September 2008 archives

Proving that eating fresh, flavorful, sustainable food doesn’t have to be expensive, time consuming, or elitist, I walked to my local market this morning and bought these two sardines.

I decided a few months ago to try and limit my fish-eating to sustainable species, which meant bypassing my formerly-beloved tuna steaks and forgoing sushi, in favor of critters like these slender sardines.

This morning, passing by the poissonière, I picked up these lovely little fellas, shiny and bright-eyed, resting on a pile of ice. Unfortunately, the ice probably isn’t all that sustainable—but I’ll take a bit of global-warming in lieu of stinky fish.

Continue Reading the 64 cent fish…

It seems like there’s a wave of macaron questions that are sweeping my way. Unlike les brownies or le gâteau weekend (poundcake), successful macarons are more the result of the technique, rather than following a mere recipe. There’s lots of tips and tricks around the web that will help you out with these little devils, including some interesting recipes, too.

You can find my chocolate macaron recipe on the site, but here are a few links and places for further reading that I think are particularly helpful and insightful.

Websites and Blogs

*Not So Humble Pie offers extensive Macaron Troubleshooting and a Recipe.

* Duncan at Syrup & Tang presents Macaronicité, and goes into detail with side-by-side photos of common errors.

* Bravetart explodes some Macaron Myths.

* Follow the online tutorial on making macarons by Helen of Tartlette
Desserts Magazine.

* And at Tartlette, you’ll find Helen’s instructions for Red Berry, Black Pepper, Mint & Strawberry, and my favorite, Snicker’s macarons, which sound particularly good to me.

* Béatrice at La Tartine Gourmand has helpful step-by-step photos, accompanied by her nontraditional recipe for Cardamom and Wattle Seed Macarons.

* Desert Candy tackles colorful Hibiscus Macarons.

* Veronica at Kitchen Musings gets it right in her Macaron Chronicles.

* My Food Geek presents Almost Foolproof Macarons for the truly-intrepid.

* For those with time to kill, there’s a fifteen page thread on eGullet, devoted to Macarons: The delicate French invention.

* A Frenchwoman explains macarons in plain English at Mercotte, in Desperately Seeking Macarons, with great precision. And check out her Index of macaron flavors and recipes.

* Over at Canelle-Vanille, you’ll find recipes and techniques (and beautiful photos) for a tropical storm of French macarons, with salted peanut butter or milk chocolate-passion fruit filling

* Melissa at Traveler’s Lunchbox presents The Mighty Macaron in three guises.

* At À la Cuisine, there’s macarons flavored with matcha, caramel, and chestnut.

* Sweet Fanny at Foodbeam offers Pierre Hermé’s rose-flavored macarons

* Serious Eats seriously explores macarons in their post on making macarons

Books on Macarons

Here are some books that are devoted to macaron-making in English:

* I Love Macarons by Hisako Ogita

* Mad About Macarons: Make Macarons Like the French by Jill Colonna

* Macarons: Authentic French Cookies You Can Make at Home by Cecile Cannone

My Macaron Posts

* I Love Macarons! (Book Review)

* Chocolate Macaron recipe

* Gerard Mulot

* Macarons et chocolats

* Pierre Hermé’s Ketchup Macaron Recipe

* Paris Pastry Crawl

* Ladurée

* Pierre Hermé’s White Truffle Macaron

* Arabesque Macarons at Pierre Hermé

* Chocolate-covered Macarons at Ladurée

UPDATE…Macarons by Pierre Hermé is now available in English!

I’m really fortunate to have two friends, Mort and Jeanette, who live on a boat in the Seine.

When Paris gets crazy, as it does in September when everyone returns from their vacations, it’s a lovely respite to have a glass or wine on the deck and watch the world leisurely float by.

(Along with a few other things bobbing around in the mix of the river…)

But it’s a great escape from a bit of the madness of la rentrée, when everyone’s come back to Paris and although they’re initially in a good mood, as their tans fade, they slip back into the big-city mode.

And soon, I’m back to cursing the motor-scooters who cut me off—on the sidewalk, I’m making appointments with the kinotherapist to re-align my back after losing too many games of “chicken” with Parisians on the sidewalk, and I need to keep myself from throttling those people who sit in front of me at the movies and spent their time texting their friends on their flashing, illuminated cell phones.

And, worst of all, I’m coming to the realization that the stinky guy has returned, and is probably never, ever going to move.

Continue Reading Fresh Grape Sherbet Recipe…

When I did my post about the opening of Grom gelateria here in Paris, they weren’t open when I put it up, so I was unable to provide a photo that I took. And I used one I swiped from their website. (With permission, bien sûr.)

In the interest of fairness to my readers, just for you, mind you, I went back.

(Which is the understatement of the year…)

You see, unfortunately the opening day it was pouring rain, and I left my clicky-thing at home. And I felt so bad that I had to go back several times, mind you, to shoot some original photos. Which coincidentally, was when the gelato-makers and owners, Guido and Federico, were in town as well.

Continue Reading Back to Grom…

In my quest for a good burger in Paris, I was enthralled that many of you wrote with so many suggestions. I once took a course in food writing and the teacher told us not to use words like “enthralled” and “opt” because people don’t use them in everyday speech.

When I opt to look out my window, I’m enthralled at the view of Paris.

So there.

Anyhow, thanks to my vigilant readers, I’m now armed with a comprehensive list—and so are you, of places to find a decent burger here.

And to the person who wrote on an online bulletin board that they didn’t feel sorry for me, well, I ask you, where is the love, folks? This isn’t supposed to be the RNC.

Let’s just say I believe that it’s every American’s constitutional right to have access to a great burger no matter where they are in the world, and leave it at that.

Continue Reading Coffee Parisien…

As many readers know, I often did posts which included links to blogs and other places around the web that I found interesting and worth sharing.

I now share those links on my Facebook page since I have just too many things to share here on the blog—like all-important stories about Paris bakeries, Italian gents with fabulous hair who scoop gelato, and my ill-fated search for a great hamburger in Paris.

Continue Reading Links & Facebook…

I am so glad I’m not on a low-carb diet. If I was, I’d have to move.

Seriously—if I couldn’t eat bread, I would shrive up and die. The only thing keeping me from doing that is constant hydrating myself with wine. Luckily, that’s another one of the other things around here that I don’t need to avoid.

Yet.

When I told Romain’s mom that we didn’t have bakeries in the US like they have in France, she couldn’t believe it.

“Ooohh?…” she wondered aloud, “So where does everyone get their bread every day?”

Continue Reading Du Pain et des Idées…

I’m now used to sitting down for dinner at 8 or 8:30pm…or 9…or 9:30pm…or 10:30pm…or whenever…but when I first moved to Paris, those first few months were a bit rough and I wasn’t quite sure me, or my stomach, would be able to adjust.

My tummy would start a-grumblin’ around 5 o’clock and I’d start wandering around my apartment, lopping of pieces of bread and cheese, gnawing on radishes, or raiding the chocolate bin—which usually I started in on a bit earlier, I’ll confess, than the other choices.

I am always hungry and the interminable wait between lunch and dinner spans a terrifying seven-plus hours here.

Continue Reading Pistachio and Chorizo Cake Recipe…