May has arrived and with it a slew of bank holidays. May 1st is one of the holidays which are very strictly observed in France; hardly anything is open on Labour Day. The next one is May 8th – VE day and again it falls on a Tuesday, which means that a lot of people take the “pont” and have Monday off. On May 17th we celebrate Ascension, and finally May 28 is Pentecost Monday. Then there are no more bank holidays until Bastille Day on July 14th!
The week really started well – a visit to Floralies in Florensac – a fete which was conceived entirely around plants and flowers. The blooms were fantastic and the local brass band was great at keeping us all entertained!
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After that a quick trip to Marseillan for a light lunch – the sun was out and the terrace at the La Taverne du Port open – and yes, there was a table for two! A starter of Sardines en Escabeche, followed by gratinated oysters and mussels. Just perfect and oh so good!
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The reason for the light lunch was that I had gotten a little carried away in the market that morning: found some very young broad beans, wonderful fresh goat’s cheese, white asparagus and our butcher cut me two veal escalopes. I cut the broad beans into finger long pieces and steamed them, dressed them with good olive oil and lemon juice, with a little salt and sugar, and left them to cool. To serve I just spooned a little of the dressing over the beans and crumbled some of the goats cheese over. I’d forgotten to pick some parsley in the garden – ho hum…. 
White asparagus needs peeling, but to me it is well worth the effort. It also takes a little longer to cook than the green stalks. I decided to serve it with a veal escalope, simply pan fried, and some orange flavoured hollandaise sauce. For that, two tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice and one tablespoon of apple vinegar were reduced to half and left to cool. I then added the egg yolk, salt and butter cut into pieces and placed the pan in the simmering water, which was waiting for the asparagus. Stir and stir until it is the right consistency et voila! The veal was one of the tenderest pieces of meat I have ever eaten – I went back to the butcher to find out what cut it was and he told me it was Merlan, a small piece near the shoulder blade, and that it exists both in veal and beef. I’ve put my name down for the beef version when he next gets it in.
May 1st saw me at a Vide Grenier in Olargues, where I found two bargains! One was a stove top waffle iron, which I’d been thinking of for some time. It looked in need of a good clean but that was easily achieved at home with soda crystals and hot water. The other was an old linen sheet with a decorative hemstitch edge, which was still brand new. After a few washes and being run through the mangle it is now on the bed, and just the right size too! With all that exercise of walking around and bargaining lunch at the Fleurs d’Olargues restaurant was just the ticket. Their food is very well prepared and beautifully served. It was a little too cool to sit out on the terrace by the river, but I enjoy the dining room, which is airy and spacious without feeling as though you’re in an old garage workshop (which is what it was before it was converted into a restaurant some years ago). The restaurant is owned and run by a Danish family, and in addition to great food they also offer fantastic bread, which is home made. I always have to watch that I don’t have too much of that, so easy to eat…
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It looks very much as though this is turning into a food blog, so I will have to make sure that those of you who would like to read about other things wont get short-changed!!
midihideaways 