Sunday, June 05, 2005

Culinary Clock

June----a bittersweet time around here.
School is finished in one week and many of the expat community start to roll up and move out.
Their contract usually runs between 3-5 years. It is just about that time I build a nice friendship and then that family is shipped off. A downfall when living amongst the 'temporary'.
Fast friendships move quickly on to the next life adventure.


On a more positive note, one of the many things I enjoy about living in France is the fact that you can set your 'culinary clock' by what season it is. The fruit and veg season, AND, the shopping season.
The French (in my opinion) are very regulated and right now is the beginning of the 'canning season'. The stores are now filled with all you'd ever want and need in canning jars (bocal), beautiful copper confiture pans and all the paraphernalia that you'd find in Grandma's basement. Buy, buy, buy, next month you won't find the same ample booty that you find right now!
I found in the local Super U a sac of Grana Padano in Cubetti! Impulse buy -- a quick gander through my cookbooks and I found a picture of some marinated feta.
I'm now imagining my marinated grana cubes on a fresh slice of Ciabatta bread (my latest passion) that I've toasted on the BBQ grill. The cheese will be soft and flavorful, melting from the heat of the grilled bread.

One sac of Grana cubes, some fresh Thyme from my garden, that has just finished flowering, but is still supple, gets thrown into the mix. The previous mentioned is now bathing in some unfiltered Lebanese Olive Oil. I'm thinking this might be pretty good!

3 comments:

shuna fish lydon said...

Melissa!!

Please read about putting olive oil in oil! It needs to breathe and may poison you and the oil if you are not really careful.

On a nicer note I will confide that I have always wanted to know how to make jam. I am going to spend this summer experimenting even though I am afraid because I have really high standards for such things. (I am such a nerd I have a jam/jelly/marmalade collection.)
It's one of those things that's so simple it's hard. I hope that you share photos and tricks with us...

Banlieue Blog said...

Shuna.....are you talking about garlic in olive oil??? Should I dump it out, and just add roasted garlic to the Bruschetta?
In my book that mentioned the marinated feta, garlic was NOT in the mix. Advice plz!
(and thanks for the alert!)

shuna fish lydon said...

So garlic needs to breathe. It has a big name but in the end it can really kill a person and that's important to know. Do not keep cooked or raw garlic covered in oil for more than a few hours before eating. I'll try to find out more.