Bila Orang Tak Selalu Blog, Blog!

I guess, of course, everytime you return to the familiar, you sort of already have an expectation about the experiences you were going to get. The 2nd time round I was in France, exactly about 3 years after my exchange programme, I was by a twist of fate, brought to the a place, in France, I did not anticipate.

The marvelous gastronomical experience I had with the Bellards in the west was filled with rich French tradition- a medley of rich, particular and exquisite of blue cheese and rocheforts on celeries, salmons, thick desserts, homemade crepes, christmas dinners of baked brie pies and turkey with acidic-sweet cranberry sauce, beef koftas on cous cous and a whole range of boiled leek and bitter vegetables.

This time around, the change in taste, atmosphere, influence in the food in Marseille was a bit surprising for my food-ness conscience. Yet the discovery of the heavy Arab-North African influence did not sink in to me until the gang and I opted for the super-cheap plats and assiettes that the seemingly multitude array of restaurants offer. Retailing at €3.00- €4.00, one wouldn't believe how much one will get.

These delightful lamb thingies really were not what we expected. You would never has guessed it would turn out to be this when you put down the menu and decided to "see what it is" when you say "riz viande" which basically is rice meat.

So each and every one of the 4 of us, got each of us' proper portion of the weird part of a lamb. What's interesting is that it's cooked so well in a light, almost clear broth so well, that the usual scent of lamb- that some cannot for their life tolerate- was well, absent! With olives possibly being responsible of the taste that seeps through the broth of the meat, it definitely served well to cure the hungary stomach as well as pushing a right button or two on your tastebuds.

What I like most however, was not how easy it was to pull of the tender, well cooked flesh of off that massive bone. It was the rice that accompanied it.

Coming with a weird but definitely good taste curry-like gravy, almost with peas cooked in it. Indeed the experience of a combination of cooked green peas and rice, I had my reservations. However, the fluffy soft beans medlied so well with the rice, it would have gotten my thumbs up even if it wasn't for the fact that I was starved to death.

To wash it all down, there was the sweetest tea with mint tea leaves to do the job. Very typical in the turkish kebab delis I was used to back in Bressuire in 2004.