September 28, 2006
C&Z; turns 3!
A little over three years ago, over a dinner of shabu-shabu, I mentioned to Maxence that I was considering starting a food blog. "I think you should go for it," he said. "But it's going to take up a lot of my time, and I worry that I might tire of it after the honeymoon phase," I replied. "I think you should go for it," he said. A few days later, after a few evenings spent playing around with blogging tools and html templates, Chocolate & Zucch...
September 26, 2006
Gâteau Sirop Muffins
Amongst all the towns Maxence and I cruised through on our roadtrip across the US, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana is the one that stands out the most in my memory (and no, I don't receive any money from the mayor's office). We stayed there a bit longer than originally planned -- car troubles will do that to you, have you seen U Turn? -- but unlike Sean Penn in Superior, Arizona, we loved every minute of it.
A few of my favorite minutes in Breaux Bri...
"Gâteau Sirop Muffins" continues »
September 22, 2006
Flemish Carbonades in Régal Magazine
Earlier this year, I was offered to contribute to Régal, the most recent addition to the French landscape of cooking magazines (it first came out two summers ago). My mission was to come up with three recipes, each one responding to a different theme: I was to create the recipes, test them, write them up, and take care of the food styling. To say that I was thrilled would be an understatement, given how much I enjoy the magazine. To say that I ...
"Flemish Carbonades in Régal Magazine" continues »
September 20, 2006
Faisselle de Chèvre à la Ciboulette
[Goat's Milk Faisselle with Chives]
Originally, a faisselle (feh-sell) is a container pierced with tiny holes, in which fresh cheese is placed so the whey will drain out. But then metonymy came into play (or perhaps came in to play) and the word now also designates an unsalted soft curd cheese sold in such a container, itself nested in a larger, bucket-shaped tub. This clever contraption allows the whey to flow freely around the cheese, keepin...
"Faisselle de Chèvre à la Ciboulette" continues »
September 13, 2006
Sushi Class
On rue Garreau in Montmartre -- right off the place Emile Goudeau, which I like very much because it has trees, benches, and a Fontaine Wallace -- was the tiny workshop of a violin maker. Earlier this summer, I walked past it and did a double-take: the dusty window had been cleaned, and the instruments had been replaced by a miscellany of Japanese trinkets -- origami animals, garland lights, purses to keep your change, and tinkling thingies to ...
September 11, 2006
In Remembrance
Five years ago today, I boarded a flight from Paris to San Jose. I was returning to my apartment in California after spending some time with my family and friends in France.
Little did we passengers know what horrifying events were taking place as we were flying over the Atlantic. Mid-flight, we were told that there had been terrorist threats against the US -- a gross understatement to avoid panic attacks --, that all American airports were clo...
September 8, 2006
Conversions & Equivalents
Americans typically measure ingredients by volume, while the French measure them by weight. Being a bit of a transatlantic cook myself, I own a set of measuring cups and spoons (somewhat worn by years of dishwasher abuse) as well as a digital scale. I feel comfortable with both philosophies, but I prefer the gram/kilo system because it introduces very little human error bias -- the most eloquent illustration is found in the measurement of flour...
"Conversions & Equivalents" continues »
September 5, 2006
Cinq-Cinquièmes à la Pistache
[Pistachio Five-Fifths]
Le quatre-quarts ("four fourths") can be described as the French pound cake. It has earned its name because the batter is made with the same weight of eggs, butter, sugar, and flour, thus amounting to a fourth of the cake each: you weigh the eggs first, and measure the rest of the ingredients accordingly. There's baking powder, too, which throws the proportions off by a feather, but thou shallt resist the temptation to ...
"Cinq-Cinquièmes à la Pistache" continues »
September 1, 2006
Cantines
Cantine is French for school cafeteria*, and it is hard to find a grown-up that doesn't have a story or two to recount about his cantine days. These memories are often a mix of the bitter (the food was less than stellar, and the atmosphere was one of constant struggle for social survival) and the sweet (petit-suisse fights were fun, and if you knew what strings to pull, you could lay your hands on an extra serving of fries -- du rab de frites),...