A Provencial Meal
My dear friend invited me to a lunch of bouillabaisse at her house the other day. I thought describing this meal would be a good chance to explain the art of eating in France.
The lunch was not just an hour of my time, in fact it was THE event of my day. It was about all I did all day. I got up in the morning in time to get ready, get dressed, and walk to the bus, take the bus and then take the metro to meet my friend at the metro where she then drove me to her apartment. We waited around a bit for one other woman to arrive who my friend also invited. While waiting, I looked at my friends pictures of her world travels. She is quite extraordinary and has gone many places around the world.
When the other woman arrived we began our meal with an aperitif, which is an appetizer course. We had champagne and olives, tomatoes with herbs de provence, toasts with salmon spread (too fishy tasting for me but I ate it so as not to be rude), and pistachio nuts. After our aperitif which probably took about an hour or so, we installed ourselves at the table for our main meal. My friend brought out the bouillabaisse. Bouillabaisse is a “specialte de midi” – a specialty of the provencial region. bouillabaisse is a fish stew. I know Jullia Child has translated the recipe in the “Art of Mastering French Cooking.” There are many variations too. My friend’s bouillabaisse was excellent. I am not a fan of shell-fish, but my friends variation utilized white-meat fish and didn’t include much shellfish, though she included mussels. bouillabaisse has a tomato-based broth. We also had potatoes to go with our stew as well as toasted baguette slices with a sauce like an aoli. I ate so many baguette slices with aoli with my stew. I was definitely approaching the full level upon finishing my stew…..
But that is not the end of the meal in France. Up next was a cheese course. Oh and I forgot to mention that I had my champagne glass refilled and then was served a little bit of Rose wine, but I refused to take much as I was feeling the effects of the champagne. During the cheese course you are served several types of cheeses -a blue cheese, like Roquefort, a goat cheese – chevre, a cheese like Brie or Camembert, a “Brebis” – sheep cheese. So I took several tiny portions/sampling of a few cheeses, knowing my stomach was pushing the limits of fullness. I tried to eat a slowly as possible too to give my stomach maximum time to digest.
After the cheese came the dessert….Desert consisted of ice cream, and in case I wasn’t full, there was the option of fruit on the side too. It is customary to place a basket of fruit on the table with the desert course.
After desert came tea. One always has to end the meal with some tea or cafe. I took some mint tea hoping it would aid my digestion…My stomach was now painfully full, I was at the level of feeling like I would burst. All I wanted to do was to lay down and fall asleep.
After tea we sat in the living room and talked together. My friend also offered us some “gingembre confit” – candied ginger, and “callisons” – traditional candies from the Provencial region. By the time we left it was 6:30 p.m. The meal was my whole day, and I definitely didn’t eat anything else the rest of the day. And I think I was in a food coma for the rest of the evening. I was lethargic the rest of the evening….And that is how they do meals and life here in France.
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