Ginger and Nutmeg is a Food and Travel blog for Active Foodies hooked on travelling. We love food, history and digging into cultural traditions. This is a blog with a bit of humour, informative travel information and some great recipes.
Eygalières is a beautiful village located in the heart of the Alpilles in Provence. The town has a population of barely 1,800 souls, most of whom live in another locale on a regular basis. The number of residents swells in the spring and summer months as the homes and hotel rooms fill. Owners and staff at the local cafés and restaurants work hard during these months serving the throngs of visitors.
The setting for Eygalières is idyllic; a medieval village perched on a hill offering views of the Alpilles and Mont Ventoux. The hamlet has one bustling main street filled with three cafés, two bakeries, a butcher, two groceries, several restaurants and too many real estate agents.
Think Sex And the City; Think Eating & Drinking; Think Shopping; Think Fun and what do they all have in common? Things that friends love doing together. All the essential ingredients for a home party!
Anne Trager is an American who has been living in France for more than 25 years. You could say she’s had many lives there. She first trained to be a chef and a wine taster and, of course, learned to speak French. For several years she worked in restaurants and also as a private chef for a collection of famous people. Then she decided to do something completely different and started an editorial career, first by translating, writing and creating recipes of course, followed by any number of other topics. Another change and she used her writing and creative skills doing marketing and image development for communication agencies and some of the biggest companies in the world. Her last move is without a doubt the boldest of them all: she created her own publishing house, called Le French Book. But as she puts it herself: “it’s just the result of all my experiences put together: this is what I was born to do.” Read on to know all about it. You can follow her on Twitter @LeFrenchBook.
Don’t let your mother tell you that the Internet is a scary place! Nutmeg has met so many interesting people via Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest that she has decided to start a Guest Blog Thursdays, so they can share their stories. Volia:
Aidan Larson is an American mom of three navigating her way through life in France and writing about it on her blog: Conjugating Irregular Verbs. She writes from her dining room table in the south of France in between motherhood, French lessons and perfecting her oeuf en croute. If you want to read more from Aidan she can be found on her blog site Conjugating Irregular Verbs (letters from my dining table in the south of France).
Delphine the owner of Crêpes, Cidre et Companie, in Aix en Provence, is a lovely blend of Spanish roots and a childhood spent in northern France. Her Bretonaise heritage is recreated daily in the tiny kitchen at 23, rue de la Cépède in Aix. Her crêpes and galettes (savoury crêpes) are made with love, and she does not skimp on ingredients – lots of butter, whole milk and eggs. You can read more about her crêpes here.
Delphine serves some other traditional treats from her hearth. There are usually (if not sold out) delicious, buttery cookies and sometimes if you are very lucky a slice of her traditional Far Breton. This dessert from Brittany is a tasty delight somewhere between a flan and a pudding. A Far Breton is similar to a Clafoutis or a Fiadone from Corsica. The key ingredient, much like for perfect crêpe batter is flour.
Far is the word for flour in Brittany. With origins as a savoury dish made with buckwheat flour, Far Breton was traditionally served with roasts in the 18th century. As tastes changed and refined products became readily available the recipe evolved into the sweet dessert that is enjoyed today.
The recipe is very simple. It is best to eat Far Breton slightly warm, the day it is made, as it can get a bit dense when it cools. The flan can be made with pitted prunes or apples. Delphine makes hers with prunes, so that is the one that Nutmeg attempted. Note: (in France sucre vanillé is sold in packages, you can make your own with a vanilla bean and white sugar or use one teaspoon of vanilla extract – not too much as you do not want the batter to change colour)
Ingredients
1 Cup White Flour
⅔ Cup White Sugar
1 Package (roughly 1 tablespoon) Vanilla Sugar (Sucre Vanillé) or Extract - see note 4 Large Eggs
4 Cups Milk (2%)
½ Cup Pitted Prunes
2 oz Dark Rum
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F)
In a small bowl soak the prunes in the rum
In a mixing bowl combine the flour and sugar together
Add the eggs one at a time and whisk each one well
Add the vanilla sugar (or extract) and the milk; make sure to blend together well
Finally, add the prunes and the rum
Pour the batter into a buttered pan
Bake for approximately 55-60 minutes; check the progress a couple times during the cooking the centre should not jiggle too much
The flan will rise and then fall after you remove from the oven
Due to his sojourn in France, Ginger missed the Calgary Stampede in 2011. He barely survived the separation anxiety, and certainly would not have made it without the heavy dose of local, Camarguaise ranching heritage. Surrounding Arles and Nimes, there are a plethora of regional events within a vast geographical area. Every small town hosts a summer celebration in honour of the local patron saint. These events typically include lots of entertainment for all ages. Space permitting, in the villages, there are usually rides and games for kids. Daytime and well into the wee hours there is plenty to amuse the older folks; village meals, rocking musical acts and numerous displays of horsemanship with the bulls.
Ginger and Nutmeg is almost 3 years old, time for a makeover; a new lipstick colour and a sleek haircut. With a growing reader audience and social media following based in North America and Europe, Nutmeg decided it was time for a refreshed look.
Ginger and Nutmeg is a Food and Travel blog for Active Foodies hooked on travelling. We love food, history and digging into cultural traditions. This is a blog with a bit of humour, informative travel information and some great recipes.
Perfectly Provence provides a vast online resource for all things Provence, France. Whether you are about to travel to Provence or currently live their as a local or ex pat, we have curated the region’s best experts to bring you everything you need to know. Perfectly Provence is all about great regional cuisine, France travel tips, local markets and things to do in Provence. Bon Voyage!
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Ginger and Nutmeg is a weekly travel blog for worldly foodies.
Ginger and Nutmeg is a digital travel guide aimed at an adult English speaking audience. These are educated, tech-savvy tourists and locals who want to understand unique stories and details behind a destination’s sights and tastes.
