When we return from our morning walk Sophie's coat has developed that unkempt ' goodness gracious me ' look.
She is loaded into the back of the car and driven off to the market. There, the PONette discovers that the traiteur is preparing his daily specials. Today there will be tripe or snails 'Catalone' style. Angus would guess that garlic, tomato paste and snails are the ingredients in the latter. On second thoughts make that garlic and snails - in that order. Sophie is entranced by the thought of tripe but is quite willing to give the snails a go. I explain that they're as different as Bangladesh is from Ukraine but she seems undeterred.
Todays croissants look the part but don't live up to their promise. The dough is more like processed white. 6/10.
The cake display has a new addition. A kind of grey thing with piped icing. I would ask what it is but this morning the ' other worldly ' girl is serving behind the counter. She exhibits an ethereal indifference to questions. Angus would put this down to his accent but the French seem to receive the same disconnected response. From the pace she works at I reckon she may simply be ethereal.
The butcher is making pork sausages. They'll be cooked and ready in half an hour. Rather than wait we opt for a Roti de Poulet Farcie to take home. Sophie reluctantly agrees although she's quite willing - indeed keen - to wait for the sausages to be cooked and ready.
So starts a quiet 'off season' Monday morning in a part of France that is so remote it's rarely - if ever - ' in season'
9 comments:
Sophie's still looking a bit admonitory, it seems? I hope a bit of chicken will cheer her up.
Bertie and I both think the sausages might have been worth waiting for.
No to the snails, tripe and bakery offerings. Yes to the butchers.
The gray thing looks like mocha, and therefore yummy.
Snails don't have much taste on their own; they are merely a delivery system for something more delicious, such as butter and/or garlic. I am happy to opt for less repulsive delivery systems, such as bread.
Parlor trick among foreign correspondents I know: draw (freehand) the map of a continent or a region, with all the countries and and all the capitals labeled. Accuracy--noting such disputed territories as Transdnistria or Abkhazia--is more important than artistic talent. It's too bad she didn't leave her mike hot.
Hari OM
...and the chocolate confection, front left, appears to have met with an accident... an altogether unappealing offering! YAM xx
That poultry display is a work of art. French butchers must have to undergo quite extensive training in order to be certified. Not sure about spending 70 euros for a turkey though.
Those croissants indeed don't look right - more like crescent rolls. You were brave to even try one.
The croissants look distinctly stodgy - not in the least appetising. The chocolate cake has definitely been reassembled after a kitchen catastrophe. Perhaps the "other worldly" girl had imbibed some "other worldly" substance, and was inhabiting another planet?
We'd have waited for the sausages too!
Perhaps the sausages will be forgotten--if the membrane covering on the chicken is in the near future....
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