A Fishy Start Ends in a Juicy, Creamy Finish

I should have known better.  Just when I was feeling smug at not being caught out on April Fools’ Day, I discovered two beautifully coloured-in paper fish stuck to my back that night.  Thanks, girls!  Ever since then, fish continue to pop up in all directions.

For a start, they’re in the shop windows of the local chocolate shops.  Chocolate fish perhaps don’t have much to do with Easter, but as of the 1st April (Poisson d’Avril) they are sold by the kilo in French Chocolateries up until Easter.

Chocolate "friture": an assortment of fish and shell shapes

Now that the weather is here to welcome Springtime in all its glory, it’s so much easier to make a quick jaunt up the hill to my favourite market at St Germain-en-Laye.  There’s so much I’d love to tell you about this place so perhaps I’ll share that with you another time.  We’re lucky that they have three market days: Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Entering the labyrinth of market stalls at St Germain-en-Laye

There they were again. The most amazing catches of the day.

Then the fruit and veg stalls caught my eye.  Asparagus is back in town!  Well the asperges blanches, anyway – albeit a bit on the expensive side just now.  But the mangoes are in all their sticky juicy splendour.  One of the few exceptions when I buy imported rather than seasonal local produce, these mangoes from Peru are just perfect.

The sweetest mangoes from Peru

Perfect for eating on their own after a midweek meal, for example.  I was so impressed when  Antoine first showed me how to prepare a mango like this.  He lived in the Ivory Coast for 18 years so knows a thing or two about exotic fruits.  Just make criss-cross incisions with half a mango and turn it out and you get this:

A mango hedgehog!

Times have changed when I first arrived as a novice at the local French markets.  Bit of an accent, peut-être, and scared to ask exactly what you want?  You find the rotten ones at the bottom of the bag on returning home.  These days I just pick out the mangoes for myself and hand them over.  It’s a whole new world.

At the weekend I wanted something a bit more desserty for entertaining my French friends.  It was time for a recipe for Giant Lime Macaron with Marinated Mango and Coconut, Vanilla, Lemongrass and Passion Cream (gluten free).

Bonne semaine, my friends.  As you can see, I posted a bit earlier than usual.  In fact, I’m planning on posting now on a Monday rather than the usual Thursday so stay tuned!  Still a happy bunny with the awards for Le blog. Merci beaucoup!