Prisoner of the Road...

Philip Glass...

"Glass Bone Crash" - Aura

"De l'aube à midi sur la mer"

"Jeux de vagues" 

"Dialogue du vent et de la mer" 

La mer, trois esquisses symphoniques pour orchestre

Claude Debussy

Scorpion fish ??????? and a.........

(Scorpion Fish)

...taste of Ocean delight….even if you are not in Cap d’Antibes………

.…If you have some Scorpion fish from the Mediterranean deep waters or maybe some other little fish from the Scorpaenidae family around the kitchen, olive oil, saffron, fennel, leeks, garlic, Pernod, dry Muscadet,and some more fish – red snapper, blue mouth, grouper, sea bass, mahi-mahi, conger eel and shark…..well, you also need……..a lot of time (approximately 4 hours) because we are talking about

Bouillabaisse…..from the Coastal Regions of Provence, France

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We have heard since childhood that you should experience your Bouillabaisse in Marseilles and if the fish is not fresh from the Mediterranean – do not attempt it – well, it comes to those days when you are to tired to fly around the world (for a week or so) why not try it wherever you are…..it is proven that some places are just as excellent as well….. what about your own kitchen? …take your time and pay attention to detail - pick your fish with care………the uniqueness is your own spices from your spice garden………

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A Travellers (variation) Bouillabaisse...

• 
  
  10 pounds of (white- fish), red snapper, monk fish, halibut, grouper
• 
  
  5 pounds of (fat/oily fish), sea bass,eel, mahi-mahi, bluefish (here add some fresh lobster.....we need that lobster)
• 
  
  5 tbs of unsalted butter
• 
  
  2 sliced medium size onions
• 
  
  2 finely chopped large onions
• 
  
  2 bouquet tied in a cheese cloth consisting of - 12 peppercorn, 6 sprigs of thyme, 1 bay leaf, 4 sprigs of fresh cilantro
• 
  
  1 cup of dry wine
• 
  
  1 1/2 cups extra virgin oil (the best you can afford)
• 
  
  8 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 
  
  Pinch of saffron threads, crumbled stepped in 1/4 cup hot water
• 
  
  3 to 4 finely chopped stalks of celery
• 
  
  3 thinly length wise sliced leeks
• 
  
  2 pounds of plum tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped
• 
  
  1 strip orange zest
• 
  
  1 tbs fennel seed
• 
  
  1/2 teaspoon saffron treads in 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 
  
  sea salt and freshly grounded black pepper to your taste
• 
  
  2 tbs tomato paste
• 
  
  2 tbs Pernod
• 
  
  1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 
  
  Serve with some thin sliced potatoes with olive oil and Rosemary and oregano (or herbs the Provence) (bake in the oven) to be served with the fish)

You need the fillets, heads, carcasses and tails - cut it all to approximately 4 x 3 - inch pieces...

Wash the fish in cold water - Melt the butter over medium heat , cook the onions about 4 to 6 minutes - just to soften them, heads, add the fish heads and bones add the cold water and 1 garni + white whine.Bring to a boil and then let simmer (on low heat) for approximately 2 hours.

The strain the fish broth and save the fish broth.

Marinate the fish in a ceramic bowl with 1/4 of the olive oil, half of the garlic, and the saffron treads - keep it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

15 minutes of stirring over medium heat - in your stockpot - 1/1/4 olive oil, celery, leeks, chopped onions then bring to boil and then let simmer for 40 minutes (low heat), the tomatoes, 1 bouquet garni, the orange zest, and fennel seeds - the fish broth - the saffron stepped in wine - sea salt and pepper.

Ready - bring the broth back to a boil, boil, boil, the oil has to emulsify. Now add the fat/oily fish and boil for 8 minutes then add the white fish an boil, boil, boil for another 6 minutes - make sure there is enough water to cover the fish...

Mix Pernod and the tomato paste....

Remove the fish from the pot and transfer it to a deep nice platter - cover it...to keep warm - garnish the platter with some fresh Rosemary

A soup terrine for the fish broth - make sure to strain it first...and finish it of with adding the Pernod/paste mixture.

Make some Sauce rouille ........

...Ready to Serve....

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The culinary experience builds culture bridges and more understanding for other cultures...it is here we sit down and talk about life, philosophy, arts, travels, music....foods....."this taste like...I remember an evening when we were in.....Southern France...let me tell you...this story"....we smile, laugh, toast, and feel good, life is beautiful.........

.

Music

&

more music

close your eyes for two minutes........and listen..

Toque - Baile - Cante Flamenco

Plaza de Toros - Poster 1921

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Opera / Carmen, Trinidad Artiguez

“The work of art must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself and carry you away. It is the means by which the artist conveys his passion. It is the current which he puts forth, which sweeps you along in his passion”

- Pierre Auguste Renoir

Édouard Manet - Watercolor - 1865

I am a aficionado - of Bullfighting - as we already know...but as life is larger than a single interest..we expand in to music/opera/ballet/dance, painting and writing....from Plaza de Toros....to Goya, Manet, Picasso, Barnaby Conrad, Hemingway....

Photo by Grey Villet

Vicente Escudero, La Argentinita (1898-1945), Carmen Amaya (1913-63), José Greco , Antonio ( "El Bailarín" ) Ruiz Soler (1921-96), and El Farruco (1936-97) were all Flamenco dancers -

Flamenco a mixtures of cultures......Arabic, Gypsy, Indian......music..handclapping....once..a way and voice of protest...

.

Photo by Gjon Mili

...Flamenco seductive movements of elegance, wild, aggressive, desire, rhythm, the guitars are playing - hands of sounds, hearts are beating furiously, temptation, eyes of desire,

Painting by Jose Villegas Cordero, 1884.

Plaza De Toros - like the Matador fights his Bull to the end "el momento de la verdad".... Flamenco - Challenge your heart......into a world of life....

"La Fiesta Brava"...

Hurricane - Shells - An Ocean of Thoughts

(All photos in this Post by Tavarua)

“Beauty is a form of genius - is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts in the world like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon.” - Oscar Wilde

"A shell could be a shell as well as this piece of coral is just a piece of coral or in the deep crevasses of your mind - discovery - let the coral talk and you will find beauty within the tiny details of its creation."

Is this just a colorful shell?

“Within the shell - was the truth undiscovered before me? or did the curiosity navigate away from the shore and set sails for an ocean of toughts. Expand your mind”

- Enjoy some Music - Indian Touch by Pierre Cosso - Album by Claude Challe - Nirvana # 3 -

It is a long wait for fresh white truffles from Piemonte, Italy.

(Photo by Fred Lyon)

It could be herbs and herbs gardens as spices are the fundamental catalyst to a culinary experience as the Tuscany sun will make you smile and your dreams come true. White truffle has a short season between September and December. I am craving it already in April....it is just fabulously delicious - the dining room filled with the pine smells of autumn, the fireplace is cracking and bringing in the sounds of memories, the air clear as crystal, the leafs on the trees are changing their colors, the warmth from the candelabra, toasts for Hubertus and Diana. Old and new tales are taking place of conversation. It is about the - White Truffle it is named the "Grey Diamond" and found in the Piemonte region in northern Italy.

In Italy truffles are hunted by hounds. They white truffle only grows wild. It is rare and has a much stronger taste and aroma than the black truffle When the frost is on the ground and cold winds are changing the season their are no more truffles to be found a culinary experience end of season. Everybody knows that the Italian Truffle hounds are well educated and speak the Piemontese dialect. The hounds sniff the ground for the hunt of the white truffle when found the truffle hunter will clear off the dirt, smell it and put into his satchel and guard it with his life and then the hunt goes on. The hunters all have their secret grounds as the white truffle is rare and highly priced....Grey Diamonds.

White truffles are generally served raw and shaved over mushrooms, pasta, or game.

Fonduta con Tartufi

This is common in Piemonte and the Val d'Aosta regions.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 pounds (600 g) Fontina
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
6 egg yolks
4 ounces (100 g) fresh white truffles, brushed clean and finely sliced
1 1/2 cups milk

Preparation:

Dice the fontina and put it in the upper half of a double boiler with the milk; season the mixture with a pinch of salt and let it sit for about an hour. Then heat it gently, stirring with a whip, until you obtain a dense, cheesy cream. At this point incorporate the yolks, one at a time, and then the butter. Divide the fonduta up into 6 previously heated bowls, sprinkle the shaved truffles.

(Photo by Nina Leen)

White Truffle Aioli

Ingredients:

3 tbsp white truffle oil

2 egg yolks

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup olive oil

1 pinch white pepper

1 tsp garlic

1 pinch salt

Preparation:
In a food processor, using medium speed, add egg yolks, garlic and lemon juice.
Slowly add truffle oil and olive oil to form an emulsion.
Season and refrigerate

Preparation time approximately 15 to 30 minutes

(Photo By Carlo Bavagnoli)

As we talked about white truffles the mind travels to - Château Lafite Rothschild Paulliac 1989 - berry/tobacco character, with touch of chocolate and cedar. I am no wine Connoisseur but it is outstanding - full bodied - silky.

Would you care for some "Vintage" Chateau Lafite - 1949 (1 Grand Cru Classe Paullic) ?

Alimento - Vino - Conserto -

Evgeny Kissin & Herbert von Karajan - Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto nº1

"My tastes are simple: I am easily satisfied with the best." - Winston Churchill

Clubland - Paris, France - Where will you find me?

Clubland Part II

Cercle de l’Union Interalliée

then........

and......

now.

If you do not find me at a little family Bistro on one of Paris back streets - then you will find me at Cercle de l’Union Interalliée- 33 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré or in the evening at The Travellers - Champs-Elysées . 


Shopping - I recommend -  Maison Goyard and Hermés  -  Ladies nothing wrong with beautiful things in life - you deserve it. If you are a bohemian with a touch of elegance or casual continental - you can visit and shop at Arnys so did Jean Cocteau, Le Corbusier and Hemingway.

Tavarua at Cercle de l’Union Interalliée


Do not forget Au Petit Matelot (the green store, figure that one out, Green is the color of...where we come from-we always had it, we grew up like that green, green, green). 


If you like something engraved please visit Maison Agry located between Tuileries and Place Vendome this store will take you back to the old world - they have been the engraver for the French aristocracy since 1825.


One more - Gastine Renette, Gunsmith/Clothing/Accessories If you needed a shooting outfit for the country, this was the store - It would have reminded you of Holland & Holland, London. Unfortunately gone - and so is Sulka.

Where do i stay? Hotels to recommend..not this time. If I live under the canvas in Paris? No, If it is under a mosquito net and a cot in the Tropical Zone or in a hotel at Place de la Concorde in Paris -it is all the same - Is it special? Not necessary - it is all about your outlook on life.  Who brings a cot to Paris? I like nice little places with some character, personality and charm . Yes - I occasionally need some quite time in "Clubland" - you will find me in the library. 

Click to listen - Malcolm McLaren "Paris is Jazz"

Classical Composer, mystic/sacred minimalism - a man influenced by.......

Shostakovitch, Prokofiev and mystical experiences with chant music.. His music is composed by simple harmonies - he describes his music as tintinnabuli (Latin - tinnabulae - of bells) which reminds us about ringing bells. Who is he???? Estonian by birth (born in 1935) today living in Berlin, Germany. One of my friends introduced me to his music in the 80s. His music is sensitive, moving, refined, classical and dramatic it unifies your thoughts into an inner world of beauty.

Let me introduce a musical genius

Arvo Pärt

Click for a dramatic experience below:

Tabula Rasa - Miguel Robles/Arvo Pärt

(Tabula Rasa is a philosophical concept - Latin - roughly translated to “clean slate”.)

and

Passio - Arvo Pärt