Yet another street market, this time a smaller one in the Provencal town of Arles.
Nothing to see here, just sides of meats of all shapes and sizes sold to demand.
There was this stall selling all sorts of Asian condiments and spices. Things like satay sauce, soya sauce and other nifty things were on display, but unfortunately not many people were buying. There was another stall selling Vietnamese food cooked on the spot though, and that was popular. The spring rolls were pretty good.
They were also very big on spices, selling all kinds of fresh herbs, peppers, cinnamon, colourful powders and exotic-smelling flakes.
Lunch wasn't very interesting, so we'll move right on to dinner at La Maison Domaine de Bournissac.
Culture is a very interesting thing. Something completely quotidian in one culture can seem unbelievably exotic and amazing in another. Take this amuse-bouche for instance. It is, in essence, a spring roll. Not that it wasn't nice or anything, just that I'm pretty sure no one in Asia would serve a fried spring roll as an appetiser. Weird.
I had a risotto starter with poached egg, shrimp and chanterelles mushrooms. This was surprisingly good, as the risotto was perfectly cooked, neither too dense and soggy nor too light and fluffy. The poached egg added just the requisite amount of richness.
Most people opted for the pork dish, which was cooked three ways: braised cheek, grilled tenderloin and roasted rib. I don't often take pork as a main course during dinner, but this was pretty well done - the cheek was fork-tender, and the tenderloin was almost beefy. The rib though, was somewhat scanty by way of meat.
Dessert was an assortment of chocolate goodies: chocolate coulant, chocolate macaron and a chocolate cigar. The problem with chocolate desserts is that they tend to be rather rich, especially if portions are large - I couldn't finish the macaron.
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