I recently put my foot in my mouth, again. Speaking at a writerโs conference and rambling on at the podium, as usual, I offered up that I donโt think of cooking or baking as love. Itโs cooking and baking. Maybe because I was a restaurant cook for so long and spent decades pumping out food (which would have been a lot of love-making), I thinkโฆ
Itโs almost pie season. Right now, thereโs not much fruit available at the markets, but Iโve had this recipe card lingering in my โto tryโ folder, and decided the time was right to give it a go. This is a pie Iโve enjoyed at Four & Twenty Blackbird Pie Shop in New York and I had the recipe on a card that was in theโฆ
There isnโt quite a word for โpieโ in French.ย Tourteย describes a double-crusted, enclosed pastry of some sort, but isnโt quite the same as pies in the States are. Like dishes from other nationalities and cultures, pie represents a tradition to Americans. Pies are a dessert we look forward to baking when fruitย and berries comeย into season, and they are an essential part of our holidays, like Thanksgivingโฆ
During a recent trip to Iceland, I visited a number of bakeries which make what are considered to be in the Danish tradition. Theyโre yeasted, but get theirย flaky layers by either being rolled and folded several times, or made with a brioche-like dough, often with a moist, sweet marzipan filling. I met Uri Scheft, an Israeli baker whose parents emigrated from Denmark, at his bakeryโฆ
Iโd been anxious to eat at Honey & Co. in London, which was at the top of my list of places to try there, but never made it. One of the underrepresented foods in Paris is Middle Eastern food. With a large population from that part of the world, most of the restaurants are snack bar-like stands. And even at the standard Middle Eastern restaurants,โฆ
Iโm never quite sure what to say whenย people ask if they can reduce sugar in a recipe. My inclination is to say Non!ย right off the bat. Not because Iโm in France, and itโs reflexive, but because when I test or develop a recipe, I get the sugar balance just to where I like it before it goes into a book or on the blog. Itโsโฆ
One of the high points of going to Ireland is the Irish breakfast. In France, breakfast is usually some toast and coffee, and Iโm fine with that โ although a few hours later, I usually have a plain yogurt with some dark honey or a bowl of fresh fruit, to tide me over until lunch. The Irish breakfast, on the other hand, is a majorโฆ
Some say that the French can be very narrow in their definitions of things, which is why traditional French cuisine can be so simple, yet spectacular; because the classics donโt get messed with. Other cuisines, however, do get modified to local tastes, like les brochettes de bลuf-fromage, or beef skewers with cheese, at les sushis restaurants, popcorn available as salty or sweet (!?), and whileโฆ
Although thereโs some dispute as to where the croissant was invented, itโs become an iconic symbol of Paris. Or at least of Paris bakeries. The most popular story claims that croissants were invented in Austria, during (or after) a period of conflict with Turkey in the 1600s, whose symbol is a crescent. And people were happy to bite into, and chew, a pastry representing theirโฆ
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