Living At the Casino!

No, I have not acquired a new hobby!! Casino happens to be the name of one of the local supermarket chains. In my neighborhood, the Casino is situated on the southeast corner of the intersection of Boulevard Gambetta and Rue Bottero. It is similar in design to the supermarkets in the States, with the grand exception being the products are labeled in French!! (Surprise!!)

Upon entering the store and going through the turn-style, I find myself in the Produce Department, and I am confronted with a dizzying selection of fresh produce. The Produce Department happens to be “the budget buster” and the “time consumer” in my case!! After grabbing the staples for my petite cuisine (onions, garlic, and bell peppers), I turned my attention to fruits and vegetables that refuse to be ignored!! This week, the celery, carrots, and cauliflower begged my attention!!

After weighing and ticketing my selections, I made my way to the Meat Department by way of the “Bread Department.” There I grabbed a loaf of French bread and I decided to try the mini gaches too!! Finally arriving at the Meat Department, I pondered the selection of chicken, turkey, and what we know in the States as “rock Cornish hens.” Moving along the aisle, I reached the section containing rabbit. I examined the offerings of veal, beef, lamb, and pork. This day, though, I was searching for beef bones (os à moelle) for my soup stock. Finding none, I headed back to the poultry section where I found a bargain on chicken wings!! So, instead of French Onion Soup prepared from “hearty home made beef stock,” I am to prepare the soup using “hearty home made chicken stock.”

Leaving the meat section, I headed over to the Yogurt section. Yes, I said “section.” There one finds an immense variety of yogurt!! I deliberately avoided the smoked fish section and headed over to what I call the “Cheese Department.” Once again, I chose a block of Provolone Piquant. Since the Cheddar looked particularly enticing, I could not resist dropping a block into my basket.

As a result of the change to French Onion Soup using a base of “hearty home made chicken stock,” I visited the Wine Department to choose a “dry white wine.” I selected a reasonably priced Chardonnay, and after checking my list and confirming I had not omitted anything, I made my way to the check out counter.

With a view to quickly paying for my purchases, I decided to queue at the “self check-out” counter, given the lines for “live” cashiers were quite long. It seemed the other shoppers also had the same idea! So, I found myself in what I thought would be the “line of the quick,” given there were only four people in front of me. Of course, it turned out to be the “line of the glacially slow!! In fact, my line neighbor and I even commenced to chat. The topic of conversation? How glacially slow the line was moving, of course, and what could possibly be the cause!!

Would you like to know more? Stay tuned, Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel!!

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If It's Got a Good Beat . . .

. . . And I can dance to it pretty much sums up my “appreciation” of music.

This weekend, though, kicked off the Sixth Edition of the C'est pas Classique Festival in Nice. Commencing with the opening event Friday, 12 November 2010 which was held at the Apollon Auditorium at the Acropolis, and concluding Sunday evening, 14 November 2010, the festival is a musical feast which offers something for everyone – young, old, and even those who love “da beat.” Best of all, the events are gratis!

I took the decision to head over to the Acropolis Friday evening to “weigh in” on the concert featuring the Quatuor Ébène, an award winning classical string quartet, whose selections, according to the program, were to be melodies from their newly released recording, Fiction.

Upon arriving at the Acropolis, I assumed my place in line, which moved rather quickly given we had to go through security and given the size of the crowd. My program informed me the concert was to be held in the Auditorium Athena and, following the clearly posted markers along the way, I easily located the venue. I found the Auditorium Athena to be cozy and comfortable, given it has a seating capacity of around 750.

Moments after settling in, the lights dimmed and the show began. The members of the quartet include: Pierre Colombet, violon; Gabriel Le Magadure, violon; Mathieu Herzog, alto; and Raphael Merlin, vioncelle. They were accompanied by percussionist Richard Hery.

After opening remarks, the ensemble launched into “Les Temps Modernes,” which was followed by the melody “Nature Boy.” I thoroughly enjoyed their interpretation of “Come Together” and I was enchanted by the haunting drum solo by Mr. Hery, during which he used what appeared to be Indonesian gongs as a prelude. It was when the ensemble played Astor Piazzolla's Libertango that I become totally captivated.

The program described the quartet as “A classical string quartet that can be easily transformed into a jazz band.” I would only add: What an excellent transformation, indeed!!!

Would you like to know more? Stay tuned, Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel!!

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French Onion Soup, Part 1

The weather has turned chilly here in Nice. The coming of the cooler temps (and with everyone coughing around me) inspired me to try my hand at preparing soup in my petite cuisine. Searching the Internet revealed a million recipes. Some of the recipes were quite elaborate. Some recipes were geared towards the chef who has no time to cook. Some of the recipes required the use of chicken stock, while others required the use of either a beef or vegetable stock.

Given my petite kitchen is sparsely furnished with cooking utensils, I decided to try the recipe written for the chef who has no time to cook, which entailed using bullion cubes in lieu of real home made stock.  After preparing my shopping list of the ingredients necessary for my “quick-n-easy” soup, I was off to the supermarket.

The recipe called for Gruyere cheese as the desired topping, but when I checked the cheese section, there seemed to be every brand of cheese but Gruyere. The recipe stated I might substitute Gruyere with Swiss cheese. Interestingly, there was no Swiss cheese either. So, I decided to be daring and try the Provolone Piquant which was available in abundance!

Next came the search for the dry red wine. The selection of wines at the supermarket is enormous. With my tiny budget in mind, I selected an inexpensive Bordeaux and made my way to the check out line.

It was an interesting experience to cook without proper utensils such as a measuring cup! Although I checked while at the grocery store, there were none available. So, I had to rely on “eyeball” measurements using one of the mugs from the cabinet.

The next task was chopping six onions and a few cloves of garlic on the tiniest chopping board ever made!! While engaged in my chopping task, the bullion cubes were fast becoming my “quick-n-easy” soup stock. The longest part of the preparing of the soup is the cooking of the onions until they caramelize. Eventually, the onions began to comply and “caramelize.” Then as the recipe instructed, I combined caramelized onions, garlic, dry red wine, and stock and allowed them to simmer for a half hour.

The result? I found the soup a little on the salty side, but it was tasty! The grated Provolone Piquant over toasted bread turned out to be a delightful topping!!!

Culture Shock!

How does one write about Culture Shock? What does one write about Culture Shock? The first step, I would imagine, entails defining the “culture” which is doing the “shocking.” In this particular instance, I am defining the culture as “a certain member of the U.S. Banking system.”

As you have probably gathered from my previous blogs, my introduction to the city of Nice was one of being greeted with sunny smiles and beautiful weather which allayed my growing unease as a result of my experience with the “polite” ATM machines. My faculty adviser had thoughtfully placed an array of food items in the petite refrigerator, so I had no need to engage in the hunt for food on a Sunday afternoon. (Thank you, Madame!!)

Once the tour of my new home for the year was completed, I explained my experiences with the polite ATM machine in the States and with the currency exchange clerk in Zurich and that I had around 100 Euros total (taking into account the splurge of a cup of coffee at the airport in Zurich).

Given the full schedule of activities planned those first few days in Nice, which included a wonderful luncheon prepared and hosted by my Faculty Adviser, a tour of the city (my favorite: The Garden at the Monastery of Cimiez), and that I had arrived on a Sunday, the conclusion reached was “give the bank a few days.”

As agreed, I “gave the bank a few days,” and I plunged wholeheartedly into getting to know my “hood” or “ mon quartier.”

Would you like to know more? Stay tuned . . . Same Bat Time . . . Same Bat Channel.

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