Perhaps it’s wrong to blame the cheese. But cheese doesn’t have any feelings, it’s just exists for our pleasure. So for once I don’t have to worry about offending anyone on my blog. Now that’s a relief. A friend of mine came for dinner the other night who’s on le regime, a diet. While shopping at the supermarket I spotted this reduced-fat cheese, checked out…
At my local marché this week… Grown in Brittany, one of the weirdest vegetables found in France is Romanesco, a relative of broccoli. It’s cooked the same way, a la vapeur, simply steamed and tossed with a pad of rich French butter. Sand-grown carrots are sweeter (and dirtier) than ordinary carrots. French (and American) cooks can find lots of thyme at the markets, which is…
Certainly one of the most stunning pastry shops in Paris is Sadaharu Aoki. It’s so well-regarded that I ran into a famous chocolatier from the neighborhood during my last visit, who was picking up his goûter, or afternoon snack, as they call it in Paris. We recognized each other and he smiled at me while choosing a Thé Vert Napoléan; layers of vivid green tea…
After the end of a long week: I renewed my Carte de Sejour, braved the hectic but incredibleMarché St. Pierre at the foot of Montmarte…and tried to get an answer about why after 10 days, I still don’t have internet access or cable tv. With all that stress, I felt it was an absolute necessity to visit Ladurée twice this week, especially since all my…
I am often asked the difficult-to-answer question, “Who is the best chocolatier in Paris?” There are very few parts of Paris where you can’t find something delicious made of chocolate. Luckily from my apartment, I’m just a few blocks from Dalloyau, Gerard Mulot, Lenôtre, and Joséphine Vannier near the Place des Vosges, a small chocolate shop whose window delights the tourists, but belies the more…
Since we’re on the subject of beignets, I spotted these enticing looking pastries at one of my favorite out-of-the-way boulangeries in Paris. It must be a global trend. Boulangerie au 140 140, rue de Belleville Paris Tel: 01 46 36 92 47 Métro: Jourdain
I often cook pasta in not enough water. I wash mushrooms. I don’t grind my own coffee beans. I melt chocolate in a bowl set in, not over, simmering water. I hate soup as a first course. I buy store-brand butter for baking. I try to use as few pots and pans when I cooking as I can. I lift the lid when cooking rice…
A couple weeks ago, someone sent me a thoughtful gift from the US. A few days later, I get a bill from the delivery company; 42 euros for taxes (the gift was valued at 80 euros, making the tax about 55%.) So I head to the office of the delivery company, where they show me the official rules for gifts sent and received in France:…
Just an hour or so from Paris is the medieval market at Le Neubourg where each wednesday locals crowd the market, choosing their fresh fruits and vegetable, regional raw-milk cheeses and just-churned golden-yellow crocks of butter, along with meats and hand-stuffed sausages from the jovial local bouchers, doling out crispy morsels of sautéed charcuterie. It’s the kind of market where if you ask the poultry…
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