getting educated at a french market

When I first lived in France as a young student, in a tiny flat in Nice, every day felt like an adventure.   I had a bicycle and would get all over the town, discovering what French living really meant.


Of course some learning just happens to us without even realising it.  We observe, we pick up as we go along. 

Sometimes however we need A Teacher!

I liked to shop at the little street market close to my flat.  You know how it is buying for a girl living alone, you don't really need that much, but you enjoy the detail.  I used to spend hours at the market, observing how the French bought their food, how interested they were in the quality and liked to know where it came from.

Nowhere was this more true than on the cheese stand!  To begin with I hurried past, hardly daring to stop and try because I knew so little about the cheeses.  One day I finally dared to stop at a stand and timidly asked for a goats cheese.

 

Little did I know that this first purchase would be the start of a gastronomical tour de France!

The cheese monger was charming, and maybe also a little bit charmed by a young foreign girl who had everything to learn!

Over the next few months he taught me about the flavours and textures of french cheese, carefully choosing which cheese I would try each week, and never failing to ask what I thought of last week's selection!

Via the amazing cheeses in his store I took a virtual tour; to the east of Paris to try Brie, down the centre of France to discover Cantal; along the Swiss border to explore the Gruyeres and Emmenthals, or slightly higher the Munsters.    In the centre and south of France he helped me discover the various goat's cheeses, including some of my favourite from Corsica.  The back up the south west via the sheep's cheeses of the Pyrenees, the wonderful flavours of the Auvergne, blue Roquefort and of course all the cheeses from Normandy that I now know so well.

And today, if I buy cheese at the farmer's market, I often remember my kind 'teacher', and how he gave me the confidence to discover so much more of France.

the french crème brûlée

First of all a special thought for all my friends and readers affected the the hurricane, 

I can't even imagine the disruption and difficulty getting over this

I wish you strength

Now that we are well into the cooler season here, desserts are less about fresh and fruity and more about comfort.  An all time favourite is the very french  crème brûlée.

Simple to make and chic to serve, I also love this recipe because it is served in individual portions. so easy to handle at a dinner.

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To make crème brûlée for 6 people, you will need

4 cups (1 L)  cream

1/3 cup (75 mL) sugar

10 yolks of large eggs

1 vanilla bean

Use these ingredients to make your custard.  Mix the egg yolks in a large bowl with the sugar, whisk well until the mixture pales slightly.  

Heat the cream, or full fat milk, in a pan with the vanilla pod split length ways.  You can scrape out the tiny black vanilla seeds if you wish to heighten the vanilla flavour.

Pour the cream into the egg and sugar mix, and blend thoroughly.  Pour this mix into individual creme moulds and bake in the oven, in a bain marie,  at 160C for 15 minutes.

You remove the crème from the oven when they are just set (no longer liquid), but still slightly wobbly.

Leave to cool then pop the crèmes into the fridge and leave them for about 4 hours.

Now comes the fun bit!  Just before you wish to serve the crèmes, sprinkle sugar in an even layer over the top of each crème then reach for your culinary blow torch.

I used to do this bit using the grill on the oven, but it's not ideal as it re-cooks the crèmes and they lose their very creamy quality.  If you like this recipe, you may choose to invest in a little chef's torch.

Once they are nicely golden and bubbly, carry to the table, wow your guests and sit back to   enjoy their wild applause.

pictures thanks to google images

in autumn, making quince jelly

It is a shame that blogger doesn't have a 'smell' button I could attach to this post!

I am making quince jelly, and the whole house is perfumed with their delicate flower-like flavour.

Large, rock hard, chunky sort of fruit, tasteless raw, yet when it is cooked it shares

 all sorts of secrets, and its jelly turns a beautiful deep pink colour.

It takes ages to make, but still has to be one of my favourite jellies to spread on bread, 

or use in  tarts with other fruit.

Here is the recipe, but believe me , this jelly is quite hard work!!

For about 3 lbs or 1.5kg of quinces.

Wash the qunices well and cut away any pieces that are damaged or discoloured.
Cut the rest of the fruit into cubes, don't worry about  peeling or taking out the core.

Thrown into a big preserving pan with 1/2 litre (1 pint) of water.

Cook for 60-90 minutes until well tender.

Find a way to let the fruit drain overnight.
 I have a rather 'heath-robinson' affair with a stool turned upside down,
and a muslin strung over a big mixing bowl to catch the juice.

The next day measure out how much liqud has come from the fruit pulp.
Resist the temptation to squeeze the muslin too hard, if you want a very clear jelly.

For each half litre (1 pint) of juice, you can add 350 grammes (12 ounces) of sugar.
Heat gently and simmer for about 15 minutes.  Quinces contain a lot of pectin,
so there isn't usually a trouble with this jelly setting.
The best way to test for setting is on a plate kept cold in the fridge.

When setting point is reached, pour into jars and ... admire!

And if you love the flavour and hate to see the fruit pulp wasted, you could always make quince

jelly squares, quite yummy with cheese!

After extracting the juice for your jelly, push the remaining soft fruit through a sieve, and mix equal weight of sugar to the sieved fruit paste.  Cook until thick enough to 'write' in with a wooden spoon and turn out onto a greaseproof paper lined baking tray.

Let it rest for 24 hours then cut into squares,
YUM!

Wishing you all a happy autumnal weekend.

food at a palace in paris and other places to eat

If you adore Paris and you love  fine food, and if you don't mind feeling hungry as you emerge from a cinema, then I think you need to see this film.

Les Saveurs du Palais,  'Flavours of the Palace' , tells the true story of a French woman, a cook and a farmer in the Perigord, who was unwittingly chosen to be the private cook to the former French president François Mitterand.

She gets lost in the presidential palace, she has to convince the all male kitchen staff that she can do the job and of course she gets to share the pleasure of good food with the president.

It is said that Mitterand asked the cook Hortense  Laborie to prepare the sort of meals his grandmother used to prepare - traditional French cuisine doesn't get any better than this!   You can find some of the recipes  here.

Not only is the film well acted, the décors are sumptuous and the food breathtaking.   Here is the trailer, in French I'm afraid! 

And if you are looking for recommendations for where to eat in Paris, then pop over to visit the delightful Stacey at Stacey's Snacks.  I had the pleasure of meeting Stacey and her husband when they came to visit last week.   She is a real connoisseur of food, and has tested some of the best restaurants for you.

While she was here we had loads to talk about, with shared interest in food and gardens, and I loved here fast talking way of doing things, a breath of fresh air here in sleepy Normandy.

She is a beautiful lady, (with a very handsome husband!) and they both completely charmed my whole family.  She takes photos of her meals all over the world, and shares them on her popular blog

I particularly loved her review of the confidential restaurant Verjus, and thanks to her I'll be dining there quite soon too!   She also took a private tour of the famous Cordon Bleu cooking school, that's her in the photo above with the owners of a Paris restaurant.

You can see what fun I've been having this summer with so many visitors - all that from one little blog, who would have guessed!   So if you are one of those who is hesitating about starting a blog, a little worried about publishing, then I can only say "go for it!", you never know where  the adventure may lead you!

a favourite french snack

A French lady I know ( beautiful, slim, lively and fun) once talked to me about growing up on the Cote d'Azur as a little girl in the 40's.  A magical moment to be sure.

We talked about school and friends, and clothes, and family life.   So many details to enjoy, but one that made me smile was her description of her favourite mid afternoon snack, when she came home from school.    "Pain au chocolat?"  I asked, already imagining her at the baker's counter.   "Non, non" she frowned,  "too sweet, way too sweet".

That little girl's idea of heaven was a slice of bread, a clove of garlic opened up and rubbed on the bread, then a trickle of olive oil.

France and the French never cease to delight!   

Wishing you all a fragrant weekend!

Photo by Ella

french summer dining

A last minute decision to invite friends for supper

warm enough to eat outside

one friend brings wine, another turns up with delicious patisserie

a few flowers, a few candles, a rising moon

chatting, laughing,

teenagers mixing with adults and nobody in a hurry to leave the table

summer evenings as they should be  ...  simple.

simple pleasures in everyday French life

If you read my blog now and again, you'll have understood that for me the best pleasures in life are the simple ones.  I'm not big on bling bling.  To me the greatest luxuries are the simple moments.

Buying at the market in France is not about ticking off from a shopping list, it is a sensual and sensory experience.  The produce is displayed beautifully to seduce the client, and the vendors make full use of their natural charms.

It was my husband who taught me how to shop at market.  Simple rules that work well.     Never go with a list,but to  be inspired by what is on offer;  walk around the market once before buying, remembering where are the ripest peaches, the sweetest melons, the best fish and cheese and to take the time .... buying food is important work, never to be rushed!

It's like I said, taking pleasure in the simple things.

 I invariably return from market with food I had no intention of purchasing, simply because it looks and smells so wonderful and because the inspiration for meals comes once I see the food.

and if I buy too much? .... no matter, there are always baskets for sale!

making strawberry jam

Now that our local strawberries are ready, I shall be making a big batch of strawberry jam , mmmmm...... strawberry.... jam....., surely two of the most evocative words in the culinary language.  Strawberry jam is summer in a jar; it is scones for tea;  fresh croissant for breakfast;  it is the jam that takes us back to our childhood.....

By a happy coincidence it is also one of the easiest jams to make, the natural pectin in the little ruby red fruits ensuring a jam that sets easily without needing to be overcooked and risking spoiling the flavour.

At home we grow our strawberries in large pots on the terrace, they are easier to control and less of a temptation to passing birds!

To make quite a few pots of fresh jam you will need  5 lbs of tasty strawberries, 3 lbs  (6 cups) of sugar and the juice of a lemon or two.

Pop a couple of old saucers into the freezer, you will need these for testing whether the jam is set.  Also have your jam jars ready, squeaky clean and slightly warm.

Remove the stalks and cut up the strawberries, pop them into a saucepan with the sugar and the lemon juice.  I leave this for a couple of hours so the fruit begins to juice.

Turn on a gentle heat until all the sugar is melted.  Once everything is melted then turn the heat up and bring the mixture to a boil.  Let it boil (not too hard) for 10-15 minutes.  After about 10 muinutes put a little of the mixture onto one of the cold saucers and do the 'wrinkle' test.  If, when you push your finger against the blob of jam the surface crinkles, then your jam is ready.  If it is still liquid then you need to boil it for a few more minutes.

The less time your jam boils, the better and fresher the flavour will be.

When you are satisfied with the consistency, turn off the heat, let the jam cool for a while.  Pour into individual pots and seal.  When the pots are cooled, wash them carefully to make sure no jam has dribbled down the side, then stick on a pretty label.

Voila!   my favourite recipe, illustrated by a series of wonderful  pictures taken by my daughter Ella last summer, enjoy!

strawberry and rhubarb tart

The first thing to push its way through the ground in our potager is the rhubarb.  Deep red stalks full of promise and abundance.

I love rhubarb compote but also tarts, and best of all when associated with strawberries, conveniently in season at the same time.

Here is a yummy and ridiculously easy recipe for a wonderful strawberry and rhubarb tart.

To make the tart or tarts you will need 

about 8 oz of fresh rhubarb, 

sugar to taste,

 1 lemon ,

 12 oz of strawberries and  

enough pastry for a tart mould or for 8 small moulds,

Buy or make your favourite sweet pastry and line the tart tin, either a long rectangular or round mould or several individual moulds.  Pre-bake the pastry, blind to begin with  (covered with parchment paper and weighted down)  then finished off for a few minutes to golden brown.

Make a rhubarb compote by cutting the rhubarb into small pieces and cooking with  sugar until soft.  Check the sweetness once cooled.  Rhubarb tends to need a lot of sugar but I can't give a precise quantity.  It's up to you to taste your rhubarb and find the sweetness you like best.

Wash and hull the srawberries then cut into long slices or into half.  Reseve a handful of strawberries and whizz them in your mixer with a little sugar and lemon juice.

When the pastry is cooked and cooled, lift it from it's baking tray onto the serving platter.  Gently spoon the rhubarb compote into the pastry case, but don't put in so much that it overflows.

Carefully position the strawberries all over the rhubarb in neat lines or circles and serve the tart with the pink red strawberry coulis in a small side bowl to accompany.  If you wish to add a little vanilla ice cream, it's good too.

This is a lovely fresh dessert, making use of fruit that is freshly picked and in season, so at its best.

French food etiquette and the dangers of a cheeseboard

Each country has it's own rules and customs, and the dinner table tends to be where they are most visible.  Dining in polite company can be intimidating for a visitor abroad. 

In France it is important to have both hands visible while eating.  This means that if you are sipping soup, for example, holding a spoon in one hand, then the idle hand should be poised, the wrist resting lightly on the edge of the table. Basically you're proving that you haven't got a weapon on your knees beneath the table!

The cheeseboard is served after the main dish and before dessert.   At a dinner between friends it is passed once around the table, generally each person steadies the platter while their neighbour cuts pieces from the cheese of their choice, and this is where it can get sticky.

What is the right way to cut each cheese? ... !!

To know how to cut the cheese you have to identify which sort of cheese it is.  Is it a slice cut from a large hard cheese like an emmenthal, is it an individual soft creamy camembert, a soft round goats cheese, or a chunk of creamy roquefort?

I can't remember where I found this clever diagram, but it demonstrates precisely how each sort of cheese should be served.

Of course here, since the French love to talk about the food before them, while the cheese is enjoyed there will also be much discussion about where each cheese comes from, which is the best wine to have with it, where to find the best cheese locally etc etc ... happy days!