SARIETTE, CROTIN FRAICHE, TISANE

There is one organic farmers market in Paris.  It is on the Rue de Raspail on Sundays, and I live right up the street.  All the meats, cheeses, fish, fruits, and vegetables are "bio" but only a handful are raised on farms by the sellers and many are imported from Spain and Italy.  I tried to stick to "notre production" foods and left lugging home a basket of eggs, goats milk cheeses, herbs, yellow jeune onions still covered in dirt, tiny white onions at the ends of long white stems, and bright, saucer shaped red onions.  

My simple lunch and breakfast

One of my goat cheeses was a white dome of soft fresh crotin.  I wanted to try this immediately for lunch.  Place about half of the cheese in a bowl (my cheese was about the perfect size to fit in the palm of my hand).  Add a generous amount of fresh savory leaves picked off the stems (I think thyme would also be good and I want to try this next time), a pinch of fleur sel sel, and a good pour of olive oil.  Stir around a little with a fork.  Eat with a toasted baguette.  If you don't have fresh herbs, cumin is also delicious.

When I picked up the sariette to smell, the herb lady said in French something about being good for a tonic (maybe she meant tisane?) in the morning.  I figured this alone made the herb worth trying.  The report is that sariette not only tastes incredible with fresh goat cheese, it also makes a lovely, fresh tea in the morning.  The taste is a hint of thyme and a teeny tiny bit spicy, which I like because it wakes me up a little, very gently.  I poured boiling water over a few sprigs and waited about 5 minutes before drinking the pale, clear liquid.  Huge improvement over the Monoprix verbena citron tea bags.

Eat and drink in a peaceful setting where you can fully enjoy each bite and sip.