Good food for a good cause
Kim M. Watt
Lovely people, you may recall that last year my wonderful friend Sylvie and I created a collection of really very terrible festive songs (I'm so sorry to everyone whose favourites I ruined. Really) in aid of her charitable association, Les Minots de Bissau. This was a pay-what-you-want collection, with everything donated going straight to Les Minots.
(And if you missed it, I've shifted it over here, and it's still pay-what-you-want, and all money still goes to the association, so please feel free to jump over and grab it.)
If you already checked out Les Minots de Bissau last year, and you're not too interested in our reasoning for a recipe book, you can simply watch our highly professional video above, and/or grab your recipe collection here. But if you're wondering why we're videoing shellfish and waving recipes at you, the following might clear a few things up ...
Important note before we continue! The only way I can set up pay-what-you-want is to have the collections priced for free. You are, of course, welcome to just download them. But, if you can spare a little and would like to donate to Les Minots be Bissau, please hit 'add to cart', then go to checkout. There, you can add a tip. Everything collected that way goes straight to the association. Thank you so much!
Why Les Minots de Bissau?
Sylvie set up Les Minots de Bissau in conjunction with a handful of friends, to support kids and education in Guinea Bissau. Les Minots isn't a big organisation with lots of overheads or fancy fundraising skills. There might be the odd stall at a market, or homemade cakes for sale at a music event, or lunches at Sylvie's house for donors. It's simple and small-scale, but everything raised goes straight to Guinea Bissau, where Sylvie's friend Neuza makes sure it's put to the best possible use. Repairing school buildings, buying blackboards to replace sheets of tin, laying concrete floors to replace dirt, helping with school fees, and also setting a little aside for some small, fun things so that the kids can have a bit of a festive celebration too. A little goes a very long way over there, and every donation, no matter how small, makes a difference.
Why a recipe book?
Because food is more than just sustenance, for those of us lucky enough to have that luxury. A shared dish and a shared table create a connection that's far deeper than pass the sauce. It's an exchange of traditions, an expression of love, a way of saying, you matter to me. It's so much more than the plate on the table, and celebration meals, with their indulgence of both ingredients and time, are this many times over.
So it made sense for Sylvie to share her dishes with you, as she does in person to so many people around her (including displaced Antipodean writers). She is endlessly hospitable, an excellent cook, and a fantastic hostess. Although I still don't trust her with that oyster knife.
What's inside?
This is not a glossy cookbook or a “perfect hosting” manual. It's a guide and a suggestion.
Inside, you’ll find Sylvie's menu for a Provençal festive feast, including oysters and sea urchins served with some truly alarming knife work but zero fuss; the traditional and non-negotiable foie gras; comforting dishes like bouchées à la reine and crab soufflé tart plus a generous salmon pie; the deeply indulgent bûche de Noël, and finally the thirteen desserts of Provence.
I will point out here that this is all beautifully French fare, and therefore not ideal for vegetarians or vegans. However, this particular mostly vegetarian can throughly recommend good French baguettes with salted butter, and a large serving of bûche de Noël. It works for me.
In addition, we've worked in a little history here and there, a vague timeline to keep things on track, and regular reminders that an extra glass of bubbly (for the guests as well as the cook) can cover a multitude of sins. This isn't fancy restaurant food. This is home cooking, just on the festive end of the scale. And we really hope you enjoy it.
Why the video?
Because it's the absolute best way for Sylvie to explain a little more about the dishes and how to prepare them, as well as an excellent demonstration that things do not always go according to plan, and that is completely okay. More than okay, in fact. It's part of the fun of it.
Welcome to the table
If you download the recipe book, thank you. If you cook from it, even better. If you read it, ignore it, and keep it as an example of 'What I shall not be doing this holiday season', we are completely okay with that too. We just hope you enjoy the spirit that went into creating it.
From us, to you. Sending all the festive joy.
Bienvenue à table, et joyeux Noël.
