Have you ever seen a mashing fork before? Dorie Greenspan hadn't until recently while watching an episode of Julia Child's cooking show, The French Chef. Dorie talks about the mashing fork in the ba blog and says she successfully and easily used the fork to make mashed potatoes and guacamole. You can buy a mashing fork (also known as a food fork) on amazon.com.
Although you may have gotten the impression that my brain is bursting with macaron knowledge, the information I know is just an insignificant crumb compared to the macaron database stored in Dorie Greenspan's head. Her culinary prowess encompasses seemingly all things sugary and delicious, as seen in her library of publications, which focuses on three of the most mouthwatering topics in the world: baking, chocolate, and Paris. Knowing that she had worked extensively with the macaron king Pierre Hermé and written two of his recipe books, there was no question that she was the perfect macaron specialist for me to talk to.
How did the macaron craze begin? What in God's name caused me to having a giggly conversation (the giggling was just on my end of the phone, by the way) about a sandwich cookie? According to Dorie, I could partially blame it on Hermé. She explained that when Hermé opened his shop in Paris in 2001, he was the first person to hold a show for his seasonal desserts in a somewhat unconventional style.
Dorie Greenspan might know what I'm talking about—otherwise I don't think she would've written Baking: From My Home to Yours
This week we are giving away ten (10) copies of the book. For a chance to win, let us know what your favorite type of cookie is in the comments section until 9 p.m. ET Friday. The usual Serious Eats contest rules apply.
The blog Baking and Books interviews baking cookbook author Dorie Greenspan, with thoughtful questions on baking itself and, interestingly, on the process of writing a cookbook (Greenspan has knocked out nine of them):
When you begin working on a new book what comes first: the recipes or the concept?
I’ve never thought about a book project this way. Hmmm. Of course, it’s always about the food, so I would have to say that the food (probably not recipes, per se) comes first. Yes, the food comes first! (Thanks for letting me work this out.) But for me, food is always in a context—it’s about people, places, occasions, cultures, traditions and ingredients, of course—so I’ve never really thought about what comes first; the recipes and the concept are intimately entwined.
Also worth clicking through for: a delicious-sounding recipe for Greenspan's "Corniest Corn Muffins" at the end of the interview.
[Thanks to Serious Eats reader NaomiKatt for the tip!]
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