Fred's newsletter 15.6.21
With my daughter Matilde at our house in France.
Bonjour les amis,
No doubt most of you will be thinking of holidays just now. The weather at the moment is being extremely kind, encouraging our brains to think about beaches, walks, family, and food and drink.
I recall those days as a kid when we were preparing for the holidays. It was a whole expedition, my parents with 5 kids and a dog had to fit in the car; and the trailer had to be big enough to carry everything needed for the whole family for a couple of months away. That meant cycles, tents, suitcases, tables and chairs and even the pressure cooker! It was a 3-hour drive to our camp base between St Jean de Mont and Le Perrier in the Vendée region.
We would leave at end of June and return in early September. Those were a proper, lengthy holidays for us youngsters and a very enjoyable summer break. I remember all of us crowded into the back of the car. It was not comfortable. The dog would be up front with mum, and my dad would drive, smoking all the way.
There were non-stop arguments between us kids (windows down, no, windows up!) and we would moan for most of the journey, asking every other minute: “What time do we get there?”. The old dark red Simca would struggle to carry us all, pulling that heavy trailer.
Once there, it was (nearly) total freedom. The main activity for the youngest was frog fishing or looking for eels. I remember fishing for frogs with a local; he could catch up to a hundred batrachians in a few hours - I was lucky if I caught a few (which would then be eaten same day). Of course, some 40 years later my memory is shrinking so the hundred may just be a couple of dozen.
Family holidays are very important for youngsters so they can enjoy their parents on a full-time basis. We would spend hours at the table. It really strengthens family bonds. And we also did lots of foraging for cockles, mussels, oysters, crevettes and lots more; oh and crabs, all freshly-caught and eaten. The wine was poured, and there were always friends and family joining us with, sometimes we set a table for up to 20 people.
This year will be very different once again, with no holidays planned for us over the summer; we might manage a wee trip away in September once the summer is over. I miss my little house in France - I have not seen it since summer 2019. Maybe soon.
I spent the whole of Sunday at Newton Garden, as I do every Sunday. It is unbelievable how fast everything has grown in just one week, in fact we now have far more salads and lettuces than we need so we will pop some green salads in with all the orders this week, and they will stay happy and fresh for few days in the veg compartment in your fridge. I hope you will enjoy it. It will come with a vinaigrette too of course. My treat.
We have a great menu this week with some of our classics. The Buchette de Manon cheese is fresh and delicious, and there’s Armagnac-smoked salmon, and some fresh langoustines from Skye that will make a lovely nibble, a starter or a full meal. We will also make a minestrone of langoustines and lobster with a basil pesto that will be light and refreshing for this weather. This week, rillettes will make a nice change from our usual terrine, and the artichokes are big and tasty, straight from Britanny, while the Scottish asparagus is still plentiful and in full season.
For mains, we have some spring lamb shanks, cooked with Moroccan spices and vegetables. The guinea fowls will be boned out and rolled into a ballotine, ready to be slowly cooked and served with a guinea fowl stock reduction with mushroom duxelles. There are tender beef cheeks cooked like a Bourguignon with red wine, served with garniture grand-mère, and the duck legs will be oven-baked with a strong peppercorn and cognac sauce. The fish will be cod with a very summery sauce vierge of olive oil, tomatoes, olives and sweet peppers.
Finally, for desserts, we see the return of our praline Paris-Breast choux cake, there are vanilla petit pots, mousse au chocolat, our special brioche and butter pudding and the tartelettes this week will be strawberry.
All-in-all a great menu, n’est-ce pas? I am not sure what I will have myself 😉
We have Cate Devine back as guest blogger this week sharing tales of the time she lived in France as a student and the many discoveries she made about how we eat en famille in France. Read it here. Merci Cate.
Right, off to the garden now…
À bientôt,
Fred