Day 2068 (Saturday) 28th November
As of today we are allowed to travel 20 kms and can be out for three hours, some small shops are open but no bars or restaurants.
I was so disappointed when I woke up this morning – it was cloudy and quite cold and I’ve got the weekend off. We’ve had sunny warm days for weeks and weeks when I’ve been working! So after doing some chores and lesson planning I spent the afternoon doing a jigsaw loaned to me by Kevin and Angie.
I forgot to tell you yesterday about a famous footballer who is in my class. He’s a lovely man called Sebastian and his friend Maxime told me yesterday that Sebastian used to be very famous especially when he played for Arsenal. I asked Sebastian about his experience in London he threw his head back and said in perfect English and pronounced beautifully and said; ‘ I was s••t when I was playing for Arsenal!’. I Googled him last night and found this…
Guest on the D + 1 show on Sunday evening, Sébastien Squillaci took advantage of this setting to announce his retirement from sports. Under contract with SC Bastia since 2013, the 37-year-old defender decided to stop there - the dramatic situation of the Corsican club, descended in National 3 this summer, not helping him to continue the adventure. His end of career sounds a little empty when we compare it to the man's hunting table: a Champions League final, three French championships, or a King's Cup, under the jerseys of Monaco, Lyon and Seville. The former Arsenal also participated in the 2010 World Cup.
He now coaches the under 17s in Monaco.
Yesterday Pat went to Antibes to do some shopping in So-Sij, a small shop selling British products and Huw gave him our shopping list. This afternoon Huw went to their place to collect our goodies and the bacon looks wonderful, we also have lots of sausages and some pies, guess what we are having for dinner tonight!
Why Nice beats Paris as the best French city for foreigners to live
Friendly and sun-drenched Nice scored highly on a survey of its foreign residents.
The beautiful and usually sun-drenched southern French city of Nice has trounced Paris in the annual Expat City Ranking for quality of life.
The report from international network Inter Nations ranks cities according to their experiences for international residents - including issues like quality of life, job opportunities and the cost of living.
In the global survey Nice came 16th while Paris trailed in 61st place.
The Spanish city of Valencia came out top, followed by Alicante and Lisbon.
Nice scored particularly well in the Quality of Life category, coming third overall, beaten only by Vienna and Valencia, with many people commenting on its laid-back lifestyle.
It also scored highly on the Weather and Climate section, with not a single survey respondent saying they were unhappy with the weather - perhaps unsurprisingly for a city that is sunny for 63 percent of its daylight hours.
Paris, on the other hand, scored poorly on the financial section with many saying they are unhappy with the famously high living costs in the capital - which recently topped a global poll of the most expensive places to live.
Only 19 percent of people said they found it easy to find housing and 70 percent described the city as 'unaffordable'.
On the positive side, it scored well for job opportunities - around a third of the French economy is concentrated on Paris and many sectors such as media, international organisations and tech are heavily focused on the capital.
But it seems that Parisians' infamously grumpy reputation also counted against the city, with 40 percent of people saying the locals are not friendly and 56 percent saying they found it hard to make friends.
One Brazilian resident passed a brutal judgement, telling the survey: "In general, Parisians are angry, complain too much, and smile too little."
The Inter Nations survey asked 15,000 people representing 173 nationalities about their experiences living in 161 countries. They were asked to rank 25 aspects of their new lives abroad on a scale of one to seven, from social lives to career opportunities and housing costs.
No other French cities made it into the top 66.
The top 10 best cities for foreigners are
Valencia
Alicante
Lisbon
Panama City
Singapore
Málaga
Buenos Aires
Kuala Lumpur
Madrid
Abu Dhabi
Today’s recipe from Nice is for Pissaladière (pissaladiera) The English is quite delightful
The pissaladière is a delicious tart with onions, anchovies and olives. Originally from Nice, it is eaten throughout Provence. Prepared with a bread dough, it is often seen as a pizza without tomato sauce. Tart or pizza, one thing is sure, it is a treat!
Papi Jean's pissaladière
What is so exceptional about this pissaladière recipe?
It's a family recipe that my dad, who has become an "expert at pissaladière", has refined year after year, and that everyone praises! I recommend it to you.
The dough is light, soft inside and crispy on the surface.
As a native of Nice, I have to defend the traditions of the country of Nice.
We see in fact so many products that have nothing to do with Nice in their name!
The pissaladière is one of the most famous dishes of Nice cuisine.
Its name comes from the fact that this "onion tart" was once brushed with pissala (anchovy and sardine puree).
Fishermen sold anchovies and sardines for a living, and kept only the smallest fish. Free of the head and entrails, the anchovies and sardines were arranged in a jar in layers, alternately with salt, thyme and bay leaf, to finish with a layer of salt. After a few weeks, we obtained a puree that was filtered through a sieve: the pissala. Olive oil was added to it to preserve it.
A good pissaladière must include a nice thickness of onions.
Ingredients
for a large pie pan 35 cm in diameter
or two small
Ingredients for the garnish
1kg of straw onions
olive oil
a few branches of thyme
1 bay leaf
1 clove of garlic ( optional )
salt pepper
4 anchovies in salt (8 fillets)
ten olives from Nice (Caillette)
2 tbsp. tablespoons caster sugar ( if necessary)
Salt anchovies
Nice olives ‘Caillette’ with salt
It is the "little olive niçoise", with a subtle, slightly peppery flavour, which is the source of a very fine oil, which has always been renowned throughout the world.
It can be stored naturally in a 10% sea salt brine. It can be consumed after 4 months of maceration.
Although they are still very hot and bitter at this time, this is how we prefer olives here. Those less accustomed will wait another month or two before starting to taste them.
They are eaten as an aperitif, and fit happily into some recipes.
Today, they are marketed under the Protected Designation of Origin "Olive de Nice". Their colour varies from golden green to black, passing through all shades of brown and purple .
Ingredients for the dough
230 g flour
1 sachet of baking powder
120 ml milk
50 ml water
6 tbsp. tablespoon olive oil
salt
Realisation
Preparation of the filling
Finely mince the onions.
Put the onions to melt in a sauté pan, covered first.
Allow the water to return (about 15 minutes), then remove the cover and let the liquid evaporate.
Season with salt and pepper, then add 5 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, thyme and bay leaf (or a pinch of Provence herbs) and sugar.
Cook over low heat until the onions are soft with a shiny golden compote appearance. Slow and gentle cooking should give a compote of blond onions, and above all, they should not be burnt.
Preparation of the dough
Sift the flour into a bowl, add the yeast and a pinch of salt.
Mix the milk and water, then pour gently, starting to mix the flour with a spatula. Add the olive oil before having completely integrated the flour.
Finish mixing the whole to obtain a slightly sticky smooth paste.
Oil the pie plate with a brush.
Invert the dough in the centre of the mould.
Sprinkle a little flour on the dough ball then gently flatten with the flat of your hand starting from the centre to reach the edge, turning the mould. It may be necessary to sprinkle a little more flour again so that the dough does not stick to the hand. Spread the flour over the surface of the dough with a brush before continuing.
I hope you enjoy this video – a trip down memory lane.
Comments
Post a Comment