A vacation from vacationing...

[alexpgp]

Today was a really good day to do absolutely nothing. The major story of the day involved going to the Auchan for some vittles and the high adventure associated with refueling the car.

Various observations, in no particular order:

• Unlike radishes back home, the product available in the local produce aisle looks a bit like small carrots that turn white toward the root end. They do not seem as harsh as the radishes back home, either.
• I picked up a head of ail frais (fresh garlic, a 108-g head at €6.99 per kilo), which is enclosed in somewhat mottled purplish skin, and was pleasantly surprised when the first clove I removed almost popped, literally, out of its skin into my hand. I was even more surprised by its taste, which seems a bit less pungent, yet at the same time more aromatic than that of the white-skinned garlic we're used to back home.
• I bought 50 grams of andouille sausage to try at home (I had made the suggestion to the butcher hoping I'd get a free taste, but the gambit failed...). In a separate purchase, I bought four andouillettes, which looked a lot like bratwurst. I can definitively say I do not much care for either product. Galina, in fact, wouldn't touch the latter, possibly because once you cut open the sausage, the andouillete falls apart into its chopped (but not ground) constituents, which might be palatable if you fry it to within an inch of its existence—or combine it with cornmeal mush to make scrapple, along the lines of what's served in Pennsylvania Dutch country—but not if you don't.
• You know how back home, diesel pump handles are decorated with green to distinguish them from gas pump handles? Well, in France, gasoline pump handles are green; diesel pump handles are apparently yellow.
• The Crémeux de Bacchus cream liqueur we picked up at the Château de Mille makes a fine kir when combined with white wine. We learned that last night and confirmed it again this evening.

Cheers...

Comments

[velvet-granat.livejournal.com]

Ah, the French Breakfast radish, very nice :)

Andouille sausages (or chorizos, for that matter), go very well in a tomato and beans stew. Fry up slices of the sausage, until its brown, with garlic and onion. Then pour in a couple of tins of beans, some chopped up tomatoes, fresh chilli to taste, some capers, a dash of vinegar and stew it all for a bit. Very nice with good bread for supper. They also make a nice starter to hearty stews, omelets Russian style etc., but you are right - they are no good unless fried. Or by themselves, without other ingredients. Although a friend of mine fries them within an inch of death and eats them as a snack with beer.

[velvet-granat.livejournal.com]

Oops, forgot - add salt, pepper and fresh basil before serving the stew.

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

Noted for future reference, thanks.

[velvet-granat.livejournal.com]

Bon appetit! :)