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Inde Express
19 novembre 2007

About homeworks and cooking...

I know another topic unrelated to what is supposed to be the main one but, we will come back to it soon enough. One of my teachers gave us a portrait to write. I chose to write about Garance, being a huge fan of her blog. I have to confess I was  a bit worried to ask her if she would dedicate long minutes to a student so she can ask dumb and intrusive  questions that would be turned into a piece wiche would never be published? Not only did she yes but she also spent 2 hours with me. You know what I lke the most about this job is that it allows you to meet incredible people all the time. When I say "incredible", I am not refering to the rich and famous, but to those ordinary heroes who could be our neighbours. Everybody has a story to tell was I taught once. This happens to be so true...

Ecrivez moi...

Garance as she is known on the Internet complains about the Mistral, the cold wind which blows in the south of France. She is the author of the « Les Cuisines de Garance » (The kitchens of Garance) which attracts almost 500 people daily. The entire title appeared in a dream one night. « I believe in signs » she says… She adds « I am a little bit different » as if she wanted to excuse herself . The result : pieces of her life mixed with some cooking illustrated by beautiful pictures. « I just believe in doing things wholeheartedely » she says. Why Garance ? Because of this special plant which grows in the region where she lives, in Cavaillon, near Avignon. She started the blog one day to keep in touch with her friends staying abroad. Les Cuisines de Garance was also a business she set up in 2003 which specialized in catering, teaching and home-cooked Italian food to be sold on markets. It was shut down in 2005 despite it being successful.

Travels and men have punctuated an unusual journey. It all started at 17 when she decided to move to the USA with an older boyfriend. At 20, some friends suggested she came to Sweden since she enjoyed sailing so much. She remained there for 14 years. She started working in a restaurant as a dishwasher in order to pay for college. She ended up running her own restaurant a few years later. « It was a success » she adds with pride. At 34, she moved back to the south of France with another man.

She was born in 1964 to a father from Gers, a southern region famous for its food, and a Spanish mother, whose ancestors were Sioux. She says she is proud of the black hair and eyes she inherited from them. The forebear’s name meant « Amber stone ». Strangely, Nathalie’s daughter name was Ambra. The child died 48 hours after she was born. She was suffering from a severe lever-deformity. The cause of the death is Diethylstilbestrol (DES). This synthetic hormon was given to women suffering from miscarriages from the 50s to the 70s. « It boils down to giving pure petroleum to babies » she clarifies.  The result : a generation of little girls born with severe genital deformities, unfertile women and highly prone to cancers. Ambra’s death was followed by 8 difficult miscarriages… «The dream of being a mother one day was shattered… It is a terrible wound », she says.

The death of a girlfriend suffering from cancer pushed her to react. She launched a national petition in order to have an amendment recognizing the plight of the DES girls, as they call themselves, applied. This text offers to these women the financial support of the Securité Sociale (Social Security) in case of difficult pregnancies requiring a medical leave for instance. « If these women manage to conceive, they, for most of them, have to be bed-ridden for the rest of their pregnancies. Do you know an employer who would accept to pay for that ? » adds Garance. After this move, came days of activism. In 2006, the application decree was delivered. « I was happy » she says simply. There comes a few minutes of silence.

It is about food again. How does she manage to create such simple and yet incredibly tasty recipes ? « I do not really know. Intuition maybe ? I have never learnt to cook in an academic manner. » How did she start cooking ? « I used to spend some time with my grand-father, a pastry chef. However, he would refuse to teach me cooking as he thought it was not a job for a woman. » she laughs. About the pictures ? « I used to take pictures while travelling. I just decided to photography things outside for the light », she underlines. Her blog was spotted by someone from the Editions Milan. It led to a publishing contract. She is currently writing a recipe book for children. And she complains about the Mistral again.

www.lemondegarance.blogspot.com

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Commentaires
S
je suis contente que ça te plaise en tout cas. ça me touche plus que tu ne peux l'imaginer.
G
Sujatha , j'ai trouvé l'éxercice étrange pour moi qui n'aime pas en réalité parler de "moi" , pourtant je suis parfois impudique sur mon BLog mais c'est en fait juste pour démystifier l'être humain tout bête et simple que je suis ...ou étais ce pour me "sublimer " ? , tu vois la frontiére est si tenue , l'être humain complexe dans sa bête simplicité ...<br /> Merci pourtant , c'est étrange mais c'est bien moi et puis ne serais ce que pour la mémoire d' AMBRA et entendre son prénom je me dévoilerai sans aucune retenue ....<br /> Garance
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