Au Marché des Saveurs & Couleurs

A Market of Flavors and Colors 

Here I am in the South of France and my belly is full of the wonderful regional products that my sister and I purchased in the morning at the Saturday market in Sommières.  (here is a video that shows the market aka le marché) in action.  In America, local, artisinal, organic, from-scratch and DIY are buzzwords reflective of the style of food that is coming back in fashion (thankfully) and often used as marketing and a reason to jack up the prices (boo); but here local, organic and DIY is normal and often less expensive than the supermarket.  The market sells everything from cheeses and spices to baskets and mattresses. 

I bought one of these awesome market baskets, you will see me toting it around DSM when I get back.

The typical foods of the region are plentiful.  Being so close to the Mediterranean, there are plenty of olives (les olives), one of my personal favorite snacks.  From my first trip to France, I fondly remember eating the olives from a gentleman who had several giant barrels of olives cured in different ways.  He was very kind (he did not disappoint this time either) and I was charmed by one barrel of olives in particular that was labeled "my father's recipe".  They were slightly spicy with peppers and pimentos. 

Me & The Olive Guy

We also picked up some sausage (le saucisson) prepared in the charcuterie fashion, all different preparations hanging around, literally, in the open air. And oh, the cheese stands.  Heaven!!  Knowing there is no shortage of cheese around to be eaten meal after meal, snack after snack we decided to take it easy and only get two kinds.  A nice soft goat cheese (le chèvre) a specialty of the Cevennes Mountains nearby and a sheep's milk cheese called beaufort des montagnes.

Platter of regional delights from the Languedoc-Roussillon: the sheep's milk cheese; saucisson, bread bien sur!!, the chèvre and the olives.  Bon Appetit!!

I probably don't need to tell you that everything was delicious.  But, yes, it was. 

I continue to eat too much and enjoy every bite.