village market. When I got back, the house had warmed up and I sat working by the fire until my mushroom lunch...

Tunisia-Inspired Meal

I made moutabel, humous and flatbreads for some friends, followed by ojja. I was really pleased with the result, and my guests naturellement loved it all. The moutabel made good use of my bumper crop of aubergines, too.

The ojja was made with garlic, olive oil, green peppers, cumin, aniseed (didn't have caraway), green olives, merguez sausages and garden tomatoes, with eggs broken in near the end.


Humous with olive oil, smoked paprika and basil flowers


Moutabel with pomegranate molasses, walnuts and parsley


Anyone know where I can get whole blanched almonds in the Dordogne? I want to make the cous-cous we had in Tunisia, but in this part of France almonds only seem to be available either with their skin or flaked.

Roux at Parliament Square - Review

This is the new restaurant by Michel Roux Jr., who doesn't currently have a resident chef - Dan Cox left after a few weeks in the job.

Reviews in the papers have been mixed, but all agreed that the decor was really boring and "a sea of beige". I disagree! It is muted, yes, but the main effect is really comfortable in a classy way - nice. Not too much actual beige.



Pretty aperitif nibbles were followed swiftly by delightful amuse bouches of velvety baby carrot soup, and then starters. All a little too speedy and lots of flouncy table-waiting. Even the smallest of items seemed to require one waiter to hold a silver tray, while two others fussed around the table.

The Albert Roux (Lenoble) Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc champagne (£12 a glass) was excellent, with loads of flavour. It was so good, I'm going to buy some online.

My butter-poached langoustines were most enjoyable, but there were errors; not particularly buttery and one of my crustaceans wasn't cooked through - lucky I like raw seafood. The summer truffle accompanying the langoustines was thankfully boosted by some mushroom purée. I was looking forward at last to experiencing the elusive flavour of summer truffle, but I didn't. That's the last straw - I won't expect flavour from summer truffle ever again. I wish that restaurateurs would always use Italian white truffles or Périgord black truffles in winter, and truffle oil - even just nature-identical - for summer dishes. At least the fake oil tastes of something!

The veal main course was really outstanding. It would not be possible to find meat that was more tender and juicy. Everything - the fillet, summer vegetables and sweetbread - was perfectly cooked, and the smoked pomme mousseline was delectable and matched the rest of the dish perfectly. Great to be able to taste the smokiness, and the creamy potato was laden with butter but still light and delicate.

The pre-dessert was a lovely fruity concoction, but a bit unnecessary. It was unfortunately more enjoyable than my main dessert. The peach soufflé looked magnificent and was beautifully light, but it was far too sweet, and tasted of egg. I couldn't taste much peach other than from the few tiny cubes of peach at the bottom. The overwhelming sweetness was enhanced by crispy caramel bits, while my poor taste buds were screaming for some tangy peach coulis (or a cup of tea) to rescue them, but to no avail.

I even ate a petit four - dark chocolate flaked with gold, around a lovely strawberry 'crunchie' - to dull the sweetness, and it did help slightly!

The meal at Roux was certainly special. Critics have said it is well overpriced (£55 for three courses), but I'm not so sure - the ingredients and attention to detail were top-notch, and if there had been no mistakes, it would not have been overpriced. Maybe I caught them on an off-day? It is true, though, that for that price, there shouldn't ever be mistakes.

I'd have been happier with a less fussy service and no culinary errors, but the experience was generally very worthwhile.

Tunisian Wedding, Tunisian Fooood!

My brother married his Tunisian bride in the seaside town of Kelibia. It was a week of festivities and ceremonies, and a week of fantastic food and drink adventures.

I arrived at Tunis airport exhausted after a couple of days' travel and delays. It was hot and windy outside and I was relieved to be out of air conditioning and in warmth. There were several hours to wait before the rest of my family arrived, but my brother was there to meet me and take me out to lunch in the capital. We sped through the chaotic traffic and drove to a calmer part of town, by the sea. Our destination was a little place I had heard lots about - all good.

We got to the rather strong-smelling fishmonger's just before they closed but there were still piles of fantastic-looking seafood in crates on the counters. We bought loads of small red mullet, baby cuttlefish and fat prawns for about £2.

Then my brother sat down at the restaurant next door, where they were going to cook our seafood and supply us with salad, bread and drinks to go with it - all for about £3. No wine or beer - my first experience as an adult of a culture that discourages alcohol consumption.

I went into the kitchen to watch the seafood being grilled over a huge barbecue.







Feeling revived after gorging on that delicious lunch, we went back to the airport to collect the rest of the family. Then we had a three hour journey through towns and prairie, past prickly pears and shepherds, to our seaside destination.

Each day of the rest of the week followed the rough timetable of: greek coffee in bedouin tent café for breakfast; mint tea with pinenuts floating in it or fruit juice and shisha in lovely café overlooking the sea; lunch of harissa dip and olives followed by seafood next to the sea; a tourist trip (e.g. amazingly intact pre-roman ruins) or time on a white sand beach; family feast at Haifa's house in the evening.

Evening meals included baked fish, brick (deep-fried parcel of filo pastry filled with goodies like tuna, prawns and egg), salads, cous-cous with tripe, loads of salata mechouia (spicy green pepper salad, see pic above), and a wonderful cous-cous and lamb dish with hard-boiled eggs, sultanas, almonds, hazelnuts and chick peas.



Me and my brothers :)



Special cakes and blue minty fizzy drinks were served at the female-only henna party. All that, along with the tattoos, the mound of henna studded sugared almonds, the traditional clothes, incense and the rounds of "ayayeayayayayaye" calls made everything seem mystical and magical.



...We also stopped for mutton barbecued at the roadside - mechoui. We chose the joint according to weight and the man hacked it up. His son cooked the meat, and his daughter and wife served the meal. It was soooo good and we did very well in finishing the huge amount of food.

Back in Tunis at the end of the week, we had trouble finding open restaurants, especially as many look like private residences and lots had closed due to it (late July!) being their low season. Eventually, we happened upon one of those Islamic-tiled merchant house restaurants that you read about in any travel literature on North Africa; Dar Hamouda Pacha, 56 Rue Sidi Ben Arous in the souk.

The food was excellent and so reasonably priced - cheap, in fact. The service and attention to detail was superb, there were musicians playing local music ...and we pretty much had the enormous place to ourselves. My brother and I shared fish cous-cous and veal with tuna sauce - a very Italian dish (vitello tonato), but for much of the trip we were in sight of Italian islands, so the cuisine of each country must have mingled since time began. The veal was served with a delightful rice and pistachio dish. Dessert was a kind of pinenut blancmange, with plenty of mint tea to wash it down.

On my last day I was in Tunis alone, so spent hours exploring the souk. I came away with rose water, the special fragrant and floatable pinenuts for adding to mint tea (also delish with natural yogurt and honey), and ground smokey hot peppers for making harissa. I couldn't fit any more in my case, sadly.

My last meal was half a an extremely tasty herb-stuffed rotisserie chicken with salad and bread. I ate it in a local café and my dinner cost less than £2 - far cheaper than the touristy restaurants I'd been to with my family, and just as good. But tourist restaurants do serve beer and the fabulous Muscat de Kelibia wine...

Palavas-Les-Flots, Near Montpellier

My birthday treat! My companion and I drove the 6 hours from my place down to the little seaside fishing town of Palavas-Les-Flots.

On the day itself, we had champagne on the beach, followed by lunch of oysters for me, lobster for him, followed by more champagne on the beach. After all that, we needed a nap, but not before we had reserved a late table on the port for my birthday supper of fruits de mer (seafood platter).




Unfortunately, we woke up at the time of our booking, and my companion takes AGES to get ready for anything. An hour later, we emerged to look for somewhere to eat, but everywhere had stopped serving. Thankfully, we found a little café that was closing up but still serving, and had a delicious meal of tender, tasty steak and chips.

We had fruits de mer for lunch one day, instead.



Montpellier is minutes up the road from Palavas, and we happened to visit on Pride Carnival day. Such a cosmopolitan, buzzing place, and very refreshing after the rural South-West. It was like Brighton but with hot sun.

Manuka Honey

Have you ever tried Manuka honey from New Zealand? You might have heard about its health benefits (antibacterial and antiviral among other things, for internal and topical use), but it is worth trying for gastronomic reasons - totally different from any other honey.

I've got Styx Apiaries' Organic Manuka Honey. When I first open the jar, I can smell rising bread dough, but sniff closer and the dark furniture polish fragrances typical of forest honey take over, with extra scents that are acidic and of rich vanilla.

The honey is dark and runny, and has kind of a savoury flavour to it, owing to its acidity. It is quite tangy but has a powerful, long-lasting melt-in-the mouth butteryness to it.

Like all honeys, Manuka is suited to particular uses; it is ideal for any meat recipe that includes honey, because it is not too sweet and its flavours compliment meat. Best is on bread from my local wood-fired bakery, with a touch of salty butter. And a cup of tea, of course - yummy.

Styx Apiaries' honey has a high content of active ingredient (UMF +10), and unlike other honeys, Manuka's active ingredient is not destroyed by heat, so you get some goodness from it even if you've used it in cooking. Search online for suppliers.


Manuka plant

Sanguettes - Blood Cakes

I love black pudding, especially the smooth French ones, so I had been meaning to try a sanguette for years. When ducks that have been raised for foie gras are killed, their blood is saved to make these sort of thick pancake things. Seasoning, garlic and oil goes into the pan, before the congealed blood. When it's cooked, it just looks like a lump of boudin noir (black pudding without cereals).

At the winter 'fat market' - where foie gras and all the other parts of the bird are sold - my mouth watered as I selected the tastiest-looking sanguette from the nicest-looking stall. It was wrapped in wax paper, and I could hardly wait to get it home.

Back in my kitchen, I prepared a plate with some dressed salad leaves and a dollop of special pink peppercorn mustard. Butter sizzled in the pan as I put in the heavy, hard sanguette. A couple of minutes on each side, then straight on the plate and I took my treasure out into the sun, to enjoy with a glass of red.

It was disgusting. I can't remember disliking any food or drink as much as this. I attempted to enjoy it several times before actually binning the thing - unheard-of behaviour for me.

It had the dense, dry, saliva-sapping texture of the liver that was served in English schools in the 80s - the reason so many of my contemporaries can't stand liver. It tasted bitter and musky and not of much else. Dried blood and boiled offal. That shouldn't be surprising I suppose, but I normally love offal and blood products!



The difference must be that boudin noir is blood mixed with loads of cream, fat and seasoning. Maybe duck's blood would also be nice if it was mixed with the same volume of cream, loads of fat, heavy seasoning, caramelised onions and a lot more garlic...?

More Tunisian Cakes

Haifa brought some more cakes as a gift to my family for Christmas. Just wanted to share a photo, as they're so pretty. They taste how they look; almond, pistachio, honey, rose water and orange flower water.

Amberley Castle - Review

I grew up near Amberley Castle and my parents still live closeby. Imposing medieval ramparts surround the grand hotel and restaurant, about which I had heard enticing snippets - fairytale wedding receptions (we see the newly-weds' helicopters taking off and landing there), sumptuous rooms, absolutely top-notch meals in the plush dining room and whopping prices.

To justify the prices, I saw staying there as a life experience, and took advantage of their autumn deal - £350 for dinner, bed and breakfast for one night. Ouch. Ignoring that, my companion and I were absolutely going to make the most of this and were really excited to drive up towards the huge floodlit stone walls and wide towers, and through the portcullis.

The welcome was warm and down-to-earth - really helpful and pleasant staff. We were taken up grand and then narrow stairs to our large, beamed room in the roof, with lovely gas fire that had actual fire-like flames. Nice bathroom. Huge bed. Fabulous original features and great interior decor. We had to get the sheets changed, as they seemed to have sand in them, but that sort of problem can happen anywhere. I lifted the table cloth on the curved dressing table to find that it was constructed out of MDF. Come to think of it - I thought - the carpet on the stairs was quite scruffy.


Lovely fire

I tried not to feel disappointed. But couldn't help wondering how people could make such a very real castle feel like a fake one...

Anyway, I ignored all that and got dressed up for supper, my companion looking dapper, and we made our way to the dining room.

Dinner

The dining room was hushed. I loved the gas fire in the bedroom - like having a real fire but without the responsibility - but I was let down by having a larger version in the dining room, because I had expected a real log fire, complete with crackles and woodsmoke smell. Even a little one would have been nice. Apart from that, the suit of armour and old portraits on the stone walls made for a suitably castley room.

The hushedness was almost deafening and made me want to be rowdy. Everyone was whispering. Even in the poshest restaurants people should surely be enjoying their meal and each other's company, rather than acting like they're at a funeral wake? How did Amberley Castle manage to create this sombre atmosphere that obliged whispering?

I am not going to go into massive detail about the meal, but give an overview: Imaginative and enticing menu, pretty food, lovely flavours, several basic mistakes (e.g. over-cooked sweetbreads). The dishes didn't match up to the descriptions on the menu. The sommelier's advice was difficult to extract and was off the mark. The waiter didn't listen to my questions properly - he was distracted.

All-in-all, it was a special meal, but not in any way deserved of all the hushed pomp it was served in. I enjoyed the food but the price made it hard to swallow, especially as the deal did not include any wine! Another £40...


Medieval dining room

If I had eaten the meal in more normal circumstances it would have been great, but high prices make you notice every negative detail and each slip feels like you're being sold faulty goods. Ditto the rooms.

After supper, we found that our champagne glasses had been taken out of our bedroom. We immediately rang reception but there was no answer. We left the room to go to reception, but suddenly the castle was dark and silent. We had only left dinner a few minutes earlier, but now everyone had gone home or gone to bed! We called out, went to the kitchen, but couldn't find another soul. In the end, we just took some glasses off the tables that were laid for breakfast and tip-toed back to our room.

Breakfast

Breakfast was excellent. Tasty local sausages, plenty of choice, all really good. The dining room seemed friendlier in the morning, and the fire was less conspicuous and more cosy on that blustery wet day. Very enjoyable indeed.

Conclusion

Hugely overpriced. For what they are charging, everything should be perfect and proper - far less pomp and way more attention to detail. I had been so excited about my stay but by the time I left I could no longer ignore all the things I had been ignoring, and overall felt an underwhelming disappointment. And a bit ripped off. And slightly indignant. Nice castle, though.

Apple & Pear Eau de Vie

Having failed to make alcohol with plums and greengages (no sugar meant it turned to vinegar), I'm now attempting eau de vie with apples and pears from the garden. Not strictly legal, but I have a hydrometer to test the alcohol, so it shouldn't make me blind. Updates to follow...

Chilies, Cucumbers & Quinces

The Taylors (Biddy's folks) always have a warm and welcoming kitchen, usually with simple, high-quality food on the table. Most veg and fruit is homegrown, bread is freshly baked, and superb (but incredible value) cheese is from the market.

Last time I visited was after a night on the town with Biddy and Maija, so the wholesome food was medicinal as well as delicious. Then I had a long drive home. I arrived back feeling dehydrated and queezy, but had been sent on my way with these lovely vegetables from the Taylors' garden. An absolutely delicious cucumber, tomato, chili and mint salad refreshed and revived me.



A couple of days later, I baked apples with slivers of the Taylors' quinces, adding lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, butter and sloe gin into the mix. Deeelightful with clotted cream, and the quince makes a big difference, transforming sweet 'n sour apples, with its fragrant layers of muskiness.

Big Easy Lobster & Steak

I'd been wanting to eat at this American diner in London for ages, so when a girls' night out needed somewhere to eat, I made suggestions. It was the combination of lobster, steak and cocktails that did it for me.

Having looked on the website, and chosen our dishes, two of us phoned separately to check on what deals they had on, because the ones mentioned were out of date. We were both assured that the deal would be running on the Friday night we planned to go.

When we got there, we were told noway! Not on a Friday! We explained our case to the manager, and thankfully got the deals we expected.

Anyway, the food was very tasty, the steak tender and the cocktails excellent. We all had a thoroughly enjoyable meal. But we all agreed that it wouldn't have been worth it and we'd have felt ripped off had we paid the full Friday night price, which would have cost about £40 extra EACH!

Oyster Farming Village & Steak, South-West France

I got to France for the last weekend in August, and went on a road trip to the beach for a mate's birthday celebration. A big load friends that go waaay back got together for a couple of days of sun, sea, camping, booze, oysters, steak and booze. It was iconic.

One morning, feeling hungover, we cycled in the fresh morning sun to an oyster farming village, made up of lots of tiny wooden houses, with sand-filled alleyways serving as streets. After exploring the nooks, and chatting to locals, we settled at a seaside restaurant that serves only oysters and wine. My 25 or so oysters went down such a treat. After them and a few glasses of crisp white, my hangover was much more manageable, and the beating sun was calling me to the white sand beach for a nap.




One evening, we cycled through the pine woodland of the Landes national park, to go to the outdoor steak-and-chips restaurant that is a regular beach stop-off for a few of us. 20 round a long table, we were served a selection of different barbecued steaks that had been cut off the carcass just before going on the grill.




Thick, juicy, full of flavour, tender and very rare - everyone loved it! It's so refreshing to be with a big bunch of people, including a lot of Brits, with no-one being fussy about eating beef or the level of cookedness. We just ordered steak and chips for everyone, and let Fred (owner and chef at Chez Fred) do what he does so well.



After putting away my own body weight in meat, chips, ice-cream, wine and cognac, the cycle home in the dark, through woodland, on a narrow path, with no proper lights was a challenge. I wobbled around, couldn't manage to cycle in a straight line, squealed a few times and might have had a tiny tantrum, but I was glad of the ride (and sober) by the time we got back to the campsite.

The food and setting for those couple of days were heavenly, but the best thing was catching up with so many good friends. :)