The Curious Case of the ‘Marché des Curieux’

 
As you know if you’ve visited the French countryside in the summer, the French are fond of a fête like nobody else.  Every village seems to stage their own.  There are fêtes for wine, of course, portes ouvertes where every vigneron in a village opens their caves for gala tastings.  But other fêtes have themes we would consider odd.  There are festivals for organ grinders and organ meats, snails and sunflowers, frog legs and fromage.  No subject is too small for consideration, no excuse too flimsy for a party.

So when we heard there was a Marché des Curieux (Market of Curiosities) in nearby Bissy-sur-Fley, off we went, hoping for the truly eccentric.  We were not disappointed.  

The festival had a unique air right away since it was held in the large courtyard of a château.  Apart from all wares unique and odd and interesting, there was a booth with a sign that said, loosely translated,  ‘Custom Hats While You Wait, Two euros’.  Now this was intriguing.  As it turned out, not only did you get un chapeau individually suited to your personality for a couple of bucks, but they were also 100% recycled. 

Here was the drill.  Madame La Modiste (hatmaker) had boxes and boxes of castoff ‘stuff’:  old wallpaper, ribbon, dribs and drabs of fabric, paper, even a stuffed animal or two, all tossed gaily into boxes with no thought of organization. There was a long line for a hat, and while you waited you fished around in the boxes for the things that suited you, until you had accumulated a couple of handfuls.  When it was your turn, Madame somehow turned it all into an amazing, often startling, creation, quick as you could bat a veiled eye.  Her tool of choice:  a stapler. Below, photos of Madame at work, and hats to rival a royal wedding:  

Strolling around and  admiring Madame’s  creations turned out to be the highlight of the fête.  Now if you can come up with a better party idea to liven up a big event, well, I’ll eat my hat.

And to top off the summer menus, since la saison is in full swing here, I’m sticking with ice cream.  Sure, you could spend those precious summer hours cooking up some fancy dessert, but really, who doesn’t want to just eat ice cream all summer?  

RECIPE:  Sexty Summer Coupes Glaceés 

Why call them ‘sexty’?  Because our Dutch neighbor always pronounces the word ‘six’ as ‘sex’, which makes for some interesting conversations.  And because there are at least ‘sexty’ variations you could come up with for these  coupes glacées, layered  ice cream sundaes.

No need to make these ahead for company, you can put them together in a minute, especially if you grab a guest to help in the kitchen.

The basics:  some nice glasses.  A scoop of ice cream on the bottom.  Then a lady finger, smushed down a bit, or crumbled cookies.  A drizzle of liqueur over the cookie layer if you like, maybe a dab of  fresh fruit.  Another scoop of ice cream, the same or  a different flavor;  followed by a squirt of whipped cream (from a can will do nicely, we’re on summer vacation) and a drizzle of sauce. 

In the photo: Tiramisu parfaits, made with coffee ice cream, lady fingers drizzled with spirits (marsala, rum, or Kahlua), and that whipped cream is napped with a little chocolate sauce.  

Think of the possibilities!  A riff on strawberry shortcake.  Or a fruit sorbet with chopped pineapples or mangos, with a bit of rum spooned over crumbled coconut cookies in the middle.  The French have a raspberry fetish, so try these summer berries sandwiched between lemon sorbet or French vanilla ice cream and crushed shortbread cookies with some framboise liqueur, cassis, or limoncello.  There are at least sexty  ways to shine!

Now for sundaes you'll need a pretty glass.  For these I just used highball glasses, but I love the traditional Tulip Sundae Glasses glasses my youngest daughter gave me.  French cafés often use the fat, round  Dessert Bowls. Click on the links for info.

In the Comments:  Our guest post by Cynthia Bogart of The Daily Basics.com generated lots of comments.  Norma, Christine, Karen and Jessica share their own trips to France.  Kristin wants to know how husbands spend their days in France.  "What we do all day" is such a frequent question, I've decided to add it to the FAQ's section, so cruise over there for a little summary (lots of previous posts on this subject, too).  Now, Kristin, if you can tell ME how to get one of those caretaker jobs on the French Riviera…

Unless otherwise attributed, all POSTS, PHOTOS and RECIPES on this blog copyright ©2011 Lynn McBride.  All Rights Reserved.