Sunday, October 16, 2005


mme de guermantes et moi

"in the house to which we had moved, the aristocratic lady at the end of the courtyard was a duchesse, elegant and still young. her name was mme de guermantes, and, thanks to françoise, it was not long before I came to know something about her household."

i haven't re-read my proust in a good decade -- i used to re-read it every 3 years -- and thus i can no longer recall exactly where mme de guermantes eats the stuffed agen prunes. i asked a very literate lady in my yoga class if she could remember, and she furrowed her brow: "hmm, i think you are mixing her up with mme. de sevigne. . ."

this could be. however, i myself had to get a little tin of pruneaux d'agen fourres by favols when i saw them. (foodsection loves favols products, as do i!) don't wrinkle your nose, because these things are delightful, not like prunes-as-you-understand-them at all.

alas, i have no armagnac. but they are pretty yummy with the right coffee -- you have to find a coffee that will complement a strong vanilla and fruit component. . .they can also be excellent with cheese.

they are incredibly old-fashioned, i admit, but then, you know i have been known to wear jicky and l'heure bleue as well. . .in another fit of retro-frankishness, i also bought a kilo of goose fat.

hey, they had a good price! and it's so healthy for you, comparatively. . .if you've sworn off butter and sometimes tire of olive oil, consider goose fat, i kid you not.

(in moderation, this is said to be another one of those "french secret weapons". . .)

but you know, the next thing that will happen is i'll be making some kind of stew with chestnuts and complete the entire picture of the ancien regime or something.

thank god i'm making pizza today as usual. and as soon as i'm finished with this post, more huehue in the vac pot.

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