When I arrived in France a few years ago, I was a surprised to find that red onions are rare and cost nearly four-times the price of yellow onions. I reasoned that although French cuisine uses lots of onions, most often they’re cooked to enhance their sweetness, and they become an essential backdrop for braises, stews, and casseroles…and most-notably in French Onion Soup. So why…
Do you know what today is? It’s Blog day 2005! As I learned from Pim, today food bloggers spanning the globe are to name 5 new food blogs that they like. Here are a few of my favorites at the moment. I wanted to list more than 5, but I’m still psychologically-bruised by Mrs. Sheegan, my 3rd grade teacher, throwing up her hands and telling…
A recent article in Le Nouvel Observateur noted a steady price increase for some of the basic staples of life in France:
[Note: This recipe was first published on this site in 2005, when few people had heard of this pastry. I’ve reworked it substantially to make individual pastries (shown above), and that recipe is in my book, L’appart.] Is there anything more fabulous than something created through the wonder and miracle of caramelization? Are there no means and ends that one won’t go to, to experience…
Fresh little cornichons ready for pickling, at the market: (And no, this photo has nothing to do with someone’s Speedo comment…)
When you think of ‘take-out’, France perhaps isn’t the first culture that comes to mind. The concept to me seems so American; pick up the phone or walk to the corner, grab something to eat, bring it home and eat it in front of the television. Nice and quick…and no dishes! In spite of what you might think, France has plenty of take-out food shops,…
Of all the regions in France, one of the most peculiar is Brittany. The cuisine is hearty, earthy, and dynamic – like the terrain. The coastline is a virtual lunar landscape of jutting rock formations, with pristine beaches (with somewhat frosty water) tucked in between them. Consequently, upper Brittany is somewhat remote and not a popular tourist destination. Most of my days begin at an…
I’ve been thinking about this for quite a while, and figured I’d ask “Is it just me?…What would you do?” Let’s say you’ve been invited to someone’s house for dinner. Yum. You arrive and they’re preparing the food. There’s piles of fresh produce and meat on the counter, ready to be whipped up into something magical and tasty. Vibrant tomatoes, leafy greens, juicy meat ready…
The French predilection of blowing things out of proportion is nowhere more evident than in the highly detailed, extraordinary Michelin maps, which cover every nook, cranny, crevice and petit village in France. And like many things French, once you figure out how to work within the ‘system’, in this case an unwieldingly large map that’s impossible to unfurl in the car, it works better than…
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