My southern French chunky aubergine tapenade

Tapenade is everywhere In Nice, served with your aperitif, as a starter, there’s even a restaurant named after the stuff!
This southern French speciality is one of my favourite snacks or lunch. However I am not too keen on the ones that are a little too overpowering on the anchovy taste, hence the reason why I invented my own.
You can find such a variety of different tapenades here, including roasted red pepper tapenade, green and black olive tapenade, tomato tapenade and my favourite, aubergine tapenade! It’s amazing! I don’t know why I haven’t discovered it before but it is going to be a common snack or lunch made in my kitchen from now on. Simple, tasty and full of olive oil goodness. My tapenade can be eaten hot or cold, on some crusty baguette or toast, served a salad. It keeps for days and serves ¾ for a light lunch. If desired, you can add a couple of anchovies or capers to the mix.

Ingredients:
1 medium aubergine
8 black olives, stones removed and roughly chopped (I prefer to use olives with stones in as I believe they have more flavour than pitted ones!)
A few tablespoons of good olive oil
1 fat clove of garlic
Salt and pepper

Method:
1. Heat your oven to 190C. Wash and chop your aubergine into small chunks, leaving the skins on (gives it more flavour and texture plus there’s more nutrients in the skin!) peel and finely chop your garlic.
2. Spread the aubergine chunks out on a large roasting tin, sprinkle with the chopped garlic, 2/3 tablespoons of olive oil and season well. Leave to roast for around 40 minutes, tossing halfway.
3. Chop up your olives and place into a bowl big enough to hold the aubergine chunks. Once the aubergine is cooked, add everything (including the olive oil in the roasting tin) into the bowl and with a fork roughly mash everything together until combined.
It is important to mash when hot as it is a lot easier!
Voila! Eat hot or cold! 

The healthiest, most fulfilling salad ever eaten

It’s healthy January. I am going to the gym, eating lots of seasonal fruit and veg and lowering my carb intake (for a while anyway – baguettes and homemade chips just call out for me to eat them sometimes.) So, I came up with this salad to eat. I managed to find a butternut squash in an organic stall in the market (uncommon in France – they usually sell watery, tasteless spaghetti squash) so thought of some loveeeellyy meals to make with it. Genuinely never felt more satisfied after eating a salad. If you think they are only for light lunches or starters, think again. It’s also super healthy, full of avocado, spinach, lentils (protein-packed and cheaper than lean meat/fish), olive oil and a bit of feta cheese for flavour and protein.

Serves 2 for dinner (big plates!)
Ingredients:
½ butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes.
½ red pepper, cut into cubes.
400g tin of puy lentils, drained and rinsed.
A few handfuls of washed spinach.
Few handfuls of rocket and lambs lettuce.
Cherry tomatoes, halved (as many as you like)
Feta cheese, crumbled (again, as much as you like)
To make the dressing:
2 tbsp good olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon wholegrain mustard.

Method:
1. Prepare your squash and pepper, in a roasting tin, lug a few tbsp olive oil over and season. Place in a preheated oven (180C) for around 45minutes until nicely roasted.
2. In a large salad bowl, add your salad leaves, tomatoes and lentils. Make your dressing by shaking all the ingredients in an old jam jar (make sure it’s well sealed!) or stir vigorously in a bowl. Once combined, add to your salad and toss so everything is covered.
3. Once your squash is cooked, divide the dressed salad onto two plates, top with the squash and pepper, and sprinkle over the feta cheese and sliced avocado.

Farmers market, Nice

If you venture north of the Nice Ville train station (a seldom-practiced activity for tourists and locals alike) and you will come across the biggest open air market in Nice. Hop off at the Libération tram stop and you will find yourself in the middle of the buzzing market. It’s a great place to people watch so before you lug your buys home, sit yourself outside a cafe for ten minutes and observe!

 

 

 

Tens of market traders come down from the hinterland to sell their fresh flowers, seasonal fruit and vegetables, honey, jams, cheese and other produce every day bar Monday. It is a truly huge farmers market – yet a little more rustic and not so middle-class orientated and expensive as the ones we have in the UK. It’s no wonder that it’s so popular with prices that are genuinely cheaper than supermarkets, including the Organic produce stalls.

 

 

 

You can even barter with the stall holders to get a better price – great French practice too! Despite being half asleep during my mission there today I managed to get 3.50Euros worth of parsnips for 1Euro as all the decent sized ones had sold out and all that was left were the skinny, weedy looking ones (I went out to a friend’s housewarming party last night so it was quite an effort to get up and go before the market closes at lunchtime…)
Also near the Place du Général de Gaulle is a small under-cover market selling speciality cheeses, pastas and cured meats. Oh I love being so close to Italy! There is also a fish market on one side of the Place selling fresh produce.
It’s so great that here in Nice most people use the market to buy their groceries. It’s a shame that in the UK it has diminished. Like here in Nice, it would be a win-win situation if we had more of a market culture in the UK as producers could successfully sell their produce at cheap prices (no supermarket middle man!) to a demanding customer base. I love the UK farmers markets and I’m pleased to see that they are being supported more and more. For me however, trips to the farmers markets are a rare treat due to my student budget! 

So, when in Nice, avoid the overpriced, touristy Cours Saleya market in the Old Town although and head here for an authentic French market experience!

 

 

Galette des rois

At this time of the year you cannot walk into a supermarket, boulangerie or café without being confronted with a huge variety of different galletes des rois. 
Originally eaten to celebrate the epiphany, they are now more of the French mince pie – a special gateau only eaten for a few weeks of the year.

Traditionally they are a brioche pie filled with frangipane. However, you can buy ones today that are filled with chocolate cream, salted caramel, topped with chocolate and pretty much anything tasty you can think of!

In the boulangeries of Nice I also have come across rings of brioche topped with candid fruit next to the traditional galletes. A few minutes on Google image trying various combinations of couronne (crown) brioche, noel, rois blah blah I finally figured out that they are a special variety to the South. Even more choice of galettes for me to taste yaaay!

The best part of theses however, (and no, for once it is not the eating!) is that inside the galette is hidden a lucky charm – la fève. And… whoever eats the slice of galette that has the charm inside, is crowned king for the day! I like this power. I’m going to buy one later for Ollie and I… do you think there is any way I can figure out where the charm is hidden?! hehehe
Picture is of all the coronnes in the boulangerie at the end of my road!

Bong Lai, Nice

Forget your Chinese takeaways, France’s equivalent is Vietnamese. Due to the influx of Vietnamese immigrants in the late 70’s, Vietnamese restaurants are in abundance in most French towns. For me, this is a welcome difference to the greasiness and over-friedness of most Chinese food I often come across in the UK today. Similar to Thai food, good Vietnamese cuisine is full of the fresh flavours of lime, coriander and chili  (I want to go back to Thailand sooooo badly!) and is one of the most appetising looking food out there.

Ollie and I visited Bong Lai, Trip Advisor’s top-rated Vietnamese restaurant in Nice the day we got back from our Christmas holidays (8pm on a Sunday night is not a time when France’s shops deem they should be open.) We had a great meal. Our waitress informed us that her restaurant had been in their family for 3 generations. Huge bowls of tasty, fresh looking food were presented to us. Our enthusiastic waitress even brought us a mango and coconut dessert on the house that she proudly presented to us as being unique to the Bong Lai!

So. From a menu of starters, soups, fish and meat. I choose zesty fish spring rolls, also filled with skinny rice noodles and coriander which came with a peanut and chilli dipping sauce. Ollie had a humongous bowl of Pho Bo, Vietnam’s most famous soup of beef and giant rice noodles in a broth of coriander, chilli, cinnamon, ginger and radish. If you have never had Vietnamese food before, try a bowl of Pho Bo, you will be converted! For our second course, I had a Mang Cua, a soup of asparagus, crabmeat and prawns flavoured with coriander, whilst Ollie had Bun Thit Nuong, pork fried with garlic, shallots, lemongrass, honey and fish sauce served on a bed of fresh rice noodles mixed with peanuts and bean sprouts. His plate came with a dipping sauce of chilli and lime.
I have had root ginger sitting in my fruit bowl for months. I should really get it out and try and cook something Vietnamese inspired!

Oliviera, Nice

Ollie and I had been planning to go for a meal here for months, as a constant contender in Trip Advisors top 10 restaurants in Nice, it was about time we paid it a visit. Situated in the old town, the restaurant-cum-olive oil shop is typical, cosy Vieux Nice building, with characterful uneven tiles, huge olive oil decanters and an open kitchen. It’s not the cheapest – between 10-16euros for an entree and 14-18euros for a main. However, good service, extremely passionate owners and excellent home cooking with a seasonal menu makes it worthwhile.

Its focus on olive oil is unique – each dish comes with a different olive oil, especially designed to suit the dish. The owner, Nadim Beyrouti, passionately explained how he chose each oil to go with each dish! It’s also provided for dipping fresh baguette into, which was a bonus considering how hungry I was this morning (waking up nearer to lunchtime is always a dilemma… is it breakfast or lunch time?!)

To start we had ‘Aubergine Oliviera’,(recipe: http://oliviera.com/recipe/aubergine-oliviera-2/ )and fresh guacamole with a salad. Aubergines and avocados rate in my selection for my desert island foods, so I was very happy! To follow, I had wintery butternut squash, spinach and ricotta lasagne and Ollie had a lentil and sausage dish. Both hearty, warming platefuls of homely cooking. We left satisfied, only to have to go Christmas food shopping with a couple of friends! Is there anything as too much food!?

Mediterranean roasted veg, avocado, coriander, feta and lemon wrap

My favourite wrap ever. We usually always roast a big batch of garlicky aubergines, peppers, courgettes and shallots most weeks to use in wraps, sandwiches, pasta salads and so on to take to work with us. Roasted veg is in my opinion the tastiest way to cook them. Slow roasting really brings out the flavour. I went to Nice’s market on the weekend and picked up some bargain veg, perfect for roasting!  This is a quick lunchtime bite or snack. Can be eaten hot or cold and you do not need all the ingredients for it to be super tasty!

Serves 1:
Ingredients:
1 tortilla wrap
2 tablespoons or so roasted veg
A couple of black olives, chopped
As much feta cheese as you desire, cubed
Squeeze of lemon
Handful of fresh coriander
Handful of rocket
Half an avocado, sliced
Good quality olive oil

Method:
1. Assemble your wrap – place the veg, olives, cheese, avocado, coriander and rocket onto the middle of your wrap. Season, squeeze over your lemon and drizzle over your olive oil. Wrap up and place in the oven for a few minutes to warm up if desired.

THE best Hummus in Nice

So last night Ollie and I walked around the corner from our apartment to check out Le Socrate, a Lebanese restaurant that according to Trip Advisor, is currently rated the 7th best restaurant in Nice. Bearing in mind there is over 900 restaurants, this is an impressive feat. After reading an article on the food in Beirut in Ollie’s ‘Esquire’ magazine (guilty pleasure of mine… they are just so insightful into the male mind!) I decided needed a fix of decent, authentic hummus and falafel. I must admit, the only hummus I have eaten (it has been a fair few gallons…) has been the supermarket kind, albeit the alternative ‘lime and coriander’ or ‘jalapeno pepper’ Sainsbury’s finest.

My favorite type of meal is that of small but perfectly formed dishes that compliment each other. For a great selection of different things, it’s usually time consuming and costs much more than your average meal. As a result, these meals are rare occasions (I got a bit too over excited about telling Ols about how much I love my family’s vast Boxing day buffet with cheese and biscuits and hundreds of nibbles and salads and smoked salmon and… OH MY GOD I LOVE FOOD. Anyway, got way too excited I dropped a great blob of hummus onto my lap – such a waste.)

However, for the 20 euro ‘Menu Socrate’, you receive a selection of mezze’s including homemade hummus, Lebanese mousakka (nicer than it’s Greek counterpart to be frank), falafel, taboulé, 3 deep fried pastry parcels (sambousek) each filled with either sheeps cheese and spices, spinach and lemon or minced meat, a delicate parsley, tomato, lemon and cous-cous salad; marinated roast chicken thigh, olives and a red pepper spread with walnuts and garlic – very spicy, eat in one of the warm flat-breads provided with salad and hummus!

It was DELICIOUS – and all for 20 euros!

To finish, we had a plate of  Baklawa – 3 bite-sized desserts – a homemade square of orange-y, nutty Turkish delight and two different nut-based pastries covered in icing sugar; a dish of Mouhalabia – a refreshing, milky, light panna-cotta type desert, lightly flavoured with orange flower and pistachio; and freshly brewed mint tea, a welcoming digestion-aide after the amount we had consumed.

Apart from the food, the one thing we both noticed was the difference in service compared to most French restaurants. You don’t expect any pleasantries (not that I am complaining – the French just generally like to be efficient without the need for chit chat – fine by me!) However, the friendly service was a positive experience compared to our usual meals out.

I tried making falafel once, and it ended up falling apart as it was way too chunky and dry. What seems to be such a simple dish is exceptionally hard to get right. I am embracing a trial and error attitude and I am going to re-attempt to make falafels as good as the ones from Le Socrate. I may even have a go at making my own hummus and other Lebanese bites of deliciousness at this rate… Watch this space!

Nice, France

At the moment I am living in Nice, Cote d’azur, for the year as part of my university studies (tough life, I know!)

The south of France is my favourite region by far, not only for the weather (I have recently decided I was born for the Mediterranean climate) but for the food and lifestyle that goes hand in hand with it.

The laid back lifestyle of the southern French contributes to the increasingly long lunch breaks. Usually, the nicer the weather, the longer the lunch break. The majority of the 900+ (!) restaurants in Nice keep their outside terraces open well into late November. If the sun is out, then it is warm enough to have a lunch or coffee outside.

The Italian influence in Nice is overwhelming when it comes to its restaurants, not that I’m complaining! You can also find excellent Corsican, Nicoise as well as north African restaurants.
The high competition between restaurants, especially in the old town, where restaurants and cafes sit side by side, allows for a good deal with a ‘formule dejeuner’ (set menu). This is  usually the freshest food as well as being excellent value for money.

There are many specialties of Nice, including socca, a flatbread made out of chick peas. You are meant to eat it by itself and it is tasty enough to do so if you want a quick, cheap snack on the run. However I prefer to have it with some ratatouille or something similar, as it can be quite dry!

Then of course, there is the nicoise salad, as well as the pan bagnant, which is basically a nicoise salad in a bun (I actually prefer it!)
The up-market reputation of the Cote d’azur has led to many speciality shops, selling the best local produce. There are a few shops specialising in olive oil which is just amazing in my eyes. I love olive oil, I once drank a shot of olive oil last year at uni after a few drinks, to show how much I love it (don’t ask – I don’t even know where this came from!) Anyway, my love is satisfied with shops that stock tens of varieties of oil, all with distinctive tastes, like wine tastings, you can have a sip of any oil you want! Some people may think olive oil is just olive oil, but oh no, it is not!

We have just ran out of our ‘drizzling’ oil – now time to try another one 😀

My boyfriend and I have made a decision to eat out way through Trip Advisor’s best restaurants in Nice, we plan on going once a week and so far, not one bad meal!

Mediterranean veg is in abundance here – aubergines, varieties of tomatoes, courgettes… which means it is cheap (YAY says the student!) I hardly go a week without roasting a tray of veg to use in a variety of dishes. On the downside, it meant that vegetables such as butternut squash are about 5euros a piece (ouch) therefore butternut squash soups are a real treat. Oh well, can’t have everything!

NOTE: I think I went on about olive oil a little too much. Hmm.