February 2011 archives

I was browsing through my archives this weekend and landed on a post that I wrote back in 2005, about Vandermeersch. The bakery is really out in the middle of nowhere and for most visitors and even local, whether you’re going by foot or even by métro. But I was looking at the pictures I’d taken back then, which didn’t do the kouglof justice, that I hadn’t been back there in a while and since I had friends in town, I figured there was no time like today.

When I arrived in the nondescript area just at the perimeter of Paris, my friends were a few minutes late and I noticed—then panicked—because there were only five large kouglofs left in the shop, and just a few individual ones. Certain they’d arrive just as the last ones were being bought up by someone less-worthy than me, I was a little rude and went ahead and bought two of the pastries, and stashed them in my bag.

Continue Reading Vandermeersch: King of the Paris Kouglof…

When I fell into blogging a while back, there were about ten people blogging about food. We were a fairly chummy bunch and met up for meals, swapped links, ideas, and technical tips as the medium continued to grow. It was all pretty small-scale until the whole thing blossomed into something that few likely would have predicted.

For years I’ve generally shied away from giving advice or offering opinion. After all, everyone’s blog is different and like lots of other things, it’s impossible to pinpoint what makes a blog click or even how to do it. What suits one person often doesn’t become another and people get into blogging for a myriad of reasons. But at the recent Food Blogger Camp, I compiled some thoughts for my presentation and wanted to share them here. Please note that although I do point out some things that have clicked for me, there’s plenty of terrific blogs out there that do the complete opposite of what I say and/or do, and work very well. There’s not a “right” or “wrong” way to blog and all points are certainly open to interpretation and discussion.

Continue Reading Food Blogging…

Even though it wasn’t Sunday, I decided to go to Un Dimanche à Paris anyway. This sleek showcase of chocolate is located in an under-utilized arcade on the Left Bank, near where the saleswoman told me has become “The quartier of chocolate.”

The owner of the shop is Pierre Cluizel of the famed French chocolate family, but he’s striking out on his own. Un Dimanche à Paris features a large chocolate shop, and exhibition kitchen, a tea salon, and a full-scale restaurant. And that’s just on the first floor.

Continue Reading Un Dimanche à Paris…

A few times I’ve been fortunate to visit the places in Provence that candy whole and sliced fruits. Aside from the usual candied orange and lemon peels, they also candy whole cherries, strawberries, pineapple rings, angelica, Clementine slices, and even whole pumpkins and pineapples. And let me tell you—it’s quite a sight seeing all those glistening fruits lined up on their drying racks.

The first time I paid one of them a visit, I didn’t even need to ask for directions; I just saw the building with all the clouds of steam billowing out of the windows and doors, and went inside.

At home, I frequently candy citrus zest and even citron pieces, but wanted to try to candy long, beautiful citron wedges, like one finds in shops specializing in candied fruits and places like Confiserie Florian (above).

Continue Reading Making Glazed Fruit: Citron…

I was a little surprised when I moved to France and learned that bread machines were popular here. I was equally surprised to see a generous selection of frozen breads at Picard, the chain of stores that spans across France which sport a comprehensive, and somewhat impressive, selection of frozen entrées, appetizers, main courses, and fancy desserts. Out of curiosity, I’ve tried a few things, and came to the conclusion that most of it tastes like the food you hoped to be served on an airplane, and might be if you were seated in business class.

Interestingly, I have not met a French person that ever had a bad think to say about Picard. In fact, a survey showed that it’s the most popular chain in France. Even people I know who are accomplished home cooks rave about it. I have to say that I like the frozen pitted sour cherries, and the corn kernels taste good to homesick Americans, especially when sautéed with ancho chile powder, butter, and cilantro, but I don’t crave frozen sushi nor do I need (or have space in my freezer for) a bag of already chopped onion pieces.

Continue Reading The French Bread Machine…

I’ve been having my own little festival of citrus around here, especially because I’ve become addicted to the produce aisle at my local natural food store. They always have an intriguing collection of citrus fruits, many of which just aren’t available anywhere else. I went in to buy bergamots (above, left) and ending up finding not one, but four knobbly citrons. I was poking through the boxes and I almost had a crise cardiaque when I saw four enormous, lonely citrons lolling around all by themselves, being ignored, in a big wooden crate.

They were only €5 per kilo so I bought two, and left the other two for some other lucky American baker living in Paris looking to candy citron.

Continue Reading Whole Lemon Bars…

One of the things that really wows me about Paris isn’t the chocolate shops, the bakeries, the outdoor markets, or the way people let their dogs just go wherever they happen to want to go; it’s the handwriting.

The French have always been expressive, and expansive, letter writers. If you don’t believe me, you can find online and in books, elaborate forms, templates, and discourses on how to write a letter in French, including the proper opening and closing phrases to use, which, of course, vary tremendously depending on if it’s a formal or familiar contact you’re penning that letter to.

I tend to want to end all letters simply by saying “Cordialement, David”. Because it just seems so easy and to the point. I’m both cordial and polite at the same time, as well as terse and in my book, that’s the trifecta. Or maybe because I live in the age of Twitter and text messaging and tend to write in sound-bites. Or more likely, I’m just too lazy to do the hours of research to find the right way to open and close a letter in French.

Continue Reading French Handwriting…

I stopped going to Astier a few years when I’d heard not-so-good reports about both the food and the grouchy service. It was always a place I liked a lot—I mean, what’s not to like about a somewhat out-of-the-way bistrotière serving examples of classic French cuisine, keeping the torch alive of a genre that’s become harder to find done right? But I’d heard reports from reliable sources that things had changed, and when I passed it a few weeks ago and saw the changement de direction meant that the place had been polished up (although not too much) and opened a spiffy rôtisserie and take-out similar to the resplendent ones in the states, I stepped inside and asked to put my name in the reservation book.

(They have les traiteurs in Paris, whose showcases often have a lot of puff pasties filled with meats and thick cream sauces, and they seem to be surviving in a time warp—I don’t know anyone that eats that way. On the other hand, a good many of the more modern take-outs have stacks of square plastic boxes with two leaves of arugula, a half a cherry tomato, and a thin strip of smoked salmon and a caper, for €11.)

Whatever they did at Astier to make the changes, I approve. It wasn’t just us; a couple seated next to our table were American, spoke little French, but the waitress was just as nice to them as she was bantering constantly through the meal with us.

Continue Reading Restaurant Astier…