Finally, I get to cook

Wednesday 27 September

"That was the best meal we have had all trip", said Sandy. I would have jumped across the table and kissed him, except a) the table was quite rickety-looking and b) I was still savouring the last drops of Sauternes in my glass. This was the first meal I had cooked in France; the first meal I'd cooked, full stop, in over a month!


I was pretty pleased with it myself. Earlier, in my little Provencal kitchen, doing my dinner prep to the strains of some tango nuevo (the only CD I had with me - thanks Daniel!), I felt supremely satisfied; the simple act of playing with food made me feel like all was good in the world. It's a lovely piece of luck that we are here in fig season and figs are top of the list of my favourite fruit. These pefectly ripe little dumplings I cut open, filled with a little soft goats' cheese and wrapped in proscuitto-like local ham. Later I baked them in the oven with a little balsamic vinegar drizzled over the top for our first course.


For the main plat (I've come over all French in my meal preparation), I marinated some beautiful French beef - the equivalent of eye fillet - in some olive oil and lots of garlic. With these I served very cute little round courgettes. I'd noticed the French like to stuff vegetables with other things. Les legumes farci, they call them. So into my wee courgettes I put a mixture of more goats' cheese, a few breadcrumbs, fresh tomatoes, basil and olive oil. Once baked with their little hat lids on, they were a tasty and perfect partner for the pan-fried steaks.

Dessert was chosen by Sandy: a combo of coffee eclairs and delicious fruit tarts. His sweet tooth has really come to the fore since we've been exposed to all this French pastry.

With our first course we drank a local Provencal Rose. They're really into Rose here; it's everywhere. The very pale pink Rose is known as vin gris and is particularly fine. With the steak we had a really gorgeous Cote du Rhone that was all luscious fruit with a hint of smokiness. And of course then there was the Sauternes; perfect, concentrated stonefruit and honey in a glass. Mmmmm mmm mmm.

All of the above, I must tell you, we purchased from the local supermarket. The figs, the excellent cheese, the meat, the wine. I have been really impressed by the quality and variety of what's available. The produce particularly seems to be of very high quality and perfect ripeness; the tomatoes and figs we bought were at the exact point when they should be eaten, rather than hard as a rock and green, or mushy and overripe.

The wine in the shops (not just the supermarket) has been a revelation. It is so cheap! Almost everything on the shelves in between 2 and 4 euros a bottle. The most expensive things we have bought so far have been a 10 euro bottle of stunning Sauternes (see above) and a bottle of Veuve Cliquot for me that was 12 euros. Everything else has been ridiculously cheap. Our grocery bills have been half what they would be in New Zealand, just because the wine is only 5 or 6 dollars a bottle. Incroyable. We are finally getting our traveling budget back in balance.

Today we went to the market in Uzes, where I bought veges, meat, bread and wine for the next couple of days. The market is lots of fun and people are out in droves to do their shopping and socialise with their kids and their dogs (always the dogs!). I bought some really good-looking sausissons which the butcher told me were lamb and mint. As soon as we'd passed this stall we came upon another stall with even better-looking sausages and a queue of people waiting to buy, so immediately I had a bit of buyer's remorse. All those people queuing must know something! But there are only so many sausages we can eat. We'll see, I guess.

We had lunch at a place recommended by Hester, Les Trois Salons. It turned out to be owned by Kiwis. I'm not sure how I missed this fact when Hester first told me about it, unless it was just the many glasses of wine I had consumed at the time. Anyway, the Kiwi owner was not in the house, but we did have a charming host, Nassir, who looked after us as if we were family. The menu du jour was very, very good; a starter of brilliantly-flavoured soup made from celeriac and preserved lemons. It was clean and bright and just the thing to pique the appetite. Next came three small dishes: a brandade (salt cod, potato, garlic pureed) with a tiny salad of frisee and shallots; some sauteed wild mushrooms on a roasted capsicum sauce and (my favourite) a rabbit pate with some very lightly-cooked beetroot and lemon thyme. This to me was a great combination of flavour; the richness and depth of the pate contrasted with the sweet earthiness of the beetroot.... so good!

The main courses were a beautifully grilled fish for me, a small hake, and for Sandy braised rabbit. Both had the same accompaniment of chickpea puree, carrots and baby spinach. By the end of course we felt compelled to share a dessert and I'm glad we did. It was a simple crumble of pears with an almondy, walnut topping, served with a gorgeous pear sorbet mixed with creme fraiche, which I thought was a stroke of cleverness. The combination was wonderful. The whole thing, I thought, was quite like New Zealand food in a way; the ingredients were local but the combinations, the different cultural influences and lightness and freshness were very like what you might find at any number of Auckland restaurants. It was food that made me happy. Served in an elegant historic building (built 1699) by a lovely, friendly young man. And watched over by the local neighbourhood cat, who sat on the windowsill and surveyed the scene with a superior air, as cats will do.