Bastille Day Celebrations in Paris and Harare

ALL eyes were on inventor Franky Zapata as he soared on his jet-powered fly-board high above the flag-carrying crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the Champs Elysees last Sunday. Clutching a rifle, he echoed the focus on European military co-operation, theme of this year’s celebrations in Paris.

Delicious French cheeses and charcuterie.

In Harare, however, where His Excellency Ambassador Richard Boidin and Mme Agnes Moreau celebrated La Fete Nationale, or French National Day, with a lunchtime reception in the garden of their residence, the focus was more on the French ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity, than on warfare.
English-speaking countries refer to Le Quatorze Juillet as Bastille day, the day when French workers, rioting over taxes, economic inequality, out-of-touch leaders, and the absence of bread in the shops, stormed the prison fortress of the Bastille, releasing the seven resident prisoners, removing the ammunition stores and beheading the governor of Paris. July 14 1789 became a defining moment in Western history, a revolt leading to a revolution.
Ambassador Boidin reminded his guests that one year later, on the same date in 1790, a national day of unity and reconciliation was held at the Champ de Mars, on the site where the Eiffel Tower now stands. On this day, known as French National Day, national unity was accomplished, and it’s this event that the French celebrate every year on 14 July.
Following the ambassador’s address, speeches from Zimbabwean dignitaries and the singing of national anthems, guests were summoned to help themselves to a sumptuous repast of French charcuterie and cheeses. Lovers of French cuisine will understand the respect that French cooks have for their ingredients, and the skilled techniques that were used in creating the cuts, cures and flavours of this unique feast.
Pate de Campagne, a special occasion dish, quickly found its way onto my plate. Made from pork shoulder, pork fat and offal, bound together with garlic, green peppercorns, brandy and double cream, the finished product tasted sweet and earthy, rich and delicious. Another porky product, saucisson, or dry-cured fermented salami flavoured with nutmeg, clove, allspice and cinnamon, was also delicious, while thinly sliced Bayonne ham melted in the mouth.
There were platters of Roquefort cheese, made in the south of France from sheep’s milk. Sometimes described as ‘the cheese of kings and popes’, Roquefort is one of the most popular blue cheeses in the world. Among the other cheeses, not all of which I was able to identify, was Camembert, a soft and creamy cheese made from cow’s milk. It’s deep, earthy flavour paired with thinly sliced saucisson and a slice of white bread, was perfection.
Waitresses served chilled champagne as we walked from stall to stall of companies and organisations with connections to France. The Alliance Francaise offers language lessons and a host of cultural activities that include art exhibitions, music festivals and the screening of French films with English sub-titles. Farther on, Motul, a global French company, was showcasing its lubricants for engines and industry, while AGS Records and Management in Bluff Hill offered physical and electronic archiving for all paper work, records and important documents. AGS will also make digitised records of heritage pieces and art works, so if you want to preserve for your grandchildren that floor to ceiling painting by Gareth Nyandoro that you bought at the Venice Biennale, get in touch.
I was drawn like a moth to a flame by an artistic display of freshly baked bread made at Lesaffre’s baking centre in Workington. Lesaffre, a French company, acquired a majority stake in Anchor Yeast in 2015, and is now Zimbabwe’s sole manufacturer of yeast. The world’s leading producer of yeast and related ingredients used for baking, Lessafre began operations in Lille, in France, when two cousins founded a distillery producing ethanol from juniper berries. This led to a method of producing fresh yeast, revolutionising the baking industry in France.
Lovewords Takawira is the Baking Centre manager at Workington, supervising the production of yeast and the many varieties of bread pre-mixes. A graduate of Midlands State University, he provides technical support for Lesaffre’s bakeries, while conducting research for new pre-mixes and new products.
Procurement officer Anna, who studied at Chinhoyi Institute of Technology, is responsible for sourcing the products required for the manufacture of yeast, such as molasses from Chiredzi, oil and chemicals. The secret of obtaining these essentials, she said, is to pay in advance.
Celebrations are over for another year, and while Bastille Day may have been a day of bloodshed, the National Day of Unity and Reconciliation that took place a year later is the one to admire and emulate.   – A Matter of Taste with Charlotte Malakoff