The fair starts on Saturday evening, and stays open till late at night. On Sunday most of the attractions open around noon, although there are some that start business as early as 9 a.m. As far as Monday is concerned, the place will come alive after 5 p.m. when school’s finished. When I was a little girl, we used to have Fair Monday off, as the teachers found it impossible to make us concentrate while the fair was in full swing just across the road.
The main attractions are the ‘bumper cars’, and the ‘caterpillar’. The ‘smoutebollen’ lady does great business too. ‘Smoutebollen’, Flemish for apple beignets, are slices of apple dipped in batter and deep-fried in oil. They are served in a pointed paper bag, topped with a generous cloud of powder sugar. They are … delicious … but a real killer when it comes to calories and digestion.
Another great classic are the ‘karrekollen’, which are whelks boiled in a vegetable stock. The big steaming pot, with an entire white celery sticking out of it, sits on a small stall. The ‘karrekollen’ lady (or man) will serve your order (usually 6, 9 or 12) in a plastic ramekin. You get a small plastic fork or a toothpick to lift the whelks (without their shell) from the hot stock. They are … not exactly my piece of cake as they are very chewy … especially if they have been cooked for too long. Only real amateurs go for them. Yet, you would be surprised by the number of people who queue at the stall to get a portion of hot ‘chewing gum’.
It has been ages since I’ve been to the village carnival. Moreover, it has become very expensive. I remember, in the sixties, receiving 200 francs (nowadays 5 euros) (100 from my parents and 100 from my grandparents), which would pay for an entire Sunday afternoon at the fair. A hundred francs would buy you 20 rides on the carousels, the ‘caterpillar’ or the ‘bumper cars’. Today 2.50 euro would be about the price for … 1 ride.
I had hoped to go down yesterday afternoon, just to take some photos to give you a little taste of ‘coleur locale’ but the weather turned against me … with heavy showers and gusts of wind. Maybe I will try again when the fair returns on the first weekend of June 2010. In the meantime, you will have to make do with the above shot of the permanent carousel in the town square of Saverne in the Alsace.
Do you have a village fair or carnival? By the way, can anybody please tell me what the difference between a fair and a carnival is? Thanks in advance!
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6 comments:
Hi Martine, you blog "ate" my comment! So here it is again:
In America we have "county fairs" and "state fairs", with a lot of local participation. There are agricultural exhibits (local products), cooking contests, and "rides" ("manèges" in French). The older "carnivals" were traveling shows that went from town to town, and didn't involve local people except as attendees.
Are the "whelks" you talk about the sea snails called "bulots" in France? If so, they are chewy but good -- especially with mayonnaise, which is a Belgian specialty, no?
Nice post...
Hi Ken, Thanks for helping me out on this one! Judging by your explanation, our village 'fair' is clearly a 'Carnival' as, apart from the village's 'flic', there are no local people involved in the organization.
The whelks are indeed 'bulots'. I tried them twice. The first time was on the northern French coast. They were superbe! The second time was in 'Le Touquet-Paris Plage'. They were slimy and simply disgusting. So I avoid them nowadays.
As far as mayonnaise is concerned .. it was Napoleon's chef who invented it ... by accident. But we Belgians have added the final touch ;^)! Martine
Ah, bulots !! So that's what they are called. They were once served to us in a horrible spicy sauce. They were huge and chewy with thick "bottoms" and barnacles on the shells. It was the worst meal we have ever had in France, in Gigondas.
Bulots, must remember that !!
I will think of bullets, that will help !!!
I've only ever had bulots cold, with mayonnaise. They can be rubbery though. It's probably an acquired taste.
In the Southeastern U.S., whelks = conchs. They also eat conchs in the Bahamas. They're bigger than bulots.
Jean, One bad food experience is enough to put you off for ever! I avoid whelks too since the slimy ones I had in Le Touquet.
Ken, Conchs are even bigger than whelks?! I suppose you cut them into little pieces then before cooking and eating them, or don't you?
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