Paella and Cannes

There’s something really lovely about the beach.

Cities are great and I love skiing, but when it all comes down to it, there’s something pretty magical about going to sleep and hearing waves outside your window.

Before anyone asks, yes, I do still want to live in Paris. No question. But no one ever said I couldn’t make weekend jaunts down to Cannes, especially when the sun is out and the beach is warm and everything seems absolutely perfect, like it did around this time three years ago, when I had just spent four months living in Cannes.

But I don’t want to talk about that today. I’m here for three weeks–there will be more than enough time for strolls down memory lane. Today, I’m actually going to talk about food. I know… it’s rather shocking. I’ll let it sink in.

…

OK? Food. This is a food blog, after all.

I’m not sure if I mentioned it here before, but in the four months leading up to this epic traipse through Europe, while I was living in New York, I was working at Weight Watchers, translating articles. Translating articles as a trade means that you read a lot of articles, and I read a lot about Weight Watchers over the past couple of months. It really started me thinking about approaches to eating–a lot of us, especially in the food blogging community, sleep, breathe and live for food. Even if we’re not actively consuming all the time (that would be a little bit ridiculous), we are thinking about it, jotting down notes for later or taking pictures of things to post on our blogs when the time is right.

I remember reading an article once that said that obsessing that much over food makes weight loss or having a healthy weight in general nearly impossible. I disagree… but I do think that a change in the way that we Americans as a culture, and I personally, view food is necessary… and it’s something I thought about a lot today as I walked the promenade in Cannes watching people eat their lunches at outdoor cafés.

If we can say that a culture in the world is obsessed with food, it may be the French. They are, after all, the masterminds behind such classics as boeuf bourguignonne and coq au vin, not to mention all the especially southern French dishes like salade nicoise and bouillabaisse and soupe de poisson. But as I strolled past the tables, couples sitting facing the beach and smoking endless cigarettes over their cups of coffee or cutting delicately into cracker-thin pizza, I realized that just because the French have all of this heavy, wonderful food, it doesn’t mean that they gorge on it.

I have a bit of paper where I scrawled something in a somewhat inebriated state–I don’t know where it came from, and I don’t remember writing it down, but I keep it because of how true it is: “It would be quite unpleasant to binge eat foie gras.”

Think about it: when you have those moments of shoveling food into your mouth (don’t even pretend you don’t have those moments) what sort of food is it? Is it roast chicken or chips? Beef stew or pretzels? Steak tartare or ice cream? There are certain foods that you just don’t need that much of to be satisfied, and most, if not all, of the French foods are this kind: the kind that is best eaten seated at a table instead of on the couch, with company instead of in front of the television. French food seems suited to three-hour dinners, and when you’ve eaten your fill, there’s no reason to eat anymore; the French don’t snack, so why should I?

This paella is actually a Spanish dish, but it’s very popular in the south of France, especially with all the abundant seafood everywhere. Besides, the Spanish are not that much different from the French, in that respect: the Spaniards may sit down to dinner at nine, but they often don’t get back up until midnight. It’s my mother’s version of paella–very different from the versions you’ll find in Spain, but delicious nonetheless.

Paella

In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, sauté sausage and remove to a paella pan or large stockpot. In the fat left by the sausage, saute the chicken and remove to the side. Add oil if needed, and brown the onions. Remove to the side. In this fashion, adding oil as necessary, brown the scallops and the shrimp.

Add the artichokes, peas and peppers to the paella pan. In another pot, steam the clams and the mussels, and add these to the paella pan.

Cook rice in scant 2 to 1 ratio with the saffron: 2 parts chicken broth to 1 part rice. Toss everything together in the paella pan and reheat in the oven at 300 degrees, if necessary. Garnish with kalamata olives, lemon slices, tomato slices and parsley. Serve with hot sauce.

This paella reheats well: my mother always makes piles of it, and we eat it for lunch for days afterwards.