June 2009 archives

For those of you wondering what the difference between ‘sorbet’ and ‘sherbet’ is, a sorbet has no dairy or eggs in it, and sherbet is usually made with milk or egg whites. Of course, there’s those rogues out there adding a bit of cream or whatever, but that’s the story on that and any variations aren’t authorized by me. And as you know, the ice cream (and sherbet) buck stops here.

(I can just hear all the fingers Googling madly out there, looking for examples to prove me wrong…Talk about setting myself up!)

This Chocolate Sherbet has, you guessed it…a bit of milk added.

Continue Reading Chocolate Sherbet Recipe…

Over the years, a number of people have asked if it was possible to bring a KitchenAid mixer from the United States to Europe, and use it here. I certainly couldn’t live without my 5-quart mixer, and since they’re less-expensive in America than they are abroad (because of the electrical modifications and shipping), many folks, naturally, want to know if they can bring their mixer with them.

Several readers kindly chimed in with comments and suggestions (thanks, Sunny!), noting that theirs worked fine with a voltage transformer.

Continue Reading “Will my KitchenAid mixer from America work in Europe?”…

La Cocotte Booksigning and Get-Together

This Saturday, June 27th, from 4pm to 5:30pm, I’ll be signing books and meeting folks at La Cocotte bookshop in Paris, located at 5, rue Paul Bert. (Métro: Faidherbe-Chaligny)

There’s going to be wine, women (and men), and if you get there early enough, Dulce de Leche Brownies for all.

Continue Reading Paris Meet-Up, Book Notes, and Good Bite…

When I heard there was going to be an inaugural voyage for the recently refubished Club Med 2 sailboat, I was so excited to go, that I actually invited myself to come along. Since the trip was a press preview, with a sprinkling of the rich and perhaps famous to rub elbows with, and since I lived so close, I saw no reason why I shouldn’t be able to easily race down to catch some sunshine, and participate in the buzz—cruising past St. Tropez, Cannes, Nice, and Portofino.

So after spending a few days on land in Provence, I was ready to set sail and meet my travel mates. Having not gone on many press trips, I wasn’t sure what to expect and happily, our rag-tag group was from all over the map: Japan, the United States, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Italy, and, of course, France. We boarded boat and set sail eastward.

I’d been on one boat before, a medium-sized cruise liner, and was less-than-impressed with that one. It was freezing cold from the boat being severely overly air-conditioned, so I was wearing sweaters indoors, while sunny Mexico was right outside. Not only was it cold physically, it was also uninspiring and I felt like I was on a floating hotel, it was so big and impersonal.

But this was a small vessel, a 5-masted sailboat, with less than two hundred rooms and sure enough, it was just the right size and pace for cruising the Côte d’Azur.

Continue Reading Coasting la Côte…

This always happens. You go away, then come back, and something hits you like a ton of bricks. This morning, after being away for a little more than a week, Romain looked at me, and said, “Daveed…je veux te dire quelque chose…” And before he could finish la phrase, I knew exactly what he was going to say, and I finished the sentence for him.

He was stunned that I knew what he was about to say, before he even told me. But I could tell by the look on his face exactly what was wrong: the boulangerie that makes My Crack Baguette is closing for good—Fermeture Définitive.

I’ve been trying to organize a manifestation (demonstration) to keep the doors, and ovens, open. But I’m not having much success. Which is kind of odd in a country of people that seem all-too happy to go en grêve, but I forgot that the all-important summer vacation season is beginning, which takes precedence over everything else.

So far I’ve enlisted me, Romain, and his neighbor, the one who buys three at a time.

Continue Reading Fermeture Définitive…

Just announced—an all-new tour this fall! For one delicious week we’ll be feasting and tasting the best of France.

From extraordinary chocolate shops, to magnificent fromageries and bustling bouchons, this one-week adventure will be unforgettable! The itinerary is different than my Paris Chocolate Tours, so those of you who’ve traveled with me before, if you’re interested in coming along, we’d love to have you.

For this trip, we’ll be focusing on some of the other tasty aspects of Paris, including…

…visiting the best candy and pastry kitchens, and watch them dipping chocolates, piping macarons, and swirling sugar into edible confections.

Continue Reading Paris Gastronomic Adventure: October 18-25, 2009…

When people come to Paris, they often ask me where they can find good bouillabaisse. And when I tell them, “You can’t”, they’re always very surprised.

“Well, isn’t it French?” they’ll reply.

Yes, it is. But to get many of the regional specialties in France, you need to go to the region. Hence my frequent visits to Nice, to get socca at the fiery source.

And although you can make it at home, making it in a home oven is like baking off a batch of S’Mores in there: it’s close, but not exactly the real thing. You really do need a wood-fire to get that blistered crust. Still, after much experimentation, I got it close in my home oven and I now make it all the time to serve with an apéritif before dinner.

Socca is basically street food, intended to be eaten off napkins to blot up all the excess olive oil, with plastic cups of frosty-cool rosé.

Continue Reading Socca Recipe…

There’s a lot to be said for the street foods of Provence. I’m happy to snack away on scourtines, wedges of pissaladière, and socca…except when I make a beeline from the airport to my favorite socca shop in Nice only to find FERMETURE EXCEPTIONELLE in a note on the door.

It’s a fairly common occurrence in this part of the country, where life is far more laid-back than in Paris, and an afternoon lunch can turn into a game of boules, then a few more glasses of pastis or rosé, and by the time you know it, it’s time for la sieste.

And then—voilà, it’s time for dinner. And you wonder…where did the day go?

But when it’s warm, I agree that a long, lazy lunch is much more interesting than working. And that’s how we ended up at Les Bacchanales in Vence.

Continue Reading The Trees of Provence Will Sleep a Little Easier Tonight…