Saturday

That got my attention. I was looking for some respite after my stroll through the park, fishmonger bound, turned into a bit of an obstacle course. The West End Festival was underway and, after narrowly avoiding being hugged by a smelly looking Buddhist Monk, I was subjected to the hilarious 'banter' of two DJs. They were the 'entertainment' for that most oxymoron of oxymorons... the Fun Run. They wouldn't shut up, I nearly started running just to get away. Unfortunately, it turned out the lobster rolls had been heading in the opposite direction just as fast. No wonder, so I got chatting to Lisa, who runs Coffee, Chocolate and Tea. She'd been reading about a new way with coffee...

Sparkling mineral water topped with a shot of espresso! "Shall we try it out?" She asked mischievously. How could I possibly refuse.

Well, how to describe this? It is totally, utterly.... erm... different. You get the full on flavour of the coffee then suddenly this fizzy, foamy coldness. As we decided these ones were too big and smaller might work better... WOOSH... the caffeine hit us. Must have been the bubbles. Wow, after gibbering on for quite some time I headed off to MacCallums fishmonger. All buoyed up I got a bit excited and bought...

A turbot. King of fish. This one cost £12 and weighed a kilo.

Made a stock from the bones, then used it as a base for a shellfish saffron risotto with some new season broad beans and chervil... my new favourite herb.

It was seriously good, honest, and what was left was even better a few hours later after coming back from The Halt Bar's mini festival.

Drank a bottle of rose from Provence, via Waitrose, for £6.49. It went exceptionally well... so well, most of it got drunk before I remembered to take a picture. Lovely wine for the money. Proper French dry stuff.

Soupe de Passion

It arrived with a flourish. A steaming tureen with a ladle poking out from a slit in the lid, little bowls of cheese, croutons, a red coloured mayonnaise and bread... but what really caught our eye was that all this was for one man. Then, after filling a bowl, the waiter just left the tureen. My brother and I were young, pre teen, we just stared, unable to imagine anything more perfect. We continued to watch, mesmerised as a very French looking man spread mayonnaise on the croutons, popped them in the soup, then sprinkled the lot with cheese. We ordered it on the spot and at every other spot we found it for the rest of the holiday.

Today was pleasantly warm, first time really this year. Always a good excuse to play 'being on holiday'. It's a relatively easy game for me involving a jar of soupe de poissons plus accompaniments and a bottle of rose. There are a thousand recipes for rouille. My recipe is: 2 crushed cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of harissa, 2 egg yolks- mash it all together in a mortar and pestle then add olive oil a drop at a time, stirring, as for mayonnaise. When it's very thick thin it down with the juice of half a lemon. Season.

The rose came from the Co-op for the remarkably reasonable price of £4.79. It's pretty good too, very much a food wine, but I'd definitely buy it again.

For a few glinting moments I'm transported back... to the Quayside in Sete, chuckling into our glasses as Parisian gangsters drive by playing hip hop. Or, in Marseille, flicking a finger to the guys on scooters who smile to reveal cellophane wrapped crack between their teeth. Ahh, the glories of the Med. Unfortunately the view tonight wasn't quite so colourful.