Another of the many things we love about Provence is the choices. Like many a regional cuisine, upon first view it seems as if there are not the choices of cuisine we are blessed with here in America. You can find pizza and an occasional Chinese place, but mostly what you have is Provencal food made with Provencal produce. (A notable exception is a large amount of Argentinian beef for sale in restaurants and groceries.)
It has taken some time for us to discover the subtleties. Within this cuisine people make the same thing taste entirely different from bistro to bistro.
In the last two years especially, we have been cooking in more and shopping more. From market to market and grocery to grocery, a simple ingredient like garlic is different. There was a huge variety of sizes, colors and strengths. These were so good I wanted to bring some home to plant. Over here I can go to four different groceries within a 10 mile radius and they all have the same variety of garlic. It's very good, but it's the same. The range of flavors within a limited number of ingredients makes for infinite variety.
No comments:
Post a Comment