They are used to picky foreigners in the markets in and around Aix-en-Provence.
There’s always someone wanting to know about the life of the slaughtered chicken they want to buy.
Did the chicken house have indoor-outdoor flow?
“What’s English for ‘free range?'” you’ll hear one vendor say to another.
Did the chicken have a balanced, chicken-free diet?
“Yes of course, Madame!”
Was the chicken organic?
“Oui, c’est tout bio,”
And local? Was its carbon feather print the size of a small chicken or an enormous pterodactyl?
“Oui, c’est de la region – juste à coté d’Aix [Just down the road},” they’ll say agreeably.
In fact, market vendors are so agreeable that a cynic might wonder if they are simply providing the correct answers to questions they consider to be quite pointless.
So I wasn’t surprised to see bemusement on the faces of several butchers in several different markets and meat stalls when I asked whether their fresh or dried sausages contained preservatives.
“Mais non madame,” they responded with the same smile.
Comedians each and every one of them.
It was a video I stumbled onto on Youtube that informed me of my mistake – a common one, as it turns out.
You see the word préservatif means condom in France. It does not mean conservateurs – the chemicals used to extend the shelf life of food.
That’ll teach me for trying on English words with a French accent (although it often works!).
I swear that I asked that question of at least six butchers over a period of months before I learned my mistake.
Not one of them pointed out my error.
Instead they all promised deadpan, hand on heart, that their sausages were 100 per cent condom-free.
That’s so funny Karen! I seem to remember getting a similar smile in a restaurant when me and my sister-in-law said we couldn’t possibly eat more because we were so full. It turns out we were saying we were pregnant.
Too funny
Finally… catching up with your blog Karen, on a warm overcast Xmas morning in Auckland! What a delight! Leo is especially amused, and wants to read it all – but I told him we’d leave some for tomorrow and the rest of our (long awaited) holidays :-)!
Lots of love and Merry Xmas to you and the boys!!
Biba, Vlad and Leo