Katharine: Summer wine-tasting in the country

A sunny, but blowy day.  We were tasting - under Leslie and Michel's tutelage, sparkling wines that were not champagne.  Wines tasted came from Italy, Spain, the Jura ..... none from the UK, even though they have a burgeoning "champagne" production (and it's more expensive than actual champagne which is strange).  A barbecue lunch followed our tasting - wine-tasting makes you hungry. 

wine-tasting needs glasses, lots of'em

... and bottles too.  Rather a lot of them. 

Ross, Phil and Pierre

Vivien, Kim and Ross

Anne, Caroline, Vivien, Alain and Kim

Orla, Michel and Y-J

Alain, Kim and Ross

 

Photo credits:  Caroline, Jane, Anne.  

Katharine: Summer Cook&Eat

Our last cook and eat of the year was an outdoors meal shaded from the hot june sun.   Many thanks to Caroline for all the lessons learned, the good food prepared and consumed.  We all learned a lot. 
(Photo credits:  Anne and Katharine). 

Caroline shows us how to spatchcock a chicken, before flattening it

Y-J, Robyn and Anne

Sue, Caroline and Leslie

A shaded part of the terrace - glorious hydrangea

Pissaladiere - onions and eggplant, anchovies and black olives.  Yum.

Barbecued piri-piri chicken, with Columbian potatoes and green salsa

Apricot tart

Katharine: Lunch and Annual General Meeting

A buoyant day was spent by AWG members with their retiring President, and Board and the Activity Chairs,  in review of our club year.  Our official association meeting kicked off with a splendid lunch. We transacted some business - paying dues, and voting for next year's officers.  The ballot bag was staffed by Genette E, accompanied by Denise.  Genette announced the result of the election - a landslide for the slate of candidates, headed by Jessica as President, Rachel and Elysa as Vice Presidents,  (one of whom will be focussed on Activities, the other on external outreach); Noel as Secretary and Mariannick as Treasurer.  Orla, on behalf of the Nominating Committee, thanked the candidates who are our new officers for being prepared to serve and give their time to AWG.   Congratulations to you all, and thank you for making the commitment to AWG. 

Fruits of the season were delicious, along with baked savoury dishes, salads and desserts, contributed by AWG volunteers.  Thank you! 

Anne, Sue Rich and Maggie

Pam, Dawn and Maquita

The ladies from Resto Bebes told us that their organisation supports 80 babies with their mothers.   They're seen here holding our (some of) our donation of baby products;  Kim, Sylvia and Maquita form AWG's liaison with Resto Bebes.

Our heart project - Jessica, Laetitia, Cat Hartley of Cancer Support Languedoc, Maggie, Kim, Robyn and Mariannick

Cat Hartley of Cancer Support Lanquedoc gave an account of their activities, of which she is President.  Maquita and Pam have been trained (for life) as active listeners for (anglophone) people seeking help.  Anyone may contact the organisation for practical, emotional or linguistic support.  CSL has signed a convention with a regional treatment center, and are recognized as a bona fide association.  While they do need to fundraise and appreciate our support, their major goal is to raise awareness of their existence and the help they offer. Their expenses are primarily for petrol - their volunteers make many trips, from Bedarieux to Nimes, to hospitals.  Their activities in the Gard are developing (having started in the Pezenas area).  They hold a drop-in day in Pezenas on the last thursday of the month which is social. Cat distributed literature and asked that members present ask to place a copy in their doctor's surgery.   Cat will distribute our heart pillows to those who need them;  apart from their practical application, Cat told us that this sends a message to breast cancer sufferers that people care about them.  (And patterns are available for the pillows on request from Maggie or Mariannick).    Cat's talk was practical and very moving.  This is an organisation worthy of AWG's support.

Kim and Jessica

Kim talked about our fundraising activities this year - despite not having held a big event, our fundraising has been successful (full details present in the Treasurer's report, available on request
from Mariannick). Orla held one of her dinner extravaganzas, and was thanked.  Next year, we will have the new cookbook, as well as greeting cards made from photos (no humans) sent in by members.  AWG has a charity committee (let Jessica know if you're interested in being involved).

Kim noted new activities within AWG this year - the Writer's Block writing group;  also the successful re-design of the AWG website, with thanks to Jessica for all the hard work it entailed;  Sara managed a project for bookmarks and business cards, all of which were distributed.  Thanks, Sara.  Kim orchestrated a move from personal email addresses to activity-specific email addresses, which will smooth transitions as the baton is passed to a new Activity chair.   Short summations of activities were given by the activity chairs present - Sue Rich, Mariannick, Katharine C, Maggie, Karen, Sheri, Laetitia. 

Rachel had sourced beautiful hybrid roses as a gift to the retiring Board and Activity Chairs.  Thank you! 

Our littlest attendee

Jessica's husband was present to see her accept the AWG Presidency.  Seen here also Rachel and Sara J. 

Maquita and Cat Hartley

Jessica and Denise

AWG's voting officer Genette, ably assisted by Denise.  Thank you both! 

Dalene

Katharine C taking notes for this blog, seated behind the Roster of Presidents given to AWG by Dora Taylor

Chris, retiring Secretary to the Board, and Patricia R, who spoke of establishing an Actors Studio

Jessica thanks AWG members for electing her President of AWG, 2013-14

.... and the torch (in this case the pewter box given by the US Ambassador to France in 2007) passes to a new generation (with due respect and acknowledgment of President Kennedy). 

We moved to a discussion of future activity, including the potential for being the host club for the 2015 FAWCO Conference, to be held in Montpellier (where there is now a suitable venue - the Marriott near the Hotel de Ville in Port Marianne).  Various views were solicited from the membership, and comments offered included a concern about the financial implications for the club;  that the Mairie and our Dept, Herault (34) should be included in making it a success;  that the time commitment required from club members might not be sustainable;  and that a risk/benefit analysis be conducted to satisfy the planning/management parameters before we submit a bid. 

As Kim adjourned the meeting, Pam asked all present for a show of appreciation of the service that Kim has given the club as President (and not forgetting the prior two years of being our FAWCO Rep) which was willingly and graciously given.

This was a buoyant day, the culmination of a year of high spirits for our club, and a celebration of friendship and altruism from within.  Thank you to the following people who came to the meeting and made such a positive contribution: 

Maquita, Sheri, Dalene, Katharine J, Sue Rich, Jessica, Sara, Elysa, Patricia R, Kim, Maggie,
Laetitia, Chris B, Linda L, Denise, Genette, Rachel, Sylvia, Robyn, Mariannick, Anne S, Y-J,
Lael, Karen, Orla, Leslie L, Pam, Dawn. 

(Photo credits:  Sylvia, Katharine).   

Katharine C: Montpellier Film Buffs

Mediathèque Federico Fellini

We are interested in getting expressions of interest (re participation) in Montpellier Film Buffs now that it’s been given the “green light” by the Mediathèque. It’s a new association that Edwin Hill and Philippe Marchand recently set up. What’s proposed is a Ciné-club that will start out with FOAL Bookchat members as its core and grow to include other interested fluent-in-English film buffs within FOAL- and beyond. We’ll have a first General meeting in early September 2013.  We hope to start screenings in early October.

Ideally, interested members from Bookchat will pick 2-5 films from the Mediathèque Library list (see below). While we’re aiming for much-loved gems, there’s no reason why some people can’t structure their list around films they’ve missed or have always wanted to see.

After we’ve organized an agreed-upon schedule, these films will then be intro and screened on a monthly basis at a set time in a Federico Fellini Mediathèque screening room.

 There is no paper printout of the Mediathèque’s exhaustive list of films so the 2-5 films chosen will have to come from the Mediathèque’s web-list. To get there go to:

http://services.mediatheque.montpellier-agglo.com/ClientBookline/toolkit/p_requests/formulaire.asp?GRILLE=VUBISRECHFELLINI_0&PORTAL_ID=erm_portal_fellini.xml&INSTANCE=exploitation&VIEW=HOME&SYNCMENU=CINEMA_CAT
NB- Option- email edwinhill@hotmail.com so he can send you this link.

Once there, tick "Films Adultes en consultation sur place" in the large box (10,000 choices). For films in English go to  “Anglais” in the “Langues” scroll bar (1800 choices).

Expressions of interest (ideally with film-suggestions lifted off their list) should be sent to: awg.scriveners@gmail.com (who will transfer the interest to Ed).
 
I’ll be meeting with the Mediathèque people in late June to explore an ideal monthly viewing time.
More soon. EH & PM. 

Katharine: the ultimate Salad Niçoise

Editor:  at a recent FOAL/BookChat discussion, a member brought us the book  Cuisine Niçoise by Jacques Médecin (a well-known former Mayor of Nice). 

Summer on a plate: Hunting down the ultimate salade niçoise recipe 

Salade niçoise is a seasonal classic – but we're getting it all wrong, the connoisseurs say.

Christopher Hirst

Friday 15 June 2012, the Independent.

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Salade niçoise is the perfect summer lunch. Fresh, tasty and satisfying, the mix of fish, olives, eggs and greenery brings a taste of the Mediterranean to this soggy northern island. Or does it? The accommodating nature of this simple dish (Elizabeth David wrote, "There are as many versions of it as there are cooks in Provence") means that it has been subject to a bizarre augmentation since arriving in this country.

As least, that is the view expressed in Cuisine Niçoise by Jacques Médecin. His authoritative guide, first published in 1983 and now out of print, includes such distinctive local dishes as sheep's testicles, limpet omelette, bundles of lambs's tripe, a strange seafood known as violets ("very strong tasting... shaped rather like a bagpipe") and thrushes with olives ("of academic interest only," notes the translator), but the one that has swept the world is salade niçoise. Not always to its benefit, insisted Médecin, who was a prominent mayor of Nice. "Over the world," he declared in the introduction, "I have had the unpleasant experience of being served up leftovers masquerading as salade niçoise." Describing it as "one of the dishes that is constantly traduced", Médecin was particularly distressed by the inclusion of cold potatoes, along with the customary tomatoes, tuna or anchovies, cucumber, olives and hard-boiled eggs. The addition of the tuber is specified in the recipes of some of the best-known names in British food.
Delia Smith's online version includes "450g new potatoes, cooked and sliced", while Gordon Ramsay's recipe on the BBC Good Food website requires "300g small new potatoes". Ramsay stresses the authentic provenance of his concoction: "I learned to make the classic salade niçoise when cooking on a yacht off the south of France."
One wonders if the titan of TV cooking ever went ashore. His rendition scarcely accords with Médecin's cri de coeur: "Whatever you do, if you want to be a worthy exponent of Niçoise cookery, never, never, I beg you, include boiled potato or any other boiled vegetable." Aside from hard-boiled eggs, his "vraie salade niçoise" consists entirely of uncooked ingredients. The most unusual inclusion, at least to British eyes, is "200g small broad beans or 12 small globe artichokes". Both, of course, are raw, though thinly sliced. Tiny artichokes are scarcely ever seen here, but the arrival of the first broad beans – the most delicious of legumes – meant that I was able to make a salade niçoise that would accord with Médecin's heartfelt strictures.
Another unexpected inclusion is green pepper. Largely retired from fashionable cuisine, it delivered a verdant crispness. A classic example of less is more, Médecin's recipe specifies either tinned tuna or anchovy fillets. "Nowadays even the Niçois often combine anchovies with tuna... though traditionally this was never done." I went for white tuna from the Breton cannery of Charles Basset (£3.20 per 160g tin). Médecin insists that the carefully preserved chunks are "shredded". The heart of the salad lies in its tomatoes. Flavour is of the essence, but we are sadly deficient in the cheap, impeccably sweet tomatoes sold in the Cours Salaya market in Nice. The only solution is to go upmarket. M&S Rosa tomatoes did the job, though the 10 required for the recipe cost around £3.40. The taste of this key ingredient is enhanced by the quartered tomatoes being salted three times during preparation. The small, sweet and nutty Nice olives doubtless used by Médecin rarely escape France, though we can buy very similar Ligurian olives at £2.39 for a 200g bottle.
If the cost of this humble dish was beginning to escalate, it shot through the roof with the oil required for the dressing (no vinegar allowed). The only acceptable one for Médecin is olive oil, stresses Peter Graham, responsible for the lively translation of Cuisine Niçoise. "And not just any olive oil. It has to be Niçoise and, if possible, pressed by the firm of Nicolas Alziari." Yes, it is possible – at a price. Waitrose sells Alziari olive from 14 rue St François de Paule, Nice, at £14.75 per 500ml. The light, fruity oil is as gorgeous as its tin in Provençal blue and yellow.
Though a stickler for gastronomic rectitude, Médecin took a more laissez-faire approach in other areas of life. Married three times, he had an eye for the ladies. A picture on the internet reveals the moustachioed mayor arm-in-arm with a topless starlet at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival.
His financial dealings were equally unconstrained by convention. In 1993, Médecin was found guilty of embezzlement and imprisoned for two years after being extradited from Uruguay. He died there in 1998.
So how did his greatest legacy, la vraie salade niçoise, fare on a drizzly Sunday afternoon in south London?
Remarkably well, given the chilly conditions. Loosened with a simple oil and basil dressing, the chilled salad was a refreshing, crisp and harmonious combination with no element dominating, as happens with the conventional tuna and anchovy salad niçoise.
Maybe the Alziari oil was not absolutely essential, but our Mediterranean meal was still cheaper than taking Le Train Blue to the home of salade niçoise. It was transporting – almost.
"I love the way that the individual flavours of the olives and tomatoes and green pepper ping out," said my wife. "It would be absolutely divine if we could only eat it in the sun."
THE REAL DEAL
Jacques Médecin's vraie salade niçoise (serves 4-6)
Quarter 10 medium tomatoes (good flavour) and lightly salt. Quarter 3 hard-boiled eggs. Drain and shred contents of 160g tin top quality tuna or cut 12 anchovy fillets into quarters. Peel a cucumber, slice lengthwise and seed. Thinly slice cucumber, two green peppers, six spring onions and 200g small broad beans. Cut garlic clove in two and thoroughly rub both halves round salad bowl. Combine all vegetables except tomatoes in bowl. Add tuna and 100g black olives (preferably Nice or Ligurian). Drain tomatoes, lightly salt again and add to bowl. Make dressing with 6 tablespoons olive oil (preferably Alziari) plus 10 fine-sliced basil leaves, salt and pepper. Pour on to salad. Chill salad in fridge for one to two hours before serving. Gently mix salad and top with quartered eggs before serving.
Green and pleasant
Waldorf
A salad of fresh raw apples, celery and walnuts, traditionally dressed with mayonnaise and served over lettuce. Created by Oscar Tschirky, maitre d'hotel at the original Waldorf Hotel in New York City. The salad was a special creation for a high society dinner of some 1,500 guests. As an instant success, it was soon replicated by other restaurants, most notably Rector's, where the proprietor, George Rector, added the walnuts and included it his recipe book published in 1928.
Caesar
This well-known salad is prepared with Romaine lettuce and croutons, dressed with parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and black pepper. It is attributed to Caesar Cardini, a restaurateur who supposedly created the dish in 1924 after a rush caused the kitchen to run low on other ingredients, though several of his restaurant staff have also claimed its invention. Common variations include adding grilled chicken, bacon, anchovies and Romano cheese.
Russian
A substantial salad of diced potatoes, vegetables, eggs and ham and dressed with mayonnaise. It was originally known as an Olivier Salad after its creator, Lucien Olivier, head chef at the Hermitage restaurant in Moscow in the 1860s. It has since gone through many incarnations, none of them very appetising.
Cobb
An American main-course salad made with chopped salad greens, tomato, bacon, chicken breast, hard-boiled egg, avocado, chives, Roquefort cheese and red-wine vinaigrette.
There remains some debate as to the origins of the salad, but most trace it to the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant in the 1930s.
However, while some claim it was the owner, Robert Howard Cobb, who created the dish, others claim it was head chef Robert Kreis who then named it after Cobb in his honour. In either case, the salad become an overnight success and was popular amongst many of theHollywood elite, including Sid Grauman, of Grauman's Chinese Theater fame.
Charlie Arbuthnot

Katharine: farewell apero/hallo to summer at Jan and Bruno's

It was a balmy June evening as we gathered at Jan and Bruno's beautiful home in St Clement de Riviere for our popular farewell apero.  

(Photo credits:  Jan).

Looking down on the pool terrace, where we began the evening...

Mary-Cat, Denise, Gerard and Chris, as the sun slowly sinks

Jan and Mary-Beth

.. and then we moved to the upper terrace for delicious dinatoire.  Cerese wears her big smile

The trees frame a very companionable and content group

Thank you so much, Jan and Bruno. 

Michel, Phil, Caroline, Leslie and Michel

Katharine: UTOPIES comes to Montpellier 28-30 June

EOLIA (Barcelone), Cie Maritime (Montpellier), ETI (Berlin)

présentent

UTOPIES

28, 29, 30 juin à La Cie Maritime à Montpellier

9 juillet au Festival du Grec à Barcelone

13 juillet au Kalter Holzig de Berlin

20H30

« Quoi?
Qu'est ce que vous dites ?
Je n'ai pas entendu.
Le futur est une notion clé.
Tout le monde le sait.
C'était ça le secret ?
Pff ! Non, non... » V.Szpunberg, extrait de Joves extraordinaris, dans une mise en scène de Gloria Balana Altimira, assistée par Anna Serrano Gatell. Musique : 
« Un narrateur : Ils cherchent un point de vue particulier, le leur. Ils ne sont pas certains que leur réflexion soit novatrice. D'ailleurs ils n'y prétendent pas. [...]
Chanson 5 :
La vraie vie est ailleurs, nous a soufflé Rimbaud
La vérité a peur de tous nos pauvres mots
A force de vacances imposées dérisoires
J'ai oublié l'endroit où débute ma gloire
Aqui, se habla, una otra lengua,
Here, I could say, this is the place to be,
Ici, se chante, une langue différente,
Cette vue est bien celle de l'esprit. » S.Fourage, extrait de Un Théâtre Offert Pour Investisseurs Entreprenants, dans une mise en scène de Pierre Castagne, assisté par Sonia Franco. Chorégraphe : Patricia De Anna. Musique : Clément Danais.

« Hier / Mais juste un petit moment / Sais pas / Seulement une fois / Un moment / Hasard / Mais juste un petit moment / Presque déjà oublié / Seulement quelques secondes / Hier / Un moment / Juste pour une petite pause / Pour la première fois /  Presque déjà oublié / Il y a quoi là ? / Juste un lieu / Déjà oublié / Un instant / Juste pour une vraiment petite pause / Sais pas / Seulement un lieu / Sur le chemin / Hasard /  Presque déjà oublié / Vraiment le temps d'une pause / Il y a quoi là ? /  Juste un lieu / Oublié / Hier / Vraiment très court / Mais vraiment un temps très court / Hasard. »    

A-S. König, extrait de Wir - ein Arbeitstitel !, dans une mise en scène de Olivier Coloni, assisté par Dorothée Kruger.

            Technique : Laurent Bourgeois

            Avec : Stine Gyldenkerne, Doris Gruber, Rosa Ingenhoven, Julia Katzer, Larissa Offner, Romy Rojas Maturana, Jurij Schiemann, Ben Scholten, Nina Schwartz, Ted Siegert, Laura Weinheimer, Tata Ziegler, Christel Claude, Aurélien Ferru, Sonia Franco, Béatrice Giraud, Joris Masson, Sandra Maurel,  Feriel Ouadda, Florent Pochet, Jonathan Raffin, Lorie Joy Ramanaidou, Pauline Sebille, Cristina Blanco, Joan Codina, Ludi Díez, Elisabet Fernández, Marina Fita, Mery González, Marc Lorenzo, Rafa de la Croix Nieto, Marta Ossó, Meritxell Termes, Judith Tobella, Virginia Zaldívar.

Durée : 2H15 environ

  

A La Cie Maritime 24 avenue de la croix du capitaine

Réservations : resa@utopies-bmb.fr

Tarif réduit 5€/Plein tarif 10€

Plus d'informations sur notre site Internet : www.utopies-bmb.fr

et notre page Facebook : Utopies BMB

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Katharine: Garden group goes to Balaruc

 Editor:  a glorious plenty on this day, including photos from Caroline, Maggie, Anne, Robyn and Katharine C.  Thank you to everyone for sending them to Scriveners. 

Vivien and Alain Raoult laid on a smashing day for the Garden Group in early June, starting with a visit to the gardens in Balaruc that have been developed to resemble the gardens of antiquity of Rome.

Robyn, Rosie, Maggie and Peggy R

Under one of the magnificent pergolas covered in an ancient floribunda climbing rose

Part of a section devoted to plants for cooking - these are garlic plants

... and so are these

One of several glorious pergolas .....

... seen in the background here

The Romans aimed to stay cool during the hot summers

The coolness of shade under this pergola

Leslie and our wonderful docent lead our group under this wonderful bower.  Our docent
was so informative, it made a difference to our visit.  He holds doctorates in archeology, botany and anthropology.  I think it's okay for his Mom to introduce him as "my son, the doctor". 

The group assesses the garlic patch

Glorious displays of flowers at the Gardens

Leslie, Viv (wearer of that bastion of the Raj, the pith helmet, most suitable)

Okay, your Editor is crazy about these pergolas. 

Topiary (didn't know the Romans did that)

... and of course olives, this was so beautiful

Pergola again, in case you missed it the first time

And so to lunch..... at Viv and Alain's.  Alain and Michel awaited us, as did bottles of wine and a splendid lunch of Bouillabaisse Setoise, and pasta for the non-fish eaters, salads and strawberry and cheesecake desserts.  Alain and Viv entertained us royally. 

Phil, Sue Rich and Alain, our very gracious host

Michel and Leslie

Lunch outside on the terrace

Vivien, Caroline and Sue Rou

Sue Rich and her cousin from Oz

Everyone was ready for lunch when we arrived back at Viv and Alain's

Leslie, embracing summer

Linda, Katharine J and Rosie

Sue Rou and Robyn

One of the lunch tables .....

.... this was the other one

Elisabeth, Maggie, Viv, Sue Rey, Sue Rich's cousin, Katharine J, Sue Rou, Robyn, Linda, Sue Rich

A wonderful, happy day.  A great celebration of Summer.  And an insight into Roman times through the Gardens in Balaruc.  These are a must-see visit for AWG members and their guests over the summer - especially since they are in sight of the Mediterranean, glowing in the sun. 

Vivien and Alain, we salute you and thank you so much for such an enjoyable time.