Buying food

 

A kid, who was in my homeroom a lifetime ago, and I reconnected on Facebook. He told me how he taps his trees and how much maple syrup he gets. Sometimes it is hard to get Vermont or Canadian maple syrup. When it appears, we stock up.

It triggered memories of my grandmother heating the syrup and pouring it on fresh snow to make a candy. The pieces were assigned equally between my mother, brother and me.

But it also reminded me of the way we food shop.

In Geneva for a whil,e we had a local farmer deliver a bag of groceries every Monday. He had a list  of things we didn't want like fennel. It was a fun surprise to see what each bag contained and how we would use it. 

We did discontinue it because there were weeks when too much went to waste. Also we discovered the same farmer set up a stand every Friday in front of the elementary school and we could control quantity while still enjoying freshness and supporting local business.

 When we are in France our local green grocer meets all our veggie needs and some of our cheese needs. In season cherries come from the nearby village of Ceret, wild asparagus will be brought in from a local man, and the honey appears in combs. Also, in the fall, she will have the walnuts from Grenoble. When we're lazy we'll buy the ones already shelled.

At Chez Elisbaeth's there can locally made yogurt, wines from local producers, and more than once we find friends or other customers to exchange news or theories on life.

I should add, we can also visit a farm and meet the goats that produced the milk that made our goat cheese. We've learned that two of the goats are friends, which one is more of a loner by choice and who was a great mother. 

She has some specialty cheeses with different herbs. My favorite has nettles, something I would never have thought of. 

It's a place we've taken guests, especially kids who have no idea where their food comes from. If we don't go there, we can buy some from the same producer at the Saturday marchés.

The same with honey. There's a man on the marché that has his own bees. He sells honey-related products like candles and candy.

Joel is our olive dealer. He has many kinds culled from his trees and displayed in pans. I buy less olives now. However, when I do buy them, I can buy half a handful and mix black, green, spiced, stuffed, not stuffed. 

Another dealer has big bottles of his olive oil from the local co-operative.

Before I married, I seldom bought meat, but there are two local butchers I use from the four available. One is lovely young Muslim couple. They also have Mideastern food that I would have to go to Perpignan to find. The other has equally good meat and supplies our Thanksgiving turkey each year. Both places are a pleasure to go into with their smiling faces and helpful attitudes if I have questions.

I'm sure the other butchers are as good, but I can only spread my business so far. I want to support the locals wherever I can.

In Geneva, there's a local butcher who has side dishes as well. He always has a big smile as we chat.

If I'm going to buy sausage , I usually do it on the marché. What a choice of about 10 different kinds!

Bread? Baked the same morning when we buy it in ASM. We have two favorite bakeries within walking distance of the house. If we walk the dog early, the baking smell fills the air.

 Rick has one favorite bread bought at the supermarket in Vesenaz. Yes, I said supermarket. We call it Julia Bread for the woman who introduced it to us. I have another favorite bread bought at the train station in Geneva. It reminds me of the Portuguese bread I used to buy when I went to Rhode Island regularly. And there's the chestnut bread we get from the bakery shown above. More than once we will come out with one of their fruit tartes.

Maize bread is bought both in Geneva and ASM. 

When Rick is away or playing golf at lunch time in ASM, I will buy fish from the fish monger. Most of his wares were swimming in the Med yesterday if not that morning. 

In ASM, there's also a man who makes things like couscous, roast meats, and some regional dishes that we can buy when we're too lazy to cook and don't want to spend time in a restaurant. His store front opens up onto the street. 

We eat well, very well. Food shopping is an experience that adds to the quality of my life, not a chore that takes time from my life.