Winter and the Living is Easy in Louviers
Everyone complains about winter, particularly this year when leaden skies get lower each day. Rivers are flooding, fields look like swimming pools and soon, I fear, my beloved bike path along the Eure River will be a stream for canoes only. Despite the lack of sunlight, though, this season is wonderful. Why? Because its cozy. […]
A Week in the Life of a Food Writer
Hidden not far beneath the surface of every day I live, every trip I take, every move I make, is the desire to discover something new and delicious to eat. Such was the case last week as I travelled from Paris to Utrecht to Amsterdam, back to Paris and finally to Normandy. My trip had […]
Comté – the Queen of French Cheese
This is not my opinion, this is fact. Comté is THE Queen of French cheese on the French table. It’s no wonder. Made with milk from the brown-spotted Montbéliard and the russet-coated French Simmental, Comté is the perfect combination of sweet, creamy, herbal, nutty, and exquisite. I have just returned from the land where Comté […]
Herbes de Provence
Herbes de Provence is the nearly mythical blend of green herbs from the Mediterranean landscape called the garrigue. When you walk the rocky trails in this region, it’s impossible not to think of pizza baked in a wood-fired oven, grilled eggplant with goat cheese, lamb roasted over the coals. HERBS DE PROVENCE PEDIGREE – LABEL […]
Cooking and Teaching with a Social Purpose
Last week was extraordinary It began ten years ago, when Evelyn Isaia and her daughter, Camilla, came to a week-long cooking class I was teaching in Paris. By weeks’ end we were friends and over the years we’ve kept in close touch; I taught a class at her home in Miami, and when she and her […]
Table Restaurant in Paris
What are the ingredients that go into making an esthete? I think Bruno Verjus, chef and owner of Table restaurant in Paris, probably has the answer to that, because he is one. His restaurant is achingly contemporary yet intensely warm and personal, much like the home of someone who loves to live there. Everywhere you […]
Confit of Peppers
Every year in early September I do the exact same thing, either because I’m crazy, or because I love the taste of pepper confit. I’m sure it’s a bit of both, though the crazy part didn’t occur to me until this morning at 6:30 a.m. when I found myself mincing a kilo (2 pounds) […]
La Rentrée
Suddenly, as though poured from the sky, people filled the streets of Louviers yesterday, mostly Mamans, scurrying with their progeny to pick up last-minute school clothes and supplies. I could see the anxiety as they hoped against hope they weren’t too late. The occasion? That most special of days, la rentrée, the first day of school. […]
Savoir Faire
French know how (savoir faire) was officially recognized today, in a statement by the secretary of state for business, artisanal industries, consumer and social and economic support, Carole DELGA. With great fanfare, she took a huge and official step towards assuring that everything that makes France what it is – cheese making and aging, the […]
Cutting into Cheese
I see it all the time. The cheese tray arrives and everyone around the table is in awe. The awe stems from the shape and variety of the cheeses, their aromas and runny to dry textures that promise so much, the vivid colors that can range from deep grey to blushing orange. It also stems from […]
