Chocolate Truffle Tasting - Part 1

I was thrilled to be invited by Discover Paris! to a chocolate truffle tasting this past weekend. The people behind Discover Paris are Tom Reeves & Monique Wells, recent publishers of the book, Paris Insights - An Anthology.

They wanted to research different truffle makers for their upcoming February newsletter, just in time for Valentine's Day. I was more than happy to participate in such a difficult assignment!


Here's how it worked:

1) Discover Paris! collected "truffe nature" samples from five different chocolate shops in Paris. These are natural truffles, without any added flavorings such as alcohol, nuts, etc.

2) They assembled a few people around their table, including Pastry Chef Alison Johnson (of 1 Michelin star restaurant Jean), Michel Cloes (President of Chef Culinary Network), and myself.

3) The truffles arrived at the table, one at a time, identified only as Truffle A or Truffle B, C, etc. We privately commented on each truffle and rated it on appearance, touch, smell, taste, and mouth feel. We then compared notes & talked about our impressions. Finally, the scores were tallied up and a winner was announced.

Here are the truffles we tasted:

Truffle A

Truffle B

Truffle C

Truffle D

Truffle E

Unfortunately, I can't disclose the conclusions yet, because in all fairness, it is Discover Paris! who deserves those honors! However, I can share a few thoughts:

1. Side-be-side comparisons have a way of highlighting a flaw that might otherwise be less noticeable. It is perhaps for this reason that a well known chocolatier disappointed me so much. Either that, or they've changed their recipe (admittedly it's been 2 years ago since I last bought from them...).
   
2. No matter how many different people you have tasting something, everyone is going to have their own opinion!! That's the nature of something like cooking or pastry or chocolate making....these are highly subjective professions!
3. Despite these differences, a trend could be found.
4. There was a surprise entry in this tasting....it turned out to be quite the highlight of the event for me!

Well, that's all I can say for the moment. Look for Part 2 of this posting in early February. Until then, I wonder if you have any preliminary conclusions based on the photos alone? If so, please do share.

Thanks again, Discover Paris!, for hosting such an insightful & delicious event!


/ dma

Happy New Year & Best of 2009

Is it 2010 already? How did that happen?

2009...it was a year that started off as a lamb (for me), ended as a lion. What an incredible year of ups & downs, and downs & ups!

For the new year, I wish simply to extend my warmest wishes to you. May we all share in the warmth of family, the bonds of old friends, and the kindness of strangers. May we find ourselves in good health, spirit, and outlook. May we take one step at a time, and even take a few big leaps along the way! May we grasp the best of life, each day. Have a great year!

I haven't reflected back yet on what has actually happened in my personal world, or what may come next for the new year...I still want to do that. However, today I did take the time to look back on 2009 through the lens of my camera. And here are my favorite food memories of the year! Never mind the odd non-food image...I can somehow relate it back to food!

Happy 2010.

And Best of 2009:

Spinach Falafel balls with a harissa mayo-yogurt sauce. This may be my favorite.

Taking a bite of one...sooo good.

My little creation: Tartelette au Rose (hibiscus infused apple, shaped like a rose), inspired by a romamtic & seductive photograph by Diana Liu at Galerie Sponte for its art opening in June.

Influence of Robuchon: eggplant, anchovy, roasted red pepper...the Med on a plate

Spring rolls with dipping sauce...fresh, tangy & lite

Warmed Vichyssoise (potatoe-leek soup) with a skewer of roasted vegetables & shrimp tandoori

Little gift packages of apple & cherry pâte de fruit that I created to sell in the shop that never got set up!! They still made nice gifts... (and I'd be happy to sell them, if anyone is interested!)

Crowd pleasing Shrimp masala with roasted eggplant & zuchinni

Freshly made "Everything bagel" with smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, salmon eggs

done at a filming studio of my recipe (www.qooq.com)

At the same studio, the filming of my cheesecake & cherry sauce recipes

A personal favorite: a rhubarb & strawberry "cage" with the "cage"technique borrowed from
my friend Laura at lacucinatestarosa.com

A reminder to stop & smell the roses...especially when they are this beautiful!

Adventure in the Sahara dessert of Morocco

For the love of french cheese, Langres in this case...

For the fresh produce that I love to work with, segments of orange in this case. I used a lot of fresh oranges in 2009. I could eat them every day...

And avocados from the vegetable vendor down the street who consistently sells the best, perfectly ripe avocados...ever. I also used a lot of avocados in 2009. Often with those oranges...

A reminder of spring - with fresh fava beans & peas

The OFF4 Festival in Deauville - exceptional.

The Himalayas in Nepal

At 5800 m (19,000 ft)

Seared scallops, braised brussel sprout leaves, purée of navet

And last, but not least, I could not end the year without a few pictures of this:

Macarons, anyone?

:/dma

First Buches de Noel of the 2009 Season

I very recently made my first buche de Noel of this year. Three of them in fact. It was for a catering job that I did for a private party of 65 people in a very nice part of Paris. The customers are extremely gracious people, who have both an air of approachability and warmth alongside a very hefty dose of elegance. I wanted to try to make a Buche de Noel that reflected this.

The occasion was a birthday celebration for the husband. So, of course, a birthday cake of some sort was in order. Why not in the form of a buche de Noel. It is the season afterall!

And with that as a backdrop, I have to share a little insight into the difference between the French and Amercian cultures...

What I just explained about using a buche de Noel as a birthday cake with candles and all.....that is soooo American! When I went to shop (and hopefully buy) a rectangular box especially made for a buche de Noel.......I received a look of disbelief from the clerk. The specialty boxes were stacked on the highest shelf in the store - not at all reachable -- as if it was just part of inventory (in a Costco kind of way). I had to ask for help to get them down (as tall as I am, I could not even consider trying to grab them myself). Eventually there were two guys helping me on this little project and both shook their heads, "No, no - pas possible (not possible). It's too early for a buche de Noel". I chuckled to myself (if only they knew the sacred Buche would be used as a birthday cake...). I chuckled some more to myself (it's not like it's July or something....it was already the 3rd of December afterall!).

After a bit more talking, and coxing, they eventually agreed to at least try to ring it up to see if it's sell-able. The skeptical clerks went all the way to the other side of the store.....and 20 minutes later I had my answer. With an air of perplexity and disbelief, they said "mais, oui". I could buy it afterall. And let me tell you something......this whole episode that I just described.........it is sooooooo french!

p.s. In case you're wondering, here are the flavors used in my modern take on the classic Buche de Noel: lemon genoise (sponge cake) with a rasberry jelly filling, coated with a layer of chocolate butter cream frosting, that was then coated with a dark chocolate glaçage (layer). And decorated as shown.

/dma

Three-in-One Lazer Event - Organized by Bernadette Martin

Last night a private event was held at our apartment for a small group of 10 people. Organized by Bernadette Martin, the evening was called a "Three-in-One Lazer Event". Think "speed dating" but with a business purpose in mind. Which is to say that each of the 10 attendees spent a brief period of time with three different consultants to pick up critical bits of information, or key "take aways", to use corporate-speak. The attendees, all entrepreneurs or highly successful business people, rotated amongst the three following "stations":

Station 1: This station included an assessment of your color profile to determine which are your most complementary colors (and most unflattering colors), tips on your appearance, and a make-up touch up to remove circles under your eyes....so that you would be ready for the next station. Consultant: Cécile Hasroyan, Image Consultant.

Cécile holding up a color swap

Station 2: Professional head shot photo taken (for use in Facebook, LInked In, blogs, websites, bios, etc). Professional photographer: Sue Ryski.

Sue setting up the photo studio (aka, my "arrière cuisine")

Station 3: Coaching on how to write an interesting bio, what purpose it serves, and individual commentary on each person's 1st draft bio that they wrote in advance as "homework" for this workshop. Consultant: Bernadette Martins, Visibility Branding, Career Personal Brand Strategist.

Bernadette's session - writing a bio

All of this was accompanied by some food & drink....supplied by yours truly, served buffet style. There were cherry tomatoes stuffed with guacamole, mini empanadas with chorizo & yellow peppers, warmed medjool dates stuffed with whole almonds with a sprinkle of fleur de sel, whipped feta cheese with roasted red peppers & camembert cheese served with baguettes, verrine mediterranean (roasted tomatoes, goat cheese, and smoked eggplant puréé), skewers of comté-green stuffed olives-proscuitto....and for dessert, a verrine tiramisu (chocolate biscuits, kirsch-soaked cherries & mascarpone cream).

The participants left the evening with a new color palette in mind (or reinforcement that they are using a good one!), a good sense of how to improve their personal bios & how to create a branded bio, and a professional photo downloaded on a USB key. Quite a nice package. And from all indicators, a good night was had by all.

The 2nd session is now scheduled for Thursday December 3th. Price: 130€ per person. Feel free to contact me for more information or you can contact Bernadette Martins, the organizer (www.visibilitybranding.com).

:/dma

Message from the Himalayas

I must take a break from all of the activities that have been keeping me away from this blog lately...and share a pure highlight of my day. Today the phone rang, and I answered it without giving it a thought.

Guess who I found on the other end: my sweetie! We could talk for only 2 minutes. The call was barely audible. I heard an echo -- my own voice reverberating....and then his, too....and the awkward pauses that needed to be had as we each tried to catch up with what the other had just said....and trying to squeeze the most in during such a short duration....

I have no idea where he called from - but he had been to 4000 meters and back down to sleep at 3000. So far, no altitude sickness. Even better than that...everyone is doing great! I told him I thought of him every night, alone in bed, all snugly & warm with our down-feather comforter....wondering how he was doing in his sleeping bag in the cold snow....to my surprise, and relief, he said the weather has been not at all cold! That's my 2nd biggest worry you know, that he'll be cold. The first one is not having enough oxygen....

What a great highlight! I wanted to share the word with our family & friends who are wondering how he's doing. It's more than half-way over, his trip there. Less time ahead than behind! To wait, that is.

Chips de Banane - Banana Chips

I recently went on a hunt for colombo spice, an exotic-sounding blend used in Caribbean cooking. I was also looking for christophines (commonly referred to as chayottes in Mexico.) This brought me to the 18th arrondissement of Paris where there are a ton of epicerie exotique (literally, this means exotic grocery store). In these stores I found what I was looking for...and then some! Most stores greeted me with an unrecognizable odor until I spotted the open air bins of smoked fish piled high on top of each other or next to each other. I even saw a few bins of whole chickens just sitting there. I didn't get close enough to see if the heads were still there, but I definitely saw some feet....Luckily I saw those chickens at only one store because that kind of scared me. I sure hope they were smoked because they surely were not refrigerated! I also saw several types of vegetables I didn't recognize & other things I had no idea what to do with! I honestly like exploring these kinds of stores. Makes me feel like I'm travelling or something.

Anyway, I digress. It's here that I found plenty of plantain bananas. I brought some home and I made us some banana chips. Mighty good chips, at that. Even my sister-in-law, a doctor specializing in micro nutrition, thought they were good. And she's very picky about what category of food she nourishes her body with. Rightly so. I say, if she likes them, then you might like them, too!

Recipe for 4 people - for an Aperitif or Appetizer

2 plantain bananas (green)
bunch of oil in your fryer
salt & other seasonings of choice (colombo, paprika, pimento, etc)

Basically, peel, cut & fry the bananas. That's really all there is to it. But here are a few photos to further explain...

Use the green plantains for chips. I tried the yellow one, and as you might imagine, it was more ripe (or is it riper...humm...) and therefore it was more difficult to cut & fry.

Peeling these things is the most difficult part. You can see my knife cuts down the length of the banana (they look like black lines). I made the incisions and then removed sections of the peel.


This works pretty well, if I do say so myself.

A raw banana like this is just not edible. Yuk. yuk. You will want to spit it right out. Like someone I know! Very bitter and awful tasting. The texture looks kind of tough & mealy, doesn't it? Well, trust me, it is.

But this is exactly what makes them easy to slice! About 1-2 mm. A mandoline makes this job kids play. Less than 30 seconds to slice a banana. (I love my mandoline!)


Fry at 180°C about 1 minute, or until all of the water is evaporated off & they crisp up.

These are just about done here. After that, just turn out onto a paper towl, season & serve immediately.

They'll be gone in a second...

And for the curious, here's a picture are the "chips" made with the ripe banana (see below). They're actually very, very good. I just wouldn't call them chips because they didn't crisp up like the other one, no matter how long I left it in the hot oil. They turned brown before they wanted to crisp up. Kind of weird. But what happens is this: the sugar from the banana caramelizes & you're left with this really nice, tasty, sweat treat. They might get slightly stuck to your teeth because of all that sugary goodness, but you don't mind because the taste is so sweet & nice! For me, these would be perfect with dessert. Except, despite how enjoyable they are, I'm not inclined to make them again because cutting them was a royal pain. The banana was mush by the time I got 3/4 through. And the slices that I did get through the mandoline stuck together like glue, making them a real pain to get into the fryer. It would be great to find a solution to this problem, but until that happens, I won't be doing these again. Any ideas, anyone?

As for the christophines, well, they got dropped from the menu I was planning (too expensive). But I'm still glad to have looked for them. It led me to discover a new part of Paris I hadn't seen before. I would even say it felt like I wasn't even in Paris anymore! And it certainly led me to these banana chips. A good adventure all around. Enjoy!

:/dma

New Cooking Classes & Pastry Classes in Paris - La Cuisine Paris

On October 6th, a new company called La Cuisine Paris (The Kitchen) opened its doors for business. Here's their deal:

• First & foremost, they offer cooking & pastry lessons to particuliers (non-professionals). Their classes are centered around different themes such as french cuisine, healthy cooking, global cuisine, special holiday cooking, and even non-kitchen topics such as wine tastings. They also offer special-event dinners, and other non-lesson things upon request.
  
• They're located in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, near the metro stop Luxumbourg.
  
• They've installed 2 stellar kitchens & 1 really great dining room. All done in very good taste. It feels like the designer kitchen & dining room you wish you had at home.
  
• They can offer two different classes at a time (the kitchens are side-by-side & separated by a glass wall). The limit is 12 people per class.
  
• The company is owned by a couple - he's French and she's an American who also hails from Chicago! They left their corporate jobs to start this adventure. Don't you just love the coincidences!
  
• For the month of October, (its first month ever in existence) it's my understanding that they're going to hold the cooking classes no matter how many people sign up. Even if only 1 person registers for a class, the lesson goes on....that's a great deal if you're the attendee! Catch it while you can because the rules might change later or their popularity might take off...
• Almost all lessons are given in french, but about once a week there's an class given in english. The website is only in french for the moment, but you'll find a little english.
  

So, why am I telling you all of this? Besides being food- & cooking-related, the real reason is because I'll be giving some lessons there this month! Yes, those English-based lessons would be the ones I'm giving.

My first class is scheduled for October 15th. It's a 2 hour session on Mediterranean tapas (warmed hummus with tomate confite, whipped feta cheese with roasted red peppers, coriander & spinach falafel with a harissa sauce, and chorizo empanadas). Another class is is set for October 21st - it's a 3 hour lesson on American cooking (think high-end hamburgers with foie gras, fries, and a caramelized apple cheesecake). A Halloween-themed cookie-making & cookie-decorating lesson is also scheduled on October 28th - labelled as patisserie pour enfants, but kids of all ages are welcome!

Anyone interested in taking cooking or pastry lessons in Paris should consider La Cuisine Paris....and please be sure to let them know I referred you there!


Address:

La Cuisine Paris
89, rue Saint Michel
75005 Paris

www.lacuisineparis.com

:/dma