April 2008 archives

Every time I go to Austin, it seems like I’m running into town, doing a class, then racing on to the next city. So this last time, I slipped in under the cover of darkness, and arrived a day early. Sure I wanted more time to gorge on Texas bbq and Mexican food.

But what I really wanted to do was spend some time at Tèo, lapping up gelato.

The Lee family has become, I’m sure much to their chagrin, part of my extended family. Or more likely, I’ve become part of theirs. I’ve known Matt Lee’s mom for years and when she told me her son owned an authentic gelato parlor, I dialed my lawyer and had him draw up the adoption papers.

Let’s hope they sign.

Matt, aka Matteo…aka, Tèo…learned his craft in Florence at Vivoli, and his gelato is the real deal. You won’t find him in the back dumping mixes into a machine.

Continue Reading Teo Gelato…

…and it’s kinda fun…

Many of you have asked about my Food Photography Gear, so here’s the run-down how I take and process some of the photos on the blog, as well as the equipment that I use. The following is a summary of the equipment I use, as well as a discussion of what techniques I use to get the shots for the site.

Cameras

I use a Canon Rebel, and I love it. It’s a great camera, and very well-priced for the features it offers. There are biggest DSLRs, but the Rebel’s compact size and weight makes it easier to tote along and I prefer to carry a lighter camera.

If you can do one thing to improve your photography, is to switch to a digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera, like the Rebel. People frequently ask what they can do to improve their photos and that’s the number-one tip I give to everyone. The ability to increase the ISO (the “speed”, so you can shoot in low light without a flash) and adjust the white balance, I find helps my photos immensely. Plus the quality of the lens means you’ll create photos much better than you can with a point-and-shoot camera.

When I bought my first Rebel, I was advised to get the camera without the lens. Since the ‘kit’ lens is less than $90, I bought it. But since I bought additional lenses, I took the ‘kit’ lens off and have only used it once in two years. So I agree: Skip the kit lens and buy one of the two I list below. 50mm 1.8 is a perfect, and inexpensive, place to start.

If you do get a Canon digital camera, or already own one, there’s a great online tutorial to help you figure out what all those dials and buttons mean.

I recently purchased a Canon G12 since I wanted a camera that was slimmer and more portable than my Rebel. This camera has all the same great features of a DSLR, but I find I take it with me. The image stabilized lens does a good job and you can make videos with it as well.

(I had a Panasonic Lumix LX-3 for a while but didn’t like the quality of the photos taken indoors, the proprietary cables, the dials that would move too-easily when the camera was stashed in my bag, and the independent lens cap.)

Lenses

I have several lenses that I use:

The Canon 50mm 1.8 is the bargain of the century and the lens I snap on my camera when I leave the house since if something happens to it, it’s not a big deal. It’s small, lightweight, and inexpensive. If you own a Canon DSLR, you must get this lens.

I sometimes use the Canon 50mm 1.4, which is faster than the previous lens, and more expensive, but it’s very well-made and good for low-light situations due to the 1.4 lens.

The Canon Macro 60mm isn’t cheap, but it’s an amazing lens which I use for anything very close up. It allows me to get as close as I want to something; some cake crumbs, a drip of chocolate, or a smudge of ice cream. I labored long and hard whether to invest in a lens like this, and I use it when I want to be right up against something.

And my favorite lens purchase was the Canon 24-70mm zoom which several photographer friends highly-recommended. It’s very fast, so can be used in low-light situations, but is also quite heavy. This is an incredible lens. It’s not inexpensive, but it has a wide range of uses and although the price was initially a deterrent, I’m glad I made the investment. It also is a macro function, too.

For toting my camera around, I recently discovered the Black Strap. I didn’t realize what a cumbersome nuisance the strap that came with my camera was until I tried this strap, which allows you to easily grab your camera without being tangled in a bunch of cords and straps. If you carry your camera around with you frequently, I found this to be a good item to have.

Tripods

Because I tend to favor sharper images, and the lighting in Paris means I have to shoot at lower shutter speeds, I use a tripod 50% of the time. I prefer to shoot freehand, but invariably things come out a bit fuzzy if I don’t.

I have two. I have a Velbon tabletop tripod. This Velbon is sturdy, and a good value with a quick-release feature so you take easily take the camera off without unscrewing the whole thing. The downside it to tighten the camera after making an adjustment, you have to remove the quick-released platform and re-adjust the tightness.

The tripod I use mostly is the Slik Sprint Pro. This is a rock-solid tripod, easy to use and adjust and is a professional-quality piece of gear at a very attractive price. It is a great tripod and I love mine. A feature to look for a tripod is legs with clips that you can unfasten to allow you to raise and lower the tripod easily; the ones with the screw-type fasteners can be frustrating to use.

If you don’t have a tripod, prop your camera against something or rest it on a book to steady it. I do this sometimes in restaurants, since I don’t use the flash and use a slow shutter speed.

Lens Filter

Although I’m fastidious about keeping the lens cap on, it’s imperative to use a lens filter. This will prevent scratches on your lens.

Lens Cleaning

For lens cleaning, I use a microfiber cleaning cloth. Using fluids on a lens can damage it if you’re not careful, and every once in a while, I give my lens a swipe to clean off any bits of butter or caramel that may have landed on it.

Flash

I recently invested in a Canon 430EX Flash. Despite my wariness to use a flash, sometimes I’m in a place like a chocolate shop or kitchen, where there’s a lot of movement and not a lot of light.

This excellent flash automatically compensates and adds just enough light to illuminate and shoot at a faster shutter speed, but doesn’t give people that “deer in the headlights” look. If you use it, simply point the light straight up at the ceiling and you’ll get a wonderful fill-in flash. The photo above, of the figs, was taken using my Canon Speedlight and doesn’t look like it was taken with a flash, at least to me. And if you live somewhere where there isn’t a lot of light, or plan to shoot during winter months when the sun goes down early, you might want to consider using one.

Tips and Techniques

When I take photos for the site, I don’t really have a plan. I try to keep props to a minimum and use materials like plates and flatware that don’t distract from the food. For this site, the photos are part of a story and if I’m writing about ingredients or techniques or a recipe, I like the photos to correspond with the text. Keeping things simple means that people focus on whatever it is I’m shooting, such as the vanilla extract and beans, above. Depending on the time of day or the season, I’ll either shoot in my kitchen or outdoors. The Pistachio Gelato shot at the top of this post which was shot on my roof, placed in a concrete corner out of direct sunlight. The vanilla was just on my kitchen counter and I use a tripod because the low light requires a slower shutter speed.

While creating a recipe for the site, as I start cooking, I’ll take pictures of the process along with way, especially if I’m doing a recipe that might require a photo of the dessert or a particular ingredient to accompany the text. But often I do it for demonstrating techniques as well, like rolling doughs or candymaking.

Unlike cookbooks, on the site I have the freedom to show step-by-step photos, which is helpful for more challenging recipes, such as my Kouign Amann recipe. And the photos were helpful for the post I did called How to Make the Perfect Caramel, where I wanted to show exactly what stages to cook the sugar to, and to alert readers to things to watch out for.

For most entries on the site, I take 25-50 pictures, download them into iPhoto, then choose the best ones and run them through Photoshop CS4.

There is a stripped down version called Photoshop Elements, although I prefer the regular version of Photoshop. It’s also available for Windows.

I then upload them to my Flickr page, then paste them onto my site. (Whew!) Most of the Photoshop post-processing I do is by using the “Levels” control, and sometimes “Sharpen.” I rarely use any of its other features because I’m not a good geek and haven’t figured any of them out.

Since many people are on laptops, I try to keep the images close to the food, but not too close; I don’t think food should ever be bigger than it actually is. Otherwise, to me, it looks weird. I don’t futz with the food too much; I try to stack it on a plate, or scoop it into a bowl, and just shoot it. I never crop images once I’ve shot them, and keep accoutrements to a minimum; I might use one utensil or a napkin alongside, as one would naturally cook or eat the food.

I almost always use my digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR), and on occasion at home (never in a restaurant), I use a Canon 430EX Flash.

Never, ever use the flash on the camera, as it makes the photos too harsh. I always shoot in AV (aperture priority) mode. The gray skies of Paris mean the light is always diffused, which can be good for photos.

Just changing the white balance in the camera, or with photo editing software like Photoshop, can make a dramatic difference.

The last bit of advice I’ll give is to practice. The great thing about digital is that you’re free to make mistakes because they’re easy to get rid of. Below are some additional links that offer advice on various food photography topics.

Food Photography Links

Heidi’s tips are at 101Cookbooks.com

Elise shows how she does it at Simply Recipes

Deb shows her approach to food photos over at Smitten Kitchen

Lara at Still Life With is one of the most comprehensive sites on food photography

Food Photography tips from White on Rice Couple

Lolo, from Vegan YumYum shares food photography tips

Nika teaches Food Photography 101

Ree gives 10 tips from her ranch.

If you want to see how Béa does it, visit her luscious site, La Tartine Gourmand

Jaden shows off digital lighting at Steamy Kitchen

Food Photography at Wrightfood

My Amazon list of favorite photo gear.

There’s a nifty guidebook to the bakeries, chocolate shops, and tea salons, called The Pâtisseries of Paris. This handy little book is full of great addresses and tips, and is just small enough to slip in your shoulder bag when hitting the streets of Paris, should you come to Paris on a mission for sweets.

I was surprised at how in-depth this guide takes you. Naturally, the usual suspects, like Ladurée and Stohrer, are in there. And chocolatiers like Jean-Charles Rochoux and Patrick Roger are always a stop whenever I’m on the Left Bank, so I was happy to see the nods toward them.

There’s few places that aren’t quite worth the calories. Such as Au Panetier bakery, where the pastries don’t make up for the glorious art nouveau tilework, although it is gorgeous.

Continue Reading The Pâtisseries of Paris: A Paris Pastry Guide…

Let’s get right to the point: this is my killer app recipe, the one I go to more than anything else. I could tell a million stories about this, but I’ll just skip all that stuff for now and scoot right to the goods.

I love these peanuts! Not only are they absolutely scrumptious and the easiest candy you can make, but if you keep a sack of raw almonds or peanuts on hand, you can make them in about 10 minutes. Tied into a little sack, they’re a great hostess gift in lieu of a bottle of wine (and cheaper!), and I serve them often as a cocktail snack, or after dinner, in a bowl for everyone to dig into.

I also like to mix these candied peanuts in just-churned ice cream, which I’m going to do with this particular batch, along with a swirl of homemade dulce de leche. A handful chopped and sprinkled over a spinach salad or batch of cole slaw would be pretty terrific, for those looking for savory apps. And at the risk of infuriating any purists, topping a bowl of Asian noodles.

Continue Reading Candied Peanut Recipe…

1. A few weeks ago I went back to Exceptions Gourmands with a friend from New York.

The two women working there were quite nice and helpful, and my friend ended up picking out a few things to buy. The amount was something like 7.53€. So my friend opened her wallet and handed over a 10€ bill.

“Oooohhh,” the saleswoman said, eyeing the lone bill laying on the counter. “Do you happen to have exact change?” she asked.

Continue Reading WTF x 3 (or 2+1)…

This guest entry is from my friend Gideon Ben-Ami, who graciously stepped in and wrote this post about vegetarian dining options in Paris…david

UPDATE: Since this was written, the dining scene has changed and I’ve added some new vegetarian restaurants that have come on to the scene since this post was written. You’ll find them further down the page… -dl

A you can imagine, being a vegetarian in Paris can be a challenge. During my 5 years in Paris I’ve witnessed many die hard veggies succumbing to the sins of the flesh. The usual excuse is that it’s just too hard (or the temptations too great) in the self-proclaimed food capital of the world. “I never ate meat till I tried the duck,” one friend told me while another announced, “Technically I’m still a vegetarian, though sometimes I do eat steak.”

If you’re dining at a neighborhood bistro, you’ll probably get by okay if you eat fish. But if you’re vegan, then you might need to smuggle in a nut cutlet or two under your raincoat as you’ll soon get tired of munching on side salads. Unlike many other European capitals, restaurants here don’t necessarily have a vegetarian option on the menu.

Paris does, however, have its fair share of vegetarian restaurants.
Are they any good?

Continue Reading Vegetarian Restaurants in Paris…

Skip the chocolate, I’ll take prunes.