1986: My Happy Life in Provence

Chapter 73 Characteristics of Provence
Ronan raised his eyebrows and looked at Arthur.

His impression of this guy changed drastically.

Ronan understands that there will definitely be people criticizing pink wine, but is this what Arthur really thinks?
When trying to make sweet and sour pork at Freddy's house a month ago, Artur drank more than one glass of pink wine and did not say anything bad about it, even though Freddy kept complaining throughout the process.

After a month, the attitude has changed?

It is not difficult to associate this change with his companions.

But no matter whether he was asking for help from others or had no choice, Ronan could still understand Arthur.

Life is so difficult that it is inevitable to do things that are contrary to one's will.

But now Arthur's attitude has changed again.
What else could it be because of?
It must be related to Mr. Jacques and Mr. Elliott who just left.

Ronan didn't dare to bother someone whose expression changed faster than the pages of a book.

"No, sir. I'm afraid it will dirty your expensive suit." Ronan's tone was full of alienation.

Ronan guessed partly, but not all.

Arthur also wanted to "steal" some cooking lessons from Ronan. In short, there were too many reasons to push Arthur to switch sides to Ronan's side.

He quietly stepped aside to Ronan's side and asked in a relaxed tone:

"What do you think Mr. Elliott wanted to talk to Mr. Jacques about?"

Ronan shrugged and said:
"I am not Mr. Elliott or Mr. Jacques, so I cannot answer this question."

Jacques' eyesight is poor, and Arthur's hearing is poor. He seemed not to be able to hear the impatience in Ronan's tone, and happily spoke of his guess:
"I guess they are talking about forming the 'Vaucluse Gourmet Food Alliance'. Mr. Elliott has always had this idea and hopes to bring together all the catering resources in Vaucluse. Maybe something happened recently that pushed him to make up his mind."

Ronan shook his head in confusion:

"I don't understand."

Arthur's 'kind' reminder:

"You are now considered a member of the catering industry, so you should be aware of news from various channels."

"How about this," Arthur said with a smile, "I have a few good friends in the catering industry. We sit together for a drink every week or two and talk about the news we have heard recently. I will invite you to join us next time."

Do you want to share the news with me, or do you want to hear it from me? Ronan couldn't help but complain in his heart.

"It's not possible during this period. I have some important things to do. Let's do it after Easter." Ronan did not refuse directly.

Arthur's invitation reminded Ronan of something.

He really needed to find a channel to learn about industry news, as it would be difficult to get anywhere in Provence without a "circle".

But he doesn't have to join Arthur's circle. He plans to look for one on his own first, and then accept Arthur's invitation if that doesn't work.

"Okay, no problem." Arthur smiled happily.

Seeing that Ronan did not reject his invitation, Arthur pointed to the seasoning bowl on the stall and asked:

“What are these spices?”

Recently he tried to replicate 'Pot-fried Pork' several times, but still failed.

He even found friends in Paris and asked them to go to a Chinese restaurant there to ask, but the recipe they got still didn't taste like Ronan's.

Although it’s not bad, it’s not amazing.

It was completely different from the feeling he had when he ate it at Freddy's house and felt it was 'amazing'.

Is the base made by Ronan the Chinese sweet and sour pork?

Arthur had been peeking at the side, and there was nothing much to say about the frying steps, so the problem must be in the seasoning at the end. But Ronan put all the seasonings in a metal seasoning bowl, and he couldn't tell what was what, so he had to ask.

Ronan laughed:
"Trade secrets."

Under the platform of Mr. Jacques and Mr. Elliott, 10 bottles of rosé wine were sold out earlier than the sweet and sour pork.

Of course, the sweet and sour pork was sold out much earlier than usual, leaving Ronan and Zoe more than an hour to visit the "bread competition".

Having grown up in a Chinese food environment, Ronan is not very dependent on bread and does not have any in-depth understanding of it.

After visiting the 'Bread Competition', he was pleasantly surprised to find that the world of bread is so magical.

Each participating bakery has its own unique recipe, making its bread completely different from the popular bread on the market.

Some of them make various changes to the appearance of the bread, making it bigger, wider, flatter, longer, and there is even a store where every type of bread is as round as a football.

Others add unique external decorations to the bread, making them look like works of art created by artists.

Ronan was amazed by what he saw. He decided not to eat sliced bread for breakfast in the next half month. He should try the bakeries in Luberon.

The champion of this year's bread competition came from the village of Carbury. Before Zoe's introduction, Ronan didn't even know such a village existed.

It is said that the village has less than 200 villagers, but can make the best bread in the entire Luberon region.

There were quite a few people gathered in front of the Champion booth, and the fat boss was giving an impassioned speech:

"For an aperitif, I recommend pairing it with a salt meat surprise or a savory puff pastry. This will whet your appetite and give you more choices when it comes time for dinner."

He moved back and forth in the narrow space between the dining tables:
"If you want to start with some lettuce, you can have onion bread, garlic bread, olive bread, and feta bread. If you want seafood, go with rye bread. They're the perfect pairing. Anyone want to try some? There's still some left."

Zoe took a piece, put it in her mouth and found it delicious, then took another piece and handed it to Ronan.

"This one is eaten with beef, this one with foie gras, this one can be eaten with cured meat and ham, and there is also a mixed salad. Oh, don't confuse it with a vegan salad, their combinations are different." The boss generously distributed bread for tasting to everyone.

Ronan made a rough calculation and found that there were seventeen or eighteen kinds of bread in his mouth.

How many kinds of bread are there in total?

"The bread in Provence is so special." Ronan said to Zoe excitedly.

Suddenly, there were several small discussions behind the two of them.

"Look, it's the boss who sells pink wine!"

"It's him, it's him!"

A group of well-dressed tourists passed by them and gave Ronan friendly smiles:

“Can I take a picture with you?”

Ronan smiled back at them:
"of course can."

After taking the photo, Ronan said to Zoe proudly:
"You see, they all remember the specialty rosé wine of Provence."

Zoe looked at Ronan seriously and remained silent.

Ronan felt something was wrong and touched his face:

"What? Is there something on my face?"

Zoe said anxiously:

"I feel like the 'special' thing is not the pink wine, but you."

(End of this chapter)