Slow shopping in Nice
Nothing is more tantalizing than a local French market on
the Côte d’Azur
One of the first things I do when I visit a new place is to
check out the local market. I have to say a recent trip to Barcelona left me
disappointed. Rather a lot of salt cod and tired fruit and vegetables. Maybe it
was a bad day, but it didn’t bring out the usual cook in me.
By contrast, coming home to Nice on the French Riviera was
an inspiration. Sometimes you need to leave home to appreciate home.
Saturday morning I grabbed my shopping bags (I know that I
should paint a scene of Provençal wicker baskets here, but as locals we use
plastic reusable Carrefour supermarket bags) and headed for our very local,
local market.
Every day, except Mondays, stalls set up outside the church
square in our neighbourhood, St Roch in Nice. It’s a small city market but it
has everything you could want in the way of fresh seasonal fruit and
vegetables. It’s a pleasure taking the time to shop like this. The stall owners
all want to know what you are cooking, offer their opinion and recipes and
always throw in for free fresh bunches of basil, parsley and some lemons.
Glorious food
There are bigger markets in Nice such as the Cours Saleya in
the Old Town (we leave it to the tourists for most of the year, especially the
summer) and at Liberation (a fabulous huge Niçoise market). But we are spoilt
having this little one our doorstep. This Saturday I headed home with baby
aubergines, sweet tomatoes, glorious peppers (perfect for making the
traditional Provencal dish of legumes farci), rose-tinged garlic, fresh salad,
roquette, melons, nectarines, flat white peaches (to be eaten immediately with
great greedy slurping noises), local olive oil … with, of course, armfuls of
the ubiquitous heaven scented basil for a pesto feast.
The local butcher is another stopping off point. Seats are
placed around the counter as you need to wait and chat, and wait and chat.
That’s how it is done here. Slow food at it’s best. The outdoor farm chicken I
picked out, although thankfully dead, still needed its head and feet cut off,
and insides removed (and given to me separately for pâté or to enrich a sauce).
The remnants of feathers were then blow-torched. Seasoned inside and out with
Provençal herbs and trussed, I finally had my prize.
Then there is the boulangerie … but you get the picture. By
12ish you are home having spent 2 hours or so doing the food shopping (3 if you
stop for an espresso) and are ready to cook lunch.
The phenomenon in the UK, US and other Anglo countries of
farmers’ markets doesn’t happen here. Every market in Nice is a farmers’ market
of sorts. It is a way of life in the South of France, even in the cities. It’s
a manner of shopping that takes time and couldn’t be more enjoyable. If you are
visiting the Côte d’Azur, there will be a market near you, so please do get up
early, grab your plastic carrier bag and check it out.
For information and help buying property on the Côte d'Azur, contact us on home@coteabode.com
website www.coteabode.com
