[Lime and Ginger Melon Jam]

The truly magical thing about making your own jam is that they tell you to store the jars in a cool and dark place for a few months, to let the flavors develop fully. Oh sure, it is something of a heartbreak at first – you would so like to keep it close to you and dip the occasional finger in – but you know to be reasonable, you’ve been told to act like a grownup, so you relinquish and stash them at the back of a kitchen cabinet.

And life goes on, of course. Summer draws to a close, and fall, then winter, come and go with their own share of distractions and sweets and excitement. And all of a sudden, without a warning, spring is back! And you clean up the house! And the kitchen cabinets! And what do you find in there, all but forgotten, sitting side by side, cuddled up in the back? Your lovely lovely jars of summery jams.

And the following morning, it is with a renewed joy and high expectations that you pop open a jar of lime and ginger melon jam, and spread it generously on a big slice of bread.

Mmmmmm. So sweet and fragrant, so spicy and warm, with candied bits of ginger and lime peel, like tiny gems.

Well worth the wait.

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Some people have all the luck.

Maxence’s company recently relocated to Belleville, in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. Not only are the new offices in a rehabilitated workshop with frosted glass windows and exposed beams, nested at the very back of a series of small rickety courtyards, it is also right at the crossroads between North Africa and Asia.

You didn’t know such a geographic wonder existed? Well it does, as communities from both regions of the world have taken up residence on either side of the place de Belleville.

And this means that my lucky boy gets to conduct stupendous explorations trying out every possible hole-in-the-wall, travelling from Vietnam to Morocco by way of Thaïland, from Tunisia to China, from Korea to Turkey, and back again – all during his lunch break.

Thankfully, he is the generous kind, and from time to time he’ll suprise me with a selection of local Belleville goodies. Like for instance, those huge and delectable poppyseed bagels…

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[Red Cabbage and Dried Figs Salad]

If you look for recipes to use up a head of red cabbage before it applies for permanent residence in your vegetable drawer, you will find that the general agreement is “red cabbage shall be sublimated by fruit” : popular uses include braising it with apples or chestnuts, cooking it with pears, or pairing it with apricots or raisins in a salad.

Although the Cook’s Thesaurus dismisses it as tasting just like green cabbage and presenting the clear and present danger of bleeding onto the other ingredients, I still consider red cabbage my friend – like anything purple and pretty, really – and we’ll just agree to disagree on the taste thing, as I think it is distinctive and unlike that of green cabbage.

This fresh salad, in keeping with the fruit pairing idea, stars the aforementioned head of red cabbage (the volume of shredded cabbage a smallish head produces never ceases to astound me) and enhances its taste with little strips of dried figs for sweetness, toasted pumpkin seeds for nuttiness, soy sprouts for color contrast and crunch, and a lemon dressing for tang.

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[Orange Fennel Sea Bream]

We have officially elected the Poissonnerie Bleue on the rue des Martyrs as the best fishmonger in our area. Their wide selection of fish and shellfish is very fresh and reasonably priced, the staff is kind, and they are very generous with their advice and tips, which is a surefire way to win me over.

As I walked by the other day, I decided on a whim to get whole fishes to roast in the oven (is my life exciting or what?), and had a look at what was on display, on beds of crushed ice, amid the decorative seaweed and lemons. The dorades (which I have found are the equivalent of sea bream, of the porgy family) were on sale, and I bought two for a grand total of 7 euros. I asked the sales guy for some cooking tips, and then he gave the fish to another employee in the back of the store, who dexterously grated the scales off their skins, then emptied and cleaned the fishes, while I stared in fascination.

The fishmonger’s advice was to cook the dorades on a bed of lemon slices, but since I had lovely blood oranges on hand, I decided to use slices from both types of citrus. This was pretty quick to put together, and as it turned out, the orange, lemon, fennel and herbes de Provence combine into a very interesting and subtle flavoring, which compliments the delicate taste of the dorade without overpowering it. Baking is a great method to cook fish, allowing the flesh to cook evenly and stay moist.

As always when fish is served whole, there is a little wrestling involved, to separate the edible flesh from the bones and skin and unidentified goo, but we happen to enjoy that – it forces you to pace your eating (I tend to eat way too fast) and you end up with sticky fish juice on your fingers, which you can then happily lick off. But this means that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to serve it to kids, to picky or lazy eaters, or on a dinner occasion when spitting out fish bones and dirtying your fingers would be considered um… inappropriate. But adventurous eaters, aspiring mechanics and DIY enthusiasts will love it.

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