View from the barber's chair

Written by Craig McGinty


IF you want to get your hair cut in Villefranche du Perigord, a village inrepparttar heart of France, you have two choices. On one side ofrepparttar 134110 street is a hairdressers, all chrome and shiny mirrors, a little further down is a barbers ofrepparttar 134111 cutthroat razor kind.

But it’s no Sweeny Todd style shop more a great place to enjoy a heavy dose of French life.

I’d already prepared myself forrepparttar 134112 visit, learningrepparttar 134113 French word for short, for a little shorter please and leaverepparttar 134114 sideburns as they are.

Well maybe notrepparttar 134115 last one.

I was also hoping that there would be a couple of pictures onrepparttar 134116 wall, like all good barbers, that I could at least point to.

But I then had a panic attack as I thought they all might be pictures fromrepparttar 134117 70’s and I’d have to point to something thatrepparttar 134118 Hair Bear Bunch would be proud of.

As I walked intorepparttar 134119 shop there was an old chap sat inrepparttar 134120 chair withrepparttar 134121 barber tending to his hair and chatting away.

They both turned towards me and said ‘bonjour’.

I returnedrepparttar 134122 welcome and as there was no one waiting just sat on one ofrepparttar 134123 chairs and waited my turn.

Ten minutes later and I was sat underrepparttar 134124 quick scissors and smooth style of Daniel Galdrat, Villefranche du Perigord’s true barber.

“I’ve been a barber inrepparttar 134125 village for 43 years, I was born 50 meters away fromrepparttar 134126 shop and I’ve lived here all my life,” Daniel said.

“After I left school I trained to be a barber at college and started working inrepparttar 134127 shop.”

Spanish Food - The Perfect Paella

Written by Linda Plummer


Looking for a traditional Spanish recipe? Without doubt,repparttar best-known is going to berepparttar 134109 prodigious paella ... that tasty, adaptable, gregarious dish famed throughout Spain andrepparttar 134110 World.

And, what an impressive choice of recipes exist for a pleasurable paella: seafood, chicken, rabbit ... or a mixture of all three! Perhaps you are non-meat eating ... well, just opt for one ofrepparttar 134111 several vegetarian paella recipes. Bit of a health fanatic? Then substitute white rice for whole-grain rice or wild rice.

Got a large family and not much money to feed them on? Use plenty of rice and imagination along with a tasty stock, plus whatever you can find inrepparttar 134112 cupboard! I have certainly enjoyed many paellas where there have been more bones/shells than meat/ seafood! And, very tasty they have been too,repparttar 134113 richness of repparttar 134114 company more than compensating for any paucity inrepparttar 134115 ingrediants.

So ... how do you go about makingrepparttar 134116 perfect paella? First of all, you need to choose your rice. The short-grained rice from Valencia - where most Spanish rice originates - is fine for making paellas. However,repparttar 134117 "bomba" rice grown inrepparttar 134118 neighboring region of Murcia, isrepparttar 134119 "king" of paella rice: again, short-grained, it hasrepparttar 134120 ability to absorbrepparttar 134121 stock whilst remaining firm.

Another "must" is to use saffron ("azafrán") to createrepparttar 134122 gentle, yellow color for which this delectable dish is renowned. Yes, it is possible to buy cheaper, artificial colorings but ... go for repparttar 134123 traditional - it will bestow a wonderful aroma and unique flavor.

Many Spaniards swear a perfect paella can only be achieved when using a tasty, home-made stock. Whatever you decide, allow at least doublerepparttar 134124 amount of liquid to rice. If, during cooking, repparttar 134125 dish becomes a little dry, just add a dash more water or stock.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use