This is the post I never thought I’d write. I never wanted to tackle madeleines. I thought they were something that…darn it…you just needed to eat when you’re in France. Like hamburgers and bagels, I didn’t think everything translated cross-culturally. If you wanted a madeleine, darn it, you came to France to have one. I mean, did you ever have a bagel in Banff? Do…
This past weekend I went to the Marché des Producteurs de Pays, a lively little outdoor event where people come from across France to sell their edible wares here in Paris. Naturally, there were lots of mountain cheeses, specialty honey, and regional wines. But I was on a mission to stock up on les pruneaux d’Agen since I knew the producers (producteurs) would be there…
This dessert is the result of a happy accident. I’d been developing some recipes and after a couple of furious days of recipe testing, I had a zillion containers of various odds and ends lying around. I mixed and matched things together, blended them all up, and stuck the mixture in the freezer. A bit later, I tentatively dug in my spoon in and tasted…
In terms of desserts, it doesn’t get much easier than this. Affogato means ‘drowned’ in Italian, and any frozen dessert can meet this fate by tippling a little liquor or coffee over it. Classically, espresso is poured over Vanilla Ice Cream, but you’d have to be pretty hard-core to pour espresso over Espresso Granita. If I did that, I’d be ricocheting off the walls around…
A story on CNN talked about how former French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, was not bourgeois, noting that he didn’t grow up in a rarified family and as the (American) commentator exclaimed…“He didn’t grow up eating pâté!” I thought that was pretty funny since meaty pâtés and rillettes aren’t upscale delicacies in France, but are considered everyday fare. And some of the best pâtés I’ve had…
During my interview at Chez Panisse, as I sat across the table from Alice Waters in the main dining room at the restaurant, she asked me, “What do you eat at home?” Since I’m not exactly convincing when lying, I told her. “I eat popcorn, mostly.” And continued, “I’m a restaurant cook. I don’t have time to eat at home.” In spite of that, or because of…
The French like chocolate as much, or even more, than the rest of us. That includes Clotilde Dusoulier, who writes the blog Chocolate & Zucchini. If you’re a reader, you’re privy to her charming stories about her life in Paris accompanied recipes. And you’ve also likely heard of her book: Chocolate & Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen. Turning the pages and reading about her life…
Frequently, bakers and ice cream-lovers will find themselves with a few too many egg whites. So what to do with all of them? If you’re not sure what to do with them right away, egg whites can be frozen. I usually freeze them in specific quantities (i.e.; 1 cup), and label them as such, since there’s nothing more infuriating than needing 1 cup of egg whites…
Although each year it’s getting harder and harder to remember that far back, I still recall when I was younger, during summers where I grew up in New England, we’d head to the dairy store for ice cream. Often I’d order pistachio; the vivid green color and the crunchy bits of pistachio were somewhat exotic to me. As I grew up, I learned the truth…
Join me on my Spring 2026 book tour for my latest book, The Great Book of Chocolate
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