…as long as you wash and drain it properly, two times, three times, get rid of the sand! In France, you can buy fresh, young baby leaves at every corner, and they are particularly delicious. Keep it simple: Use some oil (or butter), some garlic, some shallots, then add the leaves (without drying them), some… [Read more…]
September 16, 2010
I know this might be a bit confusing but my work life as a world affairs reporter for SPIEGEL magazine makes me drive on the fast lane from time to time. Yes, I’ve been to Oslo two days ago, and after that in Brussels, yet since this morning I’m back to Kabul, flying in via… [Read more…]
July 13, 2010
…steamed and topped with a well-seasoned butter mix, you don’t need more to be decently fed. It’s a perfect dish for the 14th of July celebration, France’s holiest holiday. The masses will gather on the Champs-Elysées to commemorate the revolutionary days of 1789…well, ok, I’m kidding. Nowadays, it’s not about commemoration, instead you will find… [Read more…]
July 6, 2010
…that’s what French people say when they sit down in a bistro like Astier in Paris, a picturesque little restaurant complete with chequered tablecloth, l’ardoise (that’s a chalkboard) and even original Laguiole knives on display tucked on the wall. The experienced traveller could shy away and with good reason: beware, this could be a tourist… [Read more…]
July 4, 2010
…by cooking them in grey, coarse sea salt – you won’t regret it (even if you don’t understand what “turn two giltheads into salty dogs” means). It’s a very simple, yet delicious dish, I guess the idea is Italian, originally, but you can find this preparation in places like southern France, too. The fish is… [Read more…]
June 20, 2010
…is quite easy to say. Once upon a time it was just an idea for a simple, yet perfect match in food, a great recipe like salade niçoise, Caprese, a traditional Greek salad, a pizza Napoli and you could also say Sushi or Nasi Goreng or Peking Duck. Early travellers stumbled on those dishes that seemed… [Read more…]
June 19, 2010
…featuring a huge salmon of at least 2.5 kilogram (!) in the main role and some best potatoes as supporting actors. It’s a classic French drama because this fish will be poached in a court bouillon which makes it a very tricky guessing game whether it’s cooked or not cooked at all – or well-done and… [Read more…]
June 4, 2010
…might be the appropriate title for a horribly failed lunch I’ve just prepared. Yes, these things happen, and I don’t want to hide them away, they make part of my happy culinary life, too. What actually happened? Well, I had the idea of wrapping some nice Chavignol goat cheese in brick dough crêpes, brush the… [Read more…]
May 27, 2010
…were served at Le Pamphlet today, an excellent resto-bistro in the somewhat hidden Rue Debelleyme in Paris. I see the chef Alain Carrère in the streets here a lot, he’s a generous man who likes eating himself, obviously, every now and then he’s walking a silly little dog and they make a lovely couple. Today,… [Read more…]
May 25, 2010
…in a three-day-event most of you won’t be able to attend, I’m afraid. Yet thanks to French Food Fool (and to Keiko, my generous Japanese colleague who invited me) you’ll get an idea about what will be going on at the restauration temple at Place de la Madeleine. Today, the grand old master Alain Senderens was… [Read more…]
May 19, 2010
…the big guys from Brittany or the small ones from Southern shores. I wouldn’t know any other food that was so ridiculously cheap and yet so incredibly delicious. Fry them – lightly coated – in a pan, and you’ll get a crunchy snack. Marinate them in vinegar and wine, and you’ll have an elegant apéro.… [Read more…]
May 15, 2010
…and I feel terribly guilty. What happened? Well, if I knew, it wouldn’t have happened, would it? Here’s the story: I had bought a beautiful chunk of Entrecôte seconde, a pound of prime meat (sort of a French rib-eye, look at this professional website to find out more). I’ve seasoned it, seared it, put it in the oven… [Read more…]
September 24, 2010
2