I served this to the collage group on Valentine’s day. It was a party to rival those at La Cascade.
Maryam’s Moroccan Chicken
Maryam and Philippe have a shop in Revel called Les Trois Soliels that sells an exotic assortment of perforated tin lamps, hand-woven carpets and fabrics, hand-carved chests, boxes and granary doors, Moroccan slippers with turned-up toes, goatskin backpacks, richly embellished belts, Moroccan hand-painted ceramics and much more. We rarely leave the shop empty handed. Over the years we’ve become good friends and have enjoyed a home-cooked Moroccan meal or two in the “Ali-Baba” environment in their home above the shop.
Serves 4
– 1 chicken in pieces (I skin them)
– saffron, salt and pepper
– 3 garlic cloves crushed
– small bouquet of cilantro which you remove at end
– ½ t chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
– 1 preserved lemon, chopped
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Put everything into a casserole except the chopped cilantro and cook about 3 hours or until tender. Don’t add liquid when cooking. If needed, add a little at the end. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with cous cous.
Maryam’s Spicy Courgettes
Maryam served this with the chicken recipe above and cous cous. It’s a great combo!
– ½-tsp paprika, cumin and ginger
– salt
– small tin tomato puree
– 3 garlic, chopped
– 3 Tbs chopped fresh coriander
– 15 ½ oz can diced tomatoes
– 2 lbs courgettes cut in ¼” dice
Mix all together and cook on stovetop until done (about ½-hr)
One of the thirteen mills along the river Sor
Durfort, The Copper Village
At one time Durfort’s thirteen water mills along the Sor were used to mill wheat and to drive looms. It was when the textile industry slid into decline in the 15th century that the mill owners displayed ingenuity in harnessing the waterwheels to “marteau pilons”, the huge pylon-hammers that pound copper ingots into vessels. Most of the houses in Durfort were copper ateliers up until 1930, just about everyone was involved in the production of copper ware. When the local graveyard was moved, it was discovered that the skeletons of the copper workers were green from the oxidized copper absorbed by their bones.
When the local ateliers were put out of business by cheaper copper imports from North Africa, Durfort re-invented its livelihood by shifting from manufacturing to retail. Today the copper boutiques on the square mostly sell the imported copper. Although the village replaced one of the Roman bridges with a bridge to the parking lot large enough for tour buses, cars and buses still prefer to park in the town square. The parking lot remains mostly empty except for le jour de fête, once a year.
When browsing in one of the Durfort copper shops I was surprised to see our neighbor, a master copper craftsman, in a video demonstrating how a copper disc is pounded into shape by a marteau-pylon, a massive water-driven hammer. He rotated the disc with tongs as his burlap-wrapped foot nudged the hot metal in position under the thundering marteau-pylon. It looked dangerous.
I didn’t learn until years after we bought La Cascade that his wife grew up in our house. She claimed she didn’t mention it because she was afraid we’d invite her in; however when she eventually visited us she was relieved to see that it was so changed that it didn’t stir up old memories.
Our good neighbors have been very patient with us when we’ve proved ourselves to be a bit clueless. One day when I had inadverdently locked out an entire class of students, our neighbor appeared with a chair. He assisted each student through the window with a gentle push on the buttoks. “Voila, ça va“.
A watercourse once used to temper copper flows down Rue des Martineurs.
Gwen
I hope that teachers and students who have been captivated by our corner of rural France, as well as those who dream of joining us one day, will enjoy reading about my encounters with the people, places, customs, and eccentricities of a place that has for many years held me in its spell.
The pages listed on the side bar are full of information about classes and teaching at La Cascade. The teacher information is password protected, so please email if you would like to access that information.
