A few months ago, I was gifted a very large bag of farro, over five pounds of it. I never thought I could have enough farro, and sure enough, I’m almost at the end of it. Farro is popular in Italy, and nowadays, it’s available in the United States and elsewhere. It’s a particular strain of wheat, similar to wheat berries, or épautre, in France, known elsewhere as…
In the winter, we often turn to the tropics to get our fruit fixes. Bananas are the most popular fruit in America, and they’re quite popular elsewhere, too. I’m happy with oranges, grapefruits, and chocolate (yup, cocoa beans are fruit – great news for fruit-lovers!) but sometimes it’s nice to throw something else in the mix, and I’ll grab a pineapple, some kiwifruits, a few…
I was invited to a lovely lunch at the 3-star restaurant Alléno Paris (Pavillion Ledoyen), hosted by Mauviel, a French company that makes copper cookware in Normandy, that one day, I’m hoping to visit. Although mispronouncing the name when I was introduced to the owner probably didn’t help my chances! Nevertheless, I did my best in the charm department. (Foreigners are often given a pass…
Paris is known for its classical ice cream shops, as well as a few Italian-style gelaterias, but until a few years ago, there weren’t any young people forging out on their own, churning up more contemporary flavors of ice cream and sorbet for modern palates. Don’t get me wrong, I love glace au chocolat and glace au caramel beurre salé, but I’m no fuddy-duddy, and…
Where does the time go? When people used to say that, I thought they were being overly dramatic. Or worse, meant that I was getting older at a faster clip than I thought. But what I think it means, for all of us, is that life used to roll along at a more leisurely clip, but nowadays, I wake up and find another year has passed….
I often get asked when I put pictures of things that I’m baking on social media, “Where can I find that recipe?” or less-delicately, “Recipe…puleeeze!!!” The appetite for recipes is voracious and thankfully, I’ve got hundreds of them here on the blog, as well as in the books I’ve written. I’ve never counted, but I’d venture to say I’ve got nearly a thousand recipes out…
Épices & Saveurs Although it may seem like your typical Arabic épicerie (food shop), of which there are many in Paris, I’ve shopped a lot of them and found Épices & Saveurs especially well-stocked. The place is as neat a pin and in addition to the usual line-up of harissas, nuts and dried fruits in bulk, olive oils, and spices, I always find curiosities on the…
I’m always on the lookout for new bakeries and pastry shops that have opened in Paris. Although to be honest, it’s hard to keep up these days! The number of new boulangeries and pâtisseries that are focusing on everything from artisanal grains to organic flours, are spreading like wild yeast across the city. I’d met Alice Quillet a few years back, when she, and her partners…
For the longest time, we didn’t get kale in Paris. As the crinkly greens with the tough stems zoomed in popularity in the U.S., those of us used to, and craving, the rugged flavor of these branchés (plugged-in, or trendy) bunches, were out of luck. I remember chancing across some curly kale in a natural foods store over in the 5th arrondissement, and sweeping the whole…
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