Spring in Paris and a Litttle bit of goodness

Yes, it is spring in Paris, France. After sunny Spain and bright southern France, we thought that Paris might be a bit cooler. As we get off the the high speed train that brings us to the city of light, we discover that the sun is shining here too. Since it’s Sunday, everyone is out, walking, riding bikes, sitting in parks and just all around enjoying the warm weather. Our itinerary takes us from the train station to the metro station. We finally surface close to our destination and as we come up the stairs to street level, we smell the fragrance of sweet things baking. We know we will find a bakery open today in our neighborhood. Our home away from home here is on a small side street, close to the large public gardens. We find the arched double wooden doors, press the keypad with the magic numbers and we find ourselves within a courtyard with trees and shrubs, the street now a memory behind those doors. Our landlord greets us and is on his way. We unpack, take a deep breath and head back out to enjoy the weather and to orient ourselves in this new neighborhood. As we walk around the block, people are sitting at cafe tables on the sunny side of the street, watching the rest of the world go by. Once again, we find the little store that has everything one short block from our apartment. We fill up there for our staples. And two blocks away, a line of people lets us know that there is still bread available at the bakery. I choose an ordinary baguette and a rustic baguette. That will last us for supper and breakfast. As we stroll down the sidewalks, we marvel at this city. Old yet elegant, traditional yet modern, it does have that certain something that draws you right in. Maybe it’s because at every turn something catches your eye: a specialty food store with goodies in its window display, an old street fountain, an even older church, an architectural detail on a building, a green area with a bench, a policeman eating his baguette sandwich for lunch. We’re happy to be back here again.
The next day, we go to the market in the middle of the boulevard. We purchase carrots, bread and small little goodies called “Financiers”. And we do what all good Parisians do on a beautiful spring day. We pack a simple picnic lunch and head over to the public garden, Jardin du Luxembourg, where chairs are scattered for the taking. Jim finds a spot overlooking the fountain with two chairs. We take off our jackets, sit down and roll up our sleeves so the sun will soak in. We pull out two halves of baguette, spread with butter, and filled with ham and cheese and take that first bite. Along with our carrots and some Orangina (an orange soda), we eat our baguette sandwiches sitting in the park with five hundred other people or more. The murmur of voices around us gives us a cozy feeling. The mood is informal yet restrained, relaxed yet orderly, social yet low-key. Some are here on their office lunch break; others are here between university classes. A man is reading a book. Two women are just finishing their picnic lunch. Everyone seems to be there for the same reason: beautiful weather and friends.
To top off our meal, we eat the “financiers”, little pieces of goodness. We sit back in our chairs and think, “Ah, life is good.” And yes, it is spring in Paris!

Financiers

1/2 c. flour
1 3/4 c. confectioner’s sugar
1 1/4 c. ground almonds
5 egg whites
1 1/2 stick butter

Put the butter to melt. Let it cook for a little bit without letting it brown. Mix the flour, almonds and sugar in a bowl. Slowly, mix in the egg whites with a spatula. Then, add the melted butter.
Butter well mini muffin tins. Spoon the dough in filling only halfway. Bake at 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Turn the oven down to 400 degrees and bake another five minutes. Then turn oven off and leave in oven another five minutes. Remove from oven, let sit for five minutes and pop out of pans. Makes 30 to 35.

A day at the Market in Southern France

From sunny Girona to even more sunny southern France, we have found a place where spring has sprung. Today, we’re eager to walk to the market in the next town. From where we live, it’s an up and down hike along the road that follows the Mediterranean Sea’s coastline. The wind is up and the waves are slapping the beach and sending spray our way. Even though the sun is out and quite warm, we lean into the wind on our way to the market, wondering if it will be well attended. No worries! It sits in the sheltered cove of the port and even though the wind every now and then tries to blow things away, the vendors are there in full force lined up six rows strong and we weave our way through and around the people to look at hats, shoes, tablecloths and food of all sorts.
Our destination is the fish booth where we hope to find some filets for a new recipe. Our hostess is part of a group of women who are passionate about local food. They come from farm families and want to share the richness of their traditions in food. I just bought a cookbook that they have published with some of the local recipes. So tonight we are hoping to make a fish dish. At the fish booth, five men are working. They all wear long rubber aprons and rubber boots. They’re all wearing black sweaters with the sleeves rolled up. And they are doing a brisk business. On their table, set in ice, lay shrimp, octopi, tuna, merlans, sardines, mussels and salmon. We are fishing for merlans and we have found them. These fish are from the cod family and are relatively small. I wait my turn while others are being helped. One man orders three octopi. Someone else is getting a bagful of mussels. Now it’s my turn. I ask for a pound of merlan, in filets. The young man grabs five and weighs them on the scale. He takes them back to the table and starts scraping off the scales then cleans and filets them as I stand and watch. Here are my fish filets.
Now on to the the produce booths where I need to find eggplants, tomatoes, lemon, onions and mushrooms. As we wend our way, we stop at the booth of the man selling sheep cheese by the rounds. The price is high but the cheese looks even better. Slyly, the cheesemaker slips us a taste of the cheese: one is aged three months and tastes like a delicious mozzarella with a bite; the other is aged six months and tastes like a sharper swiss. It’s the best cheese we’ve ever tasted. We give our money and get our treasure. Back to business, we gather the rest of our ingredients for our supper and head back now with the wind at our back. The air is fresh, the sky is a deep blue and the sun shines on. When we lick our lips, they taste like salt.
Our home away from home awaits us. We pull out all of our ingredients and to work we go. Tired and hungry, we sit down at the table, take a sip of wine and dig into the plat du jour.
We decide that the locals eat well here and that we’ll find another recipe for tomorrow night.
Later, when it’s time to leave, our hostess signs the front of our cookbook, writing that she “hopes it will be the ambassador of Provençal cooking on the other side of the Atlantic!” I share this recipe in that spirit.

Fricassee of Fish with Eggplants

1/2 c. of parsley, chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, diced
2 bay leaves
2 lbs of merlan filets
2 lbs of eggplants, peeled and sliced
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
1/2 lb of tomatoes, sliced
2 lemons
1 onion, sliced
olive oil
1/2 c. cream

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Rinse the filets under water then towel dry. Squeeze lemon juice on them and on the eggplant slices. In a large skillet, heat some olive oil and fry the onions. Put the onions in the bottom of a casserole. Keep it in the oven while you work. Next, one after the other, fry the mushrooms and the eggplant and put them in the casserole on top of the onions. Put the bay leaves on the eggplant. Continue with the fish. Fry and place on top of the eggplant. Fry the tomatoes. Place them around the fish. Sprinkle with the parsley and garlic and return to the oven. Finally, put the cream in the skillet. Stir to loosen all the juices. Then pour over the contents of the casserole. Serve immediately. Serves four.