*the oyster sheds on the Cancale coast where we ate oysters with lemon & threw the shells over the breakwater,
*a drive-thru Boulangerie in Dinan which stayed open all day,
*a village fête in Yvignac-la-Tour where a satanic rock band played in the churchyard & we ate sausages cooked over an open fire & wrapped them in galettes with mustard & tomato sauce,
*an abbattoir near Caulnes where we bought rillette & boudin noir,
*a dance party in the woods near Tisonnais where there was plenty to sniff swallow & smoke but not a bite to eat,
*a lovely restaurant in Chauvigny where madam scolded me when i asked for my boeuf medium-rare (not one of the three ways the chef could cook my boeuf),
*acres & acres of grape vines in the Loire Valley,
*a Gelateria by the canal in Sète,
*an oyster farm somewhere off the Sth coast, on the way to a delightful seafood restaurant in Bouzigues which we got to by crossing the harbour in a speed boat, stopping to swim along the way,
*more delightful restaurants in Montpellier, where I became aware of how close we were to Spain by the frequency of Tapas menus everywhere,
*a salon du thé, crêperie & tarterie in Castres, family run, where Madam sat inside tut-tutting while her two heart breakingly cute daughters took care of everything, one inside cooking, the other waiting our table, recommending me dishes & sneaking small pastries out to us while mama wasn't watching,
*a foie gras producer in the Dordogne, the first of several hopefully,
*a fish market in Souillac,
*a farmer's market in Fajoles where we drank sangria made by the town mayor & ate duck confit with salad & potatoes from the bbq on long tables packed with locals one Sunday who told stories I barely understood but which got steadily funnier the more we drank.
From Britanny on the English Channel to Montpellier on the Meditteranean & back to La Brugue in the centre, along the way I've become rather taken by the French way of eating a meal. The little ceremony to the eating of ones lunch or dinner, the order of things, is what I've decided to write about this week.
I really like the French way of eating. Not so different, I suppose, from our own, excepting that rather than everything put on a plate & called dinner, everything is put on a series of plates & these come out one after the other, & that's dinner. But things work differently here. At noon shops close, to reopen at 3, perhaps 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Lunch is a two hour affair; the heat of the day is no time to work. One can enjoy ones bread, salad, meat, & cheese, uncrowded & unhurried. & then, relaxed & sipping coffee, one is ready for dessert.
The cuisine maison varies from restaurant to restaurant, region to region, but generally speaking le menu du jour consists often two or three entrée options to choose from, a single main plate, a cheese board which moves between tables, & a dessert. For €12-15 you might expect a menu something along these lines:
Entrée
a choice of charcuterie
a light seafood dish
a salad
Plat du Jour
a cut of veal, beef or pork, perhaps skewered, usually grilled, with a veg side
a local speciality, perhaps a pie or a casseroles of some kind
Fromage
a selection of local cheeses
Dessert
the house speciality, almost always a tart, quite often tarte tatin
ice creams
something chocolate
So menu ideas rather than recipes this week. Stepping back from the idea of a single dish, allowing the ingredient opportunity to shine on its own. The menu boards pictured above offer a selection of menu ideas fitting for any dinner party, indeed I include them here for that reason. Here in La Brugue, a stroll down to the potager, the kitchen garden, rewards with an abundance of ripe tomatoes hanging on the vine, aubergines too, there's sliverbeet, lettuces & sweetcorn, brambles climb the fence covered with tayberries & raspberries, in the orchard beyond, plum trees, peach, quince & walnut.
The natural rhythm of our meals here is a reflection of this fashion of dining, the menu du jour format is nothing special, it's regular dining & there's time to relax & enjoy the food & the company, as well it reflects the region & the season. Last night for dinner, a case in point:
Entrée
a salad of tomatoes off the vine, basil & olive oil
Plat du Jour
duck breast with yellow plum sauce
Fromage
fresh berries, cream & honey
The summer evenings are warm here & we ate outside, jugs of iced water on the table &
The summer evenings are warm here & we ate outside, jugs of iced water on the table &
a few bottles of local rosé, a setting sun over the hazel nut grove at the bottom of the garden.
No comments:
Post a Comment