Maryann's food memories.
Very early...
Picture the scene in the late sixties - one red mini, a roof rack, a small trailer very carefully packed , parents with three small daughters packed to the hilt travelling Oxfordshire via France to Northern Spain for a three week camping holiday.
This was our summer for a fair few years graduating to dads pride and joy the gold coloured Saab where we didn’t need the roof rack or the trailer.
My parents loved France and Spain - the countryside, their ever increasing interest in the cuisine of Europe, the beaches, as kids we took it all for granted, we didn’t know how lucky we were at the time.
We didn’t eat out a lot, mum was organised bringing some firm favourites from home with us to keep us girls happy but shopping in the local markets for the amazing juicy peaches, cheeses, charcuterie and plates that we were introduced to and she then started to recreate at home, we all ended up working in food due mainly to her inspiration and interest in great food.
But the two highlights of the trip for me ?
The rotisserie chicken which the campsite would produce over a BBQ and we would proudly carry back to the awning of our tent to eat with fresh baguettes and green salad.
The “ice man” who roamed the campsite in his van selling blocks of ice as big as bricks to keep your cool box cool each day for a few centimes? Looking back now he sounds a little like the child catcher on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
I hope my parents enjoyed a glass of chilled wine from that box, memories that’s what life is all about at the moment, we lost mum much too young nearly twenty years ago now and dad four years ago.
Picture the scene in the late sixties - one red mini, a roof rack, a small trailer very carefully packed , parents with three small daughters packed to the hilt travelling Oxfordshire via France to Northern Spain for a three week camping holiday.
This was our summer for a fair few years graduating to dads pride and joy the gold coloured Saab where we didn’t need the roof rack or the trailer.
My parents loved France and Spain - the countryside, their ever increasing interest in the cuisine of Europe, the beaches, as kids we took it all for granted, we didn’t know how lucky we were at the time.
We didn’t eat out a lot, mum was organised bringing some firm favourites from home with us to keep us girls happy but shopping in the local markets for the amazing juicy peaches, cheeses, charcuterie and plates that we were introduced to and she then started to recreate at home, we all ended up working in food due mainly to her inspiration and interest in great food.
But the two highlights of the trip for me ?
The rotisserie chicken which the campsite would produce over a BBQ and we would proudly carry back to the awning of our tent to eat with fresh baguettes and green salad.
The “ice man” who roamed the campsite in his van selling blocks of ice as big as bricks to keep your cool box cool each day for a few centimes? Looking back now he sounds a little like the child catcher on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
I hope my parents enjoyed a glass of chilled wine from that box, memories that’s what life is all about at the moment, we lost mum much too young nearly twenty years ago now and dad four years ago.