We've just returned from a nice weekend along the Coast in the little tourist town of La Baule- Escoblanc where the River Loire hits the Atlantic Coast. Its about a 4-5 hour drive west from Paris in the Bretagne region. It was good to get out of the city for a bit and we had pretty good weather while we were there. Since such a large river drains into the ocean here, it is a bountiful fishing area and the markets and menus are full of local seafood offerings.
One of the best things about the weekend were some walks along the beach which ranges from broad, flat expanses (like the Atlantic side of the Florida Coast-i.e. Daytona) to jagged rocky outcrops and cliffs with big waves (like Pacific Northern California). The town of La Baule is actually famous because of its 13 km "bowl" shaped sandy beach which is dotted with restaurants and cafes and jam packed with tourists in the high season.
During one walk the tide was extremely low and the locals were out harvesting small walnut-sized clams and raking mats of black mussels right off the exposed seafloor. They were walking around in the mud with boots and rakes and scratching at the sandy, mucky bottom. Every so often they would pull up a little clam shell and throw it in their basket or bucket. There were literally hundreds upon hundreds of locals and tourists alike all smiling, whistling, and scrapping away for clams.
Another highlight of the trip was the local market where the butchers, cheese sellers, fishmongers, farmers, and bakers were all selling the fruits of their labor. I was really fascinated with all the exotic offerings for sale and we spent at least an hour or two looking at everything. We purchased some cheese, veggies, fresh strawberries, cakes, tarts, bread, honey, fish, and oysters and were allowed to taste and try a whole plethora of other foods while there. I am really surprised at the amount of strange meaty snacks and cuts available as well as the variety of sausages in the market. It was also neat to see all the different kinds of shrimp, prawns, stingrays, fish, lobsters, snails, clams, mussels, oysters, and squid all laid out.
Some of the traditional foods looked a little scary (albeit interesting) like the foie gras that was suspended in a mint flavored jello shot, the meat loaf that was cooked inside a loaf of bread, the rognon or veal kidneys, duck livers, blood sausages, and black moldy cheeses (only the outside was moldy, but when I say moldy, I mean MOLDY with thick fuzz growing on it). In their defense there was a lot of stuff that looked delicious and we did end up buying a lot of good food there. Many of the foods are super rich with a lot of flavor, so good or bad, you get the full taste and aroma from each little bite.
Faustine and I recently bought a book (and photo atlas) on French cheeses and we're on a mission to try a lot of different varieties from all over the country. We ended up getting about 6 or 7 different kinds that day and I am coming around on the goat cheeses. Some are really, really delicious. I am yet to try some of the sheep cheese which are supposedly the most flavorful.
I am learning a lot of information about cheese... historians believe that cheese making is 10,000 years old. In some places in France during medieval times wheels of cheese were used instead of money to pay taxes. They add the orange coloring to cheddar cheese; it's a plant extract and not natural to the cheesifying process at all. Some French cheeses (Beaufort) weigh about a hundred pounds when made and are kept in a cave in a mountain to ripen before being sold and consumed. Some cheeses are covered in ash and buried to lock in a smoky flavor while other cheeses are aged for 2 years or more before attaining their special flavor. You can still eat French cheeses that are made in the same manner as when Julius Ceasar first tried them two millenia ago while on military campaigns in Central Europe. They take their cheese serious over here, and there are probably around 500 French varieties, but don't expect to find any Cheddar or Monterrey Jack!
One of the best things about the weekend were some walks along the beach which ranges from broad, flat expanses (like the Atlantic side of the Florida Coast-i.e. Daytona) to jagged rocky outcrops and cliffs with big waves (like Pacific Northern California). The town of La Baule is actually famous because of its 13 km "bowl" shaped sandy beach which is dotted with restaurants and cafes and jam packed with tourists in the high season.
During one walk the tide was extremely low and the locals were out harvesting small walnut-sized clams and raking mats of black mussels right off the exposed seafloor. They were walking around in the mud with boots and rakes and scratching at the sandy, mucky bottom. Every so often they would pull up a little clam shell and throw it in their basket or bucket. There were literally hundreds upon hundreds of locals and tourists alike all smiling, whistling, and scrapping away for clams.
Another highlight of the trip was the local market where the butchers, cheese sellers, fishmongers, farmers, and bakers were all selling the fruits of their labor. I was really fascinated with all the exotic offerings for sale and we spent at least an hour or two looking at everything. We purchased some cheese, veggies, fresh strawberries, cakes, tarts, bread, honey, fish, and oysters and were allowed to taste and try a whole plethora of other foods while there. I am really surprised at the amount of strange meaty snacks and cuts available as well as the variety of sausages in the market. It was also neat to see all the different kinds of shrimp, prawns, stingrays, fish, lobsters, snails, clams, mussels, oysters, and squid all laid out.
Some of the traditional foods looked a little scary (albeit interesting) like the foie gras that was suspended in a mint flavored jello shot, the meat loaf that was cooked inside a loaf of bread, the rognon or veal kidneys, duck livers, blood sausages, and black moldy cheeses (only the outside was moldy, but when I say moldy, I mean MOLDY with thick fuzz growing on it). In their defense there was a lot of stuff that looked delicious and we did end up buying a lot of good food there. Many of the foods are super rich with a lot of flavor, so good or bad, you get the full taste and aroma from each little bite.
Faustine and I recently bought a book (and photo atlas) on French cheeses and we're on a mission to try a lot of different varieties from all over the country. We ended up getting about 6 or 7 different kinds that day and I am coming around on the goat cheeses. Some are really, really delicious. I am yet to try some of the sheep cheese which are supposedly the most flavorful.
I am learning a lot of information about cheese... historians believe that cheese making is 10,000 years old. In some places in France during medieval times wheels of cheese were used instead of money to pay taxes. They add the orange coloring to cheddar cheese; it's a plant extract and not natural to the cheesifying process at all. Some French cheeses (Beaufort) weigh about a hundred pounds when made and are kept in a cave in a mountain to ripen before being sold and consumed. Some cheeses are covered in ash and buried to lock in a smoky flavor while other cheeses are aged for 2 years or more before attaining their special flavor. You can still eat French cheeses that are made in the same manner as when Julius Ceasar first tried them two millenia ago while on military campaigns in Central Europe. They take their cheese serious over here, and there are probably around 500 French varieties, but don't expect to find any Cheddar or Monterrey Jack!
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