Hello, France!
October 11th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Posted in Travel
Get ready for lots of cheese on this trip
My wife has a kitchen re-design in mind that involves classic Le Creuset cook pots in various colors as decor. Ever so clevely, she began snatching them up on Ebay, but soon discovered that the place to be bidding was Ebay France, where Le Creuset pots apparently are a dime a dozen. There was just one snag: How to get all those pots back to the U.S.?
In the end, there was only one solution: We would cash in our frequent -flyer miles and turn ourselves into Le Creseut mules.
Arriving in the Catalan hills outside Perpignan
Over the next week, I’ll be describing some of our food adventures in France and Spain, beginning with a nearly aborted flight to Barcelona from Philadelphia. Thirty minutes after takeoff, the captain announced we were turning back because the auto-pilot wasn’t working. My own theory: the captain spilled his martini on the control panel. Nevertherless, we spent three hours on the tarmac while repairs were made. The captain was replaced.
Four hours later than expected, we did arrive in Barcelena, retrieved our snappy blue rental car (a Ford Fiesta) and drove two hours-plus to our friend Bob’s place outside Perpignan in southwestern France. You’ve read plenty about Bob here before. He’s the artist we’ve been hanging out with for years, a great cook and story teller. He also provided the drop point for our French-bought cook pots.
This was the first time we’d seen him at his place within view of the Pyrenees.
Bob's walls are covered with his paintings
Bob has spent years fixing up an ancient house in a small village. He explores the surrounding countryside for inspiration and paints for his supper. As we soon discovered, he’s also cultivated a number of close friendships that make for lively feasting, to say the least.
The kitchen sink is solid marble
Bob has done the work on the house himself. And he’s almost as passionate about good food and wine as he is about his art. Mostly, he cooks himself and drinks the wine from the local Longuedoc-Roussillon regions. There’s no shortage of that. This used to be the largest wine producing region in the world. Maybe it still is. His village is surrounded by vineyards and winemakers.
A traveling market in the village square
And a true village it is. There’s no real grocery store. Twice a week, traveling vendors set up shop in the main square. The mayor announces their arrival over loudspeakers.
How do you get your pizza
Dining out options seem to revolve around the occasional arrival of an itinerant pizza truck.
A fine way to start our visit with Bob
We weren’t able to tell Bob about the delay in our arrival. We found him sitting in a chair outside his house waiting. He was fully prepared, however, to stuff us with wine, cheese and his own homemade marinated olives that he picks from local trees.
Bob prepares to make a fire
That evening, Bob treated us to duck breast and peppers grilled in a fire pit cloistered in a small courtyard around the corning from his digs.
Bob lights the fire
Notice the sculpture keeping watch over the fire.
No fancy gadgets here
Bob’s techniques are simple, effective and always intriguing. See how the grill is held in place over the coals with stones. It was a great meal, the first of many.
sigh… Please have some cheese for me… sigh…
Hi Ed … great excuse for a trip (great tip for your European readers, too) … your friend’s house is wonderful, as is his grill … hope the pots aren’t too heavy in your bags on the way home
Joanna
Ooh I’d love to see a shot of your kitchen designed around your Loewy collection, I have started my own collection, I have various vintage cast iron pieces but these are definitely my favourites : http://thriftedtreasure.blogspot.com/2011/07/casserole-central.html