**The Blissful Adventurer is running about Italy at the moment so in his stead we happily endorse and support the work of the following blogger, Come Due Maiali (“Like Two Pigs”). Please check out this post, leave comments for exchange with the author, and give their blog a read.**
Two Pigs know a thing or two about bliss (hint: it involves eating and rolling around). They are friends of The Blissful Adventurer from the degenerate Austin days filled with fabulous cooking, eating and drinking (you will have to ask him about that sometime), and they will do their best to keep you amused in his absence. They are: a Russian-born princess that accidentally got turned into a piglet, and her ready-for-anything cutie husband (who, naturally, suffered the same fate).
As the Blissful Adventurer is currently blissed out somewhere in Italy, the Two Pigs are here to teach you how to convert your travel envy into something positive. In traveling vicariously, they want you to use more senses than just your sight, and do more than just drool over pictures. The only way to experience something is to live it, and it is more about the “how”, and less about the “what” and the “where”.
We have just returned from a fabulous trip to Provence, and we invite you to see the Provençal way of life through your own eyes, not just through our eyes. I could just taunt you with the pictures (well, I am going to do that anyway ).
As the Provençal proverb goes, “Slow in the mornings, and not too fast in the afternoons”, set aside two hours, during which you will not worry about your appointment, the latest FB update from somebody you barely know, or your favorite TV show.
Turn off your computer and cell phone (and obviously, your television). Invite someone whose company you enjoy to join you. That is all you will need.
Set up outside (on the back porch, backyard, or in a park) on a sunny day. The French have a fascination, almost a pre-occupation, with eating outside, and they are not discouraged even by the Mistral, the soul-chilling Provençal wind that blows away roofs and small animals.
Prepare for a leisurely multicourse experience. No wolfing down one plate of even very delicious gourmet food in 10 minutes. Remember, this is about the “how”.
Before anything happens, have an aperitif (kir or pastis) to prepare your body and most importantly, the mind for the luxurious experience. Get a carafe of mineral or regular tap water (known in France as “Chateau Robinet”(“Chateau Tap”).
Start with an entrée (“appetizer” in French, isn’t that funny): tapenade (an olive spread), a few slices of sausage, young asparagus from the market, and some good peppery olive oil with rustic or sourdough bread. Even though the French have the highest butter consumption in the world, butter is more typical of the North, while the South (and especially Provence) is truly olive oil country.
Your taste buds are starting to wake up.
Wine: your favorite red, white, or rose; we are going for something lighter, with some acidity. Right now, the south of France happens to be one of the most exciting wine-making areas in the world, as they embrace higher standards and work to change the stereotype of rustic, boozy wines. Producers such as Chateau Simone, Domaines Hauvette, Trevallon, Richaume are making stunning elegant and perfumy wines. But I digress…
Follow this up with a rustic salad, such as Niçoise, or a roast chicken with fried potatoes (or you could try making mashed potatoes the Provencal way, with olive oil instead of butter). Or maybe a piece of fish on a bed of primeurs (early spring vegetables) au pistou (the Provençal version of pesto, sans pinenuts)?
A cheese plate (a fresh goat cheese and an aged cow’s milk cheese for a nice contrast, perhaps?) Try a couple of cheeses you have not had before (they do not have to be stinky or blue).
A dessert of any kind (a plate of cookies, a piece of fruit), or if you are ambitious, possibilities are truly endless.
Finish with a coffee, or tea.
Close your eyes for a few seconds…
To quote Julia Child who spent ample time in Provence, “we should enjoy food and have fun. It is one of the simplest and nicest pleasures in life.”
Cheers,
CDM for the Blissful Adventurer
About Michael Housewright
I have to wait two and a half months to be in the South of France. This is how I intend playing it. Thank you.
Best,
Conor
Vicarious travel is great, but there is nothing like the real thing! Have a wonderful time, and please let me know if you need any recommendations.
Cheers,
Natasha @ CDM
I intend to follow your evey instruction this summer, maybe more than once! What a romantic and relaxing meal….I cannot wait! Thank you for this delicious post.
Welcome to the dark side of indolent eating! I wish I could do it again for the first time…
Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
Really nice. Thank you.
Thanks, I really appreciate it!
Wonderful post! And you did taunt us with pictures!
Like I promised
That being said, Provence is achingly beautiful, and I cannot possibly do it justice.
Thanks,
Natasha @ CDM
I’m drooling! It’s 3:30 and time to think of lunch with friends! Wine? That’s in hand!! Thank you for stepping in to keep us entertained!
Sounds like my job is done
Wonderful post Natasha! So glad to see everyone is enjoying it. Honored to have you step in!
My pleasure!
Please eat some guanciale in my honor, will you?
How about some fish in Venice my friend?
Always impressive!
Thanks! Seems like you yourself are no stranger to France…
When I was living in Anjou, un-bottled water was “Chateau La Pompe” (Chateau the Pump) which dates from the days when people had to go to the village pump to fill containers of the stuff we now get on tap in every home. (On condition that you have paid your bill.)
I so miss French cheeses here in Oz!
C’est vrai! Chateau La Pompe is really old-school…
I am going crazy without the fresh raw goat milk cheeses, and am actually contemplating buying a local farm goat milk share, and making my own chevre.
Now you’re talking. I had my own goats in Italy in the 70′s!!
My retirement plan, up till now, involved having a goat farm on Crete (and I am only half-joking)…Goats in Italy…now that’s a dangerous thought.
Salivating! Unless it’s rabies.
Only the chill of night has driven me away from our picnic spot:)
Ha Ha Ha:)
This was dreamy!
Thanks! But like I said, also very easy to make a reality.
Great post, love the asparagus and truffles! I think one very important message we can all take away from this post is shutting it (all) down for a few hours everyday. Being logged in to the virtual world all day everyday is draining, we need to step outside and breath real life!
I could not have said it better…For the Provencal, this is the real existence, not something superficial you do a couple of times a year.
I had the above asparagus dish in Gigondas, at a great little restaurant called L’Oustalet. Simply could not resist something called “the first of the asparagus and the last of the truffles”. Cheers!
Travel through food …. YES!
I like to “internalize” my experiences, and travel through food whenever I cannot travel for food.
Excellent philosophy!
Wonderful – brought back great memories!
Thanks so much! Hope a return visit is in the cards.
Reblogged this on flexwords.com and commented:
He is a perfect traveller
The Blissful Adventurer *is* a perfect traveller! (Just in case you meant the author, she technically happens to be a piglette, not a piglet
). Thanks for the reblog!
Yes he is:) By the way i recommend you to visit İstanbul, have you been here? İstanbul is really good place to taste:)
Funny you should say that…we have just bought tickets to go to Istanbul in September with a Turkish foodie friend of ours.
Cool, i live in İstanbul and work for a fair firm, when you come please send me an e-mail
Will do, thanks so much! We are really looking forward to eating our way through Istanbul.
So welcome:)
My taste buds are definitely awake, hope to experience this pleasure for real in the not-too-distant future.
Something tells me you are going to include your puppies! By the way, do they have a favorite “spoiled rotten” gourmet snack?
I would take them with me everywhere if I could! Their favourite “spoiled rotten” snack would probably be crispy fried bacon, not exactly gourmet but certainly a treat because it isn’t exactly good for them
Lovely post, thanks for walking us through the whole meal. Delicious
Thanks so much! I would not dream of skimping on anything:-)
Thanks for letting me camp out in your blog today. As always, I had a great time and tried to leave my campsite as clean as when I arrived.