Month: June 2016

Have you heard about Frexit?

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This is my French dream – a little house in the country with a small restaurant attached.  This was a lockkeeper’s house on the Canal du Midi.

Every now and again I get struck by a bout of melancholy.  Not a down-in-the-dumps doom and gloom kind of downheartedness, but more a feeling that everything is not quite in its place… as if I have lost something… or have not seen a loved one for a while.  The self-diagnosis took some time… but in the end it became clear to me.  Occasionally I suffer from an ailment I call Frexit, which is the feeling I get when I have been outside of France for a while.

As with any diagnosis it is immediately important to understand the root cause of the disease and in my case, Frexit is a withdrawal-symptom based sickness, brought upon by a yearning for a few major things:

No red lips:  This seems to be a staple of the chic French woman.  Minimal make-up, but gorgeous red lips.  Whenever I am in France I always take out my brightest red lip colour and always imagine that I blend in like a local!  Who does not want to look like a French woman!

Me and hubby by the Eiffel Tower
Red lips!

No sidewalk cafes:  I love the café culture in France.  What is better than sitting down, side by side, sipping a café latte in the morning while watching French life go by?  Wait, I know… Sitting down, side by side, sipping a drink at the end of the day and watching French life go by!

Tree-lined squares with cafes
Watching French life go by in Carcassonne

Not French fresh produce markets:   The pride and confidence with which stall owners display and sell their products is inspirational.  It makes you want to head home and cook something amazing immediately.  And two of my favourite things – bread and cheese.  The sheer variety!

Not enough long lunches:  Food is something to be celebrated; in France it is a key part of life and not something to just be had in a rush.  It is a time to sit down and catch up with family and friends and should not be had without acknowledging the momentousness of the occasion!  It’s the way life should be!

That beautiful blush pink rose
Salad of magret duck breast
An almighty lunch of cassoulet in Castelnaudary
Some creme brulee for dessert

No French in my ear:  I can’t speak French apart from a few essential words, but oh, what a beautiful language.  The flair with which even the simplest baguette is served – “Voila!” – will make you believe that you are having a 5 star meal! (And I must admit, the way a handsome French man pronounced my name once, left me weak in the knees!  Of course hubby says it best, though!)

Lack of French wine:  My favourite red wine will always be a Bordeaux, which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec.  Last year we came across a white Bordeaux (which was sauvignon blanc based) for the first time.  But a newly found favourite on that trip was the beautiful blush pink rose’s of the Languedoc Roussillon.

And just like Brexit, it is important to realise that Freixt can also cause unprecedented economic turmoil and uncertainty as all I want to do is book tickets on the next plane to France. So before things go so far, as with all ailments, prevention is better than cure…

To make sure that I remain healthy  this weekend I will make sure that I put my red lips on.  It’s going to be a cold one here in Cape Town, so I am going to scour the shops for beautiful red Bordeaux (not the easiest thing to find here) and the long lunch is going to be nonnegotiable!  I might even take out that special table cloth I bought in Provence but have been too scared to use!

Here is to banning Frexit – at least for the weekend – and santé to joie de vivre!

Do you suffer from Frexit?  I would love to know why and what you do to get over it!  Please leave a comment and let me know!

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A beautiful square in Roussillon, Provence

To smell or not to smell

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Today was a slow day in the office.  Thursday was a public holiday and many people grabbed the opportunity to make a long weekend and took today (Friday) off as well.

I’m one of the (un)fortunate few that was in the office today – fortunate in a way because traffic was great and I could actually get things done without being interrupted – but then again, getting up in the freezing cold this morning did make me second-guess my choice!

However, the day turned out to be not that bad after all.  With a bit of a jovial mood in the office it was just a matter of time before someone said the magic words… “How about a braai for lunch?!”  And just like that, within 20 minutes, a quick boerewors (a traditional South African sausage) braai was organised.

The fire was lit at 11:00 and with that first smell of the wood burning my tummy rumbled.  By 12:00 the sausage was on the fire and the office was filled with one of the best smells in the world – a braai!  (And the aroma of a braai is also one of the smells that induces the biggest cravings.  Doesn’t matter what you have lined up for supper, if you smell anyone else having a braai, that is immediately what you need to have as well and nothing else will do!)

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Boerewords and rolls on the coals!

Sitting there with a silly grin made me think of what other smells have the same effect on me and that also involuntarily brings a smile to my face…

So firstly there is the smell of freshly baked bread straight out of the oven.  YUM!  It always reminds me of my late grandmother on my dad’s side.  She had this huge wood burning stove and used to bake the most gigantic breads in there.  Maybe it was because I was very small, but I remember that one slice of bread was large enough to cover an entire plate!  But the smell… homely, warm and inviting… best served hot with the butter melting over it, but just as nice the next day with some Marmite!  I think I feel a bout of bread baking coming on this weekend!

Olive loaf I baked a while ago
Yummy olive loaf

But if I talk about bread, I have to talk about coffee.  And not the smell of any coffee… moerkoffie!  (Now to translate that to English is a bit tough – South Africans will tell you that ‘moer’ can have many meanings; some good and some not so good!  Let’s just say that in the instance of “moer” koffie, we will go with one of the Dutch translations for “moer” which means mother, so “moer” koffie = mother’s coffee!)  My grandmother on my mother’s side always made us moerkoffie when we were small.  It is a ground coffee, and she made it in an enamel coffee pot on the stove.  (Her secret ingredient was apparently the smallest pinch of salt!)  It was strong, but delicious with milk and lots of sugar.  And the smell – you just don’t get any other coffee that smells like the real thing!

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Then, for someone that grew up in the Karoo (the Karoo is a semi-desert region in South Africa) there is probably no better smell than the smell of the ground after rain.  I don’t know if people that have grown up with water in abundance can ever fully realise what it is like to wait for rain.  Or what this smell means for the farmer that waited an entire season for it.  It’s an earthy, wholesome smell, but more than the smell it is also what that smell symbolises – reprieve, hope, renewal, growth.  And with such a large part of our country currently in the midst of a drought it is certainly a smell we can do with.

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Flowers in Calvinia after the winter rain

But then thinking of the rain and soil, I can’t help to think of the smell of freshly cut grass – that is a smell of summer; a green smell, a smell of sunshine and warmth – and of my dad.  My dad has the best lawn I have ever seen; it can rival the worlds’ best golf courses!  Even now that we live in our own house, when hubby mows the lawn the first memory that comes to mind when I smell the sweet smell of cut grass is of summers and my dad meticulously tending to his lawn.

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Dad’s lawn; this is during autumn.  So green and not even in the prime of summer!

It is quite remarkable, the connection between smells, memories and moods.  When we went to Italy a couple of years ago, hubby’s cologne of choice was 1 Million by Paco Rabanne and to this day when he wears it I have visions of Venice!  And the smell of lemon blossoms – my favourite shower gel – whenever I use it I instantly feel happier!  The smell just lifts my spirits.  Or lavender; for me it is a smell of nostalgia – it reminds me of our trip to Provence; one of my best holidays ever.

So power to the sense of smell, to your nose and to the smell of life!  What are your favourite smells?  Tell me, and I’ll smell you later!

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Homemade pappardelle with pulled pork

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Homemade pasta – a labour of love!

Sundays have never been a particular favourite day of mine.  I think it stems from when I was small.  After Sunday lunch my thoughts always turn to the inevitability of Monday morning and back to school; and when at seven pm the theme song to my parents’ favourite wildlife program would ring out on the telly, I knew with certainty – the weekend was over.

I’ve carried a bit of that into my adult life and I will lie if I say that the same case of Sunday blues don’t still affect me some days.  However, being grown-up has other perks (apart from no homework!) which makes Sundays a whole lot more bearable.  There’s the Sunday morning lie in, coffee in bed, sometimes a late brunch (with some bubbles of course!)… or like today, the anticipation of a wonderfully lazy lunch at home, trying out a new recipe I found in a magazine.

There is something about making slow food, without a rush, that is good for the soul.  I think it might be because it helps you to focus in the present; be it getting your hands a bit dirty, the aromatic smells, practicing your chopping skills or sipping a glass of your favourite wine – there is no worries beyond creating a wonderful meal and definitely no thoughts of Monday looming!

So today this lunch of homemade pappardelle pasta and pulled pork is just the thing to make the weekend last that little bit longer.  And if I am lucky there might be some leftovers for … let’s rather not say it!

Homemade pappardelle with pulled pork

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

For the pork:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 garlic clove, chopped finely

2 tablespoons of apricot jam

1 kilogram pork shoulder

1 onion, finely chopped

3 apples, peeled, cored and cut in quarters

2 pears, peeled, cored and cut in quarters

250ml vegetable stock

250ml cider

For the pasta:

400g flour

Salt

4 eggs

2 tablespoons of butter, melted

Handful of chopped flat leaf parsley, chopped

Method:

Pork:

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius
  2. Rub the pork with the apricot jam and garlic.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and brown pork on all sides.  Remove the pork from the pan, place in an ovenproof dish and set aside.
  4. Add the chopped onions, apples and pears to the pan and fry until caramelized.
  5. Place the onions, apples and pears with the pork in the ovenproof dish and add the stock and the cider.
  6. Cover with a lid (or foil) and roast in the oven for 1.5 hours or until the meat can be pulled apart easily.
  7. Shred the meat in the dish.
Brown pork on both sides
Fry apples, pears and onions until caramalized
Add the apples, pears and onions to the pork shoulder and pour over the cider and vegetable stock

Pasta:

  1. Place the flour into a large mixing bowl.
  2. Add a pinch of salt and make a well in the centre of the flour.
  3. Add the eggs to the centre of the well and mix until a dough forms.
  4. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead it until elastic.  Cover in clingfilm and lest it rest for 30 minutes.
  5. Flatten the pasta dough out with your rolling pin and then roll it out to about 3mm thick.  (You can use a pasta machine if you don’t have the arms for it!)
  6. Cut it into about 5cm wide strips and cook in boiling salted water until al dente.  Drain off the water.
Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the eggs
After resting the dough, roll out in 3mm strips
Cut the pasta to pappardelle
Cut the pasta to pappardelle

To serve, toss the hot pappardelle with the melted butter.  Add the pulled pork and gently mix through.  Top off with the chopped parsley.

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Homemade pappardelle pasta with pulled pork

My top 10 favourite landmarks… to date!

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The world is full of beautiful landmarks and these places always top the must-see list for any tourist.  What would a holiday be if you did not have a snap at an iconic location to show that you were there?!

So far in our travels I have always been suitably impressed with all the famous sites we’ve had the opportunity of visiting.  But it is also fair to say that some have captivated me more than others while some hold a special place in my heart because, being able to see it in real life, meant the realisation of a life-long dream.

So while I hope and believe that I will get to add to the list over the course my life, here is my top 10 landmarks as it stands today:

  1. The Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

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What more is there to say?!  Every time I see it, I have an urge to take a picture of it.  It represents fashion, food, romance… and PARIS! Talk about iconic – this is probably one of the most iconic landmarks in the world.  One can’t fathom that it was built to be a semi permanent structure for the world fair in 1889.  Now you can’t imagine Paris without it.

  1. London Eye, London, England

While not of any historical importance, the London Eye is definitely something that made its mark on the London skyline.  London was the first foreign city we’ve ever visited and the London Eye the first foreign landmark I’ve ever seen!  What makes this such a great landmark is that, once you are on the Eye, you get to see all the other landmarks on your must-see list as well!  I remember being in the bubble and just staring out in amazement at the view of the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey… Oh, I love that holiday feeling!

  1. Carcassonne, France

In 2008 I saw Rick Stein’s French Odyssey on tv for the first time.  A bucket-list item was borne – hubby and I would just have to go on a boat trip on the Canal du Midi of our own.  In 2015 this dream finally came true!  One of the highlights on this trip was visiting the beautifully preserved medieval village of Carcassonne.  Truly breathtaking and special – and a reminder that if you can dream it, you can achieve it!

  1. Rialto Bridge, Grand Canal, Venice, Italy

 

It’s a bit of a cheat, because it’s about the bridge, but it is also because of the view from the bridge.  It’s Venice.  Nothing I can say in words can describe this place.  Just go.  You have to.

  1. Colosseum, Rome, Italy

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This symbol of the Roman Empire is impressive.  I find it hard to believe that they could construct something of such magnitude so long ago and that it is still around today.  You can see chisel marks on the columns and it is almost unimaginable that the stones and column was carved by hand.  It’s majestic.

  1. Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France

This was the first landmark we saw when we arrived in Paris.  As we exited from the metro station, we were greeted with this building standing proudly at the top of the Champs Elysees!  After seeing it for so many years at the end of the Tour de France to see it for myself – unbelievable!  And we were lucky enough that from our hotel balcony we had a great view of it lit up every evening.  At night we would stand outside, sip our Bordeaux and stare like love-struck teenagers at its beauty!

  1. Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England

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WOW.  Upon arrival I was struck by how different it looks in real life than what I’ve always seen in pictures.  Although it is big, it is somehow smaller than I expected – in pictures (like the one above) the circle seems bigger than what it is if you look at it with the naked eye.  The day we visited was overcast and misty.  Black birds were flying around and seemed unsettled, making squawking sounds.  It felt eerie and while we might never know exactly what happened there, I know how it made me feel… as if I was walking on hallowed ground.

  1. The Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Field of Miracles, Pisa, Italy

Of course when going to Tuscany, the Leaning Tower of Pisa was something we had to see, but what makes it worthy of my list is its unexpected beauty.  The details are gorgeous and the fact that we had a perfect blue sky day didn’t hurt either – it is such a magical setting!  Also, talk about the iconic “Look, Mom!  I’m holding it up” photo – I spared you our numerous attempts!  (PS:  It is only once you are there that you realise just how much it leans!  It leans A LOT!)

  1. Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain
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Capturing the morning light streaming in through the windows
The amazing roof

An amazing place – nothing can really prepare you for the impact!  A male colleague of mine visited the Cathedral recently and said that he had to remind himself as he walked in “Cowboys don’t cry!”.  It is amazing to see the work of Gaudi and the different sculptors and architects after him and to appreciate the effort and craftsmanship that goes into creating an icon.  Almost 134 years in the making and still not completed.  It puts in perspective on so many of the cathedrals we’ve seen – each an amazing feat to complete.  However, the Sagrada Familia with its beautiful stained glass windows is simply amazing.

  1. Piccadilly Circus, London, England

Not quite something that most people would get excited about, but I remember when I was just a little child, seeing it on tv.  It looked so foreign, buzzing and exciting all at the same time.  I was mesmerized and it never even crossed my mind at that stage that seeing it for myself would even be a possibility. London was the first foreign city we ever visited and I remember the evening hubby and I got to Piccadilly Circus.  When we were standing there I actually recalled the small me, sitting in front of the tv – being amazed at all the people and the lights – and there I was, part of it!  Nuts!

So there you have my top 10 – some for obvious reasons and others a bit more personal… I love them all!

But what about you – what would you recommend hubby and my next stop to be?  I hope you will comment and let me know!