Pour le Goût

Happy May Day and Hello to a (slightly) New Pour la Goût

 

Happy May Day! May day is such a strange conflation of traditions.  The maypole (above) is not celebrated in French culture but rather comes from celtic and northern Europe.  May 1st is a public holiday (the first of four! May holidays in France) celebrating International Worker's Day, or Labor Day.  French people were amazed at my ignorance that May 1st celebrated an American event - the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicgo where labor protesters were holding a general strike campaigning for the 8-hour work day.  In France, this holiday is conflated in France with the spring ritual, started in the early 20th century, of giving lily of the valley.

At Pour le Goût, May means something of a rebirth.  I am introducing a new format on Pour le Gout. With a focus on the cuisine of the South of France, every month posts will be organized around a theme, with a post each week. I will also have a post per month on a wine and / or place to eat on the Cote d’Azur. In addition, I’ll post related links, resources and photos on the Pour le Gout Facebook page.

May is a busy month on the Côte d’Azur. As I write this, the sky is positively black with rain. It’s hard to imagine that in two short weeks the 65th Cannes film festival will start with it’s trail of celebrities and fans. Concurrent is the Monaco Grand Prix and with these two events, the super-rich descend, their private jets desending in a line overhead toward the civil Cannes/Mandelieu airport. Helicopters are in constant rotation from the airfields directly to yachts moored offshore. May is the Glamour Month.

For us, the regulars, the full-time residents, it’s a more humble time. Though it’s hard to tell now, the sun has been consistenly warmer and the trees are turning green and there are flowers everywhere. I am thinking again about outdoor meals and fresh foods. I decided to dedicate this spring month too all things green – aromatics and green salads. We have been spending a lot of time in the garden at Tiny House, cleaning up from years of neglect and construction.  Last weekend we planted our herb garden and green salads.   I can’t wait to start snipping herbs for omlettes, quiches, salads, pastas, pizzas, soups and roasts.

Coming up this month will be posts on herbs de Provence, and growing herbs and salads at home plus a post on Côte de Provence, France’s largest wine growing region in acreage, plus a trip to Eze’s famed Chevre d’Or.

Yay Spring!

Happy May Day and Hello to a (slightly) New Pour la Goût

 

Happy May Day! May day is such a strange conflation of traditions.  The maypole (above) is not celebrated in French culture but rather comes from celtic and northern Europe.  May 1st is a public holiday (the first of four! May holidays in France) celebrating International Worker's Day, or Labor Day.  French people were amazed at my ignorance that May 1st celebrated an American event - the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicgo where labor protesters were holding a general strike campaigning for the 8-hour work day.  In France, this holiday is conflated in France with the spring ritual, started in the early 20th century, of giving lily of the valley.

At Pour le Goût, May means something of a rebirth.  I am introducing a new format on Pour le Gout. With a focus on the cuisine of the South of France, every month posts will be organized around a theme, with a post each week. I will also have a post per month on a wine and / or place to eat on the Cote d’Azur. In addition, I’ll post related links, resources and photos on the Pour le Gout Facebook page.

May is a busy month on the Côte d’Azur. As I write this, the sky is positively black with rain. It’s hard to imagine that in two short weeks the 65th Cannes film festival will start with it’s trail of celebrities and fans. Concurrent is the Monaco Grand Prix and with these two events, the super-rich descend, their private jets desending in a line overhead toward the civil Cannes/Mandelieu airport. Helicopters are in constant rotation from the airfields directly to yachts moored offshore. May is the Glamour Month.

For us, the regulars, the full-time residents, it’s a more humble time. Though it’s hard to tell now, the sun has been consistenly warmer and the trees are turning green and there are flowers everywhere. I am thinking again about outdoor meals and fresh foods. I decided to dedicate this spring month too all things green – aromatics and green salads. We have been spending a lot of time in the garden at Tiny House, cleaning up from years of neglect and construction.  Last weekend we planted our herb garden and green salads.   I can’t wait to start snipping herbs for omlettes, quiches, salads, pastas, pizzas, soups and roasts.

Coming up this month will be posts on herbs de Provence, and growing herbs and salads at home plus a post on Côte de Provence, France’s largest wine growing region in acreage, plus a trip to Eze’s famed Chevre d’Or.

Yay Spring!

Alice Waters Celebrated in LeMonde 2

 

Last weekend Alice Waters was profiled in LeMonde 2 (link in french) the equivalent of the New York Times Magazine.  The profile was part of the hubbub around the 40th Anniversary of Chez Panisse. 

The profile in Le Monde and the earlier speech at her award of the Legion on Honor in 2010 (this time in english) reflected that not only has Alice Waters been a force of real change and inspiration for many (myself included!), but her own inspiration has been a French culture that the powers that bestow awards obviously think is worth noting and preserving.   I really hope that the French are inspired by what she has done in the US and take the lesson to heart - there is something fundamental worth preserving in France, that is not yet lost but, sadly, is getting harder to find.

What is that? The great agricultural heritage that developed french cuisine and a deeply embedded culture of taking time to share meals with others as a way of deepening relationships - of all kinds.

Eating on the run, at least where I live and work, is still fairly rare though I think becoming more common.  However, most french people I know would still prefer to eat a hot lunch, at a table with others.  "To Go" foods are for certain settings - travel, for instance - but not for day to day.  Even McDonalds makes sure there is a lot of seating for people. Social events still circle around the communal table as evidenced by our party for E.  We debated, since it was a BBQ for 2 dozen adults plus the kids whether we should have be a more help-your-self style.  In the end, I knew that E would prefer a big table and it was a stretch but in my mind totally worth it and really so much better than everyone in little groups with plates on their laps.

Where I am more concerned is our access to food.  The massive supermarkets as in other countries are the main outlet for buying food.  A tip:  If you come to France and see a big red sign for "Casino" it's not a gambling hall but a supermarket.  The industrial agriculture spans France but much more comes from Italy and Spain via trucks that gorge the roadways (another gripe, another time).  Natural food stores are much more like those found in the US 20 years ago.  One good thing - most large markets including Carrefour and Casino buy and package a lot of organic products under their own brand and sell them at a premium alongside the similar non-organic foods. 

The local farmer's markets, most of which are retail markets not direct from producer, are very expensive.  A real alternative where we live is the Community-Supported Agriculture but this remains a very tiny portion of food purchases.  People don't like the inconvenience - one extra trip during the week, a huge load of veggies, the dirt and the preparation.  I don't really like the dirt, either, but I like seeing where my vegetables are growing and know the farmer who's taking care of me.  It goes without saying the vegetable gardens are nearly non-existent, especially for families with two working adults. 

And lastly, restaurants are often subpar except for the very best. There doesn't seem to be this same interest in the quality of the ingredients unless it's really a top restaurant (with prices to match).  Every once in a while I will come across one that's transparent about the provenance of their fresh foods and meats but other times I think it mostly comes packaged frozen in truck and reheated.

What should the French learn from Alice Waters?  That we should ALL eat and cook fresh.  That finding out where our food comes from is worth it.  That restaurants can and should care about what they serve. And schools should teach our children about growing and preparing foods and the joy that comes with that.  At least we're ahead of the game - it is France, after all.

Alice Waters Celebrated in LeMonde 2

 

Last weekend Alice Waters was profiled in LeMonde 2 (link in french) the equivalent of the New York Times Magazine.  The profile was part of the hubbub around the 40th Anniversary of Chez Panisse. 

The profile in Le Monde and the earlier speech at her award of the Legion on Honor in 2010 (this time in english) reflected that not only has Alice Waters been a force of real change and inspiration for many (myself included!), but her own inspiration has been a French culture that the powers that bestow awards obviously think is worth noting and preserving.   I really hope that the French are inspired by what she has done in the US and take the lesson to heart - there is something fundamental worth preserving in France, that is not yet lost but, sadly, is getting harder to find.

What is that? The great agricultural heritage that developed french cuisine and a deeply embedded culture of taking time to share meals with others as a way of deepening relationships - of all kinds.

Eating on the run, at least where I live and work, is still fairly rare though I think becoming more common.  However, most french people I know would still prefer to eat a hot lunch, at a table with others.  "To Go" foods are for certain settings - travel, for instance - but not for day to day.  Even McDonalds makes sure there is a lot of seating for people. Social events still circle around the communal table as evidenced by our party for E.  We debated, since it was a BBQ for 2 dozen adults plus the kids whether we should have be a more help-your-self style.  In the end, I knew that E would prefer a big table and it was a stretch but in my mind totally worth it and really so much better than everyone in little groups with plates on their laps.

Where I am more concerned is our access to food.  The massive supermarkets as in other countries are the main outlet for buying food.  A tip:  If you come to France and see a big red sign for "Casino" it's not a gambling hall but a supermarket.  The industrial agriculture spans France but much more comes from Italy and Spain via trucks that gorge the roadways (another gripe, another time).  Natural food stores are much more like those found in the US 20 years ago.  One good thing - most large markets including Carrefour and Casino buy and package a lot of organic products under their own brand and sell them at a premium alongside the similar non-organic foods. 

The local farmer's markets, most of which are retail markets not direct from producer, are very expensive.  A real alternative where we live is the Community-Supported Agriculture but this remains a very tiny portion of food purchases.  People don't like the inconvenience - one extra trip during the week, a huge load of veggies, the dirt and the preparation.  I don't really like the dirt, either, but I like seeing where my vegetables are growing and know the farmer who's taking care of me.  It goes without saying the vegetable gardens are nearly non-existent, especially for families with two working adults. 

And lastly, restaurants are often subpar except for the very best. There doesn't seem to be this same interest in the quality of the ingredients unless it's really a top restaurant (with prices to match).  Every once in a while I will come across one that's transparent about the provenance of their fresh foods and meats but other times I think it mostly comes packaged frozen in truck and reheated.

What should the French learn from Alice Waters?  That we should ALL eat and cook fresh.  That finding out where our food comes from is worth it.  That restaurants can and should care about what they serve. And schools should teach our children about growing and preparing foods and the joy that comes with that.  At least we're ahead of the game - it is France, after all.

In the News: The G20 and Food Prices

 

The Finance Ministers and Central Bankers of the G20 countries are meeting in Paris today and tomorrow.  One of the big topics on the agenda and in the news is a discussion on how to reign in food prices.  I'm no economist and am overwhelmed by how complex the problem is.  Just reading a bit about it with very big numbers thrown about ("40 million people worldwide pushed into poverty since June 2010", on report read), and the complexity of the economic conditions of import / export countries, various currencies and impact of trading markets - namely speculators - is very dispiriting.  From this point of view, the very real problem of people going hungry or paying more for food seems like an abstraction having very little to do with the actual growing of food.

But what do I know?

President Sarkozy, the current president of the G20 and the French Finance Minister, Christine LaGarde the host of the event are talking about information / market transparency and regulation. You can see more here.

I still have a hard time grasping what this will do.  My gut tells me that it's just tinkering with a massive system that's inherently broken.