I have a new market to explore. Although I've been here before I never had it to rely on like I do now. We are living in a gite up on the plateau next to the Croix Rousse market and although our little courtyard house is not equipped for the kind of cooking I normally do, I do have a big pot and a burner, which is all we need right now for autumn slow simmers. What's more, one of Lyon's major offal suppliers is present on the market four days a week, and the prices for these special cuts are well below the cost of the more common meats from the butcher. You know what this means. It means an enormous brass key turns in an ancient lock in a huge blue painted door. It means my market basket is switched to my left hand while I use another big key to open another gate and I step out, crunching through leaves across a square into the autumn morning with one mission.
I am marking things down in my notebook and will be sharing everything with you in time. But for the moment I will just try and keep things simple. Prepare an autumn stew, pair it with crusty baguette and a cool Bourgogne Aligote, follow it with a salad and a generous cheese platter, roasted or poached pears, and there you have the gist of the pleasures of our table right now.
