charcuterie | The Rambling Epicure

Slow Life in Chartres, the Breadbasket of France

Published by Jonell Galloway + Sunday, February 14, 2016 Permalink 0

Eating and Drinking in Chartres, the Breadbasket of France

Kentucky is far from Chartres, but not so far as one might think. Biscuits and cornbread were the bond that held us together in Kentucky; wheatfields and bread do the same in Chartres. We like white gravy; the Chartrains, as they’re called, like sauce. Isn’t white gravy a sauce, after all?

Growing up in Kentucky, I embraced the Slow Food concepts without ever knowing it. Wendell Berry was my breakfast, lunch and supper, after all. The French have never fully embraced the official Slow Food concept of Good, Clean and Fair, since they consider that French cuisine and agriculture already embrace these values and do not need an organization – especially an Italian association with an English name – to teach them about their own time-honored traditions. One might say that the French are arrogant and chauvinist, which I would never totally deny, but it is this very pride that has maintained a high level of quality in the world of artisanal food and agriculture.

I have lived in the Beauce region, the bread basket of France, for over 15 years. The hill of Chartres is surrounded by wheat and grain fields and when you go to the bakers, they actually mark the name of the millers who provided the grain for particular breads. It’s all rather magical for those who have a holistic view of the world. The Beauce is all about farming, in particular, wheat, grain and sugar beets, but also goat cheese, pork products, rabbits, beer, apples and apple cider products, pears, chickens, rapeseed, etc. My goal has been to find all the best producers and growers and support them in every way possible.

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, August 20, 2012

Published by Jonell Galloway + Monday, August 20, 2012 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

A number of rare or newly experienced foods have been claimed to be aphrodisiacs. At one time this quality was even ascribed to the tomato. Reflect on that when you are next preparing the family salad.–Jane Grigson

Jane Grigson was an English food writer. Grigson’s growing interest in food and cooking led to the writing of her first book, Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery (1967), which was translated into French, unusual for an English food writer. Elizabeth David read the book and was impressed by it, and recommended Grigson as a food columnist for The Observer, for which she wrote a column from 1968 until her death in 1990.

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, August 1, 2012

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, August 1, 2012 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

The air pulses with the warm smell of lilac, but as we pass each door, the lilac dominance is subdued by heady wafts of asparagus cooking.–Jane Grigson

Elizabeth David was an English food writer. Grigson’s growing interest in food and cooking led to the writing of her first book, The Observery (1967), which was translated into French, unusual for an English food writer. Elizabeth David read the book and was impressed by it, and recommended Grigson as a food columnist for The Observer, for which she wrote a column from 1968 until her death in 1990.

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, July 31, 2012

Published by Jonell Galloway + Tuesday, July 31, 2012 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

The artichoke above all is a vegetable expression of civilized living, of the long view, of increasing delight by anticipation and crescendo. No wonder it was once regarded as an aphrodisiac. It had no place in the troll’s world of instant gratification. It makes no appeal to the meat-and-two veg. mentality.–Jane Grigson

Jane Grigson was an English food writer. Grigson’s growing interest in food and cooking led to the writing of her first book, Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery (1967), which was translated into French, unusual for an English food writer. Elizabeth David read the book and was impressed by it, and recommended Grigson as a food columnist for The Observer, for which she wrote a column from 1968 until her death in 1990.

Jonell eats her way through Trieste: take a culinary and cultural stroll through Trieste

Published by Jonell Galloway + Monday, July 23, 2012 Permalink 0

Trieste holds a unique place in European history and culture. Next to the Balkans (5 km from Slovenia and 10 km from Croatia), a port built by the Austro-Hungarian Empire on an ancient Roman site, for a short time an independent principality, now part of Italy: the influences are many. It has a mini-culture all its own, with influences from all these countries and periods. You’ll see it in the architecture, churches, food, and, we heard it in the language and names of dishes and foods. The author James Joyce lived in Trieste for 15 years, partially to get away from the “crowd” and get some writing done, and partially to be near his writer friend, the Italian author, Triestine Italo Svevo, whose statue you will see in this photo documentary, and who some say served as a model for Joyce’s character Leopold Bloom in Ulysses.

You can either watch this as a slideshow, or if you want to see the full shot, just click on the photo.

[Show slideshow]

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, December 16, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, December 16, 2011 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

In my experience, clever food is not appreciated at Christmas. It makes the little ones cry and the old ones nervous.–Jane Grigson

Jane Grigson was a notable English cookery writer who wrote over 20 cookbooks and whose growing interest in food and cooking led to the writing of her first book, Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery (1967), which was accorded the unusual honour for an English food writer of being translated into French.