Moules moules moules

Last night, we ventured to Saint-Laurent-la-Vallée for Moule Frites (mussels and fries). Every Thursday, a restaurant in town, La Cigalou, offers a night of 10 Euro bottomless moules frites and fromage (cheese), with chansons français (French songs), and accordéon (accordion). The restaurant is off the beaten tourist pact, and we were surrounded by locals, who, the more they drank, the more they sang along to the chansons français. They offer bottomless moules frites every night (with an accompanying non-seafood item for those fish sensitive), but on Thursdays, they take out all the tables from the restaurant and put them out in the gravel parking lot underneath the trees and the strung lantern lights. They have built a new structure, called "La Cigalette " where they serve the beverages and fries out of, and welcomes the lively and hungry crowd.

A fun bunch

The tables that are empty gradually fill up, as everyone has called ahead to reserve their space. You don't need to tell them what time, you just call, give your name, and they put a sticky note on the table. Arriving is like a Easter egg hunt, searching for that treasure table so you can get to the important things-eating and drinking. Promptly seen by our waiter (the owner's son, and the nephew of the neighbor of the B&B), we were well underway to receiving the moules. After a pitcher of rosé, our appetite had built, and conversation dwindled as each large bowl of moules that passed us by was looked at anxiously, only to watch it go by. After what seemed like an eternity to my growling stomach (I think it was only 20 minutes from ordering, if that), our moules arrived but with no frites. The frites are almost as important as the moules because you need them to soak up the gloriously delicious sauce that the moules are cooked in. After ANOTHER eternity (3 minutes max), the frites arrived and we were ready to go.

Bowl o' Moules

bon appétit!

As most of my close friends and family already know, I tend to eat, and eat a lot. So to me, bottomless food is always an exciting option. But after my third serving of moules piled high, I had finally had my fill. The five of us could not even finish the orange bucket fully. But, see that lady in the picture of the the bowl? The little elderly lady, with her gray shawl? Well, she could eat me under the table. In a moules eating boxing match, she would have had me KO'ed within minutes of the  first round while she would continue to fight by herself for another 10 rounds before they would pull her out the the ring. And even then I'm sure she have some in her pocket to have for dessert. Between this lady and her husband I think THREE whole bowls of moules were eaten before they called it a night. Someone really loves their seafood.

The night was fun with the singing, camaraderie, and the fact the French were actually eating food with their fingers. But only the moules with fingers, those silly frites had to still be picked up with a fork.

Testing my moules eating skills

Mmmm mmm good

What goes best with these moules frites? Well, since the recipe is of a Belgium origin, a nice glass of the Belgium beer, Grimbergen, was a perfect match. Also good? The little crabs that make their way into some of the shells, fully edible and actually desirable by some, though it is the luck of the draw if you find one in your shell.

Little crab, Good taste

We finished our night with the formage (a slice of bread with brie) and some glacée (ice cream) and headed home. 



Anyone interested in making their own moules frites can try this recipe,  which seems to be very similar to the moules we were eating and very simple to make. Maybe next time I can make my own, and prepare myself for a battle with the magnificent moules-eating lady. Or if that doesn't work out, just to enjoy a dinner with some friends :)

Cenac

In this area, there are tons of little towns and villages that each hold they're own fairs, functions, antique shows, and wine festivals. Today, we visited one of these wine festivals in a town called Cenac, only a ten minutes drive. When someone from the US thinks wine festival, the instant thought is to think of some sort of benefit, charity event, or something that is going to cost more than a few bucks. Sure Napa and Sonoma Valleys each have there own wine festivals, but typically, you aren't going to get anyone just walking right in and within minutes securing a spot for lunch and tasting wines, which is exactly what we did.

We (meaning Caitlin &Albert, the owners of the B&B and I), were greeted by this large, tissue paper/dried leaves wine bottle. It was quite large, but I appreciated their spirit in the event. All over they had hung up wine and gold paper flowers and streamers. They sure know how to make their wine festival festive! Not very big, it was easy to scope around to see all the different winery booths, as well as the various foodstuffs people were selling. We were quick to reserve a lunch ticket, as they said they would be starting in about ten minutes. But, this is a French lunch so that ten minutes turned into nearly an hour, and the lunch after lasted at least another hour after that if not more. Thats what I like about the French. They eat slowwwwwwly, and appreciate what they are eating, even if was just some 'festival' food. A meal here, does not have to be at a five star restaurant for people to actually want to sit there and enjoy it. We had four courses, and none were over the top or extravagant, but they were good and simple. And that's just what these people want.

1st course, a half of melon, SO sweet & good

2nd course, Entrecôte and fries, entrecôte is a sirloin cut

3rd course, a great fresh lettuce salad with vinaigrette

and finally, a walnut cake with ice cream

And that was it! Simple, non? But it was wholesome, served nearly family-style and we sat next to all the winemakers from the festival! It was one of those times when I really wished I knew how to speak better french (if any at all...). Caitlin sat and talked to one winemaker for a long time, who couldn't seem to fathom the fact that we, in California, grow all different types of grapes in the SAME region. For in France, they only grow the one, two, or maybe three grapes that have been grown in the same region for centuries. Wine here is labeled not by what grape (Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir, etc) but by region(Bordeaux, Champagne etc famously, and Bergerac, Pécharmant, Saussignac etc locally). Even blended wines that are made in cooperatives have to be raised in certain percentages on each farm. For the local cooperative wine, it is 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc. So each of the 22 farmers with the grapes for the wine have to all have 70% Merlot and 30%Cabernet Franc produced on their land. It is a different system and takes a lot more understanding of the wine you are drinking because you need to know the area in which it comes from. A lot different then Napa Valley! But I think it brings people closer to their community, closer to their wine, and in turn, also closer to their food.

Pecou, happily pouring another tasting!

Of the 10 or so wineries and winemakers there, only one of them was a female. Wine, and specifically winemaking it seems, has been left for the men to take care of. But, Jocelyne Pecou has started a winery in Bergerac and has done quite well for herself. It was refreshing to see her behind the wines, talking to you, pouring your sample, while her male counterpart was watching. Normally is is the other way around. We didn't buy her wine to drink at our lunch, but it was fun to talk to a successful female winemaker (well I listened to them speaking French to each other and then got the translation). Her motto? Une Femme, un Vin . I think I like it.

marché

Marché means market in French and in the last day, I have been to two markets in the area, one night market and one day market. But, it is not just one day a week that you can go to market. In just one week, there are 14 day markets and 9 night markets. That's 23 markets that one can attend in an area that is about the size of a medium county, like Sonoma County in California. What is so impressive about the marché, is the community aspect. I think the French, and probably other European countries, take pride in this. They know that they are bringing together neighboring villages to celebrate food and people. There are a few differences between a marché and a marché nocturne, the biggest is a marché is like a farmer's market we would see at home, with vegetables, fruits etc being sold, while a marché nocturne is more like a county fair, if you will. It has vendors selling prepared food from the area, with long picnic tables and live music, in our case three accordion players.

Our marché  was in San Pompon, about a fifteen minutes drive. A small market, it had one produce stand, one olive vendor, a cheese guy, some olive oil and honey. But, that is all the people of this village need. Not set up for the tourists of the area, this market focused on the needs of the community, bringing in all the produce and goods they could need for the week, as in this particular village, there isn't a supermarket. They had a butcher (charcuterie) and a bakery (boulangerie) but nothing more than that. They are focused on being sustainable, living on what they can that they produce themselves, or buy once a week in the market. I know that many if not all of the inhabitants get food elsewhere, but it is nice to know that they know what they need, and aren't being overindulgent in their food shopping habits, as many people are, with our Costcos and Supercenters. Plus, all their food was beautiful, and made a nice meal of ratatouille later for us, and fresh berries and melons for the guests of the B&B in the morning

...to ratatouille, YUM

From Tomatoes...

Every week, when a town has a night market, they set up banquet tables, food vendors, music stands, and even bounce-houses for the little kids so the community can get together. Friends come and sit together and meet other friends of friends, or a casual stranger who just happens to be sitting next to them. You can buy beer and wine at the event and the whole idea is that you share your meal. The one I attended was in San Cyprien.

one of the four banquet tables

You share your moules frites (mussels and french fries) or your assiette de confits (duck confit) with your friends, they give you some wine, they go get the dessert, an apricot tart, and the whole while you are just sitting there enjoying the conversation, the friends, and the community atmosphere (for us, the accordion players were at a ear-shattering level, which made it difficult to talk over). 

duck confit

moules frite

apricot tart

Why don't these events happen more frequently in the US? Of course we have our own night markets, with street vendors and tables, but there is hardly an emphasis on mingling with, GASP, strangers! Perhaps something I may bring back? Either way, I know that I enjoy them. The food was good, people friendly, and a great evening to remember.