WINEFOODMUSIC LIVE - OLIVIA RUIZ

Olivia Ruiz, stage name of Olivia Blanc, is a French singer-songwriter, actress, director and novelist born on January 1, 1980 in Carcassonne.

Gérard Bertrand: Hello everyone, welcome to the tenth edition of food wine and music today at the Château l'Hospitalet with chef Laurent Chabbert who is with us and with a very special guest of honor, a special guest since she is from the region, I ask you to welcome Olivia Ruiz.

Olivia Ruiz: Hello everyone.

Gérard Bertrand: How are you Olivia?

Olivia Ruiz: but it's going really well in front of these beautiful products. It could be going well, there's a disaster happening next door but otherwise it's going well.

Gérard Bertrand: so it's incredible because Olivia you spent three months in Narbonne beach at Le Touquet 3 minutes from here and today that we're doing the live you're in Paris whatever

Olivia Ruiz: It's nonsense but I mean it, the main thing is to be there. But it's true that I I I I it makes you want to see everything that's happening.

Gérard Bertrand: So, boss, what are we going to...what's on the program tonight?

Laurent Chabbert: Hello Olivia and hello everyone.

Olivia Ruiz: Hi.

Laurent Chabbert: so today we're going to make a vegetable press and crumbled piglet, Roquetaillade piglet, so near Limoux with a virgin of tomatoes, zucchini and olives, a homemade barbecue sauce, a few small herbs. Then a veal chop, so we just removed the chop to make it easier to cut... from the Pyrenees with a homemade mash with a shallot sauce, a few chips... and then we have something new, so it's the red wine and red fruit baballes that we'll see on sale from next week at the hotel.

Gérard Bertrand: perfect! So I'm happy because in fact Olivia today...well chef is coming...it's important because Laurent Chabbert today he has a match within the match thanks to you since in fact he's going to compete with the kitchens of Yannick Alléno since we wanted to do something because it's good that you have requirements, it's going to challenge, since in fact you're going to be able to taste almost the same thing live with... which was delivered directly by the kitchens of the three-star chef Yannick Alléno in Paris. So it's great because we're going to be able to do a chef challenge, it's the masterchef today between Narbonne and Paris so here we go then...

Olivia Ruiz: knowing that the Parisian is already in Narbonne, so the challenge is a bit over.

Laurent Chabbert: thank you!

Gérard Bertrand: here's the thing Olivia, I'm going to tell you something, we're going to start having a drink and we couldn't start drinking anything other than a wine from the city of Carcassonne since yesterday we officially launched this heritage range worldwide, we were at the city hotel where we had a wonderful time. So it's a 2018, a Merlot from the city of Carcassonne, that'll remind you of something.

Olivia Ruiz: Oh yes, although strangely enough, the first one that bothered me was the tautavel, it's a shame for me.

Gérard Bertrand: no no no not at all because we are very proud… cheers.

Olivia Ruiz: cheers Gérard!

Gérard Bertrand: cheers!

Gérard Bertrand: So a few words Olivia, how did you experience this confinement in Narbonne beach on the sly.

Olivia Ruiz: yeah exactly, so what was cool was that I wasn't confined confined every day with my little guy who is 4 and a half years old, the seafront by bike during authorized hours and at least you see the little life that goes well and the traders of a great butcher in Narbonne beach extraordinary, so there you go... and suddenly this little daily life still at a good distance allowed us to hold on because my son like me we like people, we like to chat, share so we would have been very unhappy if we had stayed in Paris and we had been forced for our safety to stay locked up a little longer, we are lucky.

Gérard Bertrand: what did you do for 3 months?

Olivia Ruiz: So listen, I...well first of all I looked after my son quite a bit because at four and a half years old it takes energy, you know...and then I wrote, of course, about having finished the dresser with the colored drawers.

Gérard Bertrand: we're going to talk about it.

Olivia Ruiz: Well, there was a little moment when I needed to find that refuge again. I invented in this book very comforting women and the fact that she leaves, goes towards others, consoles others… well, I needed to immerse myself again so for the second it seems that it will still be this Occitan setting that is so dear to me and that will inspire me until my last breath.

Gérard Bertrand: It’s good, it’s great.

Olivia Ruiz: and again, I'm not going to explain this to you.

Gérard Bertrand: No, but what's good is that we have the same common roots. So me, but my family is from the Alps, four generations ago, you're from the Spanish side and so it's still Marseillette and so Marseillette is your hometown and your village of heart because I know that you were born in Carcassonne, me in Narbonne, but it's Marseillette. So I there are two stars in Marseillette, there's Olivia Ruiz and Jancis Robinson, the woman of wine in the world so I'm going to organize a meeting with her because you are the two most important people in Marseillette and in fact you don't know each other so I learned that I was surprised but

Olivia Ruiz: but definitely because for me, among these girls in the wine industry, it's something that interests me because I know that it's harder than elsewhere to make a place for yourself, probably like in a lot of men's jobs, and then as you say Marseillette is a handkerchief, there are 700 of us, I think, in all, well I'm not there but my parents are there so that amazes me because I... when we go out a bit, I continue to go to the café, to go to the village festivals when I'm there, it's important to me... and so I haven't met her and you'll have to introduce me to her, otherwise one of these days I'm going to go and knock on her door...

Gérard Bertrand: exactly exactly, so I remember because when I was younger and I sometimes listened to radio Marseillette, does that mean anything to you?

Olivia Ruiz: I was an animator on it from the age of 6 until I was 16, imagine that.

Gérard Bertrand: I took the train at Epoque from Lusignan to Carcassonne when I was at the agricultural high school, so with the bell tower that you can see from afar from Marseillette. It also reminds me of my childhood and my adolescence, exactly.

And so for the musical activity I believe you are also preparing something, right?

Olivia Ruiz: yes, because I joined, I became an associate artist of the national scene of greater Narbonne.

Gérard Bertrand: exactly.

Olivia Ruiz: That's it, and I created a piece there last November that was supposed to be released again in March around... around the other. For a show and also to create a connection around songs like those of the Spanish in France or the Mediterranean in the broader sense of the term. A little poetic journey on the importance of changing our view of others, of erasing our rejection reflexes, of relearning to see difference as the greatest of riches.

Gérard Bertrand: That's good. And when will it start again then? When will it start again?

Olivia Ruiz: so at the beginning of October with the Bouffes du Nord, from November 3 to 7.

Gerard Bertrand: Very good. So, boss, are you ready?

Laurent Chabbert: yeah!

Gérard Bertrand: so the boss is ready so we're going to play a match together I don't know what's wrong with you. So uh...

Olivia Ruiz: so okay. so…

Gérard Bertrand: So boss what is it…

Olivia Ruiz: so me on the entrance…

Gérard Bertrand: It's magnificent, chef, what is it then?

Olivia Ruiz: ola it's beautiful, wait is this the entrance or is this?

Gérard Bertrand: There you have the choice I think that….

Olivia Ruiz: This is it?

Gérard Bertrand: That's for later.

Olivia Ruiz: Wow, it's beautiful.

Gérard Bertrand: So, boss, go ahead, tell us.

Laurent Chabbert: so we have the pressed shoulder of piglet. So I just put the piglet underneath, peppers, zucchini, eggplant that we candied in olive oil. We added a little sage, a little olive cutting, olive oil, candied tomato; here the barbecue sauce that we made in-house and the shiso sorbet, the shiso that comes from the Françoise family.

Gérard Bertrand: magnificent. So I'm going to taste it, chef. Do you want to taste it with me or...

Laurent Chabbert: No, I have to work a little bit.

Gérard Bertrand: You need to work a little.

Gérard Bertrand: well then…

Laurent Chabbert: here I just add the vierge sauce.

Gérard Bertrand: have you started to taste Olivia?

Olivia Ruiz: So look, I don't know if you can see.

Gérard Bertrand: ha it’s beautiful!

Olivia Ruiz: but in any case it's magnificent.

Gérard Bertrand: it’s magnificent, yes.

Gérard Bertrand: so we’re going to thank chef Alléno…

Olivia Ruiz: Oh yes, we will thank him.

Gérard Bertrand: So I'm going to taste it. There you go...

Olivia Ruiz: It's beautiful in Narbonne too, I must say.

Laurent Chabbert: we are here too, yes.

Gérard Bertrand: magnificent.

Olivia Ruiz: It's a marvel. It's an incredible cooking, it's caramelized, it's melting and crispy. It's super good, it's not greasy.

Gerard Bertrand: Is it okay Olivia? I have...I have a difficult life. I even lick my fingers.

Olivia Ruiz: honestly, between the beautiful trips, the good food, the good wine. I often say to myself, poor Gérard is not easy. And then your estate too, we don't talk about it, but it's a magical place. To have come to your concert at your place...

Gérard Bertrand: Yes, it was already in 2012.

Olivia Ruiz: Playing in this place is magical. Well, I had already come as a guest at the hotel to spend a night before, well before and I had a great time. And then a few years later the concert. So really this place is a little cocoon. It is both immense, up to the standard of everything you have built and which makes us shine for the rest of the world and which we are not a little proud of. But that's what is quite magical about this place is that it is a little cocoon at the same time.

Gérard Bertrand: Yes and then you know it was in 2012 so we're going to toast to our friend Jean Cormier who left us, who was there with us, and you remember we finished at 5am with Jean Cormier telling stories, we raised our elbows a few times.

Olivia Ruiz: Oh yes, but that's what we're good at; Oh well of course his big elbow-raising competition, but I had forgotten he told me so much.

Gérard Bertrand: and yes…the elbow raisers marathon.

Olivia Ruiz: What a laugh…you know I came to play, I had lost my grandmother the day before.

Gérard Bertrand: I know…

Olivia Ruiz: but I had insisted on not canceling, it was a nice moment then

Gérard Bertrand: Yes, I remember, in fact your whole family was much more worried than you before the concert. I remember it very well.

Olivia Ruiz: Well yeah, I had confidence in…

Gérard Bertrand: when we are on stage…so what do you want us…what do you want to do to us because I know that you are doing us the pleasure of doing a few notes a capella so…

Olivia Ruiz: Well I want to ask you what would you like? Do you want Spanish? Do you want French? Do you want English?

Gérard Bertrand: listen then no but me I…

Olivia Ruiz: What kind of music do you like, Gérard?

Gérard Bertrand: No, I was…

Olivia Ruiz: I know a little.

Gérard Bertrand: I was amazed because I saw that your roots were Rock Five and that you were a fan of Lenny Kravitz. It's incredible!

Olivia Ruiz: Oh yeah! Oh my, but that's...we're going to have to...

Gérard Bertrand: no no but you do what you want.

Olivia Ruiz: It's going to be complicated but yes of course when I was a kid I loved it. What was it that I sang at that time that was a bit Rock that I could remember...it's true that I've forgotten a little bit. What could we sing from home otherwise?

Gérard Bertrand: but no…

Olivia Ruiz: Something that reminds you of home. Well, let's do a little "I drag my feet" bit.

Gérard Bertrand: that’s perfect.

Olivia Ruiz: It’s still a song that talks about the Marseillette café.

Gérard Bertrand: exactly!

Olivia Ruiz: Live Music.

Gerard Bertrand: well done!

Olivia Ruiz: and there you have it. We are in Marseillette.

Gérard Bertrand: yeah and then that…you know what when you sing that, it reminds me of my sister and I on the way to school, since we left my house to go to the village school in Saint-André-de-Roquelongue. And so we walked 500 meters every day and there I had my cousins, my cousins ​​and so the knock knees, often raped.

Olivia Ruiz: and the scent of freedom!

Gérard Bertrand: Yeah, exactly. And we stopped at the grocery store to buy Carambars. For 10 cents we got fifteen.

Olivia Ruiz: but of course, otherwise it's not funny...and you didn't have any Malakoffs...Malakoffs were my big thing when I was little.

Gérard Bertrand: So you know what? So you know what? I fell over because there's a tobacco shop in Narbonne...

Olivia Ruiz: but…

Gérard Bertrand: at the bottom of the Carcassonne bridge selling Malakoffs.

Olivia Ruiz: I know, next to the super nice hotel behind the station, right?

Gérard Bertrand: no no no no the one at the bottom of the Carcassonne bridge, you know that was closed for a long time…

Olivia Ruiz: Well, I think it was that one.

Gérard Bertrand: No, and he sells Malakoffs. So I just go there to buy a few when I buy the newspaper because it reminds me of…

Olivia Ruiz: and they don't taste the same.

Gérard Bertrand: uh…

Olivia Ruiz: Don't you think they don't taste quite the same?

Gérard Bertrand: no…no it’s our taste that has changed, it’s not the same.

Olivia Ruiz: Oh yeah, that's quite possible, that's quite possible.

Gérard Bertrand: yes, yes, yes, it's not the same. So concerning...

Olivia Ruiz: well, how delicious is that to say!

Gérard Bertrand: it's good, huh?!

Olivia Ruiz: rolalalala, well at the same time when we studied with Alléno I ​​???

Gérard Bertrand: so listen…

Olivia Ruiz: I don't see how you can't do something great.

Gérard Bertrand: tell me a little because in fact you are very eclectic because of course singing, music, theater, writing uh… what is still missing?… of course private life, mom etc. but what is missing in your madness or in your desire to create, what would you like to do? You also do photography… what is it that you would like to explore and that you haven't done yet?

Olivia Ruiz: So I did a little but not enough, I admit that being behind the camera is still something I would really like. And in front of it, I haven't done much in front of it either even though it's great, I love being an actress because imagine, it's as if you were to become a waiter tomorrow, what a joy not to be the boss, what a joy to be the boss's tool. The holidays are when you're used to managing 25 guys and...well less.

Gerard Bertrand: 350.

Olivia Ruiz: here it is

Gérard Bertrand: but for you, that's already a lot.

Olivia Ruiz: yeah but then…

Gérard Bertrand: because when… you made “état d’urgence” in 2019, it’s a TV movie, isn’t it? And now you’d like to go behind the camera a bit because it’s a logical next step for you?

Olivia Ruiz: Yes, I admit that I wrote “The Chest of Drawers of Colors” like a film, really weighing the images.

Gérard Bertrand: that's right.

Olivia Ruiz: Sometimes I stopped and I did the voices of the characters. I have, I have things in my phone where I have the three sisters arguing half in Spanish, in Occitan, in French because I needed it to be very embodied for my writing. So maybe that's what...

Gérard Bertrand: what is your role model, who are or what is your role model as a director? There is one who impresses me, it's Clint Eastwood because the way he holds the camera is incredible! And the speed at which he films.

Olivia Ruiz: Oh yes, that's great! Yeah, but it's true that I tend to look for models at average height, because here we're touching on one of the masters who has...

Gérard Bertrand: yes…

Olivia Ruiz: here it is…

Gérard Bertrand: but he goes fast, you see, he doesn't have the most expensive budgets, he films very quickly.

Olivia Ruiz: No, it's true, you're right, it's true. And it's also always a great exercise for the actors because he goes fast. And then he pilots helicopters, planes and then... no, but the guy is still something... in the French, you see, I love Maïwenn, I love Noémie Lvovsky.

Gérard Bertrand: Oh yes.

Olivia Ruiz: I obviously love Almodovar, he is one of my cults, but so are the others, Carlos Saura. As soon as it touches on Latin cinema, it touches a strong sensitivity in me.

Gérard Bertrand: and you see a difference… you see a big difference between Spanish cinema and French cinema? Because they are both arthouse cinemas, what is the difference for you? Because well, Spanish cinema here we know Almodovar but there are certainly others… but do you see a big difference between the Spanish approach and the French approach in terms of cinema?

Olivia Ruiz: I find that each time it plays with codes that are risky and I love this limit. Often we are on the edge of kitsch with Spanish.

Gérard Bertrand: yes.

Olivia Ruiz: Sometimes you're in something you don't know. You think to yourself, oh my god this is going to be a soap opera and then you end up in something really dreamlike. It's more sensual.

Gérard Bertrand: yeah.

Olivia Ruiz: it's more clear-cut, it's less cerebral, it's more about a body thing. So it's true that I'm extremely sensitive to it, but there are a lot of French directors that I love, Dupontel, you see. Dupontel is really a tone that speaks to me. That humor touches me, it... there you go.

Gérard Bertrand: and what is it, what is your favorite place in Spain if there is one?

Olivia Ruiz: I love Granada, but I think it's still Portlligat.

Gérard Bertrand: yes.

Olivia Ruiz: which touches Cadaqués. When you pass behind Cadaqués and you go to Dali's house, that little fishing port there...

Gérard Bertrand: yes.

Olivia Ruiz: You have nothing, just a small residence, a small hotel. There...

Gérard Bertrand: It has the same effect on me because as soon as I cross the border, the simple fact of hearing another language, you are disoriented and we are lucky because we are an hour away by car...

Olivia Ruiz: and yeah.

Gérard Bertrand: So it's still a great privilege to be able to play on both borders like that. And so for 3 months now everything has been wrapped up.

Olivia Ruiz: but it's okay...normally everything will be unblocked on the 22nd, we're counting on it, we're counting on it.

Gérard Bertrand: so I lost...it disconnected you see I have a small technical problem.

Olivia Ruiz: ha…

Gérard Bertrand: can you hear me?

Olivia Ruiz: yeah I hear you.

Gérard Bertrand: oh that's it, I had a technical problem, I had disconnected my microphone. So boss what are we going to eat now? Because Olivia is ready, we're going to taste the, we're going to taste the Tautavel now Olivia.

Olivia Ruiz: Come on.

Gérard Bertrand: we're going to taste the Tautavel, 2018 vintage. So, chef, where are we?

Laurent Chabbert: so there we are in the PO.

Gérard Bertrand: Ah well that's why it's no coincidence, we are in the Eastern Pyrenees, we are among the Catalans. So?

Laurent Chabbert: so the Catalan veal that has grazed, so the Vedell veal as it is actually called there. So with the shallot sauce… I grilled the rib on the barbecue, a real mousline puree, we just added a tiny bit of olive oil to bring a bit of body, the new potato chips, some herbs, oxalis especially to bring the acidity. And here I am going to give you the shallot sauce.

Gérard Bertrand: What do you have to show me? What are you going to eat?

Olivia Ruiz: Well, for me it's as beautiful as anything. It's a full artichoke...look how beautiful it is.

Gérard Bertrand: Oh yes, it's beautiful. So I'll tell you, you're going to enjoy it, but you know that artichoke with wine is complicated, but it's magnificent.

Olivia Ruiz: ah no I don't know.

Gérard Bertrand: what's in it?

Olivia Ruiz: But I think he'll have thought about it. So I guess the idea is to eat it with the leaves.

Gérard Bertrand: Yes, with the fingers especially.

Olivia Ruiz: I imagine he will have thought of your wine. Obviously it's better with your fingers.

Gérard Bertrand: Oh yes. Is it good?

Gérard Bertrand: it's very good, there's shallot, it's very vinegary, there's chives.

Gérard Bertrand: So I'm going to taste the...I'm going to taste the veal, chef. I'm starving today...

Olivia Ruiz: smoked fish...how good it is, olalalalalala.

Gérard Bertrand: so boss…

Olivia Ruiz: and me who am…

Gérard Bertrand: Excuse me, chef, how long is the veal matured for?

Olivia Ruiz: here we don't mature it for very long, on pink we will mature it for about ten days, it's less important than beef, as much as beef we do 28 days but there... there you go and then the barbecue side and let the meat rest a little more of what we did there...

Gérard Bertrand: Olivia, you have to come and taste this because it's amazing.

Olivia Ruiz: well great we're going to do that again, I'm coming back anyway. I'm going back and forth for the book promotion but on the other hand then the Tautavel but on the other hand I'm really enjoying my south there as much as I can it gave me a good excuse to spend time there this confinement story because usually I'm always kept in Paris for work and there...

Gérard Bertrand: so you know we have good news because the festival is going ahead.

Olivia Ruiz: Oh, isn't that really great!

Gérard Bertrand: yes yes from July 21 to 26. So with Dominique Rieux we changed the whole program because Ibrahim Maalouf his musicians were not available, Youri Buenaventura my friend is stuck in Colombia so uh there you go, Pascal Obispo he was prevented so in fact we made a program that is not very jazz but which has the merit of being spectacular since jazz artists are often… Jean Micolon was supposed to come but he tells me if I come…

Olivia Ruiz: You've had him several times too.

Gérard Bertrand: yeah but he's extraordinary. But the problem he told me if I come I'm in quarantine in France and when I return I'm in quarantine in England.

Olivia Ruiz: Well it's true that the concert is expensive even if we are at your place.

Gérard Bertrand: so he couldn't come so we have, we have two evenings, the 21st and the 22nd we have Patrick Bruel, the 23rd so we have Cali...

Olivia Ruiz: haaaa ok, I'll block you on the 23rd.

Gérard Bertrand: How? Yes, so we have Kimberose too, do you know Kimberose?

Olivia Ruiz: This name sounds familiar to me but no, I don't put a face to it.

Gérard Bertrand: yeah, she's a...you have to look at...she's a young French artist who has a bit of Amy Winehouse's voice, you know, she has an extraordinary voice.

Olivia Ruiz: Just that, wow.

Gérard Bertrand: yeah yeah you have to listen. Then we have Christophe Maé on the 25th and we have Jean-Baptiste Guégan on the 26th. But I know that Cali is a friend of yours, right?

Olivia Ruiz: but of course, I'm booking the 23rd and 26th then.

Gérard Bertrand: there you go…

Olivia Ruiz: but on the 23rd I know we're still going to dance until 6 in the morning and I...so I'm even booking the 24th without my children.

Gérard Bertrand: That's exactly it. So we have a great program, we've reduced the capacity a bit from 1500 to 1100 so that the public feels comfortable. That's it, but we absolutely insisted that the festival take place because the artists I spoke to on the phone told me that we really need to get going again because our job is to be on the road, and then, and then, the musicians have a hard life because the musicians, the intermittent workers in the entertainment industry, it's not very easy for them.

Olivia Ruiz: It's terrible, terrible and above all we are not given any information. There you go, last week we were expecting a lot from the speech that finally we are all in a kind of artistic blur that is starting to be a bit tiring...

Gérard Bertrand: So we took the soil by the horns and we are moving forward because it is important and so I am pleased that you are joining us and I know that Cali will be happy.

Olivia Ruiz: Oh yes, but even more unleashed, that's the problem.

Gérard Bertrand: yes yes you know that during his live we made Picolat bowls, do you know Picolat bowls?

Olivia Ruiz: Oh but I love it of course. You should try mine because they are pretty good too.

Gérard Bertrand: Really? But that interests me.

Olivia Ruiz: So what did you do? You did veal and beef? Or you did veal and pork?

Gérard Bertrand: so tell us, tell us…

Laurent Chabbert: yes with pork too. In fact there is veal, beef and pork.

Olivia Ruiz: What did you do? Did you put pine nuts too?

Laurent Chabbert: and then a little bit of porcini mushrooms and tomato sauce. And now we have it, so I put it in the appetizers, finally offered as soon as you arrive at the restaurant so you can eat it straight away yeah.

Gérard Bertrand: I enjoy the time you spend talking with him.

Olivia Ruiz: Well yeah I guess. Oh but but I'm not finished.

Gérard Bertrand: No, but my boss, he took advantage of it...

Olivia Ruiz: Tonight when I have all this at home I don't need it anymore...

Gérard Bertrand: the chef took advantage of it so I remind everyone that the restaurant is open every day for lunch and dinner and that we now also have a tapas menu, a menu on the terrace. I also remind you that on Sunday evening we are having the music festival with of course a very festive menu around a jazz group with tapas etc. it will be nice.

Laurent Chabbert: yes, well it's not really tapas on Sunday evening, it will be more of a four-course tasting menu.

Gérard Bertrand: Okay. And at noon it's Father's Day.

Laurent Chabbert: and at noon it's Father's Day so sorry we already have no more room but there you go...for the evening in fact we have a few tables left so remember to reserve.

Gérard Bertrand: so the chef is in good shape, me too, besides I tested all the dishes so he is getting ready for the festival. So listen to me Olivia, tell me a little about the chest of drawers with colored drawers because I am showing it here so it is your new novel which is available in all good bookstores and then online sites so…

Olivia Ruiz: but first the bookstores, you did well to start there because it's important. There too, the confinement has really harmed them. And they are passionate people like us, artisans who are fighting for their babies, it's important, you did well to say it. Listen, it's the story of a young woman who all her life looks at her grandmother's dresser with her little cousins ​​and she says, what the hell is she hiding in there? How come we can't get near it? What must she be hiding in there? And there you have it...

Gérard Bertrand: we feel the experience there, we feel the experience there.

Olivia Ruiz: and but no unfortunately, I would have loved it so much but no I would have dreamed of it. And so they look at this dresser and then well the grandmother as soon as they approach it screams so they don't know what it contains. And when the grandmother dies this young woman goes back up to her house in Paris, after having buried her grandmother in the south. As soon as she opens the door... the naughty girl, the dresser... so she's going to sit down and for one night she's going to open the drawers of this dresser and she's going to find in each drawer an object and a letter and this grandmother who's going to tell her her whole life from the moment in 1939 when she left Spain because her parents made a decision and who put Rita, the heroine, and her two sisters to flee the Francist regime and the bombings that are coming to Barcelona. And we're going to follow her, we're going to follow her in her love stories up to her problem of never feeling like she's from here or there, the way she sometimes wants to throw everything away and say I'm not Spanish anymore, I'm nothing anymore and how she's going to then... here we go to the Marseillette café and how these 4 generations of women are going to build themselves with this particular heritage which is that of exile which is still something and above all... I know you're going to understand why I'm telling it like this. When you love the place where you were born, where you grew up, at the moment when everything goes to hell in your life, a given moment where the scent, for me of the scrubland, the rock that you find in the Corbières, the slate, all of a sudden all that is like a house, nothing is going well anymore but I know that the train passes Nîmes and that's it... I'm starting to tell myself there you're not risking anything anymore, soon you're not risking anything anymore. There you go, and there you go, so that's why exile is a subject that affects me because first of all, I come from this exile through three grandparents and also because, as a lover of my land and a hyper regionalist and all that, it's true that I am sensitive to people who have been forced to give up their land...there you go.

Gérard Bertrand: so you wanted, you would like to read us a little passage, right?

Olivia Ruiz: But of course, so what…

Gérard Bertrand: listen, I haven't read it yet because I bought it today, I'm going to read it during my vacation, so of course I'll leave it up to you to tell us what you would like to tell us.

Olivia Ruiz: Listen, as I gave you a little introduction with her sisters, with this little girl who inherits the dresser, I'm going to start maybe with the first chapter, with the first drawer. So it's no longer the little girl we heard during the prologue who says that her grandmother left her this; we move on to the grandmother's voice. And it's called the baptismal medal, it's the first object that the little girl will find in the first drawer.

Olivia Ruiz: “Live Reading.”

Gérard Bertrand: it’s beautiful!

Olivia Ruiz: We'll stop there.

Gérard Bertrand: and you know, you're right because I'm already imagining the script for your next film, and there's something there.

Olivia Ruiz: you know what makes this experience so powerful for me is that the first few towers are exactly what I didn't dare hope for, it's people who tell me they read the book and then we questioned our parents, not necessarily Spanish, the Polish parents, the parents... that's it. And the dialogue that it provokes among the few who have already read it in their family, the pride in origins that is inherent in people who didn't feel particularly rich from their parents' journey, it's really the most beautiful gift. Afterwards, it's also a book with passionate love, with very funny things and all that. But that's true, this heritage is quite central in the book and it's received as such by the first readers, it's great.

Gérard Bertrand: and I'm sure that when you wrote it, sometimes the pen held on by itself, that is to say that it ran, the pen ran faster than your thoughts. Because somewhere like you imagined something that could have been a part of your roots and your origins, cariño for example is something that you use often so you made it your own completely, it's hard to get out of this story afterwards. I tell you that I like it because my grandmother had a chest of drawers like that with a thousand drawers and so my sister and I used to argue about being able to... when we were kids, sleep, slip into her bed there. And so when she left we made lots of discoveries too, letters etc. it was very moving. So there you go...

Olivia Ruiz: You'll have to tell me that because now that I'm a writer I need beautiful, fantastic material like that.

Gérard Bertrand: That's exactly it. So boss, what do we do now?

Laurent Chabbert: and there you have it, I just opened the jar.

Gérard Bertrand: so do you have a little dessert too?

Olivia Ruiz: uh...yes it's in the fridge, wait for me I'm coming.

Gérard Bertrand: So what do we have, boss?

Laurent Chabbert: we started with a baba like the rum baba, quite simply, but we took the wine.

Gérard Bertrand: That's beautiful, you took it, you put it with wine, is that it?

Laurent Chabbert: there you go, we made mulled wine in fact, and we got our wine back.

Gérard Bertrand: Oh yes, and in a bowl?

Laurent Chabbert: in a jar like that we can take it away.

Gérard Bertrand: Are you going to serve it like that too?

Laurent Chabbert: We'll serve it like that at the restaurant.

Olivia Ruiz: I'm not going to take up the baba challenge, it looks more like a tiramisu I think.

Gérard Bertrand: Oh listen, it's not bad either. But you can start tasting.

Laurent Chabbert: and there we added some redcurrants, some blackberries, some blackcurrants to bring more deliciousness and sweetness in fact. And then like mulled wine, we have lots of spices.

Gérard Bertrand: In my opinion, all the customers will take the jar away from you. I'm going to taste it anyway...

Olivia Ruiz: I don't know about you Gérard but for me it's fantastic. It's a kind of tiramisu but very light coffee, crushed hazelnuts...

Gérard Bertrand: I have to dive to the bottom because the wine is at the bottom, there are blackberries too, right?

Laurent Chabbert: Yes, blackberry, redcurrant, blackcurrant.

Gérard Bertrand: it's very good. It's not good, it's not very good, it's excellent. So for that, you know what Olivia... come on, boss... we're going to taste the Languedoc, the third wine, the 2017, because it's a slightly lighter wine than the Tautavel. So I remind you that everything...

Olivia Ruiz: That one? Where did that one come from then?

Gérard Bertrand: This one comes from the Narbonne area, okay? It's a Languedoc, so it's a Syrah and a Grenache that is vinified and aged in barrels for 12 months. So, 2017 is a great vintage, it's a very dry vintage. I don't know if you remember the summer of 2017, it was very hot, not a drop of rain fell and so these are wines...

Olivia Ruiz: It was a great tragedy for our farmers.

Gérard Bertrand: So it was necessary for certain villages...

Olivia Ruiz: and there had been some frostbite too, there had been something improbable.

Gérard Bertrand: it was a complicated year, it was a year of 13 moons, you know, years of 13 moons for farmers and winegrowers are always complicated.

Olivia Ruiz: you know, I come from a family of farm workers, not farmers but workers, so I've always harvested wine, it's always been something...so Languedoc.

Gérard Bertrand: but you know in Marseillette we are in Minervois, we are no longer in Corbières, be careful.

Olivia Ruiz: So imagine that my parents' house is on the banks of the Aude. So in front of the house, I have the Corbières, behind the house I have the Minervois.

Gérard Bertrand: because in fact you see Laric.

Olivia Ruiz: Here I am… I see the whole of Laric from one end to the other. Well, behind I can't see the black mountain but there you go. But really we are in this place and it's true that I… I'm going to have as many favorites on territories like Livinière or Camplong, it's true that this land is incredible!

Gérard Bertrand: She speaks to you especially.

Olivia Ruiz: well in wine it speaks to me because it's true that... it's beyond... it's really a place beyond who's going to use the grape. And the same thing afterwards with Tautavel, Fitou. But I really have connections with these, with these perfumes that are more robust but that correspond completely to my...

Gérard Bertrand: and you didn't tell us, you didn't tell us...you like cooking I suppose when we listen to you.

Olivia Ruiz: ha I love it! I love it!

Gérard Bertrand: and what's your...what's your...your favorite things?

Olivia Ruiz: Well then Narbonne Plage I have nothing to cook with so it was hell but now it's true that I cook mostly as a child so for the last four years everything has been a question of getting my son to eat unusual things. So well we're on asparagus salads, crayfish, coriander. You see we try to find little things like that that are quite fresh in the summer. Lots of things based on melon, verbena, gazpacho... he loves it, even in Narbonne Plage for 3 months I made a small herb garden. And in Paris it's the same. And then he's already all pichou, chives, sage... he already knows, at four and a half years old, everything he needs and so we cook quite a bit together. But I really like my grandmothers' dishes, anything that is beef bourguignon, I want old simmered dishes, I haven't tried things like beef tongue and all that... but I like blanquettes, I like it to stick to the bottom of the pan.

Gérard Bertrand: it's good though.

Olivia Ruiz: yeah but it's too much for me. Everything that is, everything that is...the sweetbreads and all that, that's it, those are the textures for me.

Gerard Bertrand: Good boss, I think you could hire him for the summer. He's going to hire you for the summer.

Olivia Ruiz: We can do an exchange if you want.

Gérard Bertrand: No, but you know what, when you're free, we'll do a live cooking show with you, it'll be even funnier. Huh, chef?

Olivia Ruiz: ha but I love it! I grew up there, I love it! Even in the summer if you want the boys.

Gérard Bertrand: Yes, I'm going to rest a bit from the first to the fifteenth of August, so we'll resume live broadcasts afterwards, but at the end of the summer, yes, at the end of the summer.

Olivia Ruiz: great! Yeah I'm here anyway I'm not moving anymore, I'm enjoying it.

Gérard Bertrand: Well listen to me, I...I've remembered several things, first of all I'm going to invite you to lunch as soon as you get back.

Olivia Ruiz: I'm already coming to get some bottles from you on Monday, to start with, first date.

Gérard Bertrand: then, I recommend the chest of drawers with colored drawers, published by Lattes. In all good bookstores in France. And then, I recommend that you quickly reserve your seats for the jazz at l'Hospitalet from July 21 to 26. And you will also have the opportunity to meet Olivia Ruiz for a few evenings. There you go, so Olivia, thank you, I kiss you...

Olivia Ruiz: Thank you guys, it was a joy! We thank Yannick Alléno and his little guy, the card fell, you have the name in mind, wait…and Amar, from L'ascencion because it's still…

Gérard Bertrand: here it is and then you have a special dedication from Katia Daguet Alonso who is like you of Spanish origin, who spoke with you so who also kisses you. Have a good weekend and then see you next week.

Olivia Ruiz: yeah take care boys and I look forward to seeing you soon but in the kitchen.

Gérard Bertrand: goodbye everyone!

Olivia Ruiz: goodbye everyone!

Laurent Chabbert: goodbye.