How long do culinary memories last?

Vacation in Douarnenez and the visit of the market hall happened half a year ago. What sticks after such a long time? What kind of memories and feelings remain?

Douarnenez is a popular coastal vacation spot in Brittany, France. Having visited it in autumn meant that only a few tourists remained and life was less busy. A time of the year I appreciate.

Visiting the market hall a couple times, I was every time surprised to see it that it was rather empty than full of stalls. What a pity. Not only for me but also as a window of the city towards its inhabitants and visitors.

There is always something one can count on at French markets or market halls: the quality of the produce is superior. This is something I envy as a German. Not that things are bad here, but France is in a different category for most produce.

Also in the Douardenez market hall any eye could easily spot the nice stuff and even better: remember it after such a long time.

Sustainable fishing

The lady fish monger with a dozen or so boxes presented with pride the catch of her husband with his boat Saint Anne 2. She spent time to explain that fishing was done in a sustainable way in the nearby waters. There is even an association of sustainable fishermen of the region who make sure that the concept of ocean to table can be reality. While her husband is fishing, she is the one selling their fish on the market with a lot of charm. Her conviction and dedication still lives in my memory and I spent some time to look up information on the boat and the association as I did not write down the information – one of my usual mistakes.

Spices and fat

Spending vacation in a holiday flat comes with some limitations on cooking. Looking for the easy stuff becomes second nature. So sausages for the pan are an obvious choice for me. Good ones lead to a world of new aromas and sensations. The sausages from the butcher were different to the Bratwurst I am used to and this was nice. The spicy Merguez becomes more and more widespread to my delight, they filled our little kitchen with some nice aromas which lasted until the next day. Even better there was some pure salted fat. As I am the only one in the family eating something like that, I had little feasts just for myself. This fat on a toasted slice of baguette was heaven.

Modern Vietnamese

Then the Vietnamese food stall. I forgot how the lady came to Douarnenez, a city which did not give the impression of being multi-cultural. But it wasn’t a simple story. So her stall was different to the more traditional ones around her. In France, I believe, it is easy to see that food traditions are very important and alive, even if the influx of North African, Vietnamese and partly Subs Saharan cuisines is making its mark, for example with Merguez or nem. So I was quite impressed how the lady found her home in this region bringing new flavors to the city, beyond the classic spring rolls being sold at any larger market in the country. We tried some sardines (very Douarnenez) with some Asian style marinade and filling. I do not remember the details, but I remember that the combination was a delight. So much about food memories and how they last.

Heroines on the wall

Douarnenez was once an epicenter of sardine fishing and processing (canning). Mainly women and girls worked in the sardine factories. The working conditions being poor, led to successful strikes of those women, the best known one in 1924. Having such strong, well organized women seems to still leave marks in the society. At least this is how I interpret the photo exhibition in the market hall with portraits of women from the strike times, resistance against the German occupation in World War II and other women in various civil institutions having shaped the local society. These photos were distributed across the whole hall, making sure that they could not be missed.

This, together with the Vietnamese stall, gave me the impression that modern times have arrived in this city.

All in all: The market hall in Douarnenez is also in post season a good place to find quality produce and a free history lesson.

A little link list:

• The website of the Douarnenez market hall
• The Martime parc d’Iroise with a video clip on the Saint Anne 2 fishing boat
• The Facebook page of the Vietnamese deli stall
• Other posts on markets in Bretagne / Brittany

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Approaching the Quimper market

I got to know the little cows breed Bretonne Pie Noir, kind of pony size, but this was not the only interesting encounter I had at the outdoor market in Quimper in Bretagne (Brittany).

Already approaching the market was pleasant, as we passed by a little barrage at the “Le Steir” river. This sight transferred me immediately into a different mood, away from modern life with all its technologies right into an old days ambiance.

Greatness

But the market is not about the past, it was about great products. Lots of vegetables and fruit, artisan cheeses, dairy, meat and sausages, some bread and pastry. All the classic basics one needs for a cuisine of love at home. The market just exuded pleasure of life, people appreciating food not only of a means to survive and going for the best what nature and farmers have to offer. This is what I like about markets and what carries me away into the greatness this planet is able to provide.

Talking to producers

It is always nice at a market when a producer has time to tell about his life, craft and products. Often they are very busy, but when the moment is right the poor person is bombarded with my questions. And most of the time the market people are happy to share stories beyond the usual ones. I guess it is the same as with most humans. The owner of La Ferme de Kerdelliou had a bit of time for me.

The gentleman is producing milk and dairy products on his own farm, which to my surprise he only started a couple years ago. It baffles me very time when I see an adult becoming a farmer. When I was young I worked in agriculture to make some money during school vacation. I like the work, but it is also a very hard one, rarely making one become rich. This is why have a deep respect for farmers, especially when they have superb products to offer.

Beforehand he was working in different jobs related to agriculture, e.g. promoting the links between urban and agricultural population, or educating kids. Then he seized the opportunity to get a farm and is now having a dozen cows of the Bretonne Pie Noir which look like the classic “black and white” milk cows but are much smaller, kind of pony size. There are only a few herds of this breed left worlwide. According to Wikipedia only 15 000. So I am happy to see that somebody is supporting to agricultural diversity, it enriches food culture and makes it more interesting.

He likes the quality of their milk which is higher in fat and protein in comparison to the ones of traditional breeds. He produces a nice variety of dairy products on in his farm house. If you look on his Facebook profile you will get a good impression. I got a glass of Quark (fresh cheese in English?), it had a very nice taste, not as bland as I am used to when getting it from a supermarket.

The only Hipster stall

I visited a few markets in France. From what I saw they never seem to adapt to a Hipster culture with their demand for new types of (processed) foods. But one guy, the one with the tiniest stall at the market (see photo gallery on top) was selling Korean foods like Kimchi with the claim “Eat Korean, live well”. He is married to a Korean which made him want to sell such home made products in the market. A nice addition to the overall choice, even though I am not sure how successful the couple is.

The weird stuff

Markets are often a place to discover some unknown foods. So was the “Tourteau fromagé” a round pastry based on fresh goat cheese. The top side is kind of burnt, thus black, reminding me somehow of a naval mine. But the inside is very soft and fluffy, a bit sweet. Quite an unusual pastry, but worth a purchase as it tastes nice. Still the look is unique.

What did I buy?

Well, the market provided many temptations. As usual the eyes are bigger than the stomach, but this time my ratio was stronger. Very tasty heritage tomatoes, went into the basket as well as other vegetables. Furthermore a beautiful cheese “Le Ramoneur” very ripe almost remembering a bit a blue cheese in taste. Sausages of course. The Tourteau fromagé went directly into the stomach, the above mentioned Quark served us for a couple days. My my stomach was very pleased.

In Quimper there is also a larger market hall, so it was about time to head this direction. But the time spent on the market was truly worth it.

All in all: The market in Quimper delivers pleasant moments, quality produce and interesting producers. A joy to be there, pure happiness. Also for the little cow breeder.

A little link list:

• The Quimper tourisme site with all the markets of the city (French)
• The Facebook page of the cow breeder – La Ferme de Kerdelliou
• The Facebook page of the Korean stall – Matin Calme (calm morning)
• My other posts on French markets

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First things first!

What do you do first when you arrive at your vacation destination? Visit the market of course! So we had to get up a bit earlier on that wonderful day to drive to Pont-l’Abbé in the Bretagne (Brittany in English) region of France to get to the market in a decent time.

The setting of the produce section of the market at the Place Gambetta is very nice as it is contoured by linden trees. The two rows of stalls were facing each other, making strolling and buying very convenient. It was off-season, still plenty of people were making their purchases on this Thursday.

When reaching a new market I am always a bit nervous and hectic. What am I going to expect? How many stalls does the market have? Will I discover something new? What is the specialty on this market? Those are all the questions coming to my mind. And then I want to take pictures without annoying people. In short: I should learn to relax a bit One day I will.

Getting the overview

First I made a quick tour getting an idea what the market is about. The one in Pont-l’Abbé is what I call a typical French market: produce focused, predominantly from the region, often from producers themselves who are willing to have a chat and tell you about their products. There is nothing hipster like to discover, not a lot of streetfood. It seems to me that the innovations themselves have been the occurrence of organic produce and payment via credit card only. In short: the market is about seasonal quality produce for the daily cuisine which is made from scratch.

The offering is a classic one: vegetables, fruit, cheese, (salted) butter, meat & sausages, a bit of bread and pastry, mushrooms, etc. Still as a tourist who cannot store a lot of things, there is something to buy and eat. Strangely enough I did not see fish despite Pont-l’Abbé being a coastal town. It seems rather to be a business of the market halls.

What were the discoveries?

We were lucky as we had a stove, fridge and dishwasher (!) in our vacation home: no significant restrictions for shopping.

I come from sausage country, especially those you just put in the pan. And I was lucky. The producer “La ferme de Kérautret” raises his own animals, get them killed in a nearby slaughterhouse before processing them into the right cuts and sausages. The reason for the animals not being killed on site are the EU laws with their standards including hygiene which makes is hard to maintain an own small slaughterhouse. I got some duck and pork sausages which were gone instantly in the evening after a long day on the road (I am not afraid of having food away from a fridge for a longer period of time). They were certainly worth the purchase, such great taste, no need to add anything, not even my beloved mustard.

And then the tomatoes from an organic stall. At home tomatoes are usually a disappointing experience for me. It does not matter where I buy them, they never seem to have a truly great taste. A friend of mine recently went to the Romanian country side and discovered how much taste they can really have. I was jealous since I am looking for years into such an experience. Here they had different colors and shapes. Yellow, green, red, round, egg shaped. In the evening I just cooked them all in one pot for a sauce and I was surprised: such a nice play of acidity and sweetness, it was truly great. Something you could truly call a tomato.

I also purchased some nice salted butter and cheese from a small organic stall. The Bretagne cake we bought from a bread and pastry stall was rather uninteresting. The honey from buckwheat or chestnut areas had real intense aroma and made its way back home.

Street food

What is “always” to be found on French markets are a certain type of take-away food stalls. Usually they have huge pans (1m in diameter perhaps) on a stove. Classic foods are paella or couscous, but also other dishes I am less familiar with. We skipped these ones, but tried some vegetarian samosas from a Vietnamese (?!) stall. Great taste, complex and very pleasant level of heat.

By the way: it is easy to heat up your food, there is a public (?) microwave not far from the produce section, in front of the market hall.

Epilogue

Was it worth to have visited the market as the first thing? For sure! We got a taste of the area and had something to eat in the evening. In one of the next posts I will report about the market hall in Pont-l’Abbé.

One little remark: I described mainly the produce section at the place Gambetta, the larger part of the market is at the place de la République in front of the market hall around the corner where the majority of the stalls are to be found, but they less produce ones.

All in all: The market in Pont-l’Abbé is a classic French market with all the goodies you need for cooking and a little bit of take away food.

A little link list:

• The market mentioned on the homepage of the city of Pont-l’Abbé
• The site of the ferme de Kérautret who had such great sausages
• My other posts on French markets

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