Afta stickin' Ramunia on a flight back to Liverpool Eddie trundles daan the autoroute de Soleil using the free section around Nimes to Monpellier. Tying into the coast road east of Aigue Mortes by lunchtime he is approachin' familiar landscape near Sete. He has old friends, Tom an' Greta, who usually stay on the Canal du Midi for most of the year. They are a right queer couple; a mild functioning English drunkard with his butch brutal wife. Only last year she routinely hospitilized, the poor bugga, by breakin a few ribs an' damagin' his spleen. It takes awl sorts, some blokes seem to serve their penance by bein' beaten up by their loved ones.
Eddie's welcome is awlays warm, although since the latest violent attack he tends not to turn his back on the gracious Greta. Consumin' only enuff wine to stay compass he treads careful, foa the few days that he can tolerate. Laast year he loaned one of his 'special' made up bikes to Greta who seems to have misplaced it. Eddie suspects that she has flogged it off probably foa booze oa drugs. He ain't daaft. There is one savin' grace about his mate Tom in that he used to be a Top chef until he succomed to the demon liquor: in his laast job he set fire to his own barnet scatterin' the kitchen staff from everi exit.
Tom's signature dish: Rouget avec sauce de beurre et Chilli.
Make sure the fish are fresh, check out the brightness of the eyes an' the stiffness of the body; the stiffer the betta, as I am regularly reminded. Usin onli the fillets put at one side an' prepare the sawse. Gentli fry some chopped shallots in a tablespoon of olive oil addin' some dried chilli flakes an' season until goldin' brown. Mix in a tablespoon of flour to form the roux, then add one cup of decent white wine: local Costierres de Nimes is ok, just. Secondly, add some single cream oa creme fraise dependin' on your diet. Finally stir in a good, warm, big, knob of butta to glaze.
Gentli sear the fish fillets in a buttered pan, skin daan foa free minits then turn foa a furvva one minit. Arrange neatly on a servin' plate an' dispense the sawse. Foa gawds sake rememba that Greta may be on the prowl foa sexual gratification, which is awlways best avoided, so stay alert.
