Food glorious food

As I mentioned (briefly) in my previous post, M and I have made the rather large decision to leave France's fair shores and head back to Australia.

A number of factors went into making this decision, not the least of which was wanting Raj to be closer to his/her family.

We will have had three (mostly) glorious years in France and although we are excited to be heading back down under and are looking forward to the new adventures that Melbourne will hold for us, it is with a lot of sadness that we will say Au Revoir to Cannes and the lovely life we have here.

Naturally everyone asks us what we are most looking forward to about Australia and also what we will miss the most from France. Outside of friends and family (and the friends part applies for both sides!) and the ease of travel the answer, unsurprisingly, is food.

While M waxes lyrical about all the Australian Meat Pies, Barbeques, Kabana, Cream buns, Thai food and Double Cut Rolls he's going to enjoy, I'm salivating over Dumplings, Allens lollies, Twisties, Scones with Jam and Cream, Indian food, Fish and Chips on the beach and Summer Fruits.

However, there is a lot about French food we will miss too!
Having some of the best baguettes I've ever eaten available 500m down the road will be pretty hard to beat.

And of course .......... the cheese......... the less said about how much I will miss the cheese, the better.

One of my favourite things about France - particularly this region, is the markets. And it's one of the things I will definitely miss about living here.

 Don't get me wrong, Australia rocks a market too - and I intend on spending a lot of time (and money) at the South Melbourne and Queen Vic markets. However, there is something about a Marché Provençal that's uniquely French and kind of wonderful. The produce is exceptional and the lively atmosphere, local colour, fragrant (and not so fragrant - fish stalls - ew) aromas that all combine together in a formula that has probably stayed much the same for decades.

I will miss our local market and I will relish the memory (and tastes!) of all the various markets we have either stumbled across in our travels or made a point of visiting.

When we were in Lyon we chanced upon a Sunday market along the banks of the Rhône river.
We snapped a few photos, already nostalgic about our time in France.

 M was having heart palpitations over this bad boy

 Whereas I was stuck over with the apples. 

I LOVE apples but am so fussy. 

It doesn't have to be sweet but it DOES have to be crunchy. 

These apples were the bomb-diggity

 Hello lovers ...... 

 Is there such a thing as too much cheese?

Survey says No. 

Meaty goodness for M

To continue our French culinary education (beyond just watching Masterchef!) we have purchased/been given by our gorgeous French teacher three Le Larousse Cookbooks - one that is like THE bible on French food and cooking (similar to Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion I find) and then two smaller cookbooks - one that is chock-a-block full of all our favourites such as Pot-au-feu, Daube de joue de boeuf, Tomates farcies and M's bestie Choucroute. The other is all Pâtisserie. There are like 25 pages of chocolate recipes, it's awesome. And it's all in French which should keep us on our toes!

In fact, at this very moment, M is putting the finishing touches on a Tarte Tatin which is tonight's dessert. 

I tells you - this boy is worth his weight in Gold. 

Bon Appétit (and Raj says hi!)

B

xxx