Leftovers #194

Inevitably Marseille-coded

Marseille smells like fig leaves, Marlboro Reds, boat fuel and fish. These are the first fragrances of the day as I make my way down to Vallon Des Auffes to swim before the teenagers descend; before I put caffeine into my bloodstream, the water my wake up call instead. I am not alone. A dog follows me and licks my hand. An old man in tight Speedos, skin the colour of nutmeg, stands on the other side of the water. I lay my towel down on the cool flat stone, undress and slide in, finally emerging next to the bobbing boats.

The heat of a city is manageable when it is surrounded by water. Coastal breezes are the antidote. I meet a friend of a friend at a nearby tabac in the neighbourhood I’ve chosen as my home for the week, and we sit opposite each other, visibly sweating and eventually doing nothing about it, our discussions a swirl of dating mishaps, spiritual side quests and family dramas. Funny how the first five minutes can feel like two hours, then the next two hours can fly by in what seems like a matter of seconds.

I’m back from dinner at a Berber spot recommended to me by Mehlaqa (if M recommends a place, you go). That was my second time. Just as good. Restaurant Femina by the way. Get the barley couscous with either the chicken or lamb chops. Go heavy on the harissa. Don’t miss the mint tea. France was playing Morocco, which meant the old port was packed with people crowding around outdoor televisions or big projector screens. Distinctly not a football fan, I couldn’t help but love the energy as people cheered or gasped in the hot, humid summer air.

My favourite thing about that restaurant was on both nights, I noticed the same older gentleman – father? owner? uncle? – sat outside the restaurant. He did nothing but sit and observe, sometimes greeted by family or friends, his a toothless grin. How wonderful to be unfettered by the need to be entertained by something. To be untethered to a screen. It made me think about my dad, who can be put in front of a blue sea and left to simply watch and think and smile.

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Good things to consume (bodily)

• Is there anything better than sitting in the sun, next to a body of water, fresh off the plane, with a baguette, cheese, tomatoes and some sort of cured meat in front of you? Literally tore apart a tomato with my teeth, stuffed it into a baguette, spread some brie with a piece of salami. Slid right down with an Orangina.

• The next day I had my own aperitivo hour at the apartment with the leftovers: generously salted sliced tomatoes (used a knife this time), lashings of extra olive oil and a drizzle of balsamic glaze, with bread, the rest of the cheese and salami plus an ice cold Kronenberg. Heaven.

• Tomorrow’s pitstop will be at my favourite grocery store (Fruits Et Légumes St Victor) for octopus, olives, nectarines, cheese, herbs and juicy tomatoes. Perfect picnic fare for Saturday’s beach day.

• Would like to be buried in Poissonerie Kennedy’s yellowtail crudo with ponzu and olive oil. Ordered so perfectly with the reddest of red spot prawns, three large oysters and a fresh herb sorbet with a shot of smoky mezcal.

• Gochujang marinaded sea bream and more crudo and the silkiest tarama at Tuba never misses. We had the best seat in the house (ty Delaney).

• Tonight looks like a triple threat of mauresque at Café L’Abbaye, a glass of wine at Grenadine, and finally dinner at Ciccino to catch up on all the Arles goss with Mehlaqa.

Good things I wish I was cooking this weekend:

• Hannah Wilding’s ajo blanco but with extra cukes and topped with cherries for a cold, creamy soup that sounds like an antidote to the heatwave.

• In the same vein, these simply dressed tomatoes on a bed of green goddess sauce feat. herbs, spring onions and avocado.

• Not a recipe but v invested in this video from Tahini Dirtbag who rounds up her kitchen essentials as a line cook!!!

• Chuck Cruz’s grilled shrimp with annotto mojo de ajo looking fire for a bbq.

• Yes I will be making Molly Baz’s cherry lemon shandy when I get home – it looks so goddamn refreshing. I love American drinks. Big and icy.

• I can’t tell what I think about this guy, but he has a very good failsafe homemade mayo recipe here (in the caption).

• Admittedly quite intrigued by this clotted cream roast chicken. I’d try it.

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Good things to consume (culturally)

• Finished Yesteryear in a few days. Was it technically good writing? Perhaps not, but I’m always fascinated by any commentary around the tradwife movement. Lots of twists and turns. I’m certain it’s being turned into a tv show as we speak. Would love to discuss with anyone who’s read it!

• Haters will hate bro podcasts like How Long Gone and Middlebrow but I’m a fan, can’t help it. Listened to Middlebrow’s conversation with Jeremy O’Harris (a controversial figure but I love him!) whilst sweating it out on the beach this afternoon.

• On that note, I met Jeremy O’Harris in Copenhagen a few years ago after I’d just written this piece about playwriting.

  As I write this, the playwright Jeremy O’Harris is looming over my table, talking on the phone. We walk out of the cafe together and I nervously stop him, because I think it’s important to tell him how important I think he and his work is. The moment feels like all of those other words: significant, valuable, worthy, impressive, influential and powerful.

  What’s important?

• Visited Le Corbusier’s La Cité Radieuse – a social housing building constructed after WW2; Marseille’s Barbican if you will. It’s colour-drenched, which I love, especially the glossy red elevators that were so spacious inside. I specifically loved the ceramic inlays in the concrete benches, and the vast openness of the bottom of the building, as if it was on stilts.

• On that, in love with Marseille’s use of colourful awnings on their apartment buildings.

  

• Had an absolute time of it cycling through London on a new Lime bike listening to Alanis Morrissette’s You Oughta Know. If anyone has seen the last episode of The Pitt, they’ll know what’s up. Big Santos energy.