I have been gone for quite a while but I really haven't been pining away. First of all, for all those of you who read the bank post, we still don't have the "codes secrets" for our credit cards. More about that some other day.
First of all our friends J and D came to visit. We had a fantastic time. J is a real shutterbug and took over 1000 photos (thank heaven with his fancy-dancy digital). The first night there I made them paupiettes de veau. I bought the paupiettes already made at the butcher's but you can make them easily yourself by wrapping veal scallopine around some tasty sausage meat and wrapping the packages up into nice tidy little bundles. Then you just saute some minced shallots in butter and oil, add the paupiettes and brown on all sides. Add some wine (I used rose) and let them simmer on the stove for about 25 minutes so the sausage inside gets well cooked. You can add a little broth if the liquid boils down too fast. You want enough to make some sauce. Here is a picture of the paupiettes in the pan cooking down.
The first day here I rousted them out of bed at an ungodly hour to head out to Stes Maries de la Mer because there were going to be abrivados there that day and I didn't think any of us should miss them. I was right. First a little history. Stes Maries de la Mer is the southern most tip of the Rhone Delta known as La Camargue. The legend of the Maries who arrived there is a bit mysterious. It all has to do, maybe, with the Da Vinci Code etc. Also, there is a black saint, name of Sara who is revered by the Romani (aka Gypsies). They have an annual pilgrimage to this place every May.
First of all our friends J and D came to visit. We had a fantastic time. J is a real shutterbug and took over 1000 photos (thank heaven with his fancy-dancy digital). The first night there I made them paupiettes de veau. I bought the paupiettes already made at the butcher's but you can make them easily yourself by wrapping veal scallopine around some tasty sausage meat and wrapping the packages up into nice tidy little bundles. Then you just saute some minced shallots in butter and oil, add the paupiettes and brown on all sides. Add some wine (I used rose) and let them simmer on the stove for about 25 minutes so the sausage inside gets well cooked. You can add a little broth if the liquid boils down too fast. You want enough to make some sauce. Here is a picture of the paupiettes in the pan cooking down.
The first day here I rousted them out of bed at an ungodly hour to head out to Stes Maries de la Mer because there were going to be abrivados there that day and I didn't think any of us should miss them. I was right. First a little history. Stes Maries de la Mer is the southern most tip of the Rhone Delta known as La Camargue. The legend of the Maries who arrived there is a bit mysterious. It all has to do, maybe, with the Da Vinci Code etc. Also, there is a black saint, name of Sara who is revered by the Romani (aka Gypsies). They have an annual pilgrimage to this place every May.
This town is an interesting combination. It is a fishing village and also backed by a hinterland of cowboys on white horses who round up black long-horned bulls. Very dramatic. An abrivado is when the cowboys round up some bulls and drive them into town to the arena for a good time to be had by all. I'm sure that at some time they really did round u
p the bulls from the Camargue and drove them into town for bull fights, but not anymore. Nowadays the bulls are driven to the edge of town in trucks. Then two or three of them are surrounded by these very flashy white horses (undoubtedly descended from mighty Arabians) ridden by honest-to-god local cowboys. Once delivered to the arena the bulls' horns are decorated with ribbon rosettes and flowers. Then the local bravos dance all around the bulls and leap over them trying to pluck the ornaments off their horns without getting impaled. Actually, most of the time the bulls' horns are wrapped to prevent serious injury.
p the bulls from the Camargue and drove them into town for bull fights, but not anymore. Nowadays the bulls are driven to the edge of town in trucks. Then two or three of them are surrounded by these very flashy white horses (undoubtedly descended from mighty Arabians) ridden by honest-to-god local cowboys. Once delivered to the arena the bulls' horns are decorated with ribbon rosettes and flowers. Then the local bravos dance all around the bulls and leap over them trying to pluck the ornaments off their horns without getting impaled. Actually, most of the time the bulls' horns are wrapped to prevent serious injury. An interesting exercise right about now is to Google "Knossos frescoes" and see what you get. If you know Greek mythology you've heard about the Minotaur and King Minos and the Palace at Knossos and Theseus. Those frescoes are about 4,000 years old. Those kids are dancing around the bulls and doing acrobatics over the dangerous horns. Interesting how some things don't change.
Next stop, Arles for lunch. Arles' biggest claims to fame is its Roman Arena, and fish soup. Both are absolutely outstanding. The fish soup is made with local Mediterranean fish so I really don't know how to translate it. I'm going to give it a try when we get back to CA and see if Dungeness crab is a nice addition. We had already been to Arles when B and KJ had come (which I still need to blog about) and found a really nice restaurant facing the Arena. Unfortunately it was closed when J and D were here. We found another, but not so nice. (Of course we always had to be reasonable and watch our ting tings--most French restaurants don't accept checks--and we never knew when we might be near a BNP branch to withdraw more cash, and we don't have credit cards!) J did a doors and shutters thing in Arles, very successful.
Then a little shopping (shops, thank heaven, do accept checks!) and then home. After all, J and D had just arrived from California on Friday night and they were dog tired.
For more pictures, check out J's web site http://itsthemusic.com/ . While you're at it, check out his music! Otherwise you'll have to wait until I figure out how to post photos to this blog more easily. I need lessons.
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