Entries tagged with 'French'
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Photograph from pbs.org/juliachild Last week's Weekend Cook and Tell challenge was to recreate a dish from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The challenge was inspired by Julie & Julia, which opened over the weekend. As it turned out, the soaring temperatures of last weekend and this week made it much more appealing to go and see the movie than fire up the stove. We didn't get a lot of responses, but a few brave souls accepted the challenge. Here are some of their Julia-inspired responses: Duncan1205 made Jambon Baise' au Made're. It's basically ham braised in Madeira and beef stock. Duncan1205 claims that this dish has converted non-ham-eaters into ham lovers. Cybercita has made several recipes...
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Outside of Pasticceria Natalina in Andersonville, there really are no transcendent bakeries in Chicago. There are good bakeries that serve some great things. There are bad to mediocre bakeries that serve one or two good things. But for various reasons, the next generation is slacking. You find the sacrificing of small scale artisan techniques for large scale production, or the substitution of cheaper vegetable oils and shortenings for what was once butter. Even the best bakeries here tend to drop off. As a result, I never miss a chance to check out a new bakery in the hopes that I'll find another young and hungry pastry maven who's rocking out the best flaky and doughy goodies around. Fritz Pastry in...
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"Romance is as integral to French cuisine as butter, and any book on the subject would be soulless without it." Au Revoir To All That Food, Wine, and the End of France Author: Michael Steinberger Get It: Hardcover on Amazon Read It: Preview on Slate.com Recommended Read? YesThe sun is setting on the French gastronomic empire, Michael Steinberger contends in Au Revoir To All That: Food, Wine, and the End of France. Speaking ill of the French is tantamount to heresy in many gourmet circles, but Steinberger isn’t cowed. The kitchens of Paris and Avignon are not what they once were, and he wants to know why. With a title that straddles the sentimental and the apocalyptic, Steinberger steers clear...
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Le Café by French band Odelaf & Monsieur D. tells the tale of a man who starts his day off with a nice cup of coffee. Then adds another cup. And another. And...another. And with each new cup of coffee he drinks, a little bit of his brain is destroyed until he dissolves into a complete lunatic. If you can relate to this story, you might need to cut down on your coffee consumption. Watch the madness unfold in this animated video directed by Stephanie Marguerite and Emilie Tarascou of the Art School of Angouleme (EMCA), after the jump....
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I wrote a few weeks ago in my French in a Flash column that two great ladies came out of Marseille: my mother, and Bouillabaisse. We had been in the South for two weeks, and I had had plenty of time with the former. We took boat tours through the Calanques together, climbed the steep stone steps to Les Baux, and negotiated the pebbly shores of Cassis. I can never quite have my fill of maman, but I had not even so much as had a taste of bouillabaisse. I had been saving the (second to) best for last, and I had made a reservation for our last night. The locals in Cassis, a short half-hour journey in a...
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It’s easy to forget in our modern, secular world, but France is a Catholic country. Even its food contains a drop of Holy Water. In the South of France, there docks a very widespread yet singular cookie in the shape of a boat. It is called a Navette, which takes its name from a word that originally meant "boat," but now means something closer to "shuttle." The story goes that at one point, Mary Magdalene sailed to Marseilles, and these little cookies have been made ever since to commemorate her voyage....
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Not the winning baguette, but an example of a tasty one. In a baguette tasting at Washington City Paper, the home-baked baguette by journalist Samuel Fromartz of Chewise took the highest score—66.5 of 80 points, compared to baguettes from other bakeries and stores in the Washington, D.C., area. Check out Fromartz's recipe if you want to try it at home. [via rebeccablood.net] Related Good Baguette Recipes [SE Talk, 3/27/09] Baguette Keyboard Wrist Cushion Baguettes Are Us: What's Your Favorite...
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Over the last year or so, Al Jazeera English has produced a really interesting series on food from around the world. In previous broadcasts, they have visited Jerusalem and New York City, and here, they're in Montreal, where the cuisine ranges from gussied-up oysters and tarts to the arguably less refined poutine (cheese curds and gravy over fries). Some purists think the fat explosion that is poutine represents a scandal. "It's not really cooking! An aberration!" A little miffed by these naysayers, chef Martin Picard of the well-respected Au Pied de Cochon, put poutine on his menu as a symbol of his support. Except to make it jibe with the rest of his restaurant, he throws on a dollop...
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While the worst of this month’s swine flu hysteria seems to have passed, authorities in some areas are still exercising extreme caution. After a visitor to the Wanchai Metropark hotel in Hong Kong tested positive for the virus, the Hong Kong health department—still reeling from the SARS epidemic six years ago—decided to hold the hotel’s three hundred other guests for a seven-day quarantine. Finding the hotel food options growing stale, guests have started exploring their delivery food alternatives. And while some are relying on Pizza Hut, the Wall Street Journal reports, “French guests have taken it up a notch: Their consulate has arranged for French dishes like poulet à la moutarde to be brought in.” Oh, the French—always providing for...
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"Pâtadoigts" and "Cartes à manger". French culinary designer Julie Rothhahn makes interactive, edible objects out of food. My favorites are her emotive thimble-like "pasta fingers" and her connectable cookies. She also has a series of photo illustrations that focuses on animals as food, like snails made out of garlic and parsley butter. [via Oh Joy!] Related Sculptures Made from Gummi Bears Vegetable Artist in Beijing Electronics (and More) Made of Meat...
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