. . . .  or, a perfect example of how liberal arts opens many doors in life:

In the late ’70’s, I spent 3 years in Montpellier, France studying French language and literature and working as a graduate assistant.  It was during that time that I first came in contact with a whole new world of flavors and ingredients that I had never experienced before, and it wasn’t limited to just French food.  Montpellier was home to the third largest North African expatriate population in all of France, and there were entire neighborhoods where markets, stores and restaurants supplied the people with the foods and necessities of their culture.  It was there that I learned about the “holy trinity” of fresh herbs:  parsley, mint and cilantro — you weren’t ever allowed to purchase only one of them — they always go together!

It was there also that groups of us would take advantage of the inexpensive and delicious food in the restaurants when we wanted to take a break from the university cafeteria cooking (also delicious, I might add!).  On Thursdays, we would go to the restaurant Chez Prosper on the canal and eat all-you-can-eat couscous dishes family-style for 12F50 per person — a very friendly price at the time even on a student’s budget.  Over time during those years, I became familiar with the tastes and flavors of North African cooking, and have been pursuing them ever since in my professional career.

Currently at Rendezvous, we are making our version of merguez, the popular lamb sausage of North Africa.  We purchase top-quality lamb shoulder from New England farmers and bone, trim and grind it ourselves in order to control the quality and mixture.  We combine it then with some (same source) pork, ground coriander, maras pepper, garlic, etc, and then shape them into little sausages w/o casings and grill them over the wood fire.  On the plate, they are surrounded by some familiar friends:  poached quince, spiced yogurt sauce, fresh mint and pomegranate seeds.