It has been very chilly here. The daytime temperature going
only as high as 50° is bad enough but when the Mistral is blowing it is
downright cold. We walked up to the old town yesterday and the wind was a
literal slap in the face. (I understand that the word literal no longer means only
literally. It can also mean figuratively.) It was supposed to warm up before Easter but
the wind continues to keep the temperatures cold…
Many of the shops do not heat the interior or if they are
heated, they set the temperature very low. Several stores leave the entry door
open even when the outside temperature is around 45° F. The clerks work while
wearing big sweaters or coats and scarves. Customers don’t seem to mind.
More than a year ago, a dear friend sent me the Food Section
of the New York Times. The section was titled: “The New Essentials of French
Cooking” by Melissa Clark and includes 10 recipes. Since receiving the
section, I have been going through the recipes to learn them. So far, I have
been successful in making Coq au Vin,
Cassoulet, Sole Meunière, Omelet, Ratatouille, Quiche and Steak. I have yet
to try Tajine, Pommes Anna and Soufflé.
I think my favorites so far are Cassoulet
and Sole Meunière though I love
making/eating Ratatouille and what’s
not to like about a recipe that calls for marinating chicken with a bottle of
wine? I would never have predicted that Tajine
would be on the list but the author says that this dish of North African
origins is so good it has found its way into French cooking. (I agree with her:
it is quite good.)
It has been fun learning new recipes. My kitchen skills are
still fairly minimal – I don’t have the creativity of our friend Dan or my high
school friend who writes the food blog Yo Jo, What’s for Dinner but I enjoy
shopping and then cooking. Plus, now I have more than six recipes so we no
longer have to eat the same recipe twice in one week.
It is supposedly spring here though the temperatures belie
the fact. But, one can now find asparagus and strawberries in the market. The
early asparagus is expensive but the price drops every week until the end of
the asparagus season. The strawberries are so sweet, one cannot imagine how
nature packs so much sweetness into the berries. Soon, the vendors will start
selling the softball-sized melons that are grown about 50 km south of here.
Related to the strawberries – and other foods as well – the location
at which the produce is grown is important in France. Somewhat like Americans
who buy salmon and choose the salmon based on its source. In Provence, the best
strawberries come from Carpentras – a city about 25 km from here. The best
melons come from Cavaillon. If you like mussels, the best mussels come from
Brittany – moules de Bouchot. The
best lentils come from Le Puy-en-Velay. And then there are the cheeses – all of
which have a geographic origin. French gruyere for instance is called Comté and comes from the Franche-Comté
region in eastern France. Grocery stores must post the country of origin for
fruits, vegetables, honey and meat.
We have had a rush of visitors: our next door neighbor from
Lansing, a long-time friend and colleague of Ellen with her friend. It has been
fun – it is always fun – to show people why we like Provence as much as we do.
On the clear days, the sky is a brilliant blue and the limestone in the
mountains seems to glisten. And, of course, limestone contributes to creating
the wonderful wines of Provence – les Côtes
du Rhône – which have become my favorite wines.
