Neha Leela

The lavender season was behind us, the remnants of sunflower fields was rather dismal, a bit of rain hampered my overambitious plans of biking but eight days and six pounds (oops) later I can’t say I mastered it (sorry Jules), but I can certainly say I thoroughly enjoyed the art of French cooking.

And it truly is an art.

Preparation begins at the markets, which we reveled in visiting – basically planning our village hopping around local market days. The high-pitched falsetto of vendor’s greetings invites you to all but stick your nose into (I may have come too close to their disgust) the colorful arrays of sels de mer, seemingly ornamental artichokes, oriental red tomatoes, crusty baguettes and candied fruits.

I imagine each of these women who were scampering around me, returns to a kitchen like this one, that I fell in love with. Our hosts took pride in their kitchen; making it not just a workstation but ofcourse, a work of art. Lilies to add cheer, crisp white crockery – the more chipped the more charming – liberally displayed behind rustic, bold cabinetry. Scattered lovingly, vintage cake platters and brushed silver trinkets to showcase love and use.

And that charm, grace and effortlessness continued to the table making simple concotions look so sweet. Breakfast didn’t need to be omlettes, waffles or pancakes to look extravagant – a basket of sliced baguettes and croissants with perfectly portioned dollops of jellies hand spooned into compote jars and yogurts ladled into ceramic jars looked equally decadent.

Each of the villages where we stopped seemed like the set of “its a wonderful life” with an endless series of boulangeries, patisseries and charcuteries embedded into cobblestone streets. But each was home to a distinct and different delight – the perfect fig (Nice), the crispiest creme brulee (Aix-en-Provence), my first experience with cod– laden with creme fraiche and swathed in puff pastry (Rhone), a pomme tartin that was heaven (Rousillon) and a crepe soaked in raw cane sugar and dusted with cinnamon (Uzes). Yum! Now resumes mastering the art of creating that at home.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 19th, 2009 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Abroad, Decorating, Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.