Life Is Meals_ A Food Lover's Book of Days - James Salter [54]
In every village in France and Italy, local bakers have their followings. One summer when we were in the Dordogne, the longest line in the market square every day led to the back of a small truck where the baker, who arrived late morning, sold out his entire supply in a matter of minutes. After learning that he lived across several fields from our house, we began walking over early in the morning when, covered with a dusting of flour, he was just pulling the last of his loaves out of a wood-burning oven. He was happy to let a couple of them go while they were still warm.
CHOISISSEZ-VOUS
In France—in the old France, that is, the France of the ’40s and ’50s—there was often a printed sign behind the bar that read:
La vie moyenne d’un buveur d’eau: cinquante-six annees.
La vie moyenne dun buveur de vin: soixante-dix-sept annees.
Choisissez-vous.
(Average life of a water drinker, fifty-six years. Average life of a wine drinker, seventy-seven years. You choose.)
THE RITZ
1898. The Hôtel Ritz opened in Paris this day on the Place Vendôme. The lavish dinner and reception had drawn the richest and most socially prominent people in Europe, though rain prevented admiration of the gardens. Every last detail of construction and decor had been overseen by César Ritz, for whom the hotel and its perfection had been a cherished dream.
Born in a small village of wooden houses in Switzerland in 1850, Ritz began his career at the age of seventeen as an apprentice wine waiter at the Hôtel des Trois-Couronnes in Brig. He was finally advised by the owner to try something else, as it was clear he was not cut out for hotel work. In ten years he rose to manage large hotels and over the next twenty made his name known throughout the world and synonymous with service, elegance, and style. Also central to his success was the idea of having his hotels serve outstanding food. A loyal clientele followed him from city to city, and the Prince of Wales, who especially favored him, is reported to have said, “Where Ritz goes, I go.”
SOLE
James Beard observed that nearly every fillet of whitefish was called “sole” in American restaurants, and consequently his countrymen had little idea at the time what they were eating, which was usually some form of flounder.
Real sole, Solea solea, in its ichthyologic Latin name, is a superb fish found only in European waters, from the Mediterranean up to the North Sea. Nearly oval in shape and, like other flatfish, white on its underside and gray to brown on the upper, it has been a favorite since Roman times. There are more recipes for sole than for any other fish.
Dover sole is actually found in all the seas around England, including the Atlantic. Its name comes not from where it is caught but for the town once famous for supplying fresh sole to London.
The best sole comes from the deepest and coldest waters. Properly refrigerated or iced, its flavor is usually better a day or two after it is caught, a quality it shares with flounder that applies to almost no other fish.
SUSHI AND SASHIMI
Sushi originated as a way of preserving fish by fermenting it, packed in unboiled rice, but in the early 19th century in Edo (now Tokyo), it assumed its modern form: raw, fresh seafood, sometimes raw vegetables, rolled in lightly vinegared rice and usually with an outer layer of pressed seaweed. The vinegared rice, which has a pleasant tartness, is the distinguishing element.
Sashimi refers to cuts of the finest raw fish. There are four principal cuts, depending on the particular fish, one of them, uzu zukuri, of slices so thin that the plate can be seen through them. The skill, or better, art, of making sushi or sashimi used to call for ten years of training, and the practitioners were heirs to hundreds of years of history and even the samurai tradition. High