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Lat. 43 30.7N Long. 7 03.2E July 2002
Approaching from the north east, the channel between the two islands opens up and Forte Ste. Marguerite and the fortress and abbey on the southern side of St Honorat are clearly visible. Rudi swore as he paid out the 45lb CQR and 30m of rather rusty chain to bring us to anchor in the channel 60m from the northern shore of St. Honorat. The chandlers had promised the new parts for the electric windlass but Rudi berated me for not sorting things out earlier. Worse was to follow when he had to haul it in.
True to form everybody jumped into the water, got out the snorkels and masks, blew up the airbed and Rudi went to sleep in the dinghy. After showers on the stern some people got out a book, others took the rays and Dean started fishing. There were all sorts of excuses as to why he didn’t catch anything.
By now the gentle breeze was bringing the smell of the pines off the land , the sound of the cicadas was occasionally accompanied by the bells of the abbey and Annica went below to prepare the casserole. In the morning Dean’s lack of success with the fish continued but the popping corn from the previous night proved magic ground bait and fish hooked themselves. Dean asked Annica to get the fish off the hook as he didn’t like touching them.
What you need for the casserole. 500g of pork filet. 3 large handfuls of black pitted olives. 3 large handfuls of rocket leaves. Juice of one lemon. 4 tbsp of olive oil. 2 tablespoons of herbes de Provence. 1 fat clove of garlic crushed. 1 red onion chopped small. 2 tbsp of honey 2 table tbsp of balsamic vinegar Half a chicken stock cube. 1 cup of water. Salt and pepper. To be served with the casserole. Salad of your choice. Crusty bread. We had bottles of Rioja. What you have to do. Cut away excess fat and then cut the pork into chunks. Marinade the pork with the olive oil, lemon juice, herbes de Provence and salt and pepper for at least an hour. Annica did it in a polythene bag which made it easier to stir without getting her hands oily. Brown the pork in a little oil, then add olives, garlic and onions and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar, honey, stock cube and water, then simmer for 15/20 minutes. At the last minute add the torn rocket leaves and turn them in. Serve with salad and crusty bread for mopping up the juices.
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Annica is from Sweden. She has black, not blonde, hair. She lives with Matthew on the Fulham Road, loves cooking and writes restaurant reviews for Square Meal. I know nothing about her Aunt Agneta except she makes a great pork casserole.
Aunt Agneta wasn’t aboard but in addition to Annica and Matthew we did have our son, Rudi, his wife Hillary, our daughter Sophie and her husband, Dean. The sail from Antibes to the Îles de Lérins was pleasant enough and with eight crew there was nothing for me to do but appear to be in charge.
Hillary, washed and polished, became cocktail waitress, Sophie selected her third outfit of the day and sat around and I made a saucepan of popping corn flavoured with salt which went in minutes so that Dean had to make another panful.