What’s Left And What’s Cooking
Having reached the not so very grand age of 83 I’ve been telling myszlf for the last cuple of years that what is important is to focus on what is left. Admittedly I gave up the ambition of scoring the Cup Final winning goal for Chelsea later than I should have but reality must eventually prevail.
I returned from my trip to the UK (I found London to Avignon , with one change of train, particularly impressive) to fine weather and to find that caterpillars had been feasting on my cabbages. What is left I have sprayed with a caterpillar deterrent I then got friend Johann to help me clear the summer vegetable plants and ended up with a pile of red and green tomatoes and chillis and some aubergines and courgettes. A lot of this I gave to friends and to the Bar du Pont for whoever wanted it. I kept a lot of green tomatoes with which I shall make chutney and some red tomatoes and chillis. The allotment still has cress and rocket and celery and lettuces that are not yet quite ready to pick.
So what is left for me to do this winter ? I bought 50 narcissi bulbs which I shall plant in front of the house. Idid the same last year but mice and rats get some of them although I hope I am winning that battle and will have a fuller display next year than I did earlier this year. I also plan to plant some shallots. The midday temperature today (1st November) is an unusual 23 degrees and it has been similar all week so they should get established quickly.
And then there is cooking and I like to eat well so cooking is a winter pastime for me.the activities left for me in winter.
A few days after my return the Amitié Mollaniase had arranged a meal at the Maison Familiale Rurale in Buis. The MFR is a school for future restaurateurs and meals are prepared , cooked and served by the students. It’s not often that yu see a teenage Maitre D supervising a sitting. This meal was excellent and what really impressed me was a sauce forestrière served with veal. Now is mushroom season and the shops and markets are full of various varieties : chanterelles, lactères, girolles, trompettes de la mort, etc. I like mushrooms but have always found it difficult to get the full flavour out of them when cooking them. That is what this sauce did : essence of mushroom. I’ll have to find out how it is done.
Although the days are still warm the evenings are cool enough to justify stews and hearty soups : besides which I like cooking these. For dinner guests this week I have decided to do a beef stew, an English version of pot au feu with dumplings. Fortunately you can sill get beef on the bone here, which seems to have disappeared in the UK since the outbreak of BSE. I may do cress soup to go beforehand if I can find enough large cress leaves in the allotment. I like Maroccan soups, such a chorba, so those will be on the menu bedore long, as will a Flemish dish, beef with a stout such as Guinness and onions. With summers here being too hot for dishes such as these winter offers a chance for a welcome change. Howzver I have never really mastered desserts and I love fruit. Locally grown fruit is plentiful and varied here for most of the year and that is my preference for dessert when making a meal for myself. For dinner guests it’s more problematic. The baklava I make for the street party is always well received and I can make a decent apfel strudel but that is about it. Ice cream is an easy option but maybe I’ll try working on desserts this winter. Besides, cooking is one of the activities still left for me.