Scenes from Farmer's Markets in the Lubéron

For a week straight, my college friend Robin and I did nothing but shop and eat and talk to her husband Jim.  Jim, as a wine maker and a long-time restauranteur, was always the cooking showman in the family.  Now as he recovered from his brain surgery, Robin was the family chef, and Jim reveled in her skills.

Robin and I loved to go to the Farmer's Markets in the Lubéron and see what was on offer.  While the Loumartin market was possibly the most showy, the one in Cadenet was charming, accessible, and not too crowded. The people-watching was just as wonderful.

Beautifully-displayed zucchinis

  Equally Pretty Melons

A lovely French shopper

shows off

the sculptural quality

of the lettuce

This handsome couple

spends two months in Provence

each year and 10 months in Spain.

They showed me their French car.

It's called a 2CV.

They told me the design of the car

resulted when the French Government 
asked Citroën for a vehicle that could carry four people,

50 pounds of potatoes,

and a dozen eggs,

without breaking the eggs.

That is such a French thought, n'est pas?

It is an iconic vehicle

and much loved

in France.

Not every shopper

was full-grown.

The Cadenet Farmer's Market was set up on the Municipal Boules Court (the French game of lawn bowling). 

In nearby Cuceron, I had the chance to see another municipal place that French people had created for themselves: the breathtaking grove of plantain trees in Cucuron surrounding a city pond. I found it calming.

 There were restorative sidewalk spots to

enjoy the view of the Plantain grove

and the water.

A French woman sustaining their

worldwide reputation for chic.

When you see a pork leg
with the hoof still on it,
you're very aware it came
from a real live animal, aren't you?

Ack! I've written before
how American food writers say
Americans have the reality
that they're eating actual animals
kept far from them
by styrofoam and plastic film.
I know this ham is a delicacy.
I love this ham!
I have no desire to be vegetarian!
Facing this pork leg being sliced
made me so uncomfortable.
 It's so *real* served this way.

I love to eat rabbit,
at least fresh rabbit from
styrofoam and plastic film.
But...when it looked like
it had a pet name of Bunny
only yesterday?
Culture shock!

 The French version of a
lemonade stand.
This little boy was selling
packaged herbs.

Does your mail carrier look like this
back home?
Mine neither.
The Cucuron village mail carrier.
Everything is more glamorous in France,
even the mail.

Taking in the Provencal Village Charm of Cadenet, France

Who can resist the charm

of the plantain tree in the South of France?

I loved the idea of their legacy.

Everyone can plant a single tree

for future generations.

But do we?

Some can even plant more

and exponentially increase beauty.

I could not get enough of these trees.

They had such a peaceful quality

and their aging mottled skin inspired me.

Outside the village post office.

Notice the Liberte stamp representation

near the entrance.

A typical charming Cadenet exterior.

Shutters and windows of a certain size

are used everywhere.

In all colors.

 The inviting flowered fence (above) and 

exterior (below) of the Mayor's Office.

I believe this sign says that

Napoleon's drummer boy

was born in this home.

 I knew this famous name from history:

Victor Hugo, the author of

The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

  The hardware store merchants

were neighborly.

 Sometimes it was just fun to decipher a

French sign like this one:

Maison des Anciens

Or chat up the locals.

I loved the beans hanging down

from this French vine.

The French insistence on continuing

a unified Provencal "look"

did create charm.

The cherished their Provencal history

 and prioritized it higher

than an individual homeowner's desire

to make grand changes to their houses.

The French, who prize individual liberty

as much as any American,

know that sometimes agreeing

to the common good

(in this case, strict controls on the look of housing)

creates something greater than we can do so individually.

The Best View in Cadenet, France is Now Free to All

On the road to La Mourrade

there is a turn-off for the ruins

of an old chateau with the best view

of the Lubéron.

 The ruins of the old chateau include a pool.

We got a kick out the fact that it continued

to exist uncovered

when citizens have to cover

their swimming pools nightly

per EU safety regulations.

 As we walked to the chateau

we looked back toward the town of Cadenet

to take in the beautiful village steeple.

  This walk was the ultimate playground

for European children.

What child could not grow their imagination

in these surroundings?

Do you think there might be trolls down there?

  To get to the chateau when it was active

required crossing the moat.

A nice bridge helps today.

  The view of the moat and the bridge from below.

Maybe trolls lives here?

Looking down at the scenic village of Cadenet

and the nearby sunflower fields.

The view of the Luberon valley went on for miles.

It was magnificent.

Robin told me the reason this chateau

was now a ruin was the people of France

attacked it with pick axes during the Revolution.

That gave me pause.

The American people are pretty politically angry right now

but not THAT angry.

Wow, imagine what it would take for folks

to be THAT angry

they are inspired to

bring down a chateau with pickaxes.

It kind of keeps things in perspective, no?

How far do you think that is?

10-15 miles?

 Looking down at the village bells.

Jim had told me the village experimented with

eliminating them

for three months but

everyone wanted them to ring again.

When men are out in the olive groves,

they hear it ring on the hour once

but they don't catch the exact number of rings.

They then listen for the bells to ring a second time

to actually learn the exact hour.

  If it is time to go home,

they go wait

by the side of the road

for their wives to pick them up.

Even laundry is pretty in France!

We started to encounter houses as

we walked down toward the village.

 We descended into Cadenet to continue

walking around the village and to enjoy a local cafe.

May American liability lawyers never discover this place.

Ssshhh, don't tell them.

What is a cèpe exactly?

 Salad without "bite"

Not everything attempted in the La Mouradde kitchen turned out.  I made a beautiful salad with all of the magnificent vegetables and lettuce we got down in the market. The salad was pretty, but the dressing I put together of oil and sherry vinegar was boring.  Robin suggested it needed some mustard to give it some bite.

 A recipe that didn't work

This year, I've been trying to cook with eggplant because it is a vegetable underused by Americans, it is a staple of Mediterranean cuisine, and besides all that, it is very pretty. I tried to make a Provencal entree of roast eggplant slices, slathered in goat cheese, and covered in diced tomatoes and basil.  It was boring.  So my whole lunch was boring because both salad and entree were boring.

 Eggplant tapenade

with sliced anchovies

I swear though, in France, even the leftovers are better.  My college friend and hostess, Robin, took my uneaten eggplant dish, pureed it, and made a delicious eggplant tapenade out of it.

 Cèpes for sale at the market

She took our leftover veal roast and put it around a giant cèpe mushroom along with root vegetables and roasted them. I had never even heard of cèpes, but I have since learned from Wikipedia that they go by the name of porcini mushrooms in the States. Still, I don't believe I had ever eaten them fresh.

 The giant thing in the middle

is a large cèpe mushroom

surrounded by veal roast, potatoes,

fresh thyme and other spices.

Who doesn't like to unwrap something?

 It may look a bit of a mess

straight out of the foil,

but those veal bits and the mushroom were so moist

and the au jus was ambrosial

with the potatoes

 The end of another

satisfying meal

at my friend Robin's house.

Provencal Breakfasts to Savor

 Sunrise from my bedroom window

at La Mourrade

Cadenet, France  

It's fun to know someone 34 years and still make discoveries about them. I didn't know what an outstanding cook my Cottey College friend Robin was until this trip. 

Apricot and White Peach tart

One morning Robin asked me to make breakfast and suggested an apricot tart. "Just use the purchased puff pastry to make your crust, lay down some fromage blanc, the apricots, and voila!"  I don't think fromage blanc is sold in American grocery stores.  What a useful substance. It's a soft, creamy cheese with the consistency of sour cream. It was perfect "glue" for fresh Provencal fruit.

 Breakfast on the terrace

was such a lovely way to start the day

 Wow! Apricots warmed explode with flavor in your mouth.  Oh my, this was good.  And so simple!  We decided to keep the warmed fruit theme going.  Robin made a tart with fresh figs and fresh lavender sprinkled throughout.  The lavender was astonishing because it was such concentrated, intense flavor and then a bite of warm, yummy fig came next.  Both of these tarts were keepers! 

Fig and Lavender Tart

Apricot, white peach, and black currant tart

Another tart Robin made was with apricots, white peaches, and black currants.  The black currants had to be used judiciously because they must have had very low sugar.  But it's the warmth of those fruit flavors exploding that make these tarts so delicious.

 French omelet made with
truffle paste and ham
from the Loumarin market.

We didn't have tarts every single morning.  As someone who rarely gets pork in Istanbul, I appreciated this French omelet stuffed with ham from the market and truffle paste with a side of delicious bacon.

 

I learned on this trip that truffle paste is such an easy way to dress up everyday ingredients like potatoes and eggs and the result is laudable. Robin said many times during the week that Provencal cooking is "basically using wonderful ingredients and not screwing them up."