In France there is a great deal of talk about food. Simply food. Everyday food. Food food. There isn't a day that goes by that the topic of food doesn't come up. Food, unlike politics or religion is a safe subject. And since the French sit down to eat two or three times a day. It is better to share a meal in peace, rather than in a heated arguement that leaves a sour taste in one's stomach.
Radishes. In France they cut off the green leaving a one inch stem. Next they snip off the root, then slit it from the root end nearly to the stem. In the slit they add a sliver of salted butter.
This is either served as an informal appertif, or at lunch with salad.
Salad is part of the daily meal in France. Usually after the main course. Though unlike the States salad is served with a vinaigrette and nothing else. There are "mixed" salads but usually a simple green salad is part of the daily meal.
A classic French vinagrette:
-Put a teaspoon of mustard in a small bowl,
-Add a tablespoon of vinegar, and mix well with the mustard.
-Progressively add three to four tablespoons of olive oil, mix well.
– Salt and pepper to taste.
(Additional flavors are to add pressed garlic, or herbs. One of two teaspoons at least.)
Rattes, are very small (less than three inches long), heritage (1872) potato.
To prepare them simply wash, but do not peel them or you will not have any potato to eat.
Put the rattes on a baking sheet, rub olive oil generously over and under them.
Sprinkle fleur de sel (coarse salt) and fresh rosemary.
Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, 350 degrees.
(Often, whether at the grocery store or at the market, when you buy rattes they are sold in dirt. I do not know why but there you have it.)
The end of the Clementine season is near.
The French consider the best ones from Corisca. Though the ones above are from Spain.
In Corisca they make a Clementine jam which is rich in pulp and rind, and serve it with hard dried cheese that is finely sliced.
Clementines also sauteed are delicious. But they never make it to the pan in our house as they are goobled up to quickly.
French Husband and I are going to Rennes to visit his family. As we were preparing to leave French Husband started to talk about food, "We'll have galettes, crepes with hard cider, oysters with rattes and artichokes, oh and Kouign Aman…."
As I packed our swimsuits I looked up at him and smirked, "Aren't we suppose to be on a diet?"
He sighed, "Oh yeah, well not this just yet."
French Pastries and I are intimate friends. There is nothing untouched between us. Bakeries in France are the pearly gates to heaven!
When I arrived in France 23 years ago…I tasted a pastry called Kouign Aman, which is a teaspoon of flour, a ton of butter and a another ton of sugar, baked. A forbidden romance my mouth has never forgotten. The cherry on top of the cake.
Kouign Aman is second to God.
The first time I tasted this I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I had seconds, and a slice of heaven went missing. The third day I ate the entire sky. The next day the angels vanished as I ate and ate. By the fifth day hell started to shake. On the sixth day, in my husband birth place, I decided France and I could be friends as long as Kouign Aman and I remained close. On the seventh day there was one fat QUEEN AMEN!
* The image above does not depict Kouign Aman.
** Kouign Aman sounds like Queen-A-men…though Queen Amen went better with this post.
*** When in Rennes I'll add a photo of Kouign Aman, that is if I can bare to put it down and grab my camera.
Be prepared for food talk…. calories not included… lucky you!
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