flipThe Stopover Mess Tin
The Stopover Mess Tin
Why this dish? Between Toulouse, Casablanca, Cape Juby and Dakar, the Aéropostale pilots ate quickly and little. The Charactorium anchor says: on mission in the desert, "canned goods, dates" — the food of a man who must take off again.
Not a dish, but an assemblage of survival turned ritual: sardines in oil opened with a key, sun-drenched dates, hard bread rubbed with oil. The feast of the hurried traveler, salty, tangy and sweet all at once.
On the Line, you don't dine, you refuel. Before throttling up again for Agadir or Dakar, I filled my haversack: a tin of sardines opened with the little key, a few dates sticky with sun, a hunk of bread hard as stone. Believe me, after hours of engine and sand in your teeth, this poor man's feast is worth all the dinners in Paris. Mermoz laughed about it, Guillaumet too — a man is content with little when the sky serves as his tablecloth.
- •Canned sardines in oil — 1 tin (salty protein, keeps well)
- •Dates — a handful (quick sugar, energy)
- •Stale bread — a hunk (strength)
- •Lemon — 1 (acidity, freshness)
The Stopover Mess Tin
Not a dish, but an assemblage of survival turned ritual: sardines in oil opened with a key, sun-drenched dates, hard bread rubbed with oil. The feast of the hurried traveler, salty, tangy and sweet all at once.
Why this dish? Between Toulouse, Casablanca, Cape Juby and Dakar, the Aéropostale pilots ate quickly and little. The Charactorium anchor says: on mission in the desert, "canned goods, dates" — the food of a man who must take off again.
On the Line, you don't dine, you refuel. Before throttling up again for Agadir or Dakar, I filled my haversack: a tin of sardines opened with the little key, a few dates sticky with sun, a hunk of bread hard as stone. Believe me, after hours of engine and sand in your teeth, this poor man's feast is worth all the dinners in Paris. Mermoz laughed about it, Guillaumet too — a man is content with little when the sky serves as his tablecloth.
Ingredients (period version)
- Canned sardines in oil — 1 tin (salty protein, keeps well)
- Dates — a handful (quick sugar, energy)
- Stale bread — a hunk (strength)
- Lemon — 1 (acidity, freshness)
Ingredients
- Quality olive oil sardines — 1 tin (approx. 100 g) (protein)
- Medjool dates — 6 (sweetness)
- Stale country bread — 4 slices (base)
- Lemon — ½ (acidity)
- Garlic clove — 1 (rub the bread)
- Olive oil — a drizzle (binder)
Method
- Lightly toast or dry the bread slices.
- Rub each warm slice with the cut garlic clove, drizzle with olive oil.
- Place the sardines on the bread, roughly mash with a fork, squeeze the half-lemon over.
- Serve with the dates on the side: alternate a salty bite with a sweet bite.
- Accompany with a glass of hot tea, as at the stopover.
How it was made : In the open, freezing Aéropostale planes, cooking was out of the question: you ate canned food, which traveled without spoiling, and dates, a sweet desert resource that weighs almost nothing in a haversack. Lemon, when available, awakened the palate after the oil.
The contemporary twist : Dress as a "pilot's tartine" on a rustic wooden board, with an old navigation chart as underlay and the dates opened in a fan.
Sources : Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars (1939) · Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Night Flight (1931)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry · Charactorium
