MIREILLE’S MUSINGS: Best home meals of the summer in Provence

This last summer was a bit unusual in restaurant dining as we mostly ate at home. Many of our guests who came to spend 3 days with us, whether French, American, British or any other nationality, wanted nothing more than to stay put, relax, walk/bike/swim/play petanque, all doable without leaving the mas (farmhouse) or village. I call it “the art of doing nothing,” maybe due to our crazy society where all are on 24/7, and so collapsing and closing on the world for a few days seems like a good thing to do. And so, we took advantage of the wonderful products at the market, or better from several farmers who have now become friends and deliver their bounties, whatever they are, once or twice a week. We experimented with various cuisines and had wonderful cold soups, from gazpacho to cucumber. I made so many batches of ratatouille (never tasting the same twice, mind you), always a hit, taboule, grilled fish like red mullet (stuffed with black olive tapenade, or wrapped with a super thin slice of prosciutto), dorade (simply stuffed with some rosemary and a slice of lemon, and brushed with olive oil) or loup (sea bass stuffed with fennel) or sardines, and many, many grilled vegetables. The spectacular quality of fruit like strawberries, raspberries, cherries and apricots (for some reason the melons and peaches were not quite as great this year, or was it a let down after eating those perfect red fruits?) allowed for lots of creativity and combos with yogurt, ice cream and mascarpone, great whether fresh or quickly roasted or sautéed.

Of course, the magical breakfast was a hit, especially as it was made with “faisselle,” something that does not yet exist in the US. A small farmer who has 100 goats makes his own (mostly for restaurants and local shops), but somehow is willing to have his mom drop by to sell us a dozen a week. Maybe I charmed him by telling him that his “faisselle” is so good “one can live without it, but life is so much better with it,” and, yes, we prefer to have it.