Run, Run to Apples
On Rue Tatin alumna, Jennifer Worick, writer,blogger, and now wonderful apple cook after her experience at the Apples and More class last fall, asked if I’d publish this note, as a testament to her current On Rue Tatin and apple nostalgia. It’s been a year since she was here. Thank you for this, Jennifer, and […]
Strawberry Shortcake à la Française
Oh, the strawberries this year! They’re a poem, a song, a one-bite perfection! We start getting long, narrow, slightly tart gariguettes in May, shipped in from Provence. I wait until I can smell their aroma before I buy them, and then I get just a few because I’m waiting for the real deal, the strawberries […]
Coupure de Gaz
I arrived at the studio where I give classes in Paris to find a small poster taped to the door of the building with the anouncement “Coupure de Gaz” (cutting off the gas) in livid black letters. I looked closely to see when. Oh no! “le 11 May de 8 h jusqu’au 18h” was written; right in […]
Delicious Turkey or….
The meat, that is. I rarely cook turkey except on Thanksgiving, but my French compatriots love it, to the tune of nearly 12 pounds per capita per year. And turkey is available here in France year-round. I joined them the other day, as I planned a dinner party for a group of close friends, more than […]
Terroir
I taught a class yesterday to a group of American university juniors that included a discussion of terroir, that term everyone uses and, I am beginning to suspect, few understand. What makes me say this? The total blankness on the face of my smart students as I dove into the subject. Eventually one spoke up. […]
Two Tacoma Hot Spots
I was just in Tacoma, Washington, the forgotten city south of Seattle, for a quick trip. As I meandered through the lovely old neighborhoods, I asked myself why everyone isn’t clamoring to live in this jewel of a city. The views of Commencement Bay and Mount Rainier are incredible, the neighborhoods and downtown vintagely beautiful, […]
Summer Specials
Now it’s hot. Really hot. Meals are all about how to make something delicious using as little heat as possible. If you do use heat, which is sometimes unavoidable due to the deliciousness of the result, plan well so that you’re not laboring over a hot flame for long. Bon Appetit! This is a great […]
Fontainbleau
Today, Seattle friends came for lunch. They’d already been in Provence for a week, eating truffles every time they turned around. This, and the fact that all of these people are part of the Seattle food world, meant that the bar was high. Lunch itself posed no problem. I had magret de canard produced near […]
Making Pita in the hills above Sarajevo
A personal dream came true today as I watched Zijada, a Bosniak cook at the mountain chalet Ruralna Kuca, make and roll out the paper-thin dough that makes a Bosnian pita, or pie, so very special. The dough isn’t like any sort of French pastry. There is no fat in it, except the sunflower oil […]
