Frenchie and the Balagne Seafood

Summer checklist: Eat local food - check! / Sleep - check! / Hike - check! / Picnic on top of a mountain - check! / Make jams - check! / Rest and sun in the mountains - check! / Drive with the windows down - check! / Walk barefoot in the grass - check!

Go to the beach… <gasp!> How did I forget about the coast? Busy beaches, fine white sand, seafood and blue waters… how?

Car loaded and packed for a beach day. The call of the sunny, beautiful and famous northwestern Corsican region of the Balagne already enchants and hypnotizes us like the song of a mermaid as we drive down the mountains, pass the undulating plains until the small hamlets full of artisans and olive orchards become visible with panoramic views of the deep blue Mediterranean Sea as a backdrop. Continue Reading…

Frenchie and the Magical Corsican Dessert

Have I told you yet about a dessert called fiadone? No, of course not! I was too busy babbling about frittatas, roasted wild kid and nightly cows eating fresh figs. So I shall tell you about this baked tasty cake, which is by far the most famous and best-known Corsican dessert. But then, there’s also the fig jam I need to mention. Why, oh why must the produce here be so wonderful and unique? Pourquoi? I need a 6-month extension to this vacation so I can properly try everything and fully understand how the Italians, Greeks and Phoenicians influenced the superb Corsican cuisine. One can only dream…

I hear the prolific fig tree in front of the house is becoming an issue. The ripe figs fall and burst spreading their gooey sweet mess on the ground. During the night, the wild cows come down from the mountain to eat the plump fruits still attached to the tree leaving nothing for us but chewed up leaves and branches – and I heard them in the dark of the night with their clapping hooves and demure chewing! This can only mean one thing: fig jam! Continue Reading…

Frenchie and the Corsican Village Food

6:30 am on the dot. Feeling so tired from yesterday’s drive on the Corsican mountain roads. The pale and transparent morning light comes through the shutters and brightens up the bedroom slightly. Surrounded by calmness while laying in bed. The rooster just crowed. The donkey just hee hawed. I open the shutters to discover for the first time a magnificent rugged view of the village rural roofs and discern the wonderful rebellious mountainous landscape in the background. And here’s the sun!—warming land and people. Today will be a slow day. Today will be a lazy day. Yes, today will be a Corsican food day!

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Frenchie and the Corsican Secret

If you ever go to Corsica, chances are you will spend most of your time exploring the treasures of the coast, rolling around on the island’s perfect sand beaches and tan until your skin gets to a shade of brown no one will ever be able to properly identify. This is the typical Corsica: what tourists have in mind and want to do. But the Corsican soul and heritage does not limit itself to just the coast and it has many mystical secrets – one of them I am about to reveal. Continue Reading…

Frenchie and the Corsican Airport

We just landed. Phones are on. Fingers flying and typing on the keys. Texts rushing out in a puff of electromagnetic interference. Aggressively making their way through the waves to give critical information: “Landed 43 sec. ago”. Wait, do we even have reception here? Texts did not go through. Resend. Resend. What is this place? The plane door opens letting in the yellow bright and blinding sun light inside the cabin. Sunglasses, quickly! Making our way through the aisle. Stepping out on the platform. 104 °F (40 °C) degrees, hot, oppressive, stifling, windy. Who’s going to collapse first from the heat? Hold on, we’re still on the tarmac! We have to walk to the airport? Welcome to Corsica! Continue Reading…