Nowadays, my social life revolves around market days and they are more precious than ever since France is still in confinement until December 1st due to the nasty corona virus. It’s one of the few privileges ( “to do essential shopping”) we can tick off on our permission slip when stepping out of house arrest. This means no social outings, gatherings, or outdoor activites until futher notice.

Fortunately, the open air markets remain open so we can continue to eat well and enter a space of sensory overload—that’s a good thing these days. My market days are Thursdays and Sundays, my “new church days”. This is when I hop out of bed to get my Sunday best on, fix my hair, and dab on a bit of lip balm. I have a permissible hour to stroll down the alley of food stands which more or less sell the same fruits and vegetables but with different faces and sounds of hollers enticing you into buying their best selections; you’ll find a price incentive thrown in for those who are reluctant.

These stands mostly get their produce from Rungis, one of Paris’ (located in a suburb south of Paris) and the world’s largest wholesale food market. Restauratuers ( it is the French word for restaurant owners without the “n”) and people in the food business come together there in the wee hours of the mornings to haggle for the best deal and quality in meats, poultry, seafood, dairy products, flowers, fruits and vegetables. Apparently, there are over seventy open air markets in Paris; some markets are smaller, bigger and offer organic, local and/or more culturally diverse produce, and many are supplied by Rungis.

Autumn fills the stands with the vibrant orange potiron (pumpkin), Romanesco cauliflower—like the color of a Chartreuse Verte liquour, the fall fungi of la girolle (chanterelles), les cèpes (porcini), and les lactaires ( a new discovery added to my French and fungi lexicon. I think they are a wild mushroom bunch indeginous to Europe), and tray-filled deep purple figs next to a variety of apples and plums of different size, shape, and color. Catching my eye are the rabbits dangling at the butcher stalls along with slabs of meat and poultry leaving behind traces of a bloody red while passing the piles of dried, smoked, cured, and fresh sausages alongside the potted rillette (like a pâté) at the charcuterie stand. This is just the visuals.

While perusing the produce , one has to watch out for the puddles of water accumulated from the melting, dripping ice at the seafood stall where the fishmongers are in action, gutting and filleting. Be sure not to stand too close when making a purchase as you may find your favorite shirt or pants marked with squid ink and your toes feeling a tingly kind of wet all of a sudden —yes, from that melting, dripping ice.

The whiff of seafood, aromatic spices, strong odored cheeses, and the fragrance of flowers are all bottled up in one mélange of perfume scent. My market is usually filled with people from all around speaking different languages, bumping into one another and winding through narrow gaps to get a step ahead; some forget they are attached to their granny carts while running over your toes or swiping you in the back of the legs so hard that it can take you down.

I leave unscatched and stainless with no heavy bags to carry on this particular Sunday. I walk away with only fig and flowers feeling so free.

Tarte au Figue

INGREDIENTS//Serves 6

Pâte Brisée (pastry crust)
• 220 grams of flour
• 110 grams of unsalted butter, cut up and just out of the fridge
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 50 ml water
• 1 egg yolk (optional- for egg wash)

Mascarpone Chantilly Filling
• 150 grams mascarpone cheese, (cold, straight out of the fridge)
• 250 ml heavy whipping cream, (cold, straight from the fridge)
• 50 grams powdered sugar
• 1/2 sachet of vanilla sugar

Fruit

• 10-12 fresh figs (or your choice of seasonal fruit)

INSTRUCTIONS

To prepare the pastry crust use a medium size mixing bowl and sieve the flour and cinnamon powder into it.

Then knead in the pieces of butter so that you have pieces that resemble coarse breadcrumbs.

Add some water into the mixture and keep on kneading gently until you can roll the dough into a ball.

On a flat surface add some flour and roll out the ball of dough with a rolling pin to fit a 23 cm (9 inch) tart mold or little individual molds.

Pat the the pastry into the round mould carefully pressing in the sides. Cut away any excess dough and use it fill gaps in round.

Wrap the dough lined mold in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to chill for an hour.

Prick the dough all over with the tips of the fork.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and line the dough with some baking sheet paper and baking beans or line the dough with aluminum and fill it with rice to weigh down the pastry dough.

Preheat the over to 200°C (390° F) and place the pastry in the oven and pre-bake for aprrox. 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it and remove it when it turns golden brown. Remove the baking beans and baking sheet paper and you should have a biscuit like texture.

If you opt to coat your individual or large tart crust with an egg wash to give it that extra sheen, this is the time to do it. Pop it back into the oven for another 5-10 minutes (lower heat to 180° C or 350° F).

While your crusts are cooling down you can prepare your filling.

Spoon the mascarpone cheese out into a marge mixing bowl and give it a stir. Add the heavy cream and whip it together on medium-high speed.

Add the sugars and continue to whip for at least 8 minutes until you start seeing soft peaks form.

Keep whipping until the peaks stiffen, then it is ready to be used.

Fill your tart crust with the marscarpone chantilly.

For the fig, you can slice them or quarter them into pieces to arrange the top in a pattern.

NOTE

I used mini individual tart molds as seen in the photos and brushed a coat of egg yolk (egg wash) around the crust to give it that golden sheen. The pastry dough can be used in a 9 inch round mold too for one large tart to share.