apéro

A note or two about the art of the apéro: this is a very convenient convention in these parts, whereby one can invite friends and neighbours (but not usually in droves) to come and take wine and some low key eats in the early evening (say 1800) for a chat. Apéro time. One usually expects those invited to start thinking about going back to their own abodes after a couple of hours or so but sometimes these affairs can run on a bit especially if the conversation is animated and the wine is flowing freely. 

Mme Melling and your author have been both providers and beneficiaries of the local apéro tendency. I like them. One does not need to ‘bring a bottle’ or other equivalent although chocs, flowers, and on one occasion, tea towels have been seen to be presented and received. And bottles. Unnecessary usually if at all. 

The wine one lays on needs to be reasonably plentiful but does not need to be grand cru. For ourselves we ply our guests with the bib quality stuff we like personally, possibly with a stand by bottle of white. We only ran to red on the apéro pictured above. Personally I will happily overlook Rosé… However, if one only has one colour readily to hand that will do. We’ve been offered champagne several times on occasion… (but we've not offered similar, we are not quite in that ball-park).  If one’s guests are long standing friends one may feel able to bring forth something a bit more ambitious by way as a personal salute to them (like a G&T for Jen). Louise drinks nothing else these days so one must make provision!

The nibbles (how I hate that term but it is in common parlance so I had better toe the line and employ the wretched word). My suggestions, lifted from the apéros we have 'hosted' (ugh!) or been recipients of this year include: nuts, stuffed olives, plain olives, tapanade, dates, three or four good cheeses, slices of salami and similar, anchovy rolls and filets, savoury biscuits, crisps, cheese straws even. Sometimes sausages on sticks may put in an appearance; Louise’s toffee-dipped mini tomatoes were very good. Indeed one can add in some hot cooked delicacies as well, hors-d'oeuvres style, maybe small pizza squares, quiches, or even a scallop shaped dish (per person) with hot prawns and a top dressing of cheesy potato (bought from a butcher, ready made – one does not go mad prepping!). 

Party food in fact. Finger buffet, I think might also be considered of the same ilk as 'nibbles': if one needs a knife and a fork then one is going a bit beyond the apéro aspiration IMHO. But naturally,  I wouldn’t complain… provided  the Ks & Fs were provided, sort of thing.

There are many other strategies that could also make one’s apéro distinguished: use your imagination, we do, and similarly we benefit too from others’ original thinking. Not paper hats. There should be choice but not so much as to stretch out the evening excessively. One should never need to start tapping your watch or hovering about in your dressing gown, the guests don't outstay in my experience. Probably grateful to get the hell out, as soon as …!

Above all one should not appear to have gone to an inordinate amount of trouble and expense while, on the other hand, demonstrating a modest generosity about the event one has instigated; and not try to go one better (but at least achieve level-pegging) than the last apéro one was invited to. But it is not a competition. We wouldn’t expect to do more than two a visit, maybe three, and we would hope to get invited to at least one or two whilst in Sablet residence.

Apéros are not parties. Numbers should be very modest. Two guests, four maybe… risky to go any higher. And anyway 1 Rue FB has limited capacity, this is not one of your grander residences. 

Conversation is the name of the game. Trouble is, if one can’t fully participate, because one’s school failed to deliver a second language to one, in a way that might be of use in later life, (and here I have to point the finger at my school for falling down so badly on this, at least in my case) one can find that one eats more than one should, and ditto on the juice. Specially those hot little sausages, on sticks. 

I am not against apéros where English is not the common language you understand; it's just that Mme Melling can expect a lot of questions après apéro, something she is rather disinclined to answer, encourage or elucidate upon. Kindly associates will sometimes let me know what is being said and I can pick up some threads. Sometimes. Usually wrongly. One unfortunate aspect of apéros can be two or more conversations taking place at a time, usually with increasing volumes as the evening matures. This can be very confusing if one is trying to get the gist of both flows: not limited to apéros I grant you but I find this habit rather irritating. There, I've said it. 

We also serve a sweet on occasion (strawberries score well) but I have never been in receipt of a cup of coffee, had no takers when offering same, nor been asked for one. Strange, that . . . (not strictly true - ed)

with apologies to Keith & Liz, Pascal & Barbara who innocently feature in one of the two apéros what we done this visit and pictured above: Gerard & Jen suffered the other, and set my train of thought on this topic accordingly. Louise & John came by for Quiches but that didn't count as apéro in the strictest sense. But who cares, we snack. 

The doors in the scene portrayed above are no longer white but are now painted standard 1 Rue FB grey.