Summer is always a strange and wonderful season in France.  As the French populace goes on vacation, so too does the content on most radio stations, the issues that preoccupy the airwaves (see Benalla and its repercussions), and magazines that focus on children’s games and summer romance.  The French know how to relax, turn off the mind, settle into the warm sand under a huge umbrella.  And it turns out that most of the 42 million French who go on vacation in summer head to the beach, whether it be Cap Ferret, Biarritz, Cannes, or Corsica.  Those of us who are able to vacate at other times of year benefit from the urban peace and quiet that ensues.

One Bright Side of Heat

This summer is particularly strange and wonderful as temperatures continue to beat records.  The Mairie of Paris  has responded by launching an application called Extrema Paris that tells where in the city to be cool, and publishing two interactive online maps, one for daytime, one for night time, with cool city spots. Many of the city’s parks and gardens are open later than usual, too, and more and more have installed “brumisateurs,” towers that spray a fine, cooling mist.

Another Bright (Edible) Side

One of summer’s bright sides is always the abundance of fine fruit and vegetables that heat yields, from peaches and nectarines to artichokes and, mostly, tomatoes.  We wait and wait then, suddenly, tomatoes are everywhere, in every hue and shape.  I’m partial to big, fat, juicy heirlooms like coeur de boeuf with its silken skin, tender flesh that almost explodes when you bite into it and its all around sweet depth, and  the deep red Rose de Berne, which stays firm even when its bursting with juice and flavor.  I cut coeur de boeuf into fat slices, drizzle them with vinaigrette and shower them with flat-leaf parsley leaves and onion for a heart-stopping first course.  As for Rose de Berne, these I turn into that joy of summer, gazpacho.  I almost forget how much I love gazpacho until I taste it the first time during tomato season.  Then it all comes back to me, the chill, the vibrancy, the liquid/solid texture.

My favorite gazpacho includes a kiss of smoke because, naturally, I put the tomatoes and the red bell pepper on the grill, over smoking grapevine cuttings before I whir them into the soup. The result is hauntingly delicious, and something of a departure from the usual. So, when you’re getting out the grill anyway for those burgers, or chops, or slabs of bacon or ribs, make sure you grill tomatoes and peppers and turn them into this soup.  Serve it chilled but not frosty, and add an extra touch of lemon juice if your tomatoes are sweet.

Serve gazpacho as a first course, followed by, say, Grilled Rabbit!

Bon Appétit!

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