Grattons, Fritons, and Rillettes.

If you should be travelling in France this summer, and are looking for new and interesting foods for your picnic lunch, look no further than Grattons, Rillettes, or Fritons.

All are similar to paté, but are produced differently. Provided they come from a reputable maker, they can be totally delicious. Generally they come in jars, but you will probably find Rillettes at a good deli counter under the name of 'Rillettes du Mans', 'Rillettes d'Oie', or 'Rillettes de Canard'; the first of which will be made from Pork. Be warned, these are quite 'fatty'.

Down our way they are generally made with Duck. The Grattons being a mixture of skin and fat that is coarsely ground then slowly cooked in it's own fat. The cooked Grattons are then lifted from the fat, salted slightly, then pressed into jars, bowls, etc. If the Grattons are processed as bigger pieces, they are very similar to the UK's 'scratchings' (which the French name suggests). 

Rillettes are shredded pieces of Duck meat, that are processed in much the same way as the Grattons. When made at home, the finished products would be topped with a layer of the fat to preserve them. 

Fritons are very similar to Grattons, but they are made with bigger cubes of skin fat and some meat, and are processed in a similar fashion; these would be difficult to find commercially, as they are usually only home-made. The jar above is really Grattons; I don't quite know why they've called them 'Fritons'.

Confused? Yes, so am I.

If you haven't tried it, a jar of Rillettes de Canard with your picnic lunch would be perfect, together with some Jambon de Bayonne and some Goat's cheese of course. One cannot live by Rillettes alone.

Success

It's been just over a month since we got back to France, and a month since I planted a few Courgette and Broccoli plants at Haddock's.

The garden is full of fruit, some of which we will certainly harvest, or are already; but most probably not. We'll definitely be eating Peaches, Figs, and Plums, but most of the Apples and Pears will probably mature after we return to the UK. I have already told the gardener to help himself. 

The first vegetables to be harvested are a couple of Courgettes. These plants will now continue to bear fruit for the rest of our stay.

Next year I was thinking about growing Tomatoes again, but I believe they take over 90 days to produce edible fruits, so it's out of the question.   

Our Peaches are now ripe. We need to eat them quickly as there are so many! We also have a surfeit of small (Bird?) Plums. They are delicious, but have big pips. And our Greengages have to be seen to be believed. One minute there's nothing, the next we're overwhelmed.
 

Fat Max

We've just bought a new toy.

'Fat Max' is a Karcher in Stanley clothing. It does exactly the same job, but was about 30 centimes cheaper.

We had become perturbed by the ageing of our poolside flagstones, they had begun to look dirty rather than aged, and we decided we wanted them back to almost 'pristine'.

Fat Max does everything we've asked of him. The flags are now cleaned of nearly 20 years of black mould/algae/lichen, and are looking reasonably like new again. Normally I love the signs of ageing, but not around the pool.

The photo below doesn't to justice to his cleaning powers, but once they're swept clean, and dried, they will look wonderful. You can easily see the difference the pressure-cleaning makes.

I really don't know why we didn't buy one before.

Most important room in the house.

This is our 'auvent', which I always think of as the 'most important room in the house'. It's where we sit and drink our pre-supper aperitives when it's too hot to be outside, and it's where we eat in the evenings.

As you can see, I didn't bother to tidy-up before I took the photo; this is how messy it usually is.

The outdoor fridge looks after the white and pink wines, the beers, ciders, and usually a few bottles of Elderflower Champagne. I don't know what happened this year, but those bottles in the wicker basket contain what should have been a part of my supply of Elderflower Champagne; but something went wrong. The opaque liquid had no fizz and was thick like syrup. I've never failed before, but this 2023 failure is quite spectacular. All will be thrown away. I think I must have forgotten to add something; probably the white wine vinegar.

We are having plenty of evening storms at the moment, and this is the perfect spot to witness the drama. It's lovely to sit under a watertight roof and admire all the sights and sounds of a really good storm.

If the evening temperature is around 25 C we take our aperitives outside, in the shade of the Quince tree. Billy then shows-off in front of us by running up and down, jumping in the air, and performing spectacular turns. He now does this every night. He is so happy back here in his native country.

 

TOUR DE FRANCE 2023

We're a week into the Tour de France, and already the men are being separated from the boys.

The main heroes so far have been Podačar, Vingegaard, Simon Yates, and the tireless and heroic Wout Van Aert. I was still waiting for Cavendish to have his day; he came 2nd recently. Sadly he crashed on Day 8, and broke his collarbone. This was to be his final tour, so a very sad end to an amazing career.

I'm expecting either Podačar and Vingegaard to be on the podium in Paris. Some really spectacular cycling this year, which I'm sure will continue all the way to the Champs Elysée.

This short video will give some idea of the excitement. It also shows some of the 'fans' who make idiots of themselves by running alongside the riders, lighting smoke bombs, and throwing confetti at them.

102 not out.

My eldest, Kimbo, has been a player, and follower, of Cricket for as long as I can remember. He even had a trial for Sussex (unsuccessfully).

Rather than play for his old Brighton club, now that he lives back in 'God's own City', he has decided to continue playing for his Bishop's Stortford club, even though it means a long drive every Saturday.

He's always been a good fast bowler, as well as a hard hitting batsman, and last Saturday he scored his first ever century; assuring him a place on the 'Honours Board'.

A knock of 102 against Harlow (not out) won the game last Saturday, and assured his place in the history of the club.

I'm not sure if he's playing again today, but I quite expect he is. 

Well done Kimbo!

Cottage

This house is an OUTDOOR Summer house, as opposed to our Brighton home, which is more of a Winter INDOOR home.

When we're here we live outdoors, either working in the garden, eating our meals, or walking in the woods. We spend very little time indoors; even when it's raining we tend to sit outside on our covered terrace.

In Brighton we have no garden to speak of, just a tiny patio. If we wish to sit outside on a sunny day we huddle around our small patio table or go to one of the nearby parks. We used to have a small bench out front, but it has now disappeared. 

Here it is quiet; you can actually hear the silence. In Brighton there is often a very slight distant hum of activity. We can just about hear the wheels in motion, even if we can't quite see them.

In England we have a good selection of quality stores within easy reach of home; here I need to drive about 20 Kms, which I shall be doing later today. 

I love both locations equally.