May 2009
58 posts
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French wine grapes thrive in Vietnam’s central... →
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Caladoc and Syrah (or Shiraz) are among the better known varieties of grapes for making red wine, yet not one of them was grown in Vietnam until French viticulturist Daniel Carsol started planting them in the central highlands early in 2007.
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World's Top Fast-Food Restaurants - International... →
It was in the 1970s in New York City that the internationally renowned French chef Paul Bocuse first discovered the allure of the McDonald’s Egg McMuffin and its famous fries. “These are the best French fries I have ever eaten. I want to meet the chef,” he told his translator Colette Rossant, who recounts the story in her 2006 book, The World in My Kitchen. In 2008, some 30 years later, Bocuse, at...
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Have the French fallen out of love with food? -... →
Twenty five years ago it was hard to have a bad meal in France, now it’s a challenge to even find a decent baguette. Can they halt the decline before it’s too late?
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Simply Sophie - France Today →
Sitting in the gloriously colorful kitchen of her Normandy home, where she runs a cooking school, boutique, table d’hôtes and bed-and-breakfast, Sophie Dudemaine explains her mission: “I’m Zorro of the kitchen,” she chuckles, “or Zorette”.
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Sheep vs. Sheep in Basque Country - The Atlantic... →
Strange things are afoot in the Basque country, a region spanning parts of France and Spain with an age-old cheese-making tradition. National identity is invoked; politicians, unions, and environmentalists weigh in on the conflict. The bone of contention: the introduction of super-productive Israeli-origin assaf sheep into the age-old territory of the indigenous latxa.
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France reports sharp drop in wine, champagne sales →
As wallets grew thinner around the world, fans of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne cut back heavily on their purchases of French wine in 2008, according to French government statistics released Tuesday.
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“What interests me is working with high-quality ingredients, beautifully cooked,...”
– Joël Robuchon
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Researchers trace forests tapped for wine barrels →
Using mass spectrometry to determine the thousands of various compounds in the aged wine, they were able to pinpoint which forest had provided the wood for each barrel.
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Green bonds: Organic Grand Cru wine from Saint... →
Two big names in the French wine world have collaborated to make a special Saint Emilion Grand Cru entirely from organic grapes and utilizing the latest ‘gentle’ winemaking techniques. Ruma Singh reports.
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L'Astrance, Paris - Thring for Your Supper Blog →
The signature at l’Astrance looks like a strange sort of pie. Layer after layer of mandolined white mushrooms and slivers of apple, bulked and buffed by foie gras steeped in verjuice.
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simon says french food blog: Ceci n’est pas une... →
Is it an herb? Is it a drug? Or is it the newest molecular gimmick? When I first tried one of these thick but perfectly smooth leaves at a party last month I wasn’t quite sure what to think because, quite surprisingly, it tasted exactly like an oyster. Happily, I was not the only one thinking this was too good to be true.
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Is French fine dining on the wane? →
The panel consisted of some of the greatest French chefs on the scene today, including Alain Ducasse, Daniel Boulud, Guy Savoy, François Payard and David Werly of the Las Vegas outpost of Le Cirque. Considering the experience these gentlemen bring to the table, they had no problem defending the position that French food is not only relevant but incredibly influential to the contemporary scene.
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Paris Breakfasts →
Paris Breakfasts is a Painting-A-Day blog that chronicles my watercolor adventures in Paris’ pastry and chocolate shops.
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Sud de France winemakers enjoy boon | Lifestyle |... →
Producers from the world’s biggest wine region are on a mission to tell the world about a renaissance in the south of France whose time may have come on the wings of a global depression.
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Rose rule change scandalises French wine-makers |... →
Provence is up in arms against a pending rule change that would allow rose wine to be made by simply blending white wine with red.
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Backstage at Bernachon | Lucy's Kitchen Notebook →
Bernachon is one of the only European chocolatiers that selects and imports raw cocoa beans direct from producers in various countries and roasts each type of bean separately, creating their 62 house chocolate types by mixing the roasted crushed beans in specific ratios.
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Soupe au Sarrasin et au Lard « Croque-Camille →
Wondering what I could cook from Brittany that wasn’t crêpes, I turned once again to Le Tout Robuchon. There is a section near the back of the book with regional recipes, and sure enough, there was a Breton recipe for buckwheat and bacon soup!
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Cocktail hour in Paris | Ann Mah →
With the days growing longer, cocktail hour has been extended. Le Figaroscope has a very useful article on the best places for an apéro dînatoire, or pre-dinner drink.
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Behind the scenes at Poilâne bakery | Ann Mah →
Forget the baguette. It’s a modern invention that traditionalists scoff at. No, France’s ancient bread is a large, round, sourdough boule. And perhaps Paris’s most famous traditional bakery is Poilâne, the legendary shop with a tragic family history, whose master bakers still create each sturdy, slightly tart loaf by hand. On a recent morning, I was lucky enough to go behind the scenes at Poilâne,...
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Be a one-night Chef - MyLittleParis →
Serge and Claire are the talented chefs and owners of a friendly restaurant called La Table de Claire and they open up their kitchen to an amateur chef one Friday and Saturday every month. Friends, patrons and even complete strangers have passed on this privilege for the last 3 years.
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Struggling French pawning off grands crus →
The French have confronted their worst economic outlook in 30 years by locking up their bosses, marching on the capital and barricading oil terminals. Now the cruelest cut of all: They’re pawning off their wine.
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Matcha's green tea powder and chocolate: a... →
At a glance, the cross-cultural dessert pairing of chocolate and matcha, the prized Japanese green tea powder, may not seem the sort of combination to elicit uncontrollable cravings. Among the many terms used to evoke matcha’s elusively complex character — grassy, spinachy, watercress-like, seaweedy, earthy, floral, herbaceous, aquatic, bitter — barely a single one screams...
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Chez Loulou Blog →
For the last 6 years I have called a tiny village in the south of France my home. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming… I started this blog in January 2006 to share the experience of living in this beautiful part of France with others (including the challenge of French bureaucracy) and to have a place to write about my passion for cooking, wine, cheese and...
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Little luxuries - French macaroons - SFGate.com →
It all started on the Champs-Elysées at Ladurée, a romantic patisserie, where I spied my heart’s desire. Behind the bakery window twinkled rows and rows of perfectly round cookie sandwiches in pastel greens, bright pinks and vibrant yellows.
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Cheese-Lovers Breathe a Sigh of Relief →
Food lovers breathed a sigh of relief today when news broke that the U.S. was dropping threatened tariffs on luxury food imports from Europe. [via The Atlantic Food Channel]
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French chef Alain Ducasse opens cooking school |... →
“One of the important points about some of our courses is that you can honestly be completely useless in the kitchen,” says Emanuelle Perrier, director of public relations for the new cooking school, which opens on Monday, “and still come here and have a good time with us.”
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David Lebovitz - The Sweet Life in Paris | Simply... →
If you have ever lived in Paris, been to Paris, thought about traveling to Paris, or just in need of a good laugh, get your hands on a copy of David Lebovitz’s delightful new book, The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World’s Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City.
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Tough economy trumps French love of fresh food -... →
Buying expired food sounds like culinary blasphemy in a place like France, where many already fear the cherished art of preparing and indulging in a good meal - so central to the nation’s image of itself - is slowly evaporating. In France as elsewhere, cheaper and faster nourishment has long been gaining on the slow-roasted, lovingly basted, passionately whipped kind.
Is France Losing the War of the Rosés? -... →
A national debate is sweeping France over whether a new European Union proposal to change the standards for making rosé wine would ruin or save it.
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Vins du Jura....Wines with Unusual Exceptional... →
Recently I attended a vins du Jura wine tasting in New York, hosted by the most able French wine and food oriented PR firm in New York, Carbonnier Communications.
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Candied fennel sponge cake | French cuisine... →
Original french name: Bras de Vénus, crème legere au fenouil confit Place of origin: Roussillion, Southern France