France

The Best Lunch The Accidental Locavore Knows

by Anne Maxfield on April 26, 2012

Accidental Locavore Lunch

Because there haven’t been any recipes posted lately, you’ve probably guessed that for the past couple of weeks  the Accidental Locavore has done little or no cooking. Mostly because we were in France where there are a lot of people who can cook pretty well, and then when we were back home, there were charity events and birthday dinners. I finally hit the kitchen, made a batch of yogurt, have some bacon curing and am brining a brisket from Brykill Farm to make pastrami, so not entirely lazy, right?

Accidental Locavore Pate ForestierOne of the benefits of renting apartments in France is that you get to shop the marchés and actually buy some of the wonderful stuff they have there. We quickly latched onto a woman who had a wonderful selection of charcuterie. First up, a pâté forestier, a smooth duck or chicken liver pâté studded with mushrooms and to quote Frank, “made of deliciousness!” To go with, some sliced chorizo, a little local ham (made in the style of prosciutto) a wedge of Morbier, a chèvre rolled in herbes de Provence, and a wonderful St Félicien Fermier, a soft, luscious, local cow’s milk cheese, picked up from the local fromagerie. Toss in a great baguette, some good mustard and a few cornichons, et voilà, a great lunch!

Accidental Locavore French CheesesTrying to improve on our market choices, the next trip yielded a new pâté, a classic pâté de campagne, with a wonderful texture and great taste! We switched out the chorizo for some salami, got some tapenade, a bag of mixed olives and the Locavore added some local strawberries to make it look like a balanced meal.

Accidental Locavore Local StrawberriesI usually think strawberries are ho-hum, but the French ones have totally changed my mind and probably spoiled me for life. Interestingly, Celine (from the olive oil store) and I had gotten into a whole discussion about strawberries. She grew up next door to a strawberry farm and her childhood was spent picking strawberries (and eating most of them), so she was quick to sneer at the Spanish ones at the market. As stunningly perfect as they looked, I had gone right for the local ones, remembering how good they had been last spring when we were there and they didn’t disappoint!

 

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Accidental Locavore: Scenes From the Market in Nice

by Anne Maxfield on April 23, 2012

Accidental Locavore Pears

Accidental Locavore Ranunculus

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words…The Accidental Locavore hopes you enjoy these photos from the marché in Nice.Accidental Locavore Red PeppersAccidental Locavor Gerber Daisies

Accidental Locavore RougetsAccidental Locavore LilacsAccidental Locavore TurnipsAccidental Locavore RomanscoAccidental Locavore Cabbage

Accidental Locavore Green TulipsAccidental Locavore Zucchini With FlowersAccidental Locavore Endive Accidental Locavore White Asparagus

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The Accidental Locavore at Le Victor Hugo: a Very Good Good Friday!

by Anne Maxfield on April 16, 2012

Accidental Locavore Russan CathedralThe Accidental Locavore thinks that sometimes the old saying “no good deed goes unpunished” doesn’t hold true in France. Many of our most memorable meals  come when my husband and I have been exploring  places one of us has little or no interest in (all the F1 racetracks in France) and afterwards, as a reward we always seem to find an amazing meal.

Such was the case when we went off in search of the one big tourist attraction in Nice we had never seen, the Russian Orthodox Cathedral. This was an adventure that the Locavore had wanted to do for a while, but Frank is not a big church guy and it was pretty far off our regular routes. Along the way, down Avenue Victor Hugo, possibly the most beautiful street in Nice, we came upon a little corner bistro, with a simple but interesting menu, a possibility for lunch later. Accidental Locavore Le Victor Hugo

After a mostly nice, long walk we came to the Cathedral. Built by Tzar Nicholas and finished in 1912, it’s big and beautiful, with azure and green tiled onion domes surrounded by an intricate cast iron fence…locked! Now why a church would be closed on Good Friday is beyond me, but it’s probably because the Russian Orthodox religion has Easter on a different calendar than we do. Back home we schlepped, with me hoping that lunch at le Victor Hugo would be good enough to erase his short-term memory of a long walk for a closed cathedral.

Accidental Locavore French CharcuterieYou had to know it was going to be fine when the musician (my husband) was seated under a painting of a conductor. You had to know it was going to be fine when there was no menu, just a recitation of the day’s three main courses. You had to really hope it was going to be fine, when Frank ordered a lunchtime pastis. And you had to relax and know it was going to be fine when you got really hungry, seeing what the guy at the next table was eating.

It was more than fine!Accidental Locavore Cold Asparagus

While Frank sipped his drink, the hostess/waitress brought an amuse bouche of salami and a smooth pâté on tiny slices of ficelle (a baguette’s skinny cousin) I had a starter of white asparagus with green tips in a simple vinaigrette. Then we both had the côte de boeuf, perfectly grilled, sprinkled with sea salt and served with béarnaise sauce on the side.Accidental Locavore Cote de Boeuf It tasted as good as it looked! But what would any steak in France be without a side of frites? These were small cubes, golden brown, hot, salty and amazingly good!Accidental Locavore Frites As Frank noticed, somehow each and every piece of potato was perfectly fried on each surface. Definitely in the top ten of potatoes I have eaten, and believe me, we ate all of them!

Dessert? No room for what looked like perfect pastries and tarts, just a very reasonable bill and a couple of very happy diners. Accidental Locavore Happy Frank

As we left, Frank looked at an adjoining table and said wistfully (and on a full stomach) “They got an entree portion of the potatoes….”

 

 

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Accidental Locavore: Croissants and Coffee, a Perfect Pairing

by Anne Maxfield on April 12, 2012

Accidental Locavore Chez Pierre

Like the Accidental Locavore, you would think that in a place like France, finding a simple breakfast — a good croissant and an equally fine cup of coffee — would be a no-brainer, however that’s not necessarily the case.  Since we’ve been renting apartments the past two times we’ve been in Nice, our quest each spring has been to find the neighborhood café with the penultimate combination of croissant and coffee (bonus points added for locale and pleasant staff). This has been harder than you might imagine.

Last year, when we were situated over by the port, good croissants were easy and close, but the bakery was on a busy intersection, rather nondescript and had pretty miserable coffee. A bit further away (but on the way to the marchè) a touristy place had much better coffee and passable croissant. We could have compromised, of course, and had both the coffee and croissant à emporter (to go) but that seemed defeatist, not to mention losing the charm of sitting in a café and watching the neighborhood wake up.  We had a great time that week, but the coffee/croissant nirvana was never reached.

Accidental Locavore Croissant and CoffeeThis spring we were in a different neighborhood, but had the same goal. Although we could have cheated because this apartment had a good coffee maker, by the time you went out to find croissants (and climb up four flights of stairs), you might as well stay out, n’est pas?

In this new ‘hood, the croissants were generally pretty good, however the coffee was the culprit. That is until the third morning. Almost directly across the street from the apartment is Chez Maître Pierre, an artisanal boulangerie. Good, hot, coffee, not too bitter, not too much foam. Croissants light, flaky and buttery, available in chocolate, ham & cheese or if you really wanted a decadent start, with a pear filling, chocolate and almonds, their specialty. A group of regulars, along with a yippy dog and a flock of pigeons make up the clientele.

Accidental Locavore PastriesBeing a full-fledged boulangerie, there were great-looking loaves of bread and other goodies, that as my husband says, must be good, as the patron keeps tasting them. We can vouch for the baguettes, which were so good, that we went from getting a demi (half) to the whole thing within a day.

Guess you know where we could be found the rest of the week!

 

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