FRANCE APRICOT MANIA - PARIS
Apricot mania
cooking slow food the right way - COUSANCES cast iron pan
Ripe and sweet
Slowly cooked - wooden spoon FRENCHMOOD / cast iron pot by COUSANCES
A few month ago on a sunny Sunday morning of July, frantically cycling to catch up my 11am, stand up paddle lesson on la Marne, I suddenly realised how France every July, experimented a « maree noir » (oil spill) of apricots every where. Shining on market stall, above pastry crust, in jams or restaurant dessert menus, apricots were all around and we had 2 full months to use and abuse them before they totally disappeared until the next year around.
When I came back from Joinville, the market on avenue Daumesnil was already shutting down as summer had taken away the regular customers somewhere South of France and the few merchants left were hastily trying to sell off their goods before packing as well to holiday destinations. Madame Marceline must have had the mobile-home waiting around the corner as she was practically giving away full bags of ripe, perfectly mature apricots for a few Euros. My bicycle basket filled in quickly as I made my way home through the quiet summer streets of Paris to take care of my precious purchase.
Back in the Kitchen: Compote d’abricots: Wash the apricots with cold clean water / remove pits / put in a stainless steel pot and cook at slow temperature for 45mn.
- If you like sweet things, serve with vanilla flavoured brown sugar: take one full vanilla bean and 5/6 spoon of brown sugar and powder in a coffee grinder.
Serve warm or cold.
Sprinkled with vanilla sugar - Plate by FRENCH MOOD / Traditional stoneware compotier from Poterie Renault
Home made vanilla sugar - Bowl from CAPRICORNIA / wooden spoon by SHOPU
Chocolate cake to serve with apricot compote - Wooden tray by AKEMI YA / Horn and wood spoon by FRENCHMOOD
Use your compote as your "fond de tarte" - pan from COUSANCES / Chopping board by FRENCHMOOD
ADDRESSES
- Marché Daumesnil - Avenue Daumesnil / 75011 Paris (les Mardi / Jeudi / Dimanche de 8h a 14h30)
- Cast iron pan COUSANCES was a French cookware manufacturer known for enameled cast iron pans (cocotte in French). The company was aquiered by Le Creuset in 1957. To this day, Cousances brand continued to be manufactured by Le Creuset. http://www.lecreuset.fr
- Cecile Vasselin Artist - Atelier Capricornia / 63 rue de Metz / 32000 Auch / +33 (0) 652676656
- Poterie Renault - 99 Rue nationale / 18410 Argent-sur-Sauldre / +33 02 48 73 63 71
- Brown hand-thrown dessert plate: FrenchMood / http://www.frenchmood.fr
- Wooden spoon - Shopu / http://www.shopu.fr
- Wooden tray - AKEMI YA Japan/ http://akemiya.com