Chevreuil aux Lentilles du Puy

In and around Le Puy I looked for fields of lentils, but it was too early in the season. I had to be satisfied with the vivid description of the small, blue-flowered plants given me by the charmingly lively ladies in the Baiser de Nègre pâtisserie which was doing a roaring trade in elaborate croquembouches (a pyramid of choux pastries) this Whitsuntide morning. The lentils themselves, dull, dark green, have a pepperiness which I find goes well with robustly flavoured meat like ham, p