Friday 26 October 2012

Too much food thought?

Is is possible to think about food too much? It really is about time I turned in and went to sleep, but instead I'm sitting with a hot mug of tea readying myself to document a day of food. I even specifically woke up at 7am after deciding at about 2am last night that I wanted to make something special to take to uni for my lunch. I was on the receiving end of many strange looks in the kitchen this morning, as a girl frying courgettes, mushrooms, a lot of garlic...basically a whole meal at 7 o'clock in the morning should expect. When opening my Tupperware box to this after a morning of lectures however, I decided it was all worth it...
Couscous is one of the easiest and fastest things to prepare and yet when I talk to other friends and students they always say they don't know how to make it. Basically, it involves the same actions as when making a pot noodle except you can add what ever you want to it. Be inventive as you like! This morning mine had raspberry vinaigrette, lemon juice, salt and pepper, paprika, half a chicken stock cube, cherry tomatoes fresh from the market, prawns, courgette, mushrooms, onion and a clove of garlic. It's so easy to experiment with and you can prepare it the night before ready for the morning. Looking back, garlic wasn't the best choice for lunch as my breath was definitely a bit strong later on, but oh well. I've learned my lesson.

 Pumpkin flavored things are much more popular in France than in England and when I saw pumpkin and chestnut soup for starters, it was a definite yes. The main course was dorade fish with buttery mash, haricot vert and a cherry tomato. When picking what to eat, (given the choice that we had this is harder than it sounds) you choose the main meat dish and then everyone gets the same side. It seems a economical way of making a menu far more manageable for a busy restaurant without compromising on taste. Everything was cooked in the traditional Provencal way in an chilled atmosphere full of regulars and where even the customers' dogs are welcomed with their own water bowl.

 I felt a bit self conscious when taking pictures of all my food but everyone was understanding about it, Zoe even let me take a photo of her calisson mousse because it was so pretty. I will probably have write up about calissons (Aix specialty) next time I buy some from the market because they really deserve their own post. I saw Raymond Blanc eat them once on television so in food terms, that makes them famous! This was my dessert of vanilla (more like caramel) and almond milk ice cream scoops with raspberries scattered on top...
The photos don't really do justice to the food as candlelight isn't the best for taking photos, so you will just have to take my word for it that the food was simple but wonderful. The simple set up and easy atmosphere is why it is packed every evening to the point people have to be turned away at the door. The final sign of a good meal is when for fifteen euros, we ate so much food we were forced to do the post-dinner awkward waddle/shuffle back to our flats. If is possible to think about food too much I've decided that I'm just going to roll with it, it's too much fun to give up.

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