Anyone who goes to a marché in Paris always knows what fruit or vegetable is in season because there will suddenly be stand after stand of green beans or asparagus or peaches or plums or …
The same is true of the supermarket – those items are usually the promos.
And the same, of course, is true of the marchés in villages all over France, ‘tho the produce there may indeed vary by region. Normandy has apples; the Midi has apricots.
But what separates those who live in a village or who know someone who lives in a village from the tourists is that they will rarely buy the in-season produce at a market. They either know someone who grows the stuff and always has extra or they know where to find it for free.
Since it’s June, cherries are a classic example.
Just before I left California, I was shopping at Whole Foods – the first cherries of the season! Only $4.00/lb. Who could resist? Somehow my little bag of cherries was $6.00 but they were worth it.
Then, I made my first trip to a market the day I arrived in France, what did I see but the first cherries of the season. Only 4€/kilo. I knew a bargain. And this time my little bag of cherries was only 3€ but with the exchange rate, I wasn’t sure that I had made out so well.
Then, once I got settled down here, it hit me. Why did I buy cherries?
My afternoon walk on Tuesday confirmed my suspicion. I came home with a bag full of white cherries. At least I hadn’t bought those!
The next few days, however, were worse. Not only did I gather a good quart's worth, this time of red cherries (yes, the ones I had bought), but when I dropped by a neighbor’s to say a quick hello, I was sent home with another kilo or so -- they, too, had taken a walk and had no room in the fridge for their bounty.
So, what do you do when the unthinkable happens – too many cherries.
That’s why clafoutis were invented.
