Thursday 21st July 2011
Jeudi 21 Juillet 2011 ~ St Victor
 |
| Flat Chinese Peaches; Paraguayo; Saturn Peaches; Doughnut Peaches or Brugnons Pèches Plats Photo from: London Evening Standard ~ This London co uk ~
|
Piperade, Flat Peaches and Basque Espelette!
 |
| Espelette peppers hanging up to dry in the Basque Country |
We have just returned from a “mini break”, as Bridget Jones would say, in the Basque country in South France, just on the Spanish border; what an amazing few days we had ~ that part of France and Spain is magical and very unique. We stayed in the little fishing port of St Jean de Luz, once a sleepy fishing village, now a Mecca for the well heeled and rich, usually from Bordeaux and Paris ~ although we managed to fit in as best we could! The Basque country in South France and parts of Spain has its own very unique language, culture, cuisine and national identity.
 |
| French Basque Flag |
The people on both sides were friendly and welcoming, and the food was fabulous ~ food just the way I like it, served with rustic charm and full of flavour. The local specialities were sardines, tuna (caught locally and served freshly grilled), gambas, oranges, peppers of all sorts…….
 |
| Oranges and assorted peppers adorn my pantry! |
….olives, chorizo, sheep’s milk cheese, macarons, morue (salt cod with mashed potatoes) Gateau Basque ~ a baked cake with rum and lemon, as well as cream and fruits in it and the ubiquitous “Piment d’ Espelette“, a dried form of local peppers, totally divine in all things edible! It goes without saying that we wined ‘n’ dined well and shopped til’ we dropped………
 |
| Piment d’ Espelette |
We found so many fabulous little taverna style restaurants to eat at night ~ some with foresight (due to the less than clement weather conditions and it DID rain a lot whilst we there!) provided rugs for those diners that braved the elements and sat outside to eat…….not us I hasten to add, we sat inside as we had already had a drenching several times throughout the day whilst sightseeing!
 |
||||||
| A restuarant in St Jean de Luz
It is difficult when you are as obsessed with food as much as I am, to come away from such a bountiful area with NO shopping ~ food shopping that is! And shop I did……both in France and in Spain, where we popped over one day to eat Tapas and buy sherry! (The Spanish border was only 10 minutes away from where we were staying.) I found such bargains, such wonderful things ~ fruit and vegetables to adorn my pantry and titillate my family and friends taste buds. Spices, cheeses, chorizo, peppers and many other random culinary products made their way back with me and I spent a happy hour or two cataloguing them and stowing them away! (I know, I need to get out more ~and not to food markets!)
According to the London Evening Standard and Peter Dominiczak, “the flat peach: summer’s most fashionable culinary accessory” ~ I like it! I have shopped fashionably then! He then goes on to say…….“You know you are onto a craze when even the staff canteen gets in on the action. Nestling among the obligatory apples and bananas this week are this summer’s most fashionable culinary accessory, the flat peach…………..As modern life gets ever more hectic, food has had to become more utilitarian – while continuing to excite.
The flat peach is delicious, exotically amusing and will always preserve one’s dignity. Five a day has never been so easy.”
I am now on the hunt for wonderful peach recipes, I do have some (recipes) tucked away already that might fit the “flat peach bill” ~ in the meantime we have all enjoyed these already “naked” as in unadorned and fresh! Along with my other foodie treasures, I brought back acres of different types of peppers, and what better for a lazy lunch then to make a Basque regional speciality « La Piperade »~ basically Basque Scrambled Eggs. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did today ~ and with a glass of Spanish Cava………for a treat!
 Recipe of the Day:
« La Piperade » ~ Basque Scrambled Eggs.
La Piperade isa Basque classic ~ a spicy scrambled egg dish with assorted peppers, onions, tomatoes, garlic and chorizo sausage, although if you are vegetarian you can easily omit the chorizo. We ate this whilst we were holidaying in St Jean de Luz in the Basque country and loved the hearty, rustic and unpretentious flavours. It makes a great lunch or brunch dish with crusty bread and maybe a glass of wine if you don’t have the need to work in the afternoon!
(Serves 4)
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red pepper
1 large green pepper
1 onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
4 large tomatoes, diced
8 eggs, free-range or organic
Piment d’Espelette, or Pimentón/Smoked Paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
Chorizo sausage, about 10 thin slices, optional
 Cut the peppers into thin strips and then into 1″ batons ~ see the photos; heat the olive oil in a large pan, such as a wok ~ as soon as the oil is hot, add the peppers and onions and fry gently for 5 minutes before adding the garlic ~ fry gently for a further 5 minutes until the vegetables are soft but still with a little bite to them. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft. Remove the vegetables from the pan and keep warm.
Whisk the eggs in a large jug and add about 1/4 teaspoon of piment d’Espelette or 1/2 teaspoon of pimentón/smoked paprika. Season with salt and pepper and set to one side.
In the pan that the vegetables were cooked in, add the chorizo slices if using, fry until they are crispy and brown on the edges; add the vegetables back to the pan, stir and then add the eggs. Swirl the eggs around as you would when making scrambled eggs and cook gently until just set. Turn the heat off and serve the Piperade in a heatproof dish allowing the diners to save themselves. Serve with bread or toast.
 See you later with more photos, news and recipes from my break in the Basque Country!
Karen
|
Leave a Reply