Flo Braker was a good friend to me and many others, in addition to being one of the best bakers that I knew. She unexpectedly passed away last week and will be deeply missed by everyone in the baking community who knew and loved her as much as I did. She was known for her generosity, which came through in her recipes. I wrote aโฆ
I often wonder where people will go when they tell me they want to dine somewhere โout-of-the-wayโ in Paris. Do they want to go to the outer reaches of the 20th or 15th arrondissements for lunch? And if they want to go somewhere where โonly localsโ eat, will they be happy with a standardย plat du jour?ย Or do they want more creative cooking, with an accentโฆ
I often get asked when I put pictures of things that Iโm baking on social media, โWhere can I find that recipe?โ or less-delicately, โRecipeโฆpuleeeze!!!โ The appetite for recipes is voracious and thankfully, Iโve got hundreds of them here on the blog, as well as in the books Iโve written. Iโve never counted, but Iโd venture to say Iโve got nearly a thousand recipes outโฆ
From the outside, Compagnie Gรฉnรฉrale de Biscuiterie is a low-slung place, resembling a workshop of some sort, rather than a pรขtisserie, located on the way up to Sacrรฉ Cลur, in Montmartre. I made the trek up there to check it out because I was interested in the one thing the low-key place makes: cookies. The French use the word โcookiesโ primarily to refer to chocolateโฆ
I love cookies. If there is a selection of cookies on a dessert menu, I always will order it. Iโve been to cookie shops from Beirut to Bushwick, nibbling my way through chewy chocolate chip cookies, macarons, buttery sablรฉs, and snappy ginger cookies, whenever I can. Even Parisians get in on the act by dubbing chocolate chip cookies,ย les cookies, perhaps because they are the classicโฆ
Shortly after I had moved to France, I made dinner for friends in my apartment, which we finished up with a chocolate tart, which I flecked with a few grains of flaky sea salt. Everyone ate their desserts but one guest, politely, finally spoke up to let me know that somehow, Iโd gotten some salt on the dessert.ย Since then, salt has become a popular ingredientโฆ
When I started baking professionally, whenever a recipe called for chocolate, we grabbed whatever chocolate we could get in bulk, lopped off a chunk, and used that. At the time, there wasnโt muchย consciousness about chocolate and all the differences that there are today. (I know, I sound like a dinosaur!) Often โEuropeanโ chocolates were talked about as being of theย best quality.ย But when I started atโฆ
When I was in high school, our principal came up on stage during assembly one morning and stood there for a moment, until he got our attention. After a long pause, he inhaled deeply, and said, โWe have a very sick person in our midst.โ Nobody moved, and we were all kind of stunned for a minute, hearingย such a grave pronouncement. Finally, we learned theโฆ
Sometimes when Iโm doing events, such asย meet-ups and booksignings, people will kindly bring treats for me to eat. Itโs always nice when people think of me, and my sweet tooth, when Iโm on the road.ย However thereโs nothing worse than trying to carry on a back-and-forthย withย someone who is chewing on food when youโre not doing the same. It just doesnโt work. My least favorite moment whenโฆ
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