Breakfast (As Many Times As I Can Find It)

You may recall my love affair with pastry cream - especially when presented in a tart shell of pate sucree. Here's an example of the divine collaboration of eggs, cream, milk, sugar and vanilla:

Custard Flan, in the French style
This is not flan in the Spanish style (though, really, in every way except for food, Arles is effectively Spain. Note: Do not suggest this to the locals.*) The custard is more like yolk-y pastry cream. See the beautiful caramel glaze? It gives it a hint of smokey flavour that is offset by creamy-sweet vanilla in the most balanced way.

This tart is the equilibrium of all things: flavour, texture and simplicity.

* In a moment of insanity, I asked the counter server, at a patisserie, if she sold gateau Basque. Her response was a horrified: Vous me posez cette question en Provence??! (You have the nerve to ask me this in Provence??!) I am not generally culturally insensitive but this place feels SO French-meets-Spanish that it seems natural that one would find that delicacy (aka the best thing on the planet) here. The woman was actually quite friendly - she had a gleam in her eye when she took me to task - but I was momentarily afraid she might run me out of the store. Thank God we were alone or my embarrassment would have been palpable.