The joys of village shopping

Let's face it...

Food shopping can be boring!

Unless you live in a village where each purchase is a personal experience with the owners as well as a decision on what we will enjoy eating.

There are several boucheries or meat markets in town. Now I am not a big meat eater but when we do buy meat and each has its advantages. All are within a five-minute walk of the house. No parking, just amble down the street.

This is owned by a young, hard-working couple. They have really good turkey products. Almost impossible to buy a whole turkey here and many ovens aren't big enough.

 For some reason we don't patronize this one, but I like their window displays.

Michel makes the best fresh mayonnaise. He also had couscous if we want to buy our lunch to take home. I used him for the smoked pork when I make New England Baked beans.

The newest Hallal butcher in town, has a lovely young man who owns it. I tend to say mahaba when I enter and shukran for thank you. He also carried bric which I made the other day and Kinder Eggs so Llara can smuggle the toys into the US. (Kids can have guns but not chocolate eggs with toys inside).

I also do business with the other Hallal butcher who has a cousin who shares recipes for what I buy. often there are people in the shop to chat with. We started doing business with him because there was some anti Muslim comments and we wanted him to know there were people in the village who welcomed him.

If I don't want meat, the fish is fresh off the boat each day. Wish Rick liked fish more, but in a restaurant the smell of cooking fish does not linger. And of course, there's the restaurant Bartavelle and Thibaut's incredible fish dishes.