Sunday, January 17, 2010

Sur la route avec un croque-monsieur, 1910-2010










Mark (Walking Man) asked about pizza in France.  I don't remember trying any and doubt pizza served in the USA can be beat, given the variety of choice and style.  On the other hand, the question triggered memories of excellent lunches on the road in France, not only good strong fresh-roasted coffee, but also the occasional croque-monsieur (Mister Crunch, or Crunchy Mister), now at least a hundred years old as a form of food.  The croque-monsieur (sometimes capitalized) is grilled and includes toasted bread (fresh), shaved or thinly sliced ham, and tasty French cheese melted on top. Man, it's good -- too bad I'm on a reduced calorie regimen for the rest of the month . . . Anyway, pictured above is a regional variation,  the croque provençal, complete with local tomatoes. For something a little different, these treats compete well with pizza.  Round off with a lemon square and another coffee, and good to go until the next meal . . . Photo by Boštjan Cigan.













Book to check out:  Shirley King's Dining with Marcel Proust: A Practical Guide to French Cuisine of the Belle Epoque (At Table), 1979, 2006. 

Today's Rune: Wholeness.  Pardon my lame attempt at French -- my sister Vickie may have to correct it.

4 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

Good thing we had some cheese in the fridge. That sure looked good.

the walking man said...

Now I am hungry but too tired to wake the old lady up to show her the picture and get her into the kitchen.

Man don't do this to me after only a couple of hours of sleep.

jodi said...

Erik, I've never met a pizza I didn't like. But, sigh, like you, I am watching the old calories!

Anonymous said...

Keep posting stuff like this i really like it