French Farmer's Markets

Today, we did one of my favorite things to do; we went to the farmer's market in Vaison-la-Romaine.  After seeing all of my favorite things together in one place— fantastic chartruterie, smoked sausages of all kinds, wide assortments of French cheese; fresh fruit and vegetables, flower honey, beeswax candles, French linen tablecloths—  I never want to leave Provence.

I found local olives in vacuum-sealed packs (so I can take them home) and local olive oil.  I bought phenomenal chocolates.  Every cheese monger had good comte, reblochon, and a truly wonderful local goat cheese called picodon, (tangy, gooey, and slightly sharp for a fresh goat cheese, we ate it with lunch).

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 There were olive boards and kitchen gadgets and clothes.  I could have spent all day and all my money! My main restraint was how much I could carry home.

We then stopped in a café for some coffee and we were off to the countryside.  On our way to Brantes— which is an ancient town built on top of a steep mountain, we parked in a spectacular nook near a small waterfall on a river than ran below.  To the left of us were vineyards and to the right we found the river, then the mountains, "The Petit Alps" as the locals call it (the mountains before the alps).  Within the past two days, all of the lavender and olive trees have begun to bloom, so now the landscape is speckled with purple lavender, bright red poppies and ashen olive trees.

Our lunch consisted of Rotisserie chicken from the farmer's market, picodons cheeses (there were three varieties, a hard fresh one, a gooey one and a semi-soft and sharp one), an olive batard,  fresh cherries, an unbelievably sweet cantaloupe, small tomatoes (they have exponentially more taste than their US cousins), radishes, Gigondas and water.  I supplemented lunch with some of the button-sized smoked sausages that I fell in love with on my last visit to France.

After lunch, we drove through vineyards, along the river and up this very steep, winding road into Brantes. The views were so magnificent.  I kept trying to capture good photos while shooting from the car window. In the town, we visited a really sweet and wonderful couple that makes the most beautiful pottery.  In fact, of all the pottery we have seen, I felt theirs was far and away the most elegant.  I liked it so much that I bought a tea set and had them ship it home to me.  The woman who paints the clay was so sweet, she will hand-paint several of the items I bought specifically for me.  I am so honored.  I will think of them each time I make tea with this set.

After the lot of us clean out this couples stock of finished goods, we headed back to Nyons to begin cooking dinner.

• Carrot soup with curry
  • I made this dish. It is a relatively simple recipe; you slice carrots and onions, sauté them in butter, ad salt and curry powder, then after sautéing for about 15 minutes, you add chicken stock.  We made homemade chicken stock the day before.
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• Roast Pork Loin with White Wine and Shallots
  • I make a lot of roast pork shoulder at home.  However, Lydie's method is very different.  She brined the pork shoulder in milk and ground spices, then patted it dry and roasted it with a touch of white wine in the bottom of the roasting pan.  About halfway through, we took the roasts out and painted them with mustard, then returned them to the oven.
• Fennel Puree
  • This dish came out with the consistency of mashed potatoes.  It had a surprisingly mild flavor and proved to be a suitable replacement for potatoes.
• Meringue Roulade with Chocolate and Whipped Cream.
  • Well!  This is a spectacular dessert in both taste and presentation.  First we made a meringue, added ground toasted hazelnuts to it, and baked it in a flat tray.  Next we made a chocolate ganache and spread it out above the sheet of meringue cake. We then added a layer of whipped cream above that and rolled the whole thing like a jelly roll.  We set it in the fridge to cool and just before dinner, we took it out and drizzled chocolate on top of it.
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Lydie and her helper, a retired British chef named Sara, served the soup by putting cream into a squirt bottle and creating abstract patterns with the cream into everyone's bowl.  What I noticed about the carrot soup, compared to other carrot soups that I have made in the past, is that it was thinner.  I liked the thinner soup a little better, it had a much smoother texture.

When we served the main course, we plated the fennel puree first, laid a slice of pork on top, then added the shallots and the gravy.  It was really a wonderful combination of flavors.

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When we tasted the dessert, we were all so impressed the lightness (from the meringue) and substantiality (from the hazelnuts) of the cake in contrast to the richness and fluffiness of the chocolate.

After dinner, we indulged in a special and unique aperitif, a brandy from Chateau La Nerthe.  Our little group continued to get to know one another.  We talked and drank, sharing stories of our family history and our geology, until it was time for bed. 

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Of course, bedtime is when I retire to share my experiences with all of you, dear readers.

Tomorrow, we are off to Chateauneuf de Pape, where we will visit three wineries:

n      Chateau Mont Redon

n      Chateau La Nerthe

n      Chateau Beaurenard

We will lunch in a café that Andre (from the wine boards) recommended, La Mere Germaine. 

Before I sign off, you may be wondering what happened to the photos these past two days.  Well, our internet connection here is very slow.  The first night in Provence, I stayed awake until 2AM working on posting them with much difficulty.  So, when I get back to Paris at the end of the week, I will upload all the photos and try to find an easy way for all of you to view them.