It cropped up in the car as we discussed whose turn it was to clean the mussels.
At the hairdresser's, my wife had heard news of a bereavement. A well-known restaurateur had died and it was in the Var-Matin.
So it was, but thus far only as a death notice in words along these lines: the Libert family are sad to announce the death of Madame Denise Libert, at the age of 84, on Sept 13. The funeral was to be at the church of Saint-Trophime in Bormes-les-Mimosas on Saturday.
The name would have meant little to many of the people who, even in September, flock to these parts.
But in italics, the death notice mentioned that Mme Libert was known as Mamy Moules. And that changes everything for anyone familiar with La Favière, the seafront part of Bormes.
Mamy Moules was a fixture at her restaurant, concentrating as the name suggests on mussels, mussels in all manner of sauces and giving her a noble reputation for presenting a respectable French answer to Belgian dominance of the speciality. Despite her advanced age, she was at work there this week and - so word has it - at the moment she died.
"La Favière sans elle ça ne sera plus pareil," someone wrote at Facebook. Confession: I have not been there, but I did check some internet reviews. The last, dating from a visit in May but published only yesterday (at the tripadvisor site) was not without critical asides, but it was essentially warm:
"In the main street of La Favière (Bormes-les-Mimosas), we're here at Mamy Moules (the official name is different but what?*)/ It's a notch above the beach and seasonal restaurants you find with ease all around. The mussels are good if not to die for, not the chips not bad (I prefer matchstick fries rather than the larger ones). But the atmosphere is good, service friendly with Mamy Moule cooking at the pan outside, giving a friendly hand in the restaurant (whose decor is a bit fussy for a moules-frites place). Mamy Moules gave sweets to children, making her one of their favorite chefs ... "
* Not sure whether the reviewer meant "so what' or was asking what the real name might be. If the latter, the answer is Le Petit Chêne Ou.
But take away the niggles and that isn't a bad write-up, especially when you consider how readily amateur food critics post waspish little reviews online. And he or she must have awarded Mamy Moules a "very good", of which there had been two. or an "excellent", which had four votes. I'd settle for such an assessment of my work.
Elsewhere on the net, I did come across one longish critique from someone who had a bad experience there, the chips arriving 10 minutes after the mussels and so on, but this was followed by three thumping endorsements: "Les moules are excellent - merci Mamy!!!"; "the best restaurant in the south!" and, more narrowly and without even one exclamation mark, "the best moules-frite in La Favière".
Moules-frites would not be many peoples idea of fine cuisine. but serve a hugely useful purpose as tasty and reasonably priced comfort food. And people are indeed known to swear by what it served to them as well as the ambience chez Mamy Moules. It is a great shame that a large cause of that loyalty and goodwill is no longer with us. Salut!'s condolences to la famille Libert.
As for cleaning ours, the task fell to me (I'm better at getting the hairs out without prising open the shells, which would make them fit only for the bin, and don't really worry about chipping a finger nail). I also arranged the oven chips expertly on a sheet of foil. But then, I didn't make the delicious Roquefort, white wine and cream sauce.
* I found the photographs on Facebook, available to all visitors to the Mamy Moules pages there in French and English, and hope the Libert family are happy with its use.
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