Et voila!

As I noted Independence Day last week, I thought it would be appropriate today to give a French nod to Bastille Day. Known in France as Fete la Nationale, it is celebrated every year to commemorate the Fete de la Federation, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on the 14th July 1789.

Tuna Nicoise is, of course, a traditional French classic, to which I’m going to add my own personal touch, known as ‘dans la frigidaire’ (aka whatever’s in the fridge). Instead of plain tuna, I make my favourite and extremely simple tuna pate, which consists of a tin of tuna, a tub of cream cheese, about a fifth of a red onion and some salt and pepper. Put in the blender et voila, plenty for the salad and a few brunches of toast afterwards.

For dinner, a French-style lentil soup. Another very easy dish – fry an onion then add a jar of red lentils and the veg (potato, leek, carrot…again, la frigidaire) into a pot with some stock and seasoning. Boil, cool, straight into the lovable blender with some chilli. Usually I add gammon or in today’s case, some leftover bacon and then my own personal indulgence, a strong cheese, stirred in until it’s just melted.

The perfect accompaniment may be a nice Muscadet or similar but today is too hot even for white wine so instead it’s a can of the Swedish cider, Kopparberg. (Sadly, the local supermarket has run out of my favourite wild berry flavour so I settle for the almost-as-good pear).

C’est la vie…

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