When I first came to Saint Etienne to stay, because of meeting a French man reasons I cried. Of all the places in France – the picturesque villages, the chic cities, the old buildings – at first glance Saint Etienne has none of this. I lived in a small apartment above a main road next to a train line. It is a small post-industrial city about one hour south west of Lyon in … [Read more...]
Snapshots – Montbrison Markets
Last Saturday’s mission was to stock up on cheese at the markets in the main square of Montbrison. Montbrison has its own ‘fourme’ which is a medium – not hard not soft - blue cheese. Added to my list as I waited in line at the cheese van was some Cantal Vieux, some St Nectair and something new – some dry goats cheese. All the maximum bacteria. Actually maximum bacteria … [Read more...]
Fabada Asturiana
Believe it or not, this food story involves motorsport. Mainly, however, it involves a Spanish casserole called Fabada Asturiana. The fabada bit means means ‘stew’, the Asturiana bit means that it originates from Asturias, in the north of Spain between Santiago de Compostela and Bilbao. I got home from a work trip, and in the kitchen there is a box of packaged meat in the … [Read more...]
Something Old Something New
I started life as a very standard issue middle class girl from Australia. I am seventh generation Australian, my closest non-Australian relative is my Great Grandfather on my father’s side who was Swedish. This is quite unusual in a country of immigrants like Australia. At the end of World War two, Australia had a population of 7 million. Now it is around 22 million, which is … [Read more...]
A day in the Life: Summer in Sicily
Note from AggieB: I was supposed to spend a week in Sicily with a friend and her family. I didn't make it because of work, but Cynthia is posting on Facebook and making us all jealous. I asked her to write a guest blog for Agatha Bertram, describing a typical day ... Eat. Swim. Sleep. That about sums up our days. There have been seven already here in Sicily. The town is … [Read more...]
