1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 482 Welcome to the Garlic Sea of Provence!

When Ronan saw Elian off, he ran into Barty, who was having lunch at the restaurant.

Ronan didn't know the tourism official, but Batty said he 'knew' her.

“Of course you recognize her, she went to the knitting compound this morning.” Ronan picked up the phone receiver on the cashier’s counter. “She told me that it was quite lively there this morning.”

“This isn’t our first meeting,” Barty said excitedly. “This morning was our second meeting.”

Ronan wanted to call Freddie to ask how the seafood purchase was going and whether he needed to go along, but upon hearing Batty's words, his finger, which was dialing the number, stopped:

"Have you seen her before?"

Batty nodded vigorously:
“She came to Lourmaran a few months ago, accompanied by many local officials. She was quite impressive. This morning she didn’t come alone either. All the people who came last time were there, and Claude was with her.”

She came as a group, and was greeted by Lourmaran government officials. But why did she come to the restaurant alone?

Feeling something was amiss, Ronan asked again to confirm:

Are you sure you haven't made a mistake?

Batty pounded his chest with a clanging sound:
"You know, I've never made a mistake with a woman, especially one who's rich, powerful, and capable."

Ronan thought for a few seconds, then continued dialing the number.

During the meal, Elian didn't explain when she had eaten at the restaurant, seemingly wanting to avoid any connection with Quincy.

Ronan wasn't that gossipy and didn't want to find out the reason.

But he understood that the two people should talk about their own things separately afterward, and they shouldn't be lumped together.

When I met Quincy, we didn't talk about the certification of the Lourmaran Handicraft Cooperative.

When I met Ellian again, we didn't talk about the infrastructure development of Lourmaran anymore.

"This is really complicated," Ronan muttered, holding the microphone to his ear. A few seconds later, the call connected. "Freddy? Did you get the seafood? So much? Yes, yes, buy it all. It's not easy to buy fresh seafood these days, especially with so many of us."

Although Ronan ate non-stop all morning, having eaten three meals before 1 p.m., including two lunches, he still started preparing dinner at 3 p.m.

Barbecues are relatively easy to prepare. Once the ingredients are chopped and marinated, you can start grilling as soon as everyone is present.

However, the hot summer weather affected everyone's appetite somewhat. In order to make sure everyone enjoyed the barbecue dinner to the fullest, Ronan wanted to make several kinds of sauces to satisfy everyone's taste.

It's hard to say what the situation is like in other parts of France, but in Provence, as long as there's a dish of delicious sauce on the table, these gluttons will eat it from beginning to end, and meat, vegetables, and bread will disappear in large quantities.

Earlier, Ronan went to Leah and asked her to make a special barbecue sauce that his friends loved. It was made with cherries and was said to be a family recipe passed down in Leah's mother's family.

Leah told Ronan that her family's secret sauce recipe had been passed down to Zoe's generation, and suggested that he try his fiancée's cooking to see if he had mastered it.

So, in the afternoon, Ronan and Zoe gathered in Ronan's spacious, bright, open kitchen, where they could see the best summer views of Luberon, and embarked on a delightful sauce-making extravaganza.

The secret barbecue sauce required simmering over low heat for at least 45 minutes, so it was the first thing to be made. The kitchen stage was temporarily handed over to Zoe, and Ronan became her kitchen helper.

At Chef Zoe's request, Ronan had already soaked the pitted cherries in brandy for an hour before she arrived.

Zoe put a cherry soaked in brandy into her mouth and chewed it with great enjoyment.

Ronan asked curiously:

Does this barbecue sauce have a name?

He had eaten this sauce a few times, but had never learned anything about it.

Judging from the taste alone, he couldn't connect it with any sauce he knew from Provence, so it really must have been 'invented' by the Leah family.

Zoe reluctantly separated the brandy and the cherry:

"My grandma and mom both call it cherry barbecue sauce."

Zoe loves brandy, second only to rosé, and she's been complaining lately that she hasn't had it in a long time.

Seeing her adorable, reluctant expression, Ronan smiled and said:
"After I finish chopping the onions, I'll cook. You direct me. We bought a lot of delicious things from the market this morning, all of which can be paired with brandy."

Zoe waved her hands, and her long golden hair obediently transformed into a cute little bun at the back of her head:
"That won't do. Mom said it's our family's secret sauce and we can't share it with outsiders."

Ronan could watch Zoe's hair-dotting gesture for a lifetime!

With his hand occupied, Ronan used his lively eyebrows to signal to the other person that his emotions were fluctuating rapidly:
"Aren't we a family?"

Zoe tied on an apron and replied in a defiant tone:

"Of course not, you're not mine yet."

Ronan laughed and reached out to pinch her cheek:
"I bet your mouth is hereditary, isn't it? Let me taste it and see if it's hard."

Zoe nimbly dodged Ronan's clutches and pretended to be angry, saying:
"What's going on? How dare you, a mere kitchen helper, lay hands on the head chef?"

"Alright, alright." Ronan smiled and raised his hand, indicating that he wouldn't touch her. "The side dishes are ready, Chef, what's our next step?"

Zoe skillfully picked up a frying pan and placed it on the stove:
"Prepare the ingredients; just take whatever I need."

Ronan stood at attention:

"Okay, I'll definitely cooperate."

Compared to other common sauces in Provence, Zoe's family's traditional cherry roast meat sauce is relatively time-consuming to make, but not laborious.

Sauté diced onions in olive oil until they turn amber, then add minced garlic. Zoe then adds a little bit of freshly made tomato paste from the locals.

Provence tomatoes are also famous. Many foreigners may not know about Provence grapes and lavender, but they have heard of Provence tomatoes.

Provençal people also love tomatoes, and they are present in almost every meal during the summer, making them the best ingredient companion for the hot summer.

A few minutes later, Zoe added pitted cherries soaked in brandy, red wine vinegar, lavender honey, thyme, rosemary, and oregano to the pot in that order, and then turned the heat down to low after it boiled.

"After 45 minutes, remove the spice residue, add chopped black olives, smoked paprika, sea salt, and black pepper, stir, and then reduce the sauce over medium heat until it clings to the spoon without dripping." The chef put down his spoon. "My mother said that this sauce perfectly embodies the characteristics of Provençal cuisine—the sweetness of fruit balances the greasiness of meat fat, and the spices tame the smoky flavor, making it perfect for barbecue."

This was the first time Ronan had witnessed the process of making cherry barbecue sauce.

After watching the first half, he had only one thought—

“This sauce perfectly reflects your family’s culinary style—Lia is an absolute fanatic for spices, she likes to add lots of spices to her ingredients, it seems like this habit is hereditary, and there’s also your favorite brandy here—” Ronan grabbed two washed cherries and put them in his mouth, “Cherries are one of my favorite fruits, see, aren’t they all things we like?”

Zoe then took two more cherries and stuffed them into Ronan's mouth:

"You did a great job just now. This sauce must be a success. Here's a reward for you."

Ronan chuckled and picked up the second pot:
"Then you should work hard when you're helping in the kitchen. If you do a good job, I'll give you a reward."

Zoe took the pot from Ronan and politely thanked him.
"Who said I wanted to be a kitchen helper? I can make whatever sauces you like!"

Zoe's culinary skills improved dramatically because Ronan was in a bad mood because of Stella, and she tried different ways to cook for him in hopes of cheering him up.

After that period of experience, Zoe learned to cook everything Ronan loved to eat.

Ronan asked, both amused and exasperated:

"But I'm planning to make garlic sauce today, do you want to make some too?"

Zoe is new to the kitchen, and that initial excitement hasn't worn off yet.

Especially since she just showed off her skills in front of the real chef Ronan, it won't be so easy for her to hand over the chef's position.

But Ronan bought some fresh garlic at the market that morning, intending to make some garlic sauce for his friends. Provence is known as land smeared with garlic, and with this sauce, Freddie and his gang would surely have a hearty appetite.

Like Ronan, Zoe also doesn't really like the smell of garlic.

Zoe placed the second pot on the stove and said firmly:
“My mother and grandmother are both well-known local ‘chefs’. They not only passed down cherry roast meat sauce, but also the secret recipes for making local Provençal dishes passed down from generation to generation. Garlic sauce is nothing. There are many sauces made with garlic as the main ingredient. Today I’ll show you a couple more.”

Ronan stood behind Zoe and asked curiously:

"Newly learned?"

Zoe's humorous reply:
“I’ve been learning to cook with my mom whenever I have time lately. If she weren’t preparing for a dessert competition and didn’t have much energy, I would have already made ‘Provence Nine Meat Stew in a Clay Pot’.”

Provençal nine-meat stew is a local delicacy that has only appeared in the mouths of Provençal people and has never appeared on the dining table.

It requires collecting special parts from three animals, three birds, and three livestock, including the tendon of a rock goat, the spine of a wild rabbit, the breast of a quail, and the cheek of a sand dune deer. These parts are then layered according to the strength of the muscle fibers and placed in a jar. After being cold-marinated overnight in a ceramic jar with more than twenty kinds of aromatic plants such as black truffle, rosemary, and lavender, it is then simmered over grapevine charcoal for 72 hours to complete the process.

Legend has it that those who eat this dish can climb Mount Tuwan with their bare hands, and some even say that after eating it, they can swim across the Mediterranean to Tunisia.

Now, this dish is often mentioned by children under 10 years old in Luberon, because the male protagonist in an animated film came back to life after eating Provençal Nine Meat Stew.

The context here is to say—my culinary skills have reached their 'pinnacle'!
"Oh, that's wonderful! I look forward to the day you've mastered it." Ronan caught another detail in her words: "Is Leah still preparing for the dessert competition?"

Earlier this month, Ronan bumped into Leah practicing her knife skills diligently in the restaurant's kitchen.

From what Zoe said, it seems that Leah has also been working hard since she got home?

Zoe's tone was filled with pride:

"Yes, she is very serious. Dad said that Mom radiates the glow of a successful woman at all times, and our whole family supports her efforts."

Thinking of something, Zoe turned to Ronan and said:

"Don't stop her. Mom is doing this to improve her own abilities, not just to help you participate in the competition."

"I won't stop her, I'm just worried she'll overwork herself," Ronan said with some concern.

Zoe picked up the bottle of olive oil:

"How could she be tired? You don't know how much Dad cares for her every day. I've never seen Dad care so much about Mom's food, clothing, and shelter. That's why women with careers are the most charming. This couple has entered their second honeymoon period."

She suddenly nudged Ronan's arm:
"This amount of olive oil isn't enough. Go open a new bottle for me."

Ronan immediately got into character:

"Yes, Chef!"

Zoe made two upgraded garlic sauces—red pepper garlic sauce and egg yolk garlic sauce.

Roast red peppers over a direct fire until charred, peel and tear them into strips under running water, and then add a lethal amount of minced garlic, red pepper strips, and chili powder into the mortar in sequence, and begin pounding.

During the pounding process, add olive oil, saffron water, local cheese, and lemon juice.

After being pounded over a thousand times by a strong man, it finally became a bowl of intensely flavorful, silky red sauce.

Egg yolk and garlic sauce is even more intense.

This violence not only refers to the repeated stirring required during the preparation process, which further intensified Ronan's arm, but also to Zoe's audacious act of adding a lethal dose of olive oil.

A serving of garlic sauce for sixteen people requires 32 cloves of garlic, 6 egg yolks, and 1 liter of olive oil. This ratio made Ronan feel that eating in Provence didn't seem so healthy. Luckily, he wouldn't eat the sauce.

Peel the garlic, put it in a mortar and pestle, add the egg yolk and a little salt, and stir to fully combine the egg yolk and garlic paste.

Next, start adding oil drop by drop. Please note that you must keep stirring during this process and absolutely must not stop.

Friends, do you know how long it takes to add half a liter of olive oil drop by drop into a container?

Ronan knows!

He also knew that his arm was no longer his own!

When half the oil is added, the sauce will become a thick paste. At this point, you can slowly drizzle in the remaining olive oil.

But the stirring must continue, and the speed must be kept constant.

Ronan switched from his left hand to his right, and then from his right hand to his left. Each time he flipped the food, he would put a cherry or strawberry in his mouth, probably because Zoe was worried that the blender was out of oil.

"No wonder you wanted me to be your kitchen helper." Ronan's face tightened along with his arm.

Zoe slowly poured olive oil, while also adding a few No. 92 strawberries to Ronan's mouth:
"Let's switch."

Zoe's hands are those of an artist; how could Ronan bear to let her do such a menial task?

"You must lick both sauces clean, not a single drop left!" he shouted, continuing to exert force.

After five or six minutes, the sauce in the mortar had almost turned into a solid.

Zoe said, "Okay," picked up a lemon, squeezed a few drops in, and added a touch of green spice for garnish.

"That's perfect, it's great!"

Ronan collapsed onto the kitchen counter, his hands hanging limply at his sides.
"Quickly, give me a bowl of Provence-style nine-meat stew in a ceramic pot."

These two servings of garlic sauce took a lot of his energy!
Feng Zhen had already returned home from the restaurant to help Ronan and Zoe prepare a barbecue feast for their friends. Hearing Ronan's words, she grinned at him.

"Hungry again? You ate too much today!"

People of Feng Zhen's age don't have access to things from cartoons.

She began to search everywhere:
"No, I have to make you a cup of fennel and rosemary perfume."

Zoe touched Ronan's face with a hint of tenderness:

"Are you exhausted?"

Freddie's circle of friends is getting bigger and bigger.

Old Carl's two sons and their families also joined the extended family.

Now everything needs to be prepared for more than ten people, so Ronan's exercise this afternoon was definitely a bit excessive.

Ronan straightened up, relaxed his arms, and said:
"I'm really a little hungry."

To be honest, Ronan ate quite a lot today, including a lot of fruit in addition to his main meals.

But he was indeed feeling a distinct hunger now.

Has my stomach become a bottomless pit?