Bringing a touch of Provencal elegance to summer dining is a breeze. Like the Mistral...but better.
If you've traveled through the South of France or done it through books such as "A Year in Provence" you'll no doubt have vivid memories of the warm sun, the fields of lavender, the fantastic wines and the food. In my fantasies - I am there. Until I can actually get there, I grow lavender on my balcony and grab dried culinary lavender at my Farmer's Market.
This week, I got a real treat: a gift of fresh, line-caught bluefish from a friend's deep sea fishing trip. I decided to go Provencal style. Olives, capers, garlic, lavender, herbs...in thinking about ways to prepare it, went through my familiar routine. Make a nice refreshing drink and pore over my cookbooks, poke around online, imagine a million different techniques, flavors, combinations. Once I have it narrowed to a mere million or so, I can begin to narrow the field. What's on hand, what flavors have I been jonesing for...
So, this evening I discovered Anchoïde. I discovered that I like it quite a bit. It reminded me of another summer staple from my past years when I'd vacation with friends on Martha's Vineyard. My olive tapenade was the perfect note to our post-beach, pre-dinner cocktails. I remembered also the stone patios of Mayle's Provence stories and realized I'm once again transported by food.
Ratatouille - The Movie
In this MUST-SEE film - there is a beautiful scene (no spoiler here, don't worry) where a character has that sort of out-of-body experience of which I speak. For me and my food-obsessed friends it is probably as good a representation of what drives our obsession.
The dish, ratatouille, is also a french dish and many of the ingredients could be used to good measure in this dish: my Smoky Provencal Bluefish.
Lavender is common en Provence. We're lucky to get good culinary quality dried lavender here at our local Farmer's Market. Another refreshing way to use it is to make lemonade, with lavender and a splash of cranberry. C'est Magnifique!
