Nice Vol. 1 - Eating In

I went on holiday to Nice, France the other week with my family - the first time since Christmas that we were all on the same continent, and we descended upon the South of France all very much in need of a respite from our respective bustling lives.

The view from our micro balcony, not too shabby

My goals for the week were simple:
- Enjoy being with my family
- Successfully read a whole book
- Lounge on the beach

and of course,

- Indulge in as much southern French cuisine as I could handle in a 7 day trip

I'm delighted to say all were accomplished (finishing not one, but TWO books during the week), but particular esteem must be given to the final goal - we ate, drank, slurped, devoured and gorged ourselves on everything in our midst.

I should also mention that for our last two holidays, my family and I have come to an arrangement - on meals in, I do the cooking, and they do the cleaning. It's a pretty brilliant situation in my opinion, as I get to play with local ingredients and talk my time and enjoy the slow, lilting rhythm that is vacation cooking. The kind of cooking where time is not matter, vegetables are chopped in time with the chirping (ok squawking in our case) of birds, and creativity with your limited holiday rental kitchen supplies makes for interesting cooking methods.

Because this was France in the spring time, I nearly melted when I spotted the local produce - varieties of heirloom tomatoes I haven't seen since working on an organic farm in uni and in quantities I'd never seem before, delicate courgettes with the flowers still attached and blooming (more on that later) - peaches and strawberries that make my mouth water just thinking about their supple flesh. Right, getting carried away, needless to say, with ingredients like these, there was little need for complexity with the week's meals. Between the market, our butcher just downstairs (who also had some of the best goat's cheese I have ever tasted), a little wine merchant down the street, and a boulangerie around the corner, we were set for the week.

Rather than drag on with over-indulgent memories of each individual meal, I'll just show you the summary -

Real tomatoes

Warm green bean and shallot salad, lots of cheese and
saucisson, and my brother reading in the background 

Steak, roasted sweet potato wedges, and green beans w/ red wine jus

Peach and blueberry tart

Shit load of roasted vegetables

Saucisson and some of the best damn goats cheese you'll find

A resurrection of a Bream Team classic with a twist -
peach and almond tart w/ apricot glaze

German and tiger striped in one bowl, heavenly

Remember those courgette flowers? I fried them.

Baby courgette and shallot quiche
(my first quiche as well!)

Leftovers on the last day

These ingredients, prepared simply (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, s&p and thyme was the contents of my cupboard), and accompanied by bread, cheese, meat and wine created by local craftsmen who do what they do best made for meals that required little input from me to keep the family happy and clearing their plates. Its amazing what a difference real, quality ingredients make, and how difficult they are to find, even in a foodie metropolis like London.

I'll be dreaming of those German striped tomatoes for months to come...

(Stayed tuned to Vol. 2 - Eating Out shortly for what we dined on outside the flat...)