Every
year since French Husband was fourteen, he has gone to the annual Boat
Show in France. The only exception this year was that I went with him.
He promised lunch along the coast, to coax me.
We walked along the coastal town of La Ciotat, reading outdoor, restaurant menus, until we meet one that caught our eye. Aioli… why not eat garlic on a romantic Boat Show adventure? Always a sure sign that a couple has been together for a very long time, is that they eat garlic, and a ton of it for lunch.
When
the waiter served our plates I noticed pretty, little, shells on it.
The mussels I recognized, prawns with their heads greeting me too. But
the third little shellfish, I hadn't a clue as to what it was, and I
was afraid to ask. I promptly put mine on French Husband's plate.
French
Husband picked up the available toothpick and gleefully started poking
inside of it. He dabbed with such grace, his expression was on a kid in
a candy shop. I starred in disbelief. We are from two different islands
that man and I.
I
nearly gagged when I saw him pull out the… whelk, the thing that
looked like snot of a stick… sorry, I shouldn't compare food to snot.
But honestly, I could not see it as any other way.
When
French Husband popped it into his mouth… I knew I wouldn't be kissing
that bulot-whelk-snot-garlic mouth anytime soon (no matter how sexy he
can be, eating whelk is a real turn off.)
I begged him to stop. But he kept right on at it; poking, pulling, popping, snot…into his mouth.
Garlic is one thing. Sucking bulot is another.
The boat show was delightful by comparison.
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Aioli (Provencal, Garlic flavored, Mayonnaise)
One of my favorite meals, foregoing the shellfish, is the
classic French meal Aioli, often served on Fridays because Catholics
were not allowed to eat meat on Fridays as a weekly sacrifice for their
faith. That not longer is a rule of the Catholic church, though Aioli
is still often served on Friday in Provence.
Ingredients
Olive oil,
1 yolk,
7 or 8 garlic cloves,
Salt.
To serve with: Boiled potato, carrots, hard-boiled egg, green beans, cauliflower, cod, bulot, prawn and snails.
Preparation
Press the garlic cloves into puree, you can use less garlic
depending
on each person's taste. Then add the egg yolk and stir with a whisk,
while adding,
drop by drop some olive oil. Add the olive oil slowly as you whisk
about two or three cups of olive oil, keep stirring until the aioli
rises in shape. Add the salt at the end.
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