To the market! (And, of course, lunch)

Today’s special Sunday market seemed to be another success for Daglan, with plenty of tourists (and locals) crowding into La Place de la Liberté, shopping at the stalls, and picking up sandwiches and similar fare at the grill. My wife Jan and I were there — but, perhaps not surprisingly, we chose to have lunch in an actual restaurant.

The occasion was Daglan’s annual Promenade en Gastronomie, as I revealed in my last posting (July 28, “Ready, set, pack ’em in!”). Here’s a very quick look, starting with a stall that seemed to be “overweight garlic,” as a securities analyst might put it:

Looking up and over the rows of garlic.

There were lots and lots of vegetables, of course. At this stall, located at the side of  Daglan’s main street, Jan and I bought a few veggies, including some lovely thin green beans:

Some lovely veggies.

And here’s another look at the same stall, a bit further along the road:

Tomatoes, melons, and more.

Of course this could hardly be a market in France without a wide variety of sausages on offer, and our market had plenty:

From pork to wild boar to venison to kangaroo.

But enough of that — what about our lunch? Well, we ate outdoors on the terrace of La Cantine, the restaurant that Fabrice Lemonnier (Fabrice le Chef) runs near the Mairie (the office of our Mayor). There, Jan and I began with three oysters each, accompanied by a glass of crisp white wine. Very nice.

For the meal itself, we chose the full menu (three courses) at 25 euros, plus a bottle of rosé wine. My entrée was a crisp pastry shell surrounding some melted chèvre (goats’ cheese) and bits of apple, garnished with a small salad and walnut halves, like this:

Nice mix of flavours, textures and temperatures.

For her entrée, Jan opted for a serving of foie gras terrine, decorated with a few crisp vegetables. Here it is:

She’s a real fan of foie gras, and why not?

For the main event, we both ordered the same plat principal — a (very) generous serving of pork roasted in Marsala, served atop a bed of various vegetables. Couldn’t quite make our ways through all of our servings, as you might imagine:

That’s a very crispy top!

Of course, by cleverly avoiding the last bits of pork, we both managed to find room for the dessert — a nice serving of Peach Melba, made with local peaches:

Invented by Chef Auguste Escoffier, by the way.

Then, finally, we enjoyed cups of a good strong coffee, and headed for home. Which is, mercifully, not far from the restaurant.

 

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