Here's to Julia Child

For New Year's Eve I decided to make a very retro dinner: duck a l'orange from the first volume of <span style="font-style: italic;">Mastering the Art of French Cooking</span>. I neglected Julia's suggestion of simple side dishes and made acorn squash with cranberry relish and kasha to go with it. Our friends Elaine and Bob brought appetizers (spreads from Detroit's fantastic Star Deli) and dessert (a rum cake from a bake sale, made by the wife of the Russian Orthodox priest in town).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5312059041/" title="nyeve0329 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="nyeve0329" height="333" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5312059041_025e643115.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5312648500/" title="nyeve0330 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="nyeve0330" height="334" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5050/5312648500_7d766170fe.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5312058493/" title="nyeve0336 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="nyeve0336" height="500" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5125/5312058493_7d2d4f79f7.jpg" width="333" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5312648288/" title="nyeve0342 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="nyeve0342" height="685" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/5312648288_5b760528d5_b.jpg" width="1024" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5312649000/" title="nyeve0347 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="nyeve0347" height="500" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5050/5312649000_edf6c0d97f.jpg" width="433" /></a>

Here's to Julia Child

For New Year's Eve I decided to make a very retro dinner: duck a l'orange from the first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooki...

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Commissario Brunetti Eats Lunch

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjroz0-eplZSr4-x3pke7rrc8ZWZwqaJuIhO76ij5PRhaIta6hZzmgXzeXM39tAMEa9dHwSZgA2iffPeiFLMAnRNxbIJEnKHgAyP40dLLHnYP42btsT9BHwN4WOhCYQFz3OUv6guAwDUhU5/s1600/venice4984.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556843749948775170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjroz0-eplZSr4-x3pke7rrc8ZWZwqaJuIhO76ij5PRhaIta6hZzmgXzeXM39tAMEa9dHwSZgA2iffPeiFLMAnRNxbIJEnKHgAyP40dLLHnYP42btsT9BHwN4WOhCYQFz3OUv6guAwDUhU5/s400/venice4984.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>Delightful meals eaten during a crime investigation are among my favorite features of detective novels. For Christmas, I received a cookbook based on the novels of Donna Leon and her detective Guido Brunetti of the Venice police. I could make the delicious meals that Brunetti's wife cooks, such as veal liver with polenta (p. 210) -- which sounded so good in <span style="font-style: italic;">Death in a Strange Country</span>. Or see if I could do better than Paola and Guido's daughter Chiara, who struggled to make mushroom-filled ravioli (p. 85) in <span style="font-style: italic;">A Noble Radiance</span>.<br /><br />I wasn't familiar with this series, so I purchased and read several of Leon's novels on my Kindle. Learning about the detective's favorite food before I read about the detective is really a total reversal! I'm so grateful to my friend Sheila who thought of this gift. Now I have both a Venetian cookbook and a new detective series to love.<br /><br />Brunetti's wife Paola makes food to rival the French home cooking of Madame Maigret, Simenon's detective. I think her cooking sounds better than the food made by Nero Wolfe and his chef. Brunetti's lunches and snacks in typical little Venetian lunch-counters and bars are different -- but make me recall the local color in Whataburger, where Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn eat in the novels of Tony Hillerman. Leon's novels are a bit mannered but nowhere near the exaggerated style of Robert Parker, whose detectives' food habits come close to parody.<br /><br />Food in detective fiction -- a glorious tradition!

Commissario Brunetti Eats Lunch

Delightful meals eaten during a crime investigation are among my favorite features of detective novels. For Christmas, I received a cookbook...

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Happy New Year

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5289688099/" title="birds-at-brkfst4864 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="birds-at-brkfst4864" height="431" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5088/5289688099_3fbece730f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We're back in Ann Arbor, where little birds do not share our breakfast. And we are planning a nice New Year's Eve dinner with a retro menu.

Happy New Year

We're back in Ann Arbor, where little birds do not share our breakfast. And we are planning a nice New Year's Eve dinner with a retr...

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Soufriere Market

The market in Soufriere, the town closest to us (population around 11,000) offers local produce from very small farmers -- mainly people who grow a few vegetables in their back yards. Farmers with more land sell at the larger markets in other towns. Some of the market sellers have just a small piece of cloth with a pile of yams or green onions; others have tables with umbrellas; I did not see any stalls as large as those at the market at home. The most crowded time was early in the morning, we were told, but there were still many sellers and buyers when we arrived at around 8 AM yesterday morning.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5290292814/" title="market4868 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="market4868" height="375" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5169/5290292814_4d9bea1c33.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5290293312/" title="market4874 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="market4874" height="375" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5206/5290293312_715e230101.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5289689693/" title="market4880 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="market4880" height="359" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5049/5289689693_9df562751b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />A few people were bringing animals to be cut up by a butcher with a machete. The crowds were especially dense around this area, buying goat meat, pork, and fish. Normally the market is on Saturday, but today is Christmas so the market was yesterday instead; we think that meat was especially popular for the holiday.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5290293672/" title="market4877 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="market4877" height="500" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5288/5290293672_78f6e6fae9.jpg" width="346" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5290293870/" title="market4879 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="market4879" height="375" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5245/5290293870_e677a88ab9.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />While we were walking around the market with Bonny, our cab driver, there was a heavy rain shower that made everyone gather under the one or two large open-air shelters; when the rain slowed down, they all went into the open air again. The market is right by the sea, and of course one can see the tall volcanic piton, St. Lucia's most distinctive landmark, beyond the bay from there.

Soufriere Market

The market in Soufriere, the town closest to us (population around 11,000) offers local produce from very small farmers -- mainly people who...

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Who loves the food here?

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5286909700/" title="christmasbird by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="christmasbird" height="375" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5084/5286909700_f0ed32f4f4.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />The birds love our breakfast -- especially cheese and butter. We like it too.<br /><br />In fact we have found the food really exciting. Tonight we had Indian-Caribbean fusion cuisine again. Last night was a big buffet:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5286309237/" title="buffet4780 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="buffet4780" height="375" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5090/5286309237_6885ab2e3b.jpg" width="500" /></a>

Who loves the food here?

The birds love our breakfast -- especially cheese and butter. We like it too. In fact we have found the food really exciting. Tonight we had...

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Another View of the Pitons

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5281822576/" title="beer4742 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="beer4742" height="500" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5121/5281822576_b0e3a5452c.jpg" width="347" /></a><br /><br />For other views see: <a href="http://maetravels.blogspot.com/2010/12/more-of-pitons.html">More of the Pitons</a>

Another View of the Pitons

For other views see: More of the Pitons

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Lunch at Anse Chastanet

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5279097606/" title="lunch4662 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="lunch4662" height="375" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5163/5279097606_d1bda24e87.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />The waitresses all wear this plaid costume.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5279097720/" title="lunch4663 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="lunch4663" height="375" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5207/5279097720_f950544521.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />The food is delicious. Today for lunch we had fresh grilled kingfish served in small pieces, each one on a slice of potato with a curry flavored sauce.<br /><br />Our dinner was at an Indian-West Indian restaurant, also belonging to the resort. On the back of the menu is a fascinating summary of immigration from India to the Caribbean, which this brief history points out had a big influence on the cuisine -- despite being seven generations ago and much more. Sadly, indentured Indian laborers were the immediate replacement for the slaves, whose import was stopped in 1838.<br /><br />On each trip to the Caribbean, we relearn what a complex history these small islands have -- and how thoroughly they have been forgotten. Today we heard about a hurricane that hit here at the end of October, killing several people, and wiping out roads and bridges. They've recovered now. We were amazed since American media didn't seem to cover these events at all: the man who told us about it said he was surprised to find no coverage on CNN, so I don't think we just ignored the news. It just wasn't there.

Lunch at Anse Chastanet

The waitresses all wear this plaid costume. The food is delicious. Today for lunch we had fresh grilled kingfish served in small pieces, eac...

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