Survey on French Pastry, Boulangerie & Food Experience in Paris

For all you French pastry, bread & food lovers, please take 5 minutes to fill out the survey that can be found on this link:

http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=947ab6b9-e142-4032-abe5-a09cdc487403

It will help my friend Guillemette with her final thesis for her master's degree in Patisserie-Boulangerie tourism in Paris.

Merci beaucoup!
;/dma

My New Scooter

Just to share some news.  I'm now mobile!  Oui!

I've had my little Peugeot Ludix two full weeks now.  It's been a challenge to say the least.  Here's what I've gotten used to in this short period of time:

• navigating the traffic of Paris, 
• safely driving through some of it's crazy round-abouts (but I still don't feel ready for the Arch de Triomphe yet...),  
• surviving some aggressive traffic (e.g., on strike day when Montparnasse was completely blocked off....let me tell you that the drivers were getting plenty irritated...honking all over the place, and whatnot...), 
• surviving the gas strike (luckily, I didn't run out...but that feeling of uncertainty is not much fun...), 
• driving on two wheels - hadn't done that in a very long time!
• driving with a load after shopping, etc.
• driving with a GPS
• driving during rush hour, but I much prefer driving around on a quiet Sunday morning!
• driving outside of Paris, even...
• driving in the rain
• getting my speedometer fixed (yes, this never happens, said the mechanic...except it did...)
• having perpetual "bad hair";  oh well, something's gotta give!

I'm over the hump.  Have been to several customer events with it & food on hand!  I love the flexibility it brings me.

And I promised Eric to stay out of the blind spot of big trucks & buses....

So, now, my new motto is:  "Have scooter; will deliver!"

/dma

The Scoop on Scoop

Unfortunately, Scoop, "le café branché" is gone.  It closed its doors sometime recently, over the summer break apparently.   I only found out the other day, as I walked down rue Saint Honoré like I have a million times before, and was shocked to find it was simply not there anymore!     

I don't know the story behind why they closed - it had a good following.  Some even thought they had the best burger in Paris.  Others liked their bagels.  And of course, they were known for their ice cream.  Looking at their website gives a clue - it appears they're planning something new....I say, "Bon chance! And please stay close to the neighborhood!"

I feel a need to make a batch of bagels in remembrance of the old place...

Here's a picture of the new place.  It's called Oh mon Cake!! (Oh my Cake!!, as if that needs translating!).  I haven't felt compelled to try it.  Maybe because I've been too busy making my own sweets lately or maybe because I'm not that in to rice crispy treats and pound cakes.  (I'm sure that if I were to actually go in, I would discover much more.)  If anyone tries it, I hope to hear from you!

:/dma

Encornets de pesto - Baby Squid with pesto

If you like Mediterranean food, including baby squid, you just might like this.  It's really delicious if you can find fresh ingredients, which is what I did here, thanks to a visit to Marché Raspail in the 6th district of Paris.  This becomes a great 1st course for summer - served at room temperature.

Ingredients for 4 servings
600g whole baby squid, cleaned up & cut into small rounds
1 lemon to garnish the plate

Pesto:
2 bunches of fresh basil
1 clove of garlic (2, if you love garlic)
80g (approximately) parmesan, high quality
80g (approximately), toasted pine nuts
splash of lemon
~100 ml of high quality olive oil

• In your food processor, add garlic until pulverized.  Add basil & mix.  Add parmesan & pine nuts.  Add olive oil.  Season.  Add lemon juice.  Adjust seasoning & ingredients as necessary.
• In a frying pan, heat a splash of olive oil.  Add the calamari rings, season & cook until tender (some water will be released).  Don't overcook or they become rubbery.  Remove from pan.
• Coat the calamari with some pesto.  Stir.  Add more pesto as required & season to taste.

Be sure to serve with a fresh baguette & a nice Sancerre.

Enjoy!

/dma

Salicorne (Pousse-Pierre)

I've got salicorne on my mind.  We recently had dinner with friends from Colombia, who were passing through Paris - so I went to the market on Sunday morning to see what I could find for dinner that night.  At the fish shop sat a pile of fresh salicorne.  Cool!  I don't see that often, and so I eagerly asked the fish guy to give me a few handfuls.

So, what is salicorne exactly?  I tasted it for the first time in the marshlands of Brittany many years ago while visiting a fleur de sel "farm", just off the Atlantic coast.  It's a green plant, a sea vegetable, that grows wildly along the salt marshes.  We picked some that day & ate it on the spot, guided by an expert from the region.  It was salty, immensely crunchy & very moist!  An explosion of sea in your mouth, without it tasting too salty, oddly enough.  I immediately liked it. 

Salicorne goes by many names...I don't think I've seen anything called so many different things!  My favorite is sea asparagus because, well, they kind of look like mini asparagus (to me) & they  taste like the sea!  Other names include slender glasswort, sea beans, sea pickle, and samphire.  Isn't Google great...It also clarified for me that it originates off the coasts of Europe but can also be cultivated and found in other parts of the world, including the coasts of North America, South Africa and South Asia.  Many high end restaurants use it on their plates because it is surprisingly good & beautiful.

It can be eaten raw, pickled, and sautéed....

I served it raw on Sunday night as part of the entrée froid (cold 1st course):  Ceviche de bar, mariniére de coquillages aux aromates et salicorne (Sea bass ceviche, shellfish & aromatic vegetable salad with sea asparagus).

Here's how I prepared it:

I gave it a brief soak in fresh water and then painstakingly cut off the ends of each mini stalk, where it had browned ever so slightly & I didn't think that would look so appetizing on the plate (see middle photo above - cutting the ends off so meticulously is probably not necessary unless, of course, they've started to go bad...it's just my preference to eat them looking pristine, so that's why I did it that way...)  Then I tossed them with a vinaigrette, added some freshly ground pepper, and DID NOT salt them!  They're plenty salty as it is, which by the way, you might want to leave them to soak in water a bit more than I did to desalinate them more...  Anyway, next I simply added the seasoned salicorne to the plate, as a decorative garnish.  That's all.  Not everyone will like the texture or taste, but it's certainly a discovery & well worth trying.  It's at the tail end of the season, so if you come across it, don't be afraid to give it a try!

Hope you enjoy it!
/dma

ps.  It was great to see you again, Patricia & Philippe!

Arlette's Tabouli

I'm calling this Arlette's tabouli in honor of Arlette.  Arlette is the Lebanese mammy who has lived in Paris the past 20 years and who had been taking my Monday night cooking lessons at the Centre Vercingétorix all year long.  Classes are now over, following the schedule of the vacances scholaire (school vacation).

One of our last lessons was called simply Mezze.  I brought my three recipes that night:  tabouli, cucumber-yogurt-mint salad, and hummus.  The week before everyone had enthusiastically agreed to the idea of doing these Mediterranean inspired salads, or Mezze ( it is for eastern Mediterranean foods what Tapas is to the Spanish....small appetizer dishes that can be served with a drink as a starter to a meal, or with enough, they can become the meal itself).

I really needn't have brought recipes because shortly after we got started, it became apparent that Arlette was going to lead this class!  Not out of some arrogant desire to take control or show the others what she could do....no, not at all.  That is the complete opposite of this woman, who is naturally quiet, patient, and respectful.  In fact, I was happy to see this more assertive Arlette who had seemed all year long willing to do the last tasks no one else volunteered for (peeling onions, cleaning lettuce, chopping garlic, etc).  Rather, her quiet leadership gradually and naturally happened - from someone who has made these dishes all her life, a million times or more, methodically and confidently, with no recipe at all in mind!

So, I share this Mezze in honor of Arlette.  It represents to me the thousands of other recipes that are borne out of tradition, passed down from generation to generation.  In actuality, my recipe & hers are not much different except Arlette doesn't boil the water to soften the bulghur.  (And now I don't either!)  I've included quantities from my own recipe as a basic guideline.  Use it & adjust to your own taste preferences.

Ingredients - 6 servings

200g bulgur, fine
water to cover the bulgur by 2-3 inches (5-8 cm)
250g tomatoes, diced
55g spring onion
75 - 100g lemon juice
75 - 100g olive oil
1/2 bouquet of fresh mint
1 - 1.5 bouquets of fresh, flat-leaf parsley
salt, pepper

1. Rinse bulgur well with water.  Place in a large bowl & cover with tap water.  Let sit for about 20 - 30 minutes or until bulgur is softened.
2. Peel, seed & dice the tomato (or simply dice without peeling & seeding, if you prefer).
3. Finely chop the spring onion.
4. Clean & dry the herbs & then finely chop.
5. After bulgur is ready, drain any excess water.  Add the tomatoes, onions, lemon juice, olive oil mint, parsley, salt & pepper.  Mix together well.  Adjust seasoning as desired (add more lemon juice & olive oil if too dry;  make sure it's salted & peppered enough).

p.s. An authentic libanese tabouli does not have cucumber, chick peas or anything else added.  Feel free, if you like!  I don't mind.  But Arlette might!  ;)

 An idea of what else you can do with Tabouli:  

1st course:  Tian de tabouli, orange, guacamole & crab

Enjoy!
/dma

Forest of Green on the Champs-Elysées

Much has already been written about the 2-day transformation of the Champs-Elysées into a bio-diverse landscape of green vegetation, called Nature Capitale (May 23rd & 24th).  We had to go see it, along with over a million other people.  Yes, it was packed, even at 11am on a holiday Monday (Pentecote).  With so many people all converging at the same spot, we only lasted an hour there.  I'm still glad we went.  Here's what we saw, starting at the Arc de Triomphe end of the Champs-Elysées:

This is where we stopped our visit, about half way down to Place de la Concorde.  Along the way, we ran into entertaining street musicians, admired a concept car at the Renault store, did some pretty interesting people watching, got a kick out of seeing all the traffic lights without the traffic, and enjoyed being able to walk down the Champs Elysées amongst all the green, without a single honking horn!  


:/dma