Ouvrier, n. m/f, -ière
1. worker 2. laborer 3. workman
I will tell you a secret about French life, which may be useful if you visit, and if you're hungry.
In French restaurants dans la campagne, there’s déjeuner, then there’s the Ouvrier Dejeuner. Lunch, and the working man’s lunch (I say "man", because there aren't a lot of female ouvriers). Ron figured this out when he noticed that all the little white camionettes (those cute white workers' trucks that are everywhere in France) tend to park at a single restaurant on particular days, and he’s been searching out ouvrier lunches ever since. And since he got his own camionette, he can play the game for real.
Here is how it works: the proper ouvrier restaurant is usually the one by the side of the road, in a small village or on a departmental road. And if you are looking for a bargain-priced, hearty lunch, just look for the camionettes. If one goes in dressed normally (that is, with clean clothes), as a couple or a family, one will be seated and given a menu in the cheerful, more polished room. But when an ouvrier walks in, in dirty jeans or the ubiquitous dark blue jumpsuit, he might be shown to a different table, perhaps in a back room, and he will eat a different meal—heartier and cheaper-- than the “clean” guests will.
Ron and our châtelin Pierre, covered in dust and dirt from demolishing a ceiling in one of the barns, decided to try this out one day. Since Pierre rarely lunches out, this was new to him too. They were led past the white tablecloths where diners politely regarded their menus, to a back room with a communal table that had a large pitcher of red wine in the center. There were no choices, no menu handed out; lunch simply began arriving, in large portions, as the French flew as fast as the forks. First up, paté on a bed of lettuce with cornichons. Next came a steaming plate of chicken with potatoes and a vegetable. Wine and water were passed around the table from the communal carafes. Next, a huge plank with six or so cheeses was plunked down, with the hungry workers cutting off large slabs to go with their baguette. Time for dessert: crème caramel. Expresso followed. All this for the price of a pizza or a salad at a brasserie.
Another day our friend Ali, all cleaned up in her best jeans, joined Ron and the the boys for lunch after they completed a project at their house. They went to Buxy, where there is the side room for the ouvriers and the sunny room with the pastel tablecloths for the proper customers. Madame didn't want to let them in for the ouvrier lunch (no women allowed perhaps, or Ali was too clean?). "There is no choice on the menu," Madame said, "it’s for the workers." Ron, streaked with mud and sawdust, finally raised his arms and twirled around, to show off his dusty self, and they were admitted.
Ron and his friends who make up our handyman team will work for lunch, so I often fix them something chez nous, after a big project. A working man needs hearty fare, so here is an idea for a quick and filling déjeuner. Just add wine and cheese.
RECIPE: An (elegant!) Ouvrier's Lunch
I spotted these tarts at a French traiteur (the fancy gourmet take-out shops you see all around France), and I thought they were a great idea. They had simply heaped vegetables and/or meats onto puff pastry and topped them with fresh herbs or greens. I always seems to have some leftover veggies and bits of meat in the fridge, so I can make them with minimal effort, using ready-made puff pastry (in France, it's pâte feuilletée). Or you could sauté some mushrooms and onions for a filling, or roast some carrots and red peppers to top the pre-cooked pastry...endless possibilities! If you heat them up, dust them with some cheese first, or simply shower them with fresh herbs or arugula before serving.
In the COMMENTS: Francine, since that mosaic is in Menton, it may very well be Cocteau's work. It certainly looks like it. Colleen, we can't wait to see that children's book, keep us posted.
