Pastry

Who would have thought? Prior to this summer season, I have been living in a fruitful paradise without ever realizing it. In my house garden, we've discovered damson trees, a blackberry bush, and maybe even an apple tree. Who knows what other treasures there may be (besides the family of muntjacs...). Numerous damson trees stretch along the street outside the house. And, apparently, there's even a fig tree along a nearby street.

So tonight, 2 housemates and I decided to pick some of the damons and make a damson crumble. It was delicious and extremely juicy, albeit fairly tart. I think only one of the trees bear sweet damsons, while the others are tart. Regardless, picking our own damsons from our own garden and making a dessert out of it makes everything that much more tasty especially when the only "sweat" that we shed was harvesting the fruit from trees that we neither planted nor sowed. :-?

All that remains is for the blackberry bush to ripen and to see whether we do or do not have an apple tree...

Damson Tree

Plum Tree

Fruits from 3 trees

Freshly baked crumble

Less than four months, and I find myself back in France. B-)

I just returned from visiting my housemate in Aix en Provence as well as hiking through Les Calanques near Cassis and exploring Marseille. England has been plagued with uncharacteristically gloomy and unpredictably moody weather, so France's incessant southern coastal sunshine was the exact cure (although a tad overboard at times). But even more so was the much anticipated French gastronomy...

Pain au chocolat from Patisserie Weibel

I love French pastries, and I loyally had one every morning. (I would have it for all three meals if I could stomach it.) The best, we discovered, was from the Patisserie Weibel. The pain au chocolat--baked golden brown, enclosed in a thin fragile crust, puffed round with air, and buttery moist and smooth--disappeared unsatisfactorily fast, leaving you craving for more. The pain au raisin disintegrated into flakes with each bite, coating the tongue with flurries of butter, flour, and sugar, and contrasted well with the chewy raisin. I was a bit disappointed with the brioche--fluffy white dough encased in a thin honeyed crust--as it was a bit too dry. I may be blaspheming, but I think I prefer the brioche at Le Chatelaine (Columbus, Ohio) for its better moisture and tenderness.

We happened across Bechard and decided to have a very unhealthy and high in refined carbohydrate and fat lunch. (Hey, it's France; forget the diet. :-? ) I was intrigued in trying the cannele de bordeaux as I've heard it is difficult to make. It is typically baked in a mould that resembles a mini bundt cake; on the outside is a honeyed crust while the inside is a creamy custard. The texture was leaning towards rubbery, so I wasn't too impressed by it. I also tried the Aix specialty, the calisson, which consisted of marzipan and flour sandwiched between a wafer and a layer of sugar frosting; it's chewy but not very sweet. The original was okay, but I wish I could try the fig and lavender flavored ones..

Fourré chocolat with Olives au chocolat in the background

We also walked through the confectionary chain "La Cure Gourmande" and were warmly offered samples. The fourré frambouise was quite fascinating; it's a biscuit ("cookie" in the US) with raspberry filling. The store in Marseille offered a fourré chocolat. Both were nice, though buttery rich like a shortbread. The other sample was the olives au chocolat; but the name deceives. It's made to look like olives, but it's actually almond covered with a layer of chocolate followed by a layer of flavoured sugar coating (kind of like an M & M). The flavours ranged from pistachio to tea to licorice to several others (my French was a bit too limited...).

Charlotte

For dinner, we splurged on a three-course meal at Le Village. I didn't realize until a couple days later that the fish soup that I ordered as my starter was actually a cheaper version of the famed Marseille bouillabaisse (there's even a charter dictating the required ingredients). The flavour was incredible! It didn't taste of fishiness; but rather, it was a rich meld of meaty fish broth, vegetables, and herbs. Soaking the croutons topped with the garlic chili aioli and grated cheese in the soup enhanced the richness of flavour. The braised lamb, my main, was cooked so well that I could tear the meat off with just the fork; each piece was incredibly tender, moist, and well-infused with flavour. As for dessert, the crushed nuts and cream in the summery light charlotte complemented very well with the strawberry coulis. Rounded off with a deep Buzet red wine, it was definitely a satisfying meal.

Overall, I would have to say this trip was a gastronomical success! I still love, if not enamored further by, the pastries, chocolate, and food from France! ) Vive la France!