Disappointment can take many forms. Some people are unhappy with their lawmakers. Others experience unemployment, infidelity, natural disasters, wrongful arrest, declining stock prices, or social injustices. And then there’s the poor folks that face cultural challenges on a daily basis, and have to deal with disagreeable bank tellers, reams of bureaucratic paperwork, and a France Telecom form promising a refund, but with absolutely no information…
In case you’re wondering what goes on inside my head, my most recent urge was to upgrade the pepper in my peppermills. I think I’m coming late to that game since I’ve read so many things urging…begging me…to use fancy, expensive pepper. But I tend to buy a bag of black pepper from a local spice shop, which seemed good enough. Or so I thought. A…
Americans have a funny relationship with honey. To many of us, it’s that sweet syrup in the jar with the feather-topped woman, or the gloopy stuff stuck inside the crevasses of a plastic bear. In France, honey is a Big Deal and there are boutiques like Maison du Miel, and vendors at the outdoor markets, which sell nothing but honey and honey-related products. (And believe…
One of the first places I went to in Paris when I was setting up house, was Thiercelin. My friend David Tanis took me there, who is a chef and lived in Paris part-time. And as I roamed through the neat shop, poked in the wooden drawers and sniffed in the jars, I was thrilled to find such a treasure trove of spices and comestibles…
During the next week, I’m going to do a series: Five Great Places in Paris That You Might Not Know About. In a city that hasn’t been overrun by chain stores and restaurants, it’s nice to be able to profile some of the smaller places around town that I frequent. When I’ve had friends come to visit and suggested we go out for pizza, they…
Because of all the changes in the Paris coffee scene, I’ve been updating this post regularly as a good number of places have opened in the last few years in Paris, that focus on well-crafted, artisan coffees. It’s been a wonderful revolution taking place, as many people – some French, others from Australia and the United States, have been conscientiously been upgrading the quality of…
Now that you’ve all seen everything I have in my kitchen, I thought I’d show you a place I just discovered this week not far from where all that pastry magic happens. (And I’m sure a few of you remember where all the magic that doesn’t happen around here ends up.) Someone chided me for having French Wine For Dummies on my bookshelf, but gave…
Le Brunch is indeed available at some places in Paris, but I’m not necessarily at my best being around people first thing in the morning—and I’m not so fond of Le Brunch either. So I compromised on the more civilized hour of 1pm for dining on the weekends. Not much is open in Paris on Sunday, so I had suggested Breizh Café, a tidy corner spot specializing…
Maybe more than Americans, French people do like marshmallows. A lot. You see them in bakeries and pastry shops, often in long strands, on display either in lengths, or tied into knots, often stored in apothecary jars. It’s a tradition that goes back, before the advent of gelatin, when marshmallows were made with mallow extract which was (and still may be) considered good for your…
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