Provence: My Sweet!
Everyday since I've been here in Provence, meals have been a feast!
Le petit déjeuner is especially special; grapefruit juice, caramel tea,
baguette, pain au chocolat, croissants, pastries, and so forth.
The bread and pastries are fresh from the bakery each morning and
even for a bread-connoisseur, I'm marveled at how the crust from the
baguette feels so crisp while the center is doughy and dense.
The buttery croissants with all their layers have been a highlight as well.
Not to mention the brioche au sucre. I've never tasted a brioche so sweet.
At the local market I bought a Tarte Tropezienne.
A tarte tropezienne is a brioche filled with whipped or pastry cream.
A true Côte d'Azur specialty!
I've made Pierre Hermé's recipe of a Tarte Tropezienne once, see here,
but I've never actually eaten a pâtisserie-bought one before... It was delicieux!
The rest include: an apricot turnover, raspberry macaron, chocolate éclair,
and a brioche au sucre.
We went to the pope-city Avignon, which is only an half hour drive
from the place we've rented, and I stopped and made an enormous cookie haul
at a sweet little epicurie shop called Autrefois. Anise sablés, fleur
d'oranger cookies, chocolate biscotti, cinnamon cookies, raspberry pinwheels.
You name it, I bought it.
At Sault, a village surrounded by lavender fields in the high mountains,
I came across this fine pâtisserie or Nougatier as it is named.
For lunch we've been snacking on various tarts...
Strawberry, lemon meringue and raspberry among others.
I haven't photographed everything yet. I still need to take pictures of the
kitchen (once it is cleaned and tidy again). It's such a lovely French countryside
kitchen filled with copper pans and such. Anyway, next post will be about
the gorgeous countryside views!
I'm relaxing and reading one of my favorite French foodie books, 'Paris: My Sweet'.
And I came across this excerpt which is so fitting for Frenchies and their food:
"Mealtime was sacred. Food was celebrated. It wasn't
forbidden or an enemy for which the French needed gym
memberships, cabbage soup diets, or magic powders and pills."
Mais oui!
Love, Daniëlle
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