Organic Vegetables

More than ever, fresh vegetables symbolise health on a plate - especially following the food scares of recent years. Of course the French have always served vegetables as complete dishes, not simply as accompaniments to meat or fish, which is partly why they see little need to signal ‘vegetarian’ on restaurant menus!

Over the past few years, however, vegetable growers like Annie Bertin in Rennes or Joël Thiébault in Paris have risen in the firmament, and their produce is shipped out to three-star kitchens all over France. But Annie’s pencil-thin leeks and broccoli, tender lettuce shoots and luscious herbs are not only on offer to restaurants. At the spectacular Marché des Lices in Rennes, she is behind her wooden trestle table stall, sheltered by a battered old parasol or two, twice a week from 6 am, proudly serving the locals. From time to time, she’ll abandon the stand for the warmth of the café across the square, and simply leaves a scrawled note on a piece of broken crate next to the till, which says, ‘Pay what you can. Please put it in this box.’