La Petite Chinoise : LPC

I slept for 12 hours straight on my first night back in the village, only half aware, at dawn, of donkeys braying, the ding-dongs of le clocher (bell tower) and far off, the crash of waves against the cliffs.

I woke up and dashed out onto the terrace to get a look of the village. Canari is still as beautiful as ever – a place of mountains, sky and beaches. I knew too that the food would still be simple and tasty. I was looking forward to falling into the rhythm of days dominated by swimming, taking long siestes (naps), the harvesting and preparing of good things to eat.

On the first day, our aunt, Marie-José, and I went to our potager (vegetable garden) in Chine (pronounced as “keen”).

There were rows of tomates Coeur de beouf, baby artichokes, pomme de terre (potatoes), courgettes (zucchini), onions and garlic. I was jumping up for joy when I saw baby courgettes with the courgette flowers attached. I had always seen the zucchini flowers sold at Gourmet Lafayette in Paris but had never put flower and vegetable together.

So, this is how a zucchini plant looks. The Corsican zucchini is pale green in color with streaks of apple green, and is the size of an aubergine (eggplant).

Renée, a dear family friend, taught me this simple but delicious Corsican recipe of “Beignets de Courgettes” (Zucchini Fritters).

The beignets de courgette are so simple and tasty! We ate it for lunch with slices of coppa, a thick slice of ripe melon each and leafy salad. We found out, after our sieste, that four other families in hameau had beignets de courgette for lunch too. Some add a teaspoon of baking powder, some like to hash the courgettes, some like them in strips... Every family has its special courgette touch. We also started swapping recipes for other courgette dishes.

More of Canari and Corsica to come in the next few days. Stay tuned!