French Salad

I’m spending ten days in Provence – France’s salad bowl. The land stretches in all directions yielding all manner of produce. The weekly markets serve up fruits and vegetables so fresh and so local that you couldn’t bring farm and table any closer. Prices are affordable too. For years I’ve longed to buy fruit in quantity for canning. Finally, this past week, I bought 2 lbs of figs and made half into jam and the other half into chutney. A dream come true. Some aspire to sky-dive while I yearn to find my inner French chef.

The conversations with the market vendors/farmers are themselves instructive. Faced with a variety of eggplants, I asked the farmer which ones would be best for eggplant parmigiana. Without hesitation he pointed to the deep aubergine colored ones. The paler, slender varieties were for baba ganoush. Another variety was best for grilling of stuffing. And so it went. If I’d probed further, he’d have recommended the correct wine pairings too.

Similarly, the cheese maker, mushroom forager and flamboyant charcuterie guy can help select, share recipes and serving ideas along with some strong opinions on our American politics. Shopping in these markets is an immersive experience. I’ve learned to set aside an entire morning to the weekly market. You come for the produce but you stay to strengthen your relationships with those who grow the produce.

Inevitably, I return from market laden with flowers, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, eggs, mushrooms, olives and tapenades, pickled garlic ( my new favorite snack) and a sense of urgency to get the zucchini blossoms stuffed with the fresh goat cheese and fried up right away. Those blossoms will curl up tight and go limp if one waits too long.

Despite all the availability, most homes with a bit of land will maintain a potager of some sort. Some are simple with pots of geraniums, tomatoes and herbs, others attempt a myriad of vegetables and flowers in slightly larger plots and then there are those truly impressive gardens that make me stop and marvel. Each garden says the same thing – a gardener resides here. All are my kind of people.

It’s easy to eat well with such affordable abundance all around. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if the $ got a bit stronger against the EU.

Santé et bon appétit!