TheGambia, Pascal and Me . . . an african adventure !

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

In summer clothes

The last nice surprise of the summer was a charming and gracious little animal. Anton had spotted something running, and I, from the top of the ladder from which I was trying to remove moss from the tiles, saw this little creature. It had white below and brown on top, and was crossing and streaking at the very end on the cusp of the forest. Then it disappeared into the grass.

Going from there, Anton-E positioned his camera in video mode where we had estimated the creature had disappeared, left a piece of quiche, and then we waited. After 20 minutes, he went back to see and, curious, she had come out .. to say hi. The photo comes from the film so isn’t the sharpest, but nevertheless, it’s ours.

In the end, we got a good few moments of pure amazement. Place the link below in your address bar up top and watch this lovely stoat :

http://s1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj573/gambiepascaletmoi/Hermine/?action=view&current=Hermine.mp4

Armenius mus, or Armenian rat, is a small animal that doesn’t exceed 32cm in length (plus an 8-12cm tail) and weighs less than 500g. In the summer, it’s bicoloured, brown on top and white below, though brings out the camouflage in winter and is totally white – bar the tip of its tail that remains black. Its pelt is coveted though she is now a protected species. Indeed, nowadays, the magistrates use white-dyed rabbit skin.

It’s mostly found in mountainous regions, at 1000m in altitude or more, and feeds on small rodents. In fact, just before spotting it, a field mouse had just crossed the yard near us. She was no doubt tracking it. Its hunting ground covers between 10 to 100 hectares depending on the density of prey, and 1 to 10 hermines may live in a 100 hectare parcel of land. It lives for about seven years, so this one must be a descendent of a totally white one we spotted on the grass one spring’s day a good 15 years ago.

18/10/2012 A la maison

Saturday, November 3, 2012

A table !

It’s been some time since I’ve shared a recipe. For me, tiramisu can be made with or without Chartreuse, but I have imagined many times the union between mascarpone and raspberries. Of course I needed to humidify the biscuits with something else than coffee. So, here is the final product:

Serves 4 :

2 egg yolks

40g sugar

250g of mascarpone

Speculoos-type biscuits (for added flavour) or lady fingers

Alcohol (Williams pear, raspberry..)

250g raspberries (they will hold in their water better if they are fresh

Froth the yolks with the sugar, and add the mascarpone and a teaspoon of fruit alcohol, though without whisking too vigorously. Crush the biscuits and place the result at the bottom of a small tray or four small recipients. If using lady fingers, humidify in water, syrup and a touch of alcohol. Pour half of the “mascarpone sauce”, cover with raspberries and then pour the remaining sauce.

Decorate the result with some raspberries. Coulis the remaining raspberries (with a touch of sugar) and cover the desert, though only at the time of serving.

As for the tiramisu (see my chartroussine recipe in ‘maurice pascal et moi’), it’s best to leave it be in the fridge for 12 hours. The more the better, for firmness. It can also happily be frozen.

Well there you have it, it was simply divine !

Take up your spoons, take up your spatulas !

Bon appétit !

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

It rains... I am out !

We’ve had this house for 27 years, but it was only last year that we discovered this extraordinary and vibrantly coloured creature. Fair enough, we were there, under the winter snows or the summer sun, and we crossed many storms; though never before has mister… or miss… salamander honoured us with its presence.

Salamandra salamandra needs humidity, though doesn’t live in water – indeed she would drown from lack of knowing how to swim. Only the larvae (25-35mm) are laid underwater and will develop there for 3 to 6 months depending on the ambient temperature, an increase of which speeds up the process. Their unique markings only appear soon before they leave their waters. Then, they live their lives on solid ground, sheltering during the day in humid cavities. The vibrancy of their colour comes both from the ground (the yellow loess makes it more intense, and the peat tones it down) and the temperature. Prolonged heat or drought weakens the animal who then becomes paler due to its dryness. Its skin plays an important part in the salamander’s breathing, and only works best in a humid environment.

Just behind its eyes, you can see the parotoid glands, a characteristic for this species. To protect itself from enemies, the salamander secretes a poison from these glands, and others on its back. If need be, it can “spray” its poison up to a meter away. An alkaloid, this substance can burn a human – but can have more serious consequences on an already weakened system (breathing disorders, nausea, vomiting).

More importantly, these secretions inhibit bacterial and fungal growth on its skin. Much research has been carried out on these small creatures as they can re-grow certain body parts after amputation.

Were they playing mother and father, or brother and sister ? Mystery. I think that this is more of a game than mating as during the latter, the male slides under the female and wraps his front legs around her. With her cloaca, the female then absorbs a small package of sperm that the male leaves on the ground from his cloaca. The female can keep the seed for some years, allowing her to create new generations of offspring over time without needing another sexual partner.

In any case, they gave us a good show, and seeing as it’s a rather slow creature, we could watch for a good while. They must like the patio because we’ve had two strong rainfalls, and both times we’ve spotted some on one side or the other of the house.

To observe them “playing” or walking “prehistorically”, watch the video here. 32 seconds of pure marvel ! (PS – put the address in the http bar)

http://s1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj573/gambiepascaletmoi/Salamandre/?action=view&current=P1240388.mp4