Ann's Blog
Le Marin, Martinique:
March 31, 2012:
Marketing in Marin
We’re getting ready to leave Le Marin, but we knew it would be silly to depart without a trip into town for a few last provisions. This is Martinique, after all, an island with all manner of edible and drinkable temptations. Sure, we spent a day this week driving around the island in a rental car and stopping at our favourite wine distributor (Pomal, in Genipa) and favourite hypermarché (the nearby Carrefour). By the end of the day, there was barely room for me in the Twingo – not one of our usual SdJs; this rental was pristine, and everything worked – what with the cases of wine, cooler bag stuffed with French cheeses, sausages (for Steve), bottles of cane syrup and rhum agricole (for ti punches), cans of olives, you get the picture.
But shopping with Steve can be a trial when you’re on foot. Example #1: There are several boulangeries close to the waterfront. Close to the dinghy dock where we leave Snack. Not good enough. Even before our pain au chocolat taste test last year (which proved him right), he insisted on patronizing L’île aux Pains, and only L’île aux Pains. Unfortunately, it’s up a very steep hill from the waterfront.
Example #2: Steps from the waterfront and the dinghy dock, several state-of-the-art grills belch mouthwatering smoke. Inside, the perfect takeout dinner sizzles over sugar cane stalks: sweet, smoky butterflied poulet boucané, or buccaneer chicken. Not good enough for Steve. He insists we walk to a parking lot easily a half-mile from where we’re standing – yes, part of the walk is uphill – because last year there were two women with a roadside grill there who dispensed a killer poulet boucané.
We walk. Mostly in blazing sun. I’m dripping by the time we can see the parking lot. There is no grill smoking. No grill at all. But there is a produce stand. Instead of a killer chicken, I get a killer christophene. It weighs more than kilo, costs less than a euro, and I’ve got it earmarked for a christophene-and-tomato gratin.
On our way back to the dinghy dock – Steve carrying the killer christophene and me schlepping a 1-1/2 –litre bottle of fresh coconut water we acquired from one of those pickup trucks – we buy a poulet boucané from one of the grills we’d bypassed earlier. I figure the extra walking entitles me to an extra piece of crispy skin tonight.
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Hi Ann,
When I cook the christophene (chayote) it has a strange medicine taste that my family will NOT abide. Please advise.
Regards,
Robert
Ps – I love the green marinade sauce recipe from your book! Thank you! :-)
Thank you for your blog. It keeps me happily thinking about all the wonders of the Islands until we can return again. We try to go at least once a year, but sometimes it takes two years before we get back! Your writings keep the wonderment alive. I love our well worn, repeatedly read copy of ” An Embarrassment of Mangos”. I know that I am about to love “The Spice Necklace”, next on my Must Read List! And I await the next blog to take me out of the cold rain and Spring snows to the warmth of the Caribbean Islands.
I’d love to hear more about the christophene and tomato gratin. I’m always looking for recipes for christophene (chayote where I live).
Thanks for the great blog!
Sounds exactly like you and Steve. Back home now and spring is slow in coming. Hope you enjoy the rest of your travels and keep the blogs coming. Also the recipes. Hope to do a Grenada supper this summer
Vano
Cyndi — I’ll include the christophene gratin recipe in one of my next couple blogs.
Robert — Hmm. I’ve never heard that before. Can anyone else help? How are you cooking it? Could it be taking on an odd flavor from your pot/pan? I’ll be posting a christophene gratin recipe (or two) in an upcoming blog. Maybe the herbs,cheese, and tomatoes in the gratin would disguise the taste your family doesn’t like.