2012/05/13

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  Papà Mamma Bambina
  Scènes de Montréal - Montreal Scenes
  

  Above

  Tell-tale signs your street is changing.

  

  Mommies conveyor belts

  Since today is Mothers Day, I thought about posting this nice lullalby, loosely about the transmission of culture by the mothers, over generations. I was certain that this song was very old, I mean like centuries old. I can't find anything on the internet besides it being credited to famed Québec duo of the seventies, Luc Plamondon and François Cousineau, who also co-authored the songs that launched Diane Dufresne in that period. It has been sung by many, including Ginette Reno, but I much prefer the version by Fabienne Thibeault, about whom I've talked recently, and whose crystaline and mellow voice was custom-tailored for this song. There is an archived video on Radio-Canada's site where Plamondon explains the genesis of the song, but when you click on it the "wait" thingie just turns and turns for eternity. Radio-Canada's site is something you don't want to talk about without covering your head with a brown paper bag, if you are a Canadian. As per performance goes, don't think Maserati, think Model T.

  I'm still not convinced the original song does not date back much farther in the past. Too many people comment about their mother having sung it to them. Maybe Plamondon/Cousineau made an adaptation. I'll try again to see if eternity finally comes to an end, and get Plamondon's take on it. If so or if I find more about this mystery, I'll add it here.

  Meanwhile, what a beautiful voice. And lullaby.

  MA MÈRE CHANTAIT (My Mother Sang)
  lyrics: Luc Plamondon
  music: François Cousineau
  translation: Yours truly

  My mother always sang, la la la
  A very old love song
  That I sing to you in turn
  My daughter you will grow up
  And then you will leave
  But one day
  You will remember in turn
  About that song

  There was a sailor
  Who to win
  The heart of girls
  Promised them better days
  Under the sun of the Antilles
  Soon they would surrender
  But when he set off again
  Their tears
  Went to swell up the seas

  My mother always sang, la la la
  A very old love song
  That I sing to you in turn
  My daughter you will grow up
  And then you will leave
  But one day
  You will remember in turn
  About that song

  Then one day the sailor
  Was killed by a knife wound
  The rest I forgot the words
  But the end I do remember
  As soon as they are in love
  All men are sailors
  In their eyes dance waves of blue

  My mother always sang
  A very old love song
  That I sing to you in turn
  My daughter you will grow up
  And then you will leave
  But one day
  You will sing it in turn
  In remembrance of me

  In remembrance of me

  

  Da food section

  Doing some clean-up into old papers that clog many corners of this apartment of mine, I stumbled on a recipe I had printed out some time ago (time here meaning 3 months or 3 years, your guess is just as good as mine) and which is about mashed potatoes with guajillo chilies. I rarely if ever make mashed potatoes. I find them bland, and frankly terribly unimaginative, as per accompaniement goes. Not to mention their being reminiscent of older and much poorer family days when they usually came with pan-fried slices of bologna sausage and mashed turnip. (European readers won't probably know what is the "bologna sausage" I'm talking about, and they'd be ill-advised to correct this discrepancy). Let's say I much prefer pasta, or at times, not often, potatoes with their skin. Or the even more occasional french fries, of course. Guajillos are quite tasty, so I decided to give it a try. I thought it would be a nice partner for two 'forte' Italian sausages I had. I also had on hand what we call têtes de violon (some may call them crosses de fougères) and which they call fiddleheads in English. These are baby ferns which grow near small rivers or damp areas, and which have to be harvested before they start to unfold. After it's too late. In other words the window of opportunity is very small, a few weeks in the spring. It's truly what you can call a seasonal product. It's blanched and then prepared and served as a vegetable. The next day, since I had enough fiddleheads for two meals, and I wanted to try a hotter version of the guajillo potatoes and seeing some rib steak (thin, like it I like it) on sale at the corner grocery store, I decided to have a second variation on a same theme. Music in the plate. On on the palate.

  By the way, those guajillo potatoes are delicious (there's garlic browned in the skin, chicken broth, milk and butter in there also). To be done with "oven" type potatoes. The second time I used so-called "new" potatoes, those with a thin skin. Gone the moist fluffyness.

  Variation no. 1 in F-major^[*] for violin, purée and two sausages

  

  Variration no 2 in F-Minor for violin, purée and one rib steak

  

  ^[*] - F = 'forte'

  Being able to eat outside is such a pleasure. Pedro (the iguana) is sharing it with me since he's back outside for the summer since Saturday.

  I still have lots of tomato sauce from last year's batch, which itself had been added to what was remaining from the year before, when we had done too much of it. Last week I brought down two dozen jars to Friend who was out of them (he's got a scooter and a motorcycle but no car). I remained with twenty-seven 250ml jars and four 500 ml ones. So today, whatever I had for supper, it had to incorporate some of that sauce to lower the stocks. Finally I settled for the easy way out, pasta arrabiata. I didn't put any pepperoncini in it, only fresh jalapeño, so it was not that much arrabiata (it means mad, angry) but tasty still the same. Already that jalapeños are a rather perfumed chili, but I also added in there other stuff like minced shallots and garlic cooked in olive oil, oregano, fine herbs, a bit of powdered sage, and salt/pepper of course. I usually use penne rigate for pasta arrabiata so this time around was no exception. And with a bit of chance I'll eventually finish that piece of romano lupa I've had for a while. I have reggiano in the fridge but it's not unwrapped yet and I want to use the romano before it loses its virtue... well so to speak. One thing I know is that pasta arrabiata is 100% vegetarian friendly.

  

  

  • 14:30
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