Poets, painters and puddings. These three things make the world as it ought to be.

Cap Ferrat a summers Evening

 
...........shall we have some white and green , fresh cod and home made pesto, and what about dessert the peaches are luscious at the moment. What could be more perfect than peach and almond tart with a spoonfull of creme fraiche.

So imagine guests coming for a summery evenings dinner, a beautiful house on Cap Ferrat, over looking the bay of Villefranche, palm trees, bourgainvillia, the lavender and roses, cactus a whole cacophony of plants. Crickets strumming in the back ground bees buzzing, butterflies landing on the lavender.

It is the epitome of a provencale evening. So perhaps a local wine from the Var will go well, A Chateau Rosseline, a rose to start with the tapenades and the pissaladiere.

We will eat roasted peppers and capers to start and wipe our plates clean with homemade walnut bread of olive faccachia, maybe both would be nice.

We will then be presented with our feast, a tomato sauce made with saffron and garlic and a touch of chili. Seared Aubergine and freshly steamed cod resting on the red suace, drizzled with pesto and longning to be eaten. Well then let's eat!

A pause now before the cheese course, a walk through the garden a hint of sea breeze brushing the rose petals and pausing at the lavender. the sun is going down the skiy is filled magenta and peach, leading our thoughts to our dessert and so I will leave you there in the summer evening with your thoughts and your wine and we will move back to the story and back to the boat next time.

Nice

 
Now I am going to dance about a bit with the book, I will get back to the boat later, it is just that Nice was never a port of call for us. The old port of Nice is so pretty with its deep red Italianesque buildings all around it and well worth the visist if you are ever in the area, as is the market and the famous Nice flower market, I shall give myself a moment one of these days to go and take photo's of it for the blog. After I had left the boat I worked every summer for some fabulous clients that have since become great friends in a rented villa in Cap Ferrat. I was living in Vence at this time and would drive the long and winding drive down to work, often stopping at the Market in old Nice to do my shopping.

Nice, nicoise, nicoise olives, tapenade made with green olives, made with black olives, made with anchoivies made without,made with olive oil, spread thickly on freshly baked french baguette with a spoonful of fresh chevre ( goats cheese) made the same morning from the goats grazing on the grass on the mountains above me.

Olive oil from Mougins or Opiio. How about a pissaladiere, so french so southern so easy to make, and oh oh what about roasted red pepper and huge juicy capers and a touch of white balsamic, did I hear someone mention aubergine, cooked just like a steak, seared in a hot pan with the best quality olive oil, and served with a sprinkle of cumin a touch of tamari and fresh corriander. We could dance around the tomatoes and pick the juiciest fattest ones you have ever seen and put them in our provencale basket, We could make the finest plump tomatoe suace you have ever tasted. How are we going to put it all together what are we going to di, what other ingredients should I buy to go with this red and black feast. Well I shall let you know tomorrow.

A party over

 
 
Photo taken by Kate

For my own happiness I have decided that the trip I write about now is a trip of calm waters to avoid a delayed feeling of sea sickness, I just  happen to get very sea sick, goodness knows how I managed all those years at sea.

So this is a pleasant trip just enough wind to go sailing without the motor, steady enough to keep us slicing through the water, like a knife through butter. No heaving up and down or rolling from side to side, I don't know which of htose is worse. Just nice enough that we can have the fore hatch open and a breeze comes through the galley to soothe my feavoured brow. On a beautiful day sailing along the south coast of France, with the Alpes Maritimes as the back drop, I feel blessed with my lot. We stop for the guests to swim, the stewardesses lay the table and prepare drinks> I am happy with my buffet, all I have to do now is garnish the dishes, and the garnish is usually gone with the wind! Clean up the galley and serve the hungry crew.

My sailing days are a long time ago, but are vivid in my mind as an extraordinary experience for a London based chef and caterere. Grey streets and rainy days, dark restaurant kitchens with florescent lights, what a change then for this, azure blue seas and skies, mountains rising out of hte coast line, palm trees and white houses with purple, orange and pink bourganvillia stretching itself over them with such pleasure and happiness. Pretty beaches and near naked people, grand buildings exuding wealth and a certain contentment. whilst the guests ate their lunch I would sit on the bow of the boat and gaze at my surroundings literally pinching myself to see if it were true. Time now to sail back to port, say goodbye to the guests, clear up wash down the boat and get ready to go dancing. I am far too old to do it now nor would I want to , at least not all night as I used to in those days, dawn was often up to greet us as we made our way back to the boat.

I did not know then that I would settle and live in the South of France and it would become my home and my place of work.

Monaco, Cap D'Ail, Beausoleil, Villefranch, Nice.

Nice, ................a demain

And a bit more

 

Everything is looking so lovely and I am cooking for sixteen, so I am cooking a buffet, it is now 7.30 am and I am in a rush. I need to buy everything and get back to the boat, prepare it all and put it all away ready for later before we pull up the anchor at 11 am. I mustn't forget to make lunch for the crew who are always hungry.

The parsley and corriander look so good, I shall make a taboule, the tuna looks so fresh and bouncy I shall make seared tuna steak with lightly curried sauce seafood platter, salade caprese, fillet of beef with crisped aubergine slices and roasted red peppers, a cheese platter with assorted goats cheese, local only, followed by raspberry tart and homemade vanilla ice cream.

Everyone is in a hurry to make the boat look as perfect as possible, I rush to cook the buffet all at once in a very small and awkward space. The cooker is in a passage way and the crew blast through at a great pace whilst I sautee calamari and steam langoustine, chop sundried tomatoes and marinate tuna fillets. A handfull of herbs go flying as another deckhand knocks into me as he hurries to the aft of the boat to check on stowage of the anchor chain. Mr Blake has arrived with his guests, all stations go, I am not ready, things get thrown into the sink, wet tea towels and rubber matting are need to hold down dishes. Quivering langoutstine and lively lobster are ready for the pot, oh heavens what a momentary mess. We are off, hatches down, sails up, two hours to our destination, as long as it isn't rough I have time to sort and clear. To make suaces and to sweep up herbs. We usually fo to Villefrance for a day sail. It can be a foul or pleasant experience according to weather conditions........