By this afternoon we should have the result of the MEP elections and I know there’s going to be a great deal of phoning and messaging and laughing no matter what the result is going to be. My bottle of sparkling wine is already in the fridge. I am going to drink it anyway, no matter what happens, if only to celebrate the end of an intense period of campaigning and loads of papers coming through our letter boxes. I am tired of them all – or almost. It really has been too much.
But on to more pleasurable events which enhance one’s existence. One such event was the l-Art-de-Vivre à la Française organized by that energetic couple, the French ambassador and his wife Noëlle at their residence in Zebbug. I believe there were two objectives to this lovely evening: the first was to promote France and it’s food and drink. It gave a chance to a few Maltese to experience an evening of excellence. But M. Rondeau had another objective: to show a number of leading editors and journalists what Malta can offer. Above all, to me the greatest luxuries that evening were human. If only there had been more time to get to know some of those editors and journalists better.
After abundant Champagne by the pool we sat down to eat. There must have been about five beautifully laid tables in all. I had a look at the menu and at the other guests on my table and knew it was going to be an evening of pure enjoyment. So I sat there with unsmudged conscience. The starter was a Charlotte de crabe au gingembre.
The crabs used might have died a martyrs’ death but I did not ask. To enjoy this sort of meal one must first of all discard one’s guilty qualms and to paraphrase Simone de Beauvoir’s words learn to walk by the sea without thinking of the price of sardines which the poor cannot afford.
Occasionally one has to learn to leave one’s conscience at the door with one’s coat. On rare occasions – and they don’t come that often in normal lives like mine – you have to forget the existence of poverty, deprivation and injustice – anything that might put you off your dinner or make you question it’s value. Once your conscience is completely comatose then, and only then, can you enjoy yourself wholly.
“Oh, reason not the need!” cried Lear, I am not sure in which context but perhaps he was eating crab, or oysters or lobsters when he said it. I must look up my Shakespeare. Or perhaps he was purchasing yet another damask robe which he did not really need.
On the ambassador’s table there was the editor of Le Figaro Bertrand de Saint Vincent. Le Figaro, a leading daily, as we all know, has an editorial line which is conservative. Emile Zolà was one of its early contributors. It has taken it’s name from Beaumarchais’ famous play Le Mariage de Figaro. Dr Mario de Marco and his wife Sharon were there too and I was on the same table. A genial and quiet man he seems determined to improve our tourism industry. Dr Louis Galea was sitting to my right and we had a cosy conversation but I forgot to ask him about his piano lessons. Mrs Galea was sitting on a different table and on my left was Christophe Navarre, President of Moët Hennessy who told me that his wife is American. They have a house in Florida or maybe it is Los Angeles but they feel it is too far to travel there frequently and he expressed the wish to purchase a house of character here. He loved the French residence. Joe Demajo and his wife Teresita were very much there for the Demajo group are sole distributors of Dom Pérignon of which we drank a substantial amount that evening. Paul Betts, Financial Times European correspondent was there with his wife who told me that she has adopted the Buddhist way of life: living for the day. There was also Lydia Bacrie editor of l’Express Styles and I met for the first time Dr Austin Gatt’s charming wife Marisa who smiles often and seems very genial indeed. I liked her immediately. I am surprised her abundance of good humour has not rubbed off on him, especially during press conferences.
But enough of people and onto the food and drink.
As I already mentioned we started off with a Charlotte de crabe au gingembre – which was served in a glass and consisted of delicate layers of a number of shades of pink, two or three of which were crab. Perhaps there was a green layer too but does it matter? The chef was not going to give me the recipe anyway. This was followed by fish with caviar and vegetables au Champagne. It was all light and delicious and as you can imagine beautifully presented. There were two chefs: that of the French residence Marcello Cutajar whose meals I have enjoyed over many years, again and again and the Chef of the Maison Dom Pérignon, Bernard Dance who no doubt masterminded the event.
The evening’s drink was Dom Pérignon as can be expected: Dom Pérignon Vintage 2000, Dom Pérignon Rosé Vintage 1998 and at the end Cognac Hennessy Paradis.
It will not be Dom Pérignon this weekend but plain sparkling wine for me.
The entrée was Suprême of Canette de Challans with black truffles, mushrooms and tomatoes with Chinese spices and dessert was a delicate Délice fraise aux biscuits roses de Reims. These biscuits – the word is derived from bis – twice and cuit – meaning cooked , as they are cooked twice – yes, these delicate pink biscuits contain no artificial colouring. They are hard in texture so they used to be simply dunked in a glass of champagne or red wine. Now there are a number of desserts which one can make with them.
M. Rondeau, a great storyteller, told us how when he was a boy, his grandmother, in late afternoon or thereabouts, would ask him to go to the cellar and collect a bottle of champagne. They would then sit down and she would add lemonade to his champagne and they would dunk the biscuits roses de Reims – his champagne mixed with lemonade, hers probably not. I found it to be a delightful story for not many of our grandparents made it a habit of opening bottles of champagne of an afternoon and share them with us. But then M. Rondeau’x grandfather was a vintner.
There is much more to be said of this excellent evening. My only regret is that there wasn’t time to really speak at any length to the journalists and editors present. The evening passed all too quickly but I am certain that many of them will give Malta the publicity it needs and we shall reap the benefits by having more French tourists here.