Robin Ellis

…is in our hands!

Signed and sealed–the deal is done, completed; the church next to our rectory is ours.

I find this an astonishing thing to write.

Owning a church was never an ambition–I have no allegiance–not since spending three hours on my knees at St Jude’s Church Hampstead Garden Suburb (High Anglican) for Good Friday service in the late 1950’s.

An act of pure exhibitionism–no wonder I became an actor.

In 1990 we fell in love with this house, a presbytère (the priest’s residence) with its church just next door–and a cemetery (could come in handy later).

The church is close–a few steps from our front gate.

A benign presence in our fairy tale since 1990–and an everyday one since moving here permanently in 1999.

Twice a year–on Easter Monday and at All Saints (November)–the curé of Lautrec came to say mass to a dwindling number of parishioners.

Funeral services were held from time to time, before burial in the cemetery à coté.

Our neighbors, Alice and Pierrette, made a terrible racket ringing the bells on Christmas Eve–frightening Père Noel out of his wits. The reindeer bolted!

About 15 years ago, a small piece of the vaulted ceiling fell–and the church was closed permanently–and essentially abandoned.

There is a slowly widening fissure in the outer walls one of the side chapels. Birds and bats took up residence inside.

Nonetheless it withstood whirlwind and tempest–and still stands–almost intact.

We are proud of our modest church–not old by French standards–built around 1860.

But three years ago the fairy tale took a less than benign turn.

Our newly-elected Mayor, a local garlic farmer whose parents are buried in the cemetery, announced he was keen to sell it!

All churches in France have been the property of the state since 1905–when an act separating Church and State became law in France.

(Would it were true in the UK–what are the bishops doing in the House of Lords?)

Lautrec needed the money and the now-derelict church was a burden, according to Monsieur le Maire. He was well within his rights.

Several buyers were interested in converting it to a domestic space–and thus becoming our cheek-by-jowl neighbors.

Our hackles were roused.

After an anxious year, we agreed to the asking price and shook hands with the Mayor.

Whoopee, we thought.

That was over two years ago!

French bureaucracy is a world beater–the notaire and the mayor wholeheartedly agreed on Thursday morning, as we both signed the final act of sale and shook hands again.

He wants the cash to improve the primary school and other good works around the village.

Felicitations to him,  felicitations to Lautrec and finally–felicitations to us!

Thus opens a new chapter….

Read Full Post »

Ratatouille came into my mind as I was walking this morning–must have been the sun coming up.

A classic vegetable stew and the culinary face of summer! Looking at it makes you smile and forget–for a second– the state of the world.

Memories of holidays in Southern Europe drift into view.

Elizabeth David calls it Ratatouille de Nice–“a sunny place for shady people“–according to Somerset Maugham–in her definitive tome, French Provincial Cooking.

Haven’t made it for years–got distracted by spicier recipes in the repertoire for sweet pepper, aubergine and tomato.

Shakshuka for instance–which features in my latest cookbook, Mediterranean Cooking for Diabetics, p. 41—with a couple of eggs melting into the surface.

Ratatouille is gentler–relying on herbs for its flavor enhancers–rosemary, bay, thyme, marjoram.

We’ll have it for lunch, with pork chops and rosemary, cooked in a cosy nest of aubergine slices.

• 3 tblsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion–roughly chopped
• 3 sweet peppers–red and yellow makes a pretty picture
• 1 medium aubergine–halved and quartered lengthwise and then sliced into square inch pieces
• 3 tomatoes–skinned and roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves–pulped
• 1 tsp coriander seeds–crushed
• Sprigs of thyme, rosemary and bay–all added with the toms
• 1 medium courgette–prepared as the aubergine

Heat 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil in a medium pan and add the onions.

Cook over a gentle flame until they soften–about five minutes.

Add the chopped peppers, aubergine and garlic to the pan and turn everything over in the oil.

Cover the pan and cook on a low flame for about 35 minutes–until the vegetables soften nicely.

Add the tomatoes, courgette, the herbs and the coriander seeds and turn it all again–being careful to preserve the shape of the veggy pieces, remembering that it’s the face of summer!

Cook for a further half hour–uncovered.

A dollop of tapinade (black olive dip–recipe also in my cookbook), enhances the feeling of being in Europe du Sud.

Can’t resist showing it again…

Read Full Post »