Tag Archives: Central Market

The girl with the red Vespa

October 16, 2017 Virginie the Frenchie 4 Comments

Going to Central Market with my bike on Saturdays is the best!

Spring time is my favourite season in Adelaide! I really enjoy riding my bike to go to work, central market or else through the parks. You would think that after all this time I got used to it and I don’t really pay attention but it is not true. I’m still amazed by my commute. For the birds lovers, you will be greeted on your way by cockatoos, magpies and colourful parrots. And forgive me if sometimes I arrive late at work, I was probably enjoying the ride a bit too much and stopping to take pictures of those cuties 😉

Sharing a glass with my friend Sybilla at Brighton beach!

I believe that when you have the chance to live in a such beautiful city as Adelaide, you should enjoy the landscapes, feeling free with the wind in your hair driving along the beach in an old vintage car or a motorcycle, stopping at a terrasse for a glass of wine while gazing at the sunset on the jetty… There is something romantic about vintage transportation, la dolce vita, as they say in Italy… this is actually how I picture it. And I believe Adelaide is the perfect spot to enjoy life and take your time to seize the day. I think sometimes we are so used to the place where we live, we are so stuck in our own routine that we don’t acknowledge anymore the beauty of it, we don’t pay attention to what is beautiful and unique, we don’t feel enough grateful for what we have… and maybe this is the beauty about being a foreigner because you still have this fresh outlook on your country and culture of adoption and you keep being surprised and amazed by your everyday life.

OULALA !!!! Gigi and I were meant to be!

Speaking of it, one of my crazy dreams has always been to own a red Vespa. I think they are so cute and I like their retro look, their style, their shape… To quote this song, that I’ve heard so much on the radio lately : “I’m in love with the shape of your body”… well…for sure the singer was not talking about a Vespa but I am! So when I met my friend Sybilla (Germany) and she told me her husband had a Vespa called “Gigi” , and yes that’s a SHE, I thought the universe was telling me something! So instantly my next question was to enquire about her colour and when she told me it was red… I knew instantly Gigi and I would be an item ❤

Sybilla and I being both crazy about GIGI!

For a city like Adelaide, a Vespa can be a good option because you can park easily, which is very important. Besides, you can cruise around the city and enjoy the streets of Adelaide without speeding and it seems pretty safe to drive (even if the first time I tried it I managed to fall…but it was me being clumsy and inexperienced). I believe it can be perfect to explore Adelaide surroundings (compared to a bike where you are a bit limited). And I can’t help thinking how charming it must be to ride a vespa on a nice and sunny spring day, even if it is to go to work, it feels already like an adventure, and it is impossible not to feel happy with a great smile on your face when driving it 😀

So to Vespa or not to Vespa… this is the question… what do you think?! Shall I find Zoé (that’s how I call my bike) a new friend? So I can keep exploring and blogging even more about Adelaide and its surroundings!

australia, food, lifestyle

Good morning Vietnam!

October 21, 2016 Virginie the Frenchie 5 Comments

At the moment, it seems that I have a thing for vietnamese food and I can’t get enough of it. When you think of it, it is not that surprising, Vietnamese and French cuisine have history.

It all started in the 17th century with the arrival of Catholic missionaries in Vietnam. But it did not stop there, then France colonized Vietnam and Cambodia forming the Indochinese Union in 1887 which was the start of the French influence in Vietnam for the next 70 years to come! So naturally when you stay that long in a country, you leave pieces of yourself in several ways: be it architecture, culture, words, names and of course cuisine. I find it fascinating to discover (and taste) the French influence on Vietnamese cuisine (the tasty baguette sandwich called Bahn Mi is one of them). For sure it is different comparing to what I am used to in my home country, and sometimes it is hard to make the link between the two countries but there is something magic about all these flavorful dishes and I can’t help being attracted to them (maybe it is in my DNA).

For those who know me well, I often go to Central Market in China Town. Most of the times to buy herbs or lemon because the quality and the price is much better than what you would get in the supermarkets and also the atmosphere is really nice and friendly.

Last time, I went there, I remember it was a beautiful day and as I was feeling a bit hungry I thought I should pass by Little NNQ and see if it was not too crowded. This is a vietnamese restaurant and it is quite popular so it can be tricky to get a good seat sometimes. This place has been recommended to me by John’s vietnamese friend, his name is Phong and lives in Adelaide (and John is American from California who happens to know a lot of people everywhere because he has traveled and worked in so many countries). Luckily the odds were with me and there was a lovely table by the window and the friendly waiter told me I could sit here. As it was a beautiful day, the large windows were opened so it was like I was sitting at the terrasse outside watching people passing by, cars honking and for a minute imagining I was in another country, in a galaxy, far, far away…haha. As things were going well for me, I decided to continue playing my luck and I asked the waiter to choose his fav dish for me. Besides, as I felt adventurous, I opted for the Vietnamese coffee. Normally I’m not the kind of coffee drinker type (I am more into chai or matcha latte) but I’m always happy to try new things and this was the opportunity to get the true vietnamese experience… besides one coffee can’t hurt, can it ?!

My dish was a combination noodle salads. It was very colourful, tasty, crunchy and pretty healthy I believe. So I really enjoyed it and I really recommend it! But I must confess, my favourite part was definitely the Vietnamese coffee as I’ve never had this kind of experience before. By the way, I apologise I have not a lot of pictures to demonstrate the technique but I think I was so overwehlmed by this experience that I completely forgot to document it, my bad !

Time to relax and catch up as the coffee is slowly dripping into the condensed milk!

First the coffee was served in a slow drip filter tool. So basically, the coffee was slowly dripping into the condensed milk in the glass just below it (one drop at a time, so it is a long process). The waiter explained to me that in Vietnam locals would use this time to chat and catch up with their friends while waiting for the coffee to fully drip through. Once it is finished, all you have to do is to transfer the content in a glass full of ice cubes, and enjoy your ice coffee with a straw. So basically drip coffee is the way Vietnamese people create and enjoy conversation with their friends or relatives. I ❤ the concept, I must say and I can’t wait to renew this experience with my friends next time!

Just so you know the Vietnamese coffee has a strong taste (always Robusta, twice as strong caffeine wise, so be prepared to jump like a kangaroo after that ). Once again, it is one of the many heritage from the colonists period. The French introduced coffee to Vietnam in the 1800s, they also brought with them condensed milk as they could not get fresh milk in Vietnam and they also brought phins which is a slow drip filter that sits on top of a cup. Since that time, it has become a tradition in Vietnam to enjoy coffee this way. It is more than just coffee, it is an invitation to relax and chat. I think that the combination of the bitter coffee beans allied with the sweetness of the condensed milk and the cool refreshing kick of the ice cubes just work perfectly! I think I have officially became a Vietnamese coffee lover ❤

So next time you are in the mood for Vietnamese food, why not go and try Little NNQ with some friends and indulge yourself with a Vietnamese coffee while chatting remaking the world. Vietnamese coffee will boost your body while relaxing your mind, call it magic or mystique, the choice is yours 😉

Little NNQ

125 Gouger Street

Adelaide SA 5000

http://www.nnq.com.au/littlennq/

food, france, School

Soupe à l’oignon au bleu d’Auvergne – Onion soup with blue cheese

May 24, 2015 Virginie the Frenchie 4 Comments

“A classic and comforting recipe from the French countryside that will please your palate during winter, especially after an outdoor walk in the biting cold.”

Ingredients:

For 4 people:

• 400 g onions

• 2 liters of chicken stock

• 70 g unsalted butter

• 150 g of Bleu d’Auvergne (blue cheese)

• 4 slices of country bread

• Salt

• Coarse salt

• Ground black pepper

Method:

• Peel and chop the onions.

• Melt the butter in a large saucepan add the onions and gently brown over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula.

• Then add the chicken stock, seasoned with a pinch of coarse salt.

• Stir and bring to a boil and allow to simmer about 1 hour over low heat. Stir from time to time during cooking.

• Meanwhile mash the Bleu d’Auvergne (blue cheese) in a bowl with a fork until you obtain a creamy texture.

• Lightly toast the slices of country bread and while still warm, spread the cheese on the top of them.

• Once the soup is cooked, remove half of the volume of onions with a skimmer or a slotted spoon. Let the mixture cool down and put it in the blender to obtain an onion puree.

• Then put the onion puree back into the saucepan, mix, adjust seasoning to taste adding salt and pepper and mix well again.

Presentation:

Serve this traditional dish in preheated soup plates. Place the toasted bread spread with bleu d’Auvergne on the side ready to be immersed in the soup.

Top tip:

A little trick to avoid ” crying ” while mincing onions: use a sharp knife! Actually a bad knife crushes the pulp of onion instead of slicing it – it spreads a fine mist of onion juice in the air followed by a river of tears!

If you can’t find Bleu d’Auvergne, you can use a local blue cheese as well, in that case choose a creamy and flavourful one.

Bon appétit 🙂

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Kellie, who is the North Adelaide Community Centre coordinator, asked me to take part to a good cause by writing a recipe from France. The idea was to create a “City Community – favourite soup recipes” book in order to raise money for the Welcome Centre of South Australia – http://www.welcometoaustralia.org.au/ – so they can replace a trailer which was recently stolen from them! The goal was to obtain a collection of recipes that reflect a little bit about our family and heritage. I really liked the initiative and I was happy I could help! I chose to translate this recipe into English because I originally come from Auvergne and I liked the idea that “Bleu d’Auvergne” (a typical blue cheese from this region) was part of this comforting dish. My favourites French cheese are: Bleu d’Auvergne, Fourme d’Ambert (another blue cheese), Cantal, Saint-Nectaire, Salers and Gaperon – all made in Auvergne haha! Luckily some of them can be found at the Adelaide Central Market which is good when I am missing French cheese.

australia, food

A slice of France

May 13, 2015 Virginie the Frenchie 4 Comments

Don’t you love the smell of a French baguette, still warm from the bakery shop? As I am walking back home, I can’t resist biting in it and feel it crunching under my teeth. I like this particular sound and the taste of it, promise of a delicious breakfast with butter, jam, pains au chocolat and croissants!

Sometimes I miss home and I need to reconnect with familiar flavours. It is not easy to find bread or croissants that have the same texture and taste as in France. You would think it is because of the unique technique or maybe a special oven…etc but actually the explanation is way more simple: it is the flour! It is too expensive to import French flour that is why bakeries use local flour to bake their baguettes. Don’t get me wrong, I have tried many kind of breads at the Adelaide Central Market and I liked them a lot: I mean they are good but different! And when you are experiencing home sickness, you want to bite into a piece of bread that would remind you of the nice mornings at your family home, beautiful pastries at the corner of your street, the intoxicating smell of the warm and fresh bread from the oven… you see?!

As for the perfect croissant, it is not easy to find it either! I tried a few places but so far, the one I enjoyed the most was at Cannelle French pastries! When I bit into it, it took me back for a couple of minutes to Paris ❤ The flavour was definitely here and I had croissant crumbs all over me which is how it is supposed to be 😉 The baker is a sympathetic French man who felt in love with Adelaide and has been living here for many years! So if you are a croissant lover, try to get to Cannelle bakery early in the morning as these little treats don’t last very long!

Cannelle French pastries

123b Magill Road

Stepney SA 5069

http://www.cannelle.com.au