After a fabulous day with family, and night visiting with my sister, followed by the car throwing a hissy fit, we headed out to do a little shopping before returning home.
We almost always go to Sonnie’s greengrocer when we are visiting with her – the produce isn’t always picture perfect, or as big as that in the supermarket, but it’s always packed full of flavour. Piled up on their outside display were rockmelons, and as soon as you raised one to your nose, you immediately new that the flavour was going to be amazing! I was immediately transported back to 2010, when I visted Cahors in France, where, on Saturday mornings, in Place de la cathédrale the Cahors market has taken place at the foot of the magnificent Cathedral of Saint-Etienne (a UNESCO World heritage site) for over 700 years! I have been privilieged to stroll through this market on more than one occasion, but back in 2010, I purchased a few simple items to enjoy during my stay – delicious, locally made chèvre – goat’s cheese, the freshest of strawberries, some flowers from my room, some local wine, and, of course a rockmelon – not huge like we generally find here, but small, aromatic and full of flavour – so delicious!
The town of Cahors is one of my favourite places in France, and the market, well, I think that it’s one of the best I’ve ever had the privilege to attend. A little research and you discover that this market is the pride of the local area, with many notable achievements: it was listed among the exceptional markets of France in 1996, and in more recent times was list in the 25 most beautiful markets of France in “Votre Plus Beau Marché de TF1”, a campaign to highlight the country’s best markets.
On another visit with Gary, we were at the market and noticed a sign outside the cathedral indicating that there would be a small concert commencing, so we wandered in and quietly sat in the pews toward the back, from where we were immediately asked to come up to behind the alter so we could better see and hear the performance. We were in for a treat, in front of us were two harpsichords, one quite tiny, the other, not! When the music began, sublime, beautiful, what can I say… Sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time!
Back to the melon, of course I had to buy one – yes only one. It was enough. When we arrived home later in the day, relieved that the car made it back without any more issues, everything was unpacked and put away, it was late, but we needed dinner! Something quick and easy – you guessed it… Melon! A quick salade composé of salad leaves dressed with my shallot vinaigrette, and layered with melon, good quality ham and homemade feta, how simple is that! And again I was transported back to place de la cathédrale and the market in Cahors.
Meldon, feta, ham, greens and a delicious vinaigrette!
Seeds have been saved, and the remainder of the melon was used to pull together another quick meal of morsels, and melon also makes a delicious, refreshing sorbet – just replace the berries with frozen diced melon in the recipe below.
- 250 g frozen berries
- 40 g icing sugar
- 1 small egg white
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Add the icing sugar and fruits to the bowl of your processor or Thermomix.
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Blitz 3 to 6 times on high speed (TM TURBO).
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Add the egg white and mix for 1 minute and 30 seconds. (TM SPEED 5).
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If your food processor has a whisk attachment, you may like to use it for this step. It just makes the texture a little creamier. (If using the Thermomix, insert the butterfly whisk and mix (TM – SPEED 3/ 1 Minute).
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Scrape the mixture into a container, cover and place into the freezer until ready to use.
- I have successfully halved the ingredients, without affecting the quality of the sorbet.
- The only thing I really dislike about this sorbet is the seeds of the berries. When I have the time, I gently simmer the berries for five minutes, then pass the mix through a sieve. The puree is then poured into an iceblox tray and frozen and used as for fresh berries.
- Try using pieces of diced fruit to make this sorbet. Rock Melon/Cantelope makes for a delicious refreshing sorbet.
I must admit that this melon also sent me rushing for a treasured book on my shelf – a gift from our son and his family. The book “28 Days in Provence” by Shannon Bennett describes overripe melons exploding in the kitchen of their holiday home in the south of France – the story always makes me smile – the first time I read it, it had me laughing out loud! Shannon also has a couple of melon recipes in his book.
I’ve also been served a wedge of melon as a simple starter to a meal in France too, and often the French pour a little of their wine – generally red, over their melon before they eat it. You know what they say – keep it simple!
Until next time…
I hope that you, one day, get to visit the beautiful market in Cahors, and
Bon appétit!
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With many thanks and kindness,
Julie.
