With the blisters now
pretty much healed up to the point of having almost forgotten the
pain I cannot believe it is almost a week ago on a Sunday evening
(17th May) when I cautiously hobbled into the marché
de Capucines for
a quick nose around after picking up some plasters for my ailing and
stinging feet.
It
was about four in the afternoon and the indoor market was closing
down most of its stalls with the exception of a couple of tapas style
bars which seemed to be doing tremendous business with all the locals
gathering for a late socially exciting Sunday afternoon nibble and
tipple. Now there's a good name for a tapas bar n'est pas? - Nibble
& Tipple ©
Phil Lowe 2015.
Having
read a little about this very much alive local market where the folk
of Bordeaux flock to buy their foodstuffs at decent prices and
embrace their constant French food lover's philosophy of purchasing produits avec
fraicheur – fresh products - I became keener than ever to return on
the following Tuesday. Well I didn't have a huge amount of choice as
Saturday had already passed by, on Monday the market was closed and I
was due to go home on the Wednesday.
Marché
de Capucines
is named after an order of monks called Les Capucines (lay cap – oo
– san ) who alongside their religious beliefs dedicated their lives
to looking after the poor. It lays between the districts (quartiers)
of Victoire and St Michel both quite grey run down areas with high
immigrant and student populations. The districts have great character
but are decidedly down at heel. Perfect for architectural street
photography with remnants of old France in the buildings and street
furniture but perhaps not quite so perfect for hanging around after
dark. Maybe I am being overly cautious.
Like
any market in the world a Tuesday perhaps isn't the best day to see
the market at its most vibrant but at least it transpired that I
could get an agreeable impression without the massive Saturday crowds
blocking out my viewing and photography chances.
I
returned to the market on the Tuesday about 8.30am prior to my having
my own breakfast. I wanted to photographically capture something of
the working market early in the day. Perhaps I would have been better
arriving at 4am when the market stall holders actually begin their working
day. Then on reflection, how would I explain my appearance so early
in the day with my limited French?
With
a mix of charm, bravery and necessity I spoke to a girl on one of the meat
counters explaining, in simple French, my own past in the butchery
business and interest in French food and culture and my desire to
take some photos of the meat products and their counter generally.
She called to the boss and he acceded my requests and interest but
never ventured out of his interior office to say “Bonjour” to the
English butcher chappie.
I
was very interested to witness all their different meat products on
one counter. I say this because I was always under the, perhaps false
impression, that the French butchery system was divided very clearly
into a boucherie (beef, lamb and perhaps some fowl) and a completely
separate business for charcuterie (primarily pork related with curing
and smoking as a strong commercial interest). However in Céline
and Christophe Gazeau's business I witnessed everything across the
various butchery lines. Wasn't overly sure about the stuffed fox on
the top of their counter but they probably have their reasons! Maybe
it was once a friend of the family. It did have a happy smile for a
fox.
Elsewhere
in the market I saw a beautiful line of cured hams from Bayonne with
little cups under each to collect the oils as it air dried in situ.
Plus there was another tiny stall just selling les volailles de
basse-cour (farmyard fowls). It had a small selection of quails,
ducks, pheasants and Bresse chickens scattered among the pretend
grass and peculiar tumble down ornaments seemingly left over from
Easter.
All
of the fresh meat was well presented with some long rib joints of
beef, a loin of veal, (cote filet de veau) complete unboned and prepared
shoulders, legs and cutlets of salt marsh grazed lamb and
intricately strung joints of boneless shoulder of pork for roasting.
Plus there were whole ribs of pork on display rather than pre-cut
chops. Presumably this was so that the côtelettes
de porc could be cut by the butcher as required. The yellow skinned
farm chickens (poulet des fermiers) were all from the local Des
Landes area and sans abats (without giblets). They also sold Marie
Hot duck legs at 8.90 euros per kilo. These were fresh as opposed to
in kept in duck confit. Interestingly there was also a massive soft brown calves' liver
that sat in shiny prominence on one of the pure white
trays that held the various cuts. Once again this appeared to be a
'slice as required' product.
 |
| best fish counter |
The
best fish counter was doing a good trade considering the time of day
and there were a big variety of fish and shellfish on offer
including dorade commune, grodin rouge, flétan,
local eels, racasse, mullet, chapon, and loup de mer. As expected the
more oily fish such as anchois and les harengs and the bright vibrant
greens and blues of macquereaux sat temptingly on the flakes of ice.
There were also local specialities such as tuna from the Basque ports
and oysters from the bay at nearby Arcachon. The fishmongers must get
up phenomenally early as they would need to buy and collect their
stock from the wholesale markets known as criées.
The seafood is auctioned early and then distributed to the towns and
cities before daybreak. On the Sunday visit I saw the firm and sweet
huîtres
( European oysters) being totally enjoyed, if not gulped down, by the plateful by the
locals. I have yet to try these delights and felt slightly nervous of
giving them a go whilst on holiday in France just in case they had a
bad effect on my stomach.
 |
| taken on the Sunday |
 |
| taken on the Sunday |
There
were plentiful fruit and vegetable stalls both inside and outside of
the market building and I tried to take a (rather blurred from a
hasty photographic execution) picture of a stunningly verdant herb
stand. I'd never seen anything like that in England. Maybe the
Borough Market in London may feature something similar but for me
this was an exciting novelty.
There
may well have been bread stalls but, in my explorations, I
don't recall actively seeing them. That certainly doesn't mean they
don't exist in this market. My other intention was to make a video of
my visit but with the relative quietness of this Tuesday morning and
the lack of bustle I felt it better to do a couple of
circumnavigations, take some photos and do my best to chat to the
stall holders on what appeared to be the most exciting stalls. I hope
you have enjoyed my reflections on my visit.
À
mon avis ça
vaut le pein. In my opinion its worth the effort. I believe there is even live jazz music on a Saturday! You just don't get that in a supermarket.
#Bordeaux #BordeauxFrance
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