Winding down, winding up. But then there's the food!

This five month break is winding down. I go back to work in five days. Five days! Less than a week. I could get philosophical about this. And maybe I will. But not now.

Right now, I just want to enjoy the memories. And transition.



Intermission is ending, but I'm gearing up some other exciting activities on my other blog, Improbable Pantry, about cooking and eating. So, migrate over to that site, and see what's cooking.

It seemed only fitting, then, to do a little tribute to the food of our trip, mostly in Europe, but some in North America and the Caribbean. Just a bit of fun. Enjoy!

Of Churches and Lunch

France has lots of churches.  Like the rest of Europe.  And a lot of them are old.  Really old.  And in places that may have once been bustling, but are now on the top of lonely hilltops.  Or desolate forest glades.  Some of these are ruins.  Some are kept alive.  Presumably by the Church (with a capital C).  But it might be the government.  Not sure.  For old times sake? 

The thing is, though, that no one seems to actually GO to church.  They barely go to the churches in the lively cities, much less the ones in neglected ruin-towns.  We were here on Good Friday, but no one took off, and it seemed like every other day.  Ditto Easter, though we did hear some bells ring.  The signs on the doors of the various churches around here say that Sunday morning services rotate among the three or four village churches from Sunday to Sunday.  But all of these are good sized churches that are being kept going.  In the US, The Church is closing churches for this reason.  That doesn't seem to be going on here.  Supply and demand doesn't seem to make a difference.

In Italy, at least, we saw people praying in the churches.  Among the tourists, there's always be someone taking a few moments for themselves.  Not here.  Strictly tourist attractions as far as I can tell.

This morning (Sunday morning), we went to the grandaddy of all the outdoor markets in Provence at Isle sur la Sorgue.  Blocks and blocks of produce, clothing, nic nacs, soap, lavender, sausages, and the thing that makes this one special -- antiques.  It was pouring rain when we left the house at 10:00, but cleared by the time we got there at 11:00.  Spent a good hour wandering the stalls, thankful that we have no room in our luggage for anything of substance.  (That's me talking -- I'm not sure if Susan is thankful or not).  The place was thronged.  I can only imagine how busy it would be if it hadn't been pouring rain just an hour before.  Or in the height of tourist season.

Roundabouts 12:00 we started to feel a little hungry, so scouted out some lunch opportunities.  Which were plentiful.  Plentiful.  But they had to be.  Because Sunday lunch in Isle sur la Sorgue, as in any other bustling place in the south of France, is like a game of musical chairs.  You can't wait too long, or you won't have a place to sit.  Because everyone eats at the same time.  At noon, you can have a table, but some have already been reserved.  By 12:30, the pickings are slim, and you might be eating off the pizza truck.  Since lunch is a two+ hour affair, there are no second chances.  (Though, at the place we ended up, there did seem to be a small throng of people looking hungrily in our direction.  I didn't think anything of it until I realized they were waiting for our tables!.  Which I hadn't seen for so long I didn't know what to make of it.)  We settled in at about 12:15, just in time to snag an outdoor seat, under an umbrella, that wasn't behind a market vendor's truck or on an awkward tilt.  Perfect. 

Lunch was good.  Very good.  Three-course "menu" for 15 euros.  (The last time I was in France, there were Prix Fixe menus everywhere -- I haven't seen that phrase at all this time.)  Mussels gratinee to start, duck-leg confit for the main dish and isle flottant for dessert (floating islands of meringue in a vanilla flavored sauce).  With a shared 0.5 liter picher of rose.  No one was in a rush.  Not us.  Not the kitchen.  The waiter seemed a little flustered, but I'm not sure why, because the attitude of the French waiters seems to be "you'll get your food when you get your food", and "I'll take your order when I'm good and ready -- you're going to be here for a few hours anyway, what's your rush?"  And unless we're starving, we're generally fine with that.  The other night, we waited a half hour for our menu.  We think it was punishment for not ordering apertifs. 

It would be nice if they thought to bring the little basket of baguette out when you sat down, rather than waiting for the first course.  Take the edge off a little?  No one seems to have thought of that.  Maybe it's illegal.  Did you know that the government fixes the price of baguettes?

By the time we'd finished our first course, we noticed that the streets had emptied.  EVERYONE was eating lunch.  Shopping's done.  Lunch begins.  This happens regularly here, even on weekdays.  Businesses close at least from 12-2.  Some from 12-3, and the grocery store from 12-4.  Plan accordingly.  Do not get between the French and their lunch.  Interestingly, though, more and more stores are open "non-stop".  We noticed many such signs in Aix en Provence.  And the Hyper-U is open non-stop.  I wonder what those negotiations with their labor force looked like?  I'll enjoy the convenience of non-stop shopping, but if the idea catches on, something larger will be lost.

No one's in church on Sunday, but everyone's eating lunch.  I can't complain with that set of priorities. There was a lot of family together-time.  And friends enjoying each other's company.  Good wholesome activities.  Maybe if they served lunch at church? 

That lunch you see at the top?  Not today's -- I didn't take a single picture today.  But it was yesterday's lunch, so it fits the topic.  Beef brain salad.  It was worth trying.  And inexpensive.  Like any cold cut really.  Susan's choice was much better -- shrimp sprinkled with grapefruit juice and cilantro.  That was worth reverse-engineering. 

Gnovel Gnocchi

 

The markets here abound with surprises. In Pertuis last Friday, Susan found some basil gnocchi, and she's a sucker for gnocchi any time. I'm generally less excited about gnocchi, rarely finding the potato-based pasta to be anything other than a gooey disaapointment. Susan made half the gnocchi last Friday for lunch, right after we got home. She enjoyed it, but wasn't overwhelmed. I demurred, figuring why bother.

The second half remained in the fridge, in the ubiquitous small paper bags that they give here at the markets that ensure that you can't see what you have on hand.

In the meantime, I saw a post somewhere about an alternative approach to gnocchi -- pan frying instead of boiling -- that really got my attention. Now, I'm a sucker for crisp, browned potatoes of any sort. Roasted potatoes, home fries with onions, whatever, and I'm a fan. (I wish I could give you a link to the inspirational post, but alas, I can't find it. I'm pretty sure it was Bittman, but the Times now has a new Diner's Blog replacing good ol' "Bitten" that I don't know where it is, despite my valiant few minutes of googling).   Update:  it was 101 Cookbooks.  Of course.

We had scored some asparagus from the honey lady at the Cucuron market on Tuesday.The thick bundle became part of lunch on Wednesday to accompany a charcoal-grilled chicken (first BBQ of the season!), but still had a bundle of the thin ones. The honey lady said the thick ones were best for stand-alone use, while the thin ones were good in things like omelets. Omelets, gnocchi...hmmm.

(By the way, I'm having a great time typing the word gnocchi. Gnocchi, gnocchi, gnocchi. Susan's even teaching me how to pronounce it properly -- think the transition between syllables of "banyan" or "canyon" to handle that awkward "gno" start.)

So. Couple of glugs of olive oil in the skillet. Couple of cloves of garlic minced, sauteed for a minute or so to flavor the oil. Add in the asparagus, sliced into three or four pieces each, on a bias. Add in the gnocchi at the same time. Cook on low for a few minutes to get them both cooked through, then crank up the heat to brown. A little salt and pepper before serving, and we're done.

I was in heaven. I'll eat gnocchi like this any time. with any kind of accompaniment. The texture was firm, but not mushy. The slight crunchiness added some interest. Like eating potatoes! Susan was disappointed that the basil-flavoring of the gnocchi (it was basil gnocchi) wasn't coming through, but I didn't care.  I have a feeling that sitting for almost a week in the fridge didn't do it any good on that score. The garlic/oil was enough for me. And the asparagus cooked this way was perfect as well.

Bring on the gnocchi I say. As long as I can use my skillet. Gnocchi, gnocchi, gnocchi, gnocchi.

To market, to market....

Well, the weather's turned from being cold at night and first thing in the morning, with a chance for cloudy/rainy/cold during the day or bright blue skies and crispy, maybe creeping up to 60 or 65 if we're lucky, to warm evenings and mornings, and stellar middays.  Today was supposed to reach the mid-70s, and I'm pretty sure it did.  But, dramatic stormy skies are way more interesting in photos, so that's the lead photo in this post, despite the title.

We spend a lot of time thinking about food and how/where to get it.  Each town has market on a different day.  Our little town of Ansouis has a small Sunday market, with one vegetable vendor, one charcuterie/ (salami, etc)/cheese vendor, one chicken/rabbit guy, and some jewelery.

The next small town over, Cucuron, is on Tuesday, with a larger market, boasting several vegetable vendors, honey/asparagus, cheese, salami, olives/tapenade and various dips, prepared foods, and clothes.  And, a couple of bar/cafes to rest after the effort of making decisions about what to buy.

You can also fill up your own bottles with your favorite wine at the wine filling station.

The little city nearby is Pertuis, and it's on Friday morning.  It's big.  Blocks long.  Anything and everything.  Lots of clothes and nick naks.  The paella I raved about the other day.  Competing with Pertuis on Friday is Lourmarin -- a small, chic town also with a large market, higher end stuff, and higher end prices.

Without a car, we've been fortunate to have friends offer to take us one place or another, but the market event can consume half the day.  Then, there's the Hyper-U.  Pronounced Eeeeper ooo.   I refused to say this for a while, when it's clearly the hiyper you, or as some of the expats we've met call it, the hyper-tension.  Think Walmart.  Always busy.  But they actually have some pretty good stuff, and I'm sure they've given the little markets a run for their money.  They rent cars too.  And cut hair.  Develop pictures.  Do laundry.

Anyway, it seems like we're always strategizing our next few meals, trying not to over-buy, which is easy to do, and trying not to go hungry.  So far, we've succeeded pretty well.

Eat to live.  Or live to eat.  My Uncle Walter always used to ask.  Here, it's clearly the latter.  We understand that the French spend a considerably higher portion of their income on food than others around the globe.  Unsourced information (well, sourced from Bjorn and Anne...not sure where they got it from), and it sounds about right.

Sometimes the best food comes from the street

We've been in Ansouis, in Provence, south of France since April 1, and today's April 17. So I guess we've been here a little bit, and are getting settled in. We're here for five weeks total, so it's close to the halfway point. Susan's been good about timely blogging. Check out If It's Tuesday, this Must be Ansouis.

It does seem like a lot of our time is spent thinking about food. We're doing most of our own cooking, save for a few lunches while we're out. We've opted not to have a car, at least for awhile, which means that we need to pay attention to where and when "market day" is in the towns we can reach by bike or bus.

Sunday mornings, our little village has a small market. Really small. The first Sunday there was the Chicken Guy, a produce vendor, and a purveyor of salamis. The next week saw one garment and one jewelry vendor. We'd seen the Chicken Guy and his competitors at the various markets. They have chickens cooking on rotisseries, with potatoes cooking in the fat just below. I promise to take a picture next time, but the picture doesn't convey the scent. The chicken guy does more than chicken. He also has ribs, ham, and rabbits.

We decided on Saturday, planning ahead to Sunday, that we'd get a rabbit with some potatoes. I dreamt about the potatoes. (Have I told you about the potatoes around here? Light, smooth-skinned, waxy on the inside. A little yellow in the flesh. Kind of like Yukon Gold, but much creamier in texture and sweeter in flavor. I'm told they're local. Susan, who doesn't normally like potatoes, has become a fan.)

But I digress. The way it works with the rabbits is that you tell the Chicken Man that you want one, he puts it on the spit, and you come back 40 minutes later to claim it. Which we did. Hurrying back, laying it all out, and bustling up the two precarious flights of stairs to the deck. The rabbit was simply prepared, simply cooked, and simply delicious. Perfectly done. Perfectly seasoned. The potatoes were everything I had hoped for and more. I think we added a little salad, but really, it was all about the rabbit.

Then, just yesterday, we ventured to the small city of Pertuis by bus, for the fairly large market there.  I'd seen a stall that sold paella the first time we'd been there, and determined to get some to bring home this time.  Mussels, clams, shrimp, other unidentified seafood.  I bought the version without the rice, but with the amazing saffron-scented broth.  Once the seafood was gone, the broth kept on giving as I dipped piece after piece of bread in.  And it kept giving a couple of days later when I reheated the broth to go with a simple dinner.

 When you do the same thing every day, all day, you can get pretty good at it, as evidenced by the Paella Madam and the Chicken guy.

Serendipity

After a month of sightseeing the tourist meccas of Europe, we've settled down in Ansouis, a little village of about 1,100 people in Provence, in the Luberon (just south of the actual mountains, but inside the protected park).  I've been here before. Five years ago I attended a photo workshop here run by Andrew Squires and had a great time. Pictures of that previous journey were terrific (at least I had fun taking them, and being in Provence, and I had fond memories.

Although we started our time here with a car, we decided to try a slower lifestyle without one for awhile. After a few days of taking in the popular tourist destinations around here (watch the Flickr stream for photos) we needed to dump the car in the center of Aix-en-Provence. Armed with a little photocopied map provided by the car rental agent, we sallied forth, confident we could find our way easily. The signage is great around here.  Wayfinding from town to town clearly marked at each junction (usually a well-designed roundabout). Aix-en-Provence turned out to be more challenging, though, since there didn't seem to be ANY street signs. I drove and Susan navigated. My role was to shout out "signs coming up!" and Susan tried to figure out where we were by the few clues that correlated the map with what we saw whizzing by. Then, shout out the appropriate instruction,  After having done this through Germany, Austria and Hungary, we found that whomever was driving just had to trust the navigator and go with the directions, without, thinking, military style.  Mistakes would be made, for sure, but at least we avoided truly irresponsible driving behavior.

Fortunately, there were several roundabouts, the beauty of which is the ability to circle round and round until you figure out where you want to go. The downside of this approach, however, is that it makes the navigator too dizzy to navigate. We'd wandered around, taken a few turns on pure hunches, and finally got to the point where we were sure we were utterly lost. Susan shouted "pull over here...we need to figure out where we are!!!".  So, I pulled over onto a little frontage road. Looked up. And there, a half-block ahead of us, was the welcoming red of the Avis sign. If we had waited until we'd seen the sign, we would not have been able to get on the frontage road, would have had to find some way to double back among the cacophony of one-way streets, and would have had another half hour of confusion.

We looked at each other. Burst out laughing. And gave thanks with a long French kiss. Of course.  Serendipity has been our companion on this journey, and we enjoy giving thanks.

Serendipity visited in the kitchen last night, as well.

Having eaten at restaurants for the last month, we're now thrilled to have a kitchen.  We've been stocking up at the local markets and at the Hyper-U.  I found some flageolets -- little greenish/white dried beans that I'd always wanted to try, and now that I was in France, some French beans were in order.  We found some unidentified greens (seemed to be softer than bok-choy, but stiffer than swiss chard).  And I had seen a recipe for beans and chard on 101 Cookbooks recently for something similar so I thought I'd give it a go.  I ventured pretty far afield from Heidi's original, but hers was pretty far afield from her own source.

Beans were cooked in the afternoon, and then pan-fried till a little brown. Since the beans were green, and the greens were green, I'd add some color with diced carrots.  And a little celery root for flavor.   I was going to add garlic, but the garlic here in the rented house had been here all winter, and was only a papery shell, so I was short on flavoring, so i thought I'd add some diced chorizo that we picked up at the market.  But this chorizo was mild compared to what I get at home, so it didn't add that much zing.  I added a little harissa and some worcestershire sauce at the end, hoping to salvage the effort, but it was still blah.

It was a disappointing meal, and I was glum.  The fact that is was nutritious was not much consolation.  I don't know where the thought came from, but serendipity was its name.  There was a little bottle of vinegar with herbs-de-provence sitting on the counter.  What about a splash or two?  I'm often astounded by how much flavor a few splashes of vinegar will pack.  It was the perfect final touch, bringing all the flavors together and adding the just enough tartness to wake up my mouth.

Serendipity.

On Tipping

I've long been frustrated by the idea of tipping.  Why should the compensation of waiters, bellhops and others in the service industry be dependent on the goodwill (or not) of their customers?  If a waiter provides great service in the hope of getting a good tip, but the customer is in a bad mood, or cheap, or mean, that good service goes unrecognized, and the server is basically screwed.  Tipping allows restaurants to pay their employees a pittance, and saddles the employees with the risk of not getting paid.  Maintaining good service should be the responsibility of management.  If I get bad service, I won't come back to the restaurant.  If I get good service, and good food, I will.  Ensuring that these happen is management's responsibility.

So it was with great joy that I discovered in Italy that there is no tipping.  The price on the menu is the price you pay.  Tax and tip included.  How simple.  Of course, it took me a few days to figure this out, and I was happily leaving little tips (I knew tipping was "less" in Europe).  Until we shared a meal with some Norwegians and Dutch, who clearly left no tip. 

I continued this behavior through Budapest and Austria.  Getting to Germany, I found that there's generally no tipping, except for extraordinary service.  And then, it's only a euro or two.  And the way you tip is odd.  The waiter brings over the bill, and stands there waiting to be paid.  Let's say the bill is 48 euros.  You would tell them, to their face to make it 50.  Or 52.  Or whatever. Or simply round up to the nearest euro or 5 euros.   And they'd make the change accordingly.  I figured this out on the last day after being tutored by our accidental dinner companions from Berlin.  Their attitude was you could tip "a little" for very good service, but that if you weren't planning to go back, then you didn't need to tip at all.  That seemed a little unfair, so we left a little.

Paris seemed to be a mix.  Tax was always included, and sometimes a "service charge" of 10-15 percent was also included (but included in the menu price, and simply called out specifically on the bill).  Why you would have a separate "service charge" at a restaurant, where having a waiter serve you is clearly part of the experience is another annoyance.  Extra good service warranted a little more.  If service was not included, I guess you're supposed to tip about 10 percent, but we didn't run into that situation.

Given the differences from place to place in Europe, I would think the waiters in Paris get forgotten a lot.  I'd argue for consistency, and that consistency would be -- the price on the menu is what you pay.  Let the restaurant owner pay his staff the right amount to keep them happy, and let them manage their employees so that they provide excellent service.

I'm going to have a hard time coming back to the States where 15-20 percent is expected.

Home runs are hard to predict

We've wandered from town to town.  Whatever the differences between places, there are a few constants.  We need to figure out where things are.  How to get around.  What we want to see.  How to use the money.  What the tipping customs are.  Sleep.  And eat.

I love finding good food.  But it can be daunting.  I'm constantly on the lookout for fabulous meals, but the reality is that most of them have been pretty mediocre.  (We haven't been to France yet, however!)  I've already mentioned the lack of variety in Italy.  Germany, Hugary and Austria have had more diversity, but we've consistently tried to find authentic cuisine that's spectacular.  Actually, that's been more of my mission than Susan's but she enjoys great food too.  TripAdvisor and other web resources can be of some help, but that takes time and effort, and a lot of times we just find ourselves out and about, hungry and tired, and just have to pick.

There have been good meals, to be sure, but nothing in the memorable category.  Until last night, in an utterly unexpected place.  This part of our journey, the driving part, was to have lasted a week and taken us to Budapest, Vienna, and Prague.  Cost and logistics considerations caused us to fly from Venice to Frankfurt (Hahn airport, 100 km west of Frankfurt) and drive to Budapest, working our way back to Frankfurt where we would rail to Paris.  With two days in Budapest, and then a day in Vienna, we realized we'd bitten off more than we could chew, so we discarded the Prague piece to spend an extra day in Vienna.  Since Vienna-Frankfurt was going to be more than 6 hours, we decided to break it up and stay in a well-preserved city called Regensburg.

The Hottentotten Inn, an inexpensive, African-themed hotel located in the parking lot of a car repair yard, a bit outside the city walls was run by a crusty older man and his wife who had lived in Africa for seven years.  He recommended the Braueri Kneitinger, a Bavarian brewery/eatery that had been in the same family since the 1860s.  It was late Saturday afternoon, and stepped into the crowded beer hall where much of the crowd was intent on the fusbol.  The host found us a table that we shared with a friendly retired couple from Berlin, who were nice enough to help us interpret the menu.  Susan was intent on sausages, this being Bavaria and all.  I figured I'd have sausages too, until the Berlin couple mentioned the Schweishaxn, a Bavarian specialty, served with Kartoffelknödel and krautsalat.  Schweishaxn is a braised pork shank with skin on, where the skin crisps up. Kartoffelknödel are a mixture of cooked and raw potatoes, formed into a ball a little smaller than a tennis ball.  These are served on the plate with a rich brown gravy, which I'd guess is made from the pan drippings and onions.  The pork was tender on the inside, crisp on the outside.  Salty, but not overwhelmingly so, with a deep savory flavor that was easy to, well, savor.  The potato balls were like enormous gnocchi, but not with that starchy texture -- they went down smoothly and were perfect for soaking up the gravy.  The cabbage salad was a simple, plain counterpoint.  And the house-brewed beer was terrific.  We tried two of the heavier ones, the bock (17% alcohol) and the dunkel (12%) were smooth, rich, but not too heavy or overwhelming.  They stood up well to the heavier meat.

As I was enjoying this meal, I realized that a home run had snuck up on me.  The meal was fantastic.  Our table companions were friendly and engaging, telling stories of traveling central and northern Europe in their motor home.  And we seemed to be among as many Regensburgians as tourists.  To top it off, the meal was inexpensive.

I'm writing this on the train from Frankfurt to Paris, where I have high expectations for the food -- hoping for the best!