Freshness of France

Light, refined, learned and noble, harmonious and orderly, clear and logical, the cooking of France is, in some strange manner, intimately linked to the genius of her greatest men. Rouff Marcel

Through out my school years, I found that I had a strange knack for my foreign language classes. I decided on the French route in middle school and continued for the next four years of high school. When I went to college, I realized that I looked forward to my French classes more than any other class, and I kept taking class after class until I had enough hours for a French minor. By this time, I knew how to write, how to read, how to conjugate verbs, but I didn't know how they lived. So I signed up for a study abroad class and hopped a plane for Paris.

Our first night in Angers, France, we unpacked our bags in our home away from home (which, by the way, was a tiny room in a convent equipped with real nuns) and set out to the university for our first meal. I can't even come close to remembering what was set in front of us, but I do remember thinking I would die of starvation before the end of summer. I'd heard for years that France is the epitome of the culinary world, but from my first experience, I could say with conviction that whatever that was in those dishes was not what food critics had been eating in France. I will say, though, that you can't expect much more than gray, gooey meat-like substances and tasteless, hard-as-rock vegetables in a school cafeteria. Thank goodness they at least served us wine.

Needless to say, I stayed away from the lunch room as much as possible. I figured I was in Angers so I might as well explore the city and try out its local fare. I happened across this pasta restaurant called, I think, Le Papillon. Inside, you could choose your pasta and then you could choose your sauce or topping. It was early in the trip so my food vocabulary was a little less than stellar so I just picked from things I knew or just hoped for the best. On my first try, I hit the jackpot. The dish that came out of that little French hole-in-the-wall kitchen was one of the best meals I'd ever tasted.

I ate pretty well for the remainder of the summer, mussels were in season, cheese and baguettes were a staple, and pain au chocolat was breakfast, but that pasta was the meal I craved once a week. As soon as I came home, I tried my version of the pasta recipe. It came out just the same. A bottle of red wine, toasted French bread and steaming, cheesy pasta send me right back to the easy afternoons in Angers.

French Pasta

1/2 pound penne pasta, cooked and drained
1/2 cup reserved pasta water
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 cup fresh mozzarella, diced
olive oil and balsamic vinegar, for drizzling
salt and pepper

Pile pasta in a bowl and use some reserved pasta water to moisten the pasta. Top with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella in sections. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar and season with salt and pepper.