Carrots

Another thing we discovered on holiday in France this year concerns carrots. We love our carrots & I usually served them glazed.

After a day or two of using tinned veg we just had to resort to fresh so bought some fresh carrots for a change. We tried doing it in the same way as at home & it just didn’t work.

Normally to 7-8oz thinly sliced carrots I add ½oz margarine/butter, a teaspoon caster sugar & some salt. They are all go on the gas hob at high heat, stirring until the fat has melted & well coated the carrots. I then turn the heat down to minimum & cook until tender, usually 30-35 minutes.

This the Fox tried to do in the gîte we were staying in. However the gas never turned down as low as it does here. Suddenly we understood why Vichy carrots traditionally include a little water. We hastily added some water before the carrots burned black.

In most rural areas in France gas comes by the bottle, not the mains as happens here. For some reason the hobs just don’t turn down as low as here which does affect the cooking of foods. It’s something we just hadn’t realised before.