When I first spotted this vintage cherry pie dish on-line it brought back memories of my very first holiday abroad as a young girl.
My parents decided to drive through France to a relatively unknown area and stay in a Gite for a week. Our destination was actually the very beautiful Dordogne valley and the first of many trips there..
In a time before the Internet our guide was a well thumbed green Michelin guide that my Mother treated as a bible for the duration.
The gite ws a charming little converted barn that a farmer had converted to rent out to boost his income.
He spoke little English but through my father’s schoolboy French, we swung an invitation to pick cherries from his orchard up the road.
Whether it was the weather or the fresh pickings, they were the tastiest cherries I’d ever eaten. Needless to say it was a holiday of many firsts… toll roads, spinach, wine sold in supermarkets straight from the barrel and toilets with no pedestal or even seat … does everyone call them a Dick Turpin* or is it just my family?
Marked “Sarreguemines” after a town on the Franco-German border in the Moselle, the 3 part set is in a majolica style and probably dates back to the early 1900s.
It’s an ideal vessel to carry a few helpings of thick whipped cream to go with a cherry or apple pie. It seems only right to give such a lovely piece a second life.
There’s a limited selection of this make on eBay but I’ll keep my eye out for more as I’ve spotted some lovely fruit/side plates that would be great for serving cheese and biscuits.
*Stand & deliver
Products mentioned have been purchased by myself and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
