328 replies to this topic

[bleudauvergne]

When StInGeR infomed me that the flame was passed by PM, I was at the office, and my heart was beating, hard. After several minutes of hyperventilating, I came back to reality.

I thought I wan't going to start till Sunday!

Time note: I am located at GMT +1. I am in Lyon, France. 6 hours ahead of the eastern seaboard, 9 hours ahead of the west coast. 1 hour ahead of London. 6 hours behind Hk Dave. Sorry if my posts seemed to be times wierdly.

I am at home in Lyon, I am not traveling. It is my home. We are at the moment doing our best to save money. Therefore just about all of my meals are prepared at home. I think my blog will carry two predominant themes: sourcing and cooking.

Blogging makes you want to take pictures of everything. I wanted to take a picture of people on the metro because they looked tired and hungry. I have no idea what this blog will produce but I hope it entertains some of you.

I want to do justice to the people that make things possible for me. So, here we go.

My first stop after work was to Marechal Center, in the 1eme, where I live. It's a store that also has a caviste, by the name of Nicolas LANGLET. This guy is recognized in the neighborhood. He knows everything about wine. When I arrived tonight he was excited and had a wine to give me a taste of.



My butcher, M. THERMOZ, was kind of mad at me when I arrived because he was in a hurry to close. "You're late!" he said. " have no time to talk, I'm closing this place as soon as possible" he said. He gave me my bacon and said - "a demain!"



When I got home, I realized my house is a mess. That's normal. I usually leave projects halfway done wherever they have begun.



This is my closet. It's all mine. I have built a small bar in it. It's where I try and corral up my cookbooks. They usually are scattered all over the house, and they all don't fit in my closet. It's a good thing I never put everything away at the same time. (my husband's closet is rather orderly and scientific, and contains lots of technologically advanced equipment. It makes for a good balance.)



Dinner tonight:

Started witha small glass of Clairette de Die tradition, which we got at last Octobers foire des vignerons independants:



We ate like pigs yesterday so we're eating very simply tonight.

A little paté, polish dills for me and little corichons for the hubby:



Salad, and cheese.




I will cook over the weekend.

Can anyone tell me: What's this fruit???



It's bedtime here, and I'm off, but tomorrow morning it's the market - quai St. Antoine as usual. Things should be really pretty because Spring is really in full swing here now.

-Lucy

Edited by bleudauvergne, 16 April 2004 - 11:36 PM.

[docsconz]

I am very much looking forward to this blog.

[herbacidal]

Moi also.

[Mayhaw Man]

Me too

Thanks for doing this. It's about time the blog left North America for a while.

What are your shopping habits? Do you shop small every day or do you occasionally hit a giant market and load up on staples?

And more importantly-do you like bacon? (I base all personal relationships on the answer to this question )

[Marlene]

This is going to be wonderful. Thanks so much!

I'm with Brooks though, ya gotta like bacon

[Squeat Mungry]

Vive le blog! Can't wait! What the heck... go ahead and post pictures of the hungry people on the metro!

[bleudauvergne]

You all posted while I was adding my photos of the day in edit mode! Bacon was what I was at the butcher for! Dude!

[Mayhaw Man]

Man! Get a load of that cheese!

(as an aside I think that showing off your cheese is tacky as many of us do not have it available at the corner store and get intensely jealous at the sight of such a fine plate of the stuff )

[Squeat Mungry]

Can anyone tell me:  What's this fruit??? 

Those are ground cherries, also known as "cossack pineapples". I love them! Taste like a cross between a tomato and a pineapple. Did you buy them, or just take the photo at the market?

[bloviatrix]

The fruit you ask about are husk cherries. If you go back to Marlena Speiler's blog she mentions them but calls them by a different name.

[docsconz]

I was looking forward to this blog even before those photos Those cheeses are awesome looking and I bet even better tasting.

[bleudauvergne]

Sorry, I forgot to tell you what kind it is. In the center is a munster. 9 oclock is a brin de marquis. 11 oclock: I forgot! But Ill find out tomrorrow. noon to two: Morbier. And the last two, well, they have the labels.

[bleudauvergne]

Can anyone tell me:  What's this fruit??? 

Those are ground cherries, also known as "cossack pineapples". I love them! Taste like a cross between a tomato and a pineapple. Did you buy them, or just take the photo at the market?

I think they taste like a cross between a gooseberry and a lychee. I bought them. And I'm eating them.

[docsconz]

Sorry, I forgot to tell you what kind it is. In the center is a munster. 9 oclock is a brin de marquis. 11 oclock: I forgot! But Ill find out tomrorrow. noon to two: Morbier. And the last two, well, they have the labels.

Starting off on the wrong foot already Keep it coming! This is going to be fun (if I can contain my jealousy).

[Pan]

Geez, pate' and cheese is eating "very simply"?

This is going to be fun!

[hillvalley]

Ohhhhhhhhh.

My mouth is watering. The photos are beautiful. What kind of camera are you using?

I know this is strange, but can I put in a request? I would love to see a real coissant again. It has been way too long and with the euro killing the dollar, it will be a while

[bleudauvergne]

Ohhhhhhhhh.

My mouth is watering. The photos are beautiful. What kind of camera are you using?

I know this is strange, but can I put in a request? I would love to see a real coissant again. It has been way too long and with the euro killing the dollar, it will be a while

Tomorrow AM. Break of dawn. You got it. Goodnight!

[hillvalley]

Ohhhhhhhhh. 

My mouth is watering.  The photos are beautiful.  What kind of camera are you using? 

I know this is strange, but can I put in a request?  I would love to see a real coissant again.  It has been way too long and with the euro killing the dollar, it will be a while

Tomorrow AM. Break of dawn. You got it. Goodnight!

Thank you!!!

Good night

[Carolyn Tillie]

Wow. Wanna adopt me? I'll bring lots more books, can mix a pretty decent cocktail, and will clean up after myself.

I don't speak very good French, though...

[Jensen]

Can anyone tell me:  What's this fruit??? 

Those are ground cherries, also known as "cossack pineapples". I love them! Taste like a cross between a tomato and a pineapple. Did you buy them, or just take the photo at the market?

I think they taste like a cross between a gooseberry and a lychee. I bought them. And I'm eating them.

They are also called "cape gooseberries". I first had them in Germany and loved them so much that I had to ask what they were. No one knew the English name for them though so I went for quite a while just calling them "Physalis".

They are related to the tomatillo.

[Carolyn Tillie]

They are related to the tomatillo.

That's what I thought it was...

[Jake]

Oh, I am so looking forward to the blog! Could we have some pictures of where you live, where you hang out etc. as well please -- vive la France!

Merci en avance,
Jake

[balmagowry]

Wow. Wanna adopt me? I'll bring lots more books, can mix a pretty decent cocktail, and will clean up after myself.

I don't speak very good French, though... 

I do! I do! Adopt me! If I come out there right away I can be there in time for l'Aillee, which has had me drooling almost constantly ever since you posted about it!

(Also, it's perfect: I have an adopted son who is older than I am; I in turn am older than you are; so by adopting me you will acquire a grandson who is nearly twice your age. How can you resist?)

BTW, aren't ground cherries also called tomatillos? I knew someone who used to make jam out of them - very good.

[bleudauvergne]

Wow. Wanna adopt me? I'll bring lots more books, can mix a pretty decent cocktail, and will clean up after myself.

I don't speak very good French, though... 

I do! I do! Adopt me! If I come out there right away I can be there in time for l'Aillee, which has had me drooling almost constantly ever since you posted about it!

(Also, it's perfect: I have an adopted son who is older than I am; I in turn am older than you are; so by adopting me you will acquire a grandson who is nearly twice your age. How can you resist?)

BTW, aren't ground cherries also called tomatillos? I knew someone who used to make jam out of them - very good.

We're really hoping to adopt a baby. But if that falls through I'll keep both of you in mind. Just to get things straight, please PM me with the number of books (that would be cookbooks) you own, and include the number of first editions. Thanks.

edited to ask also for a list of your cocktail repertoires, because that will factor into my decision.

Edited by bleudauvergne, 17 April 2004 - 12:55 AM.

[bleudauvergne]

What kind of camera are you using? 

For knocking about town I carry a dog eared Canon Powershot A30. The main problem with this camera is the extremely annoying delay between the time you click the shutter and the time it actually takes the picture. For that reason, I have taken to taking photos of things that do not move with th is camera, and most of the photos I take of people are of people moving, looking away, or blushing. Sorry about that. I also turn off the flash and use the macro setting most of the time.

Thank you for the kind encouragement. I have taken the requests for taking you along in my daily scrounging activities into consideration. I have decided not to change my habits, so what you see is what I normally do.

__________on with the blog!______________

Saturday A.M. - coffee



The photo is dark because it is early in the morning. In the lower left corner of the photo is Sissy, who comes every morning to tell me that Loic (my husband) has given her the wrong flavor cat food for breakfast. Her favorite is Delices de Volailles en Gelee, but somehow Loic always gives her Lapin avec ses petits pois or Agneau! Oh well, she'll get what she wants when it's dinner time, because I'm the one who gives her dinner. Cat food here comes in a variety box containing several flavors, and the cat has to get a different flavor every meal. This is a far cry from what she used to get before we moved to France. Back in the good old days, she could have her favorite flavor every time. But we're not in Kansas anymore, Sissy. She was hooked on fish flavors for awhile (because she ate salmon back stateside), and they came in the most amazing flavors. But then we heard all that news about lead poisoning, and also observed the fact that Sissy will not touch the salmon flavor, even if she's dying of hunger, so we changed to a new menu.

My husband is the coffee master of the house. I cannot move before I've had a few sips in bed. He has really wonderful tastes in coffee, and he is alwasy trying something new. Right now we are enjoying Alpine roast. Have I said he is an angel? This is the coffee we are drinking now:



We had been enjoying a rich course ground and felt there was no other way to do it. When we first got this coffee, Loic (my husband) put the coffee through the grinder as usual and the result was shockingly bad. It took some experiemtation, but once he got to grinding it very fine, the taste was just amazingly wonderful. It's a very refined, rich, but not in your face kind of flavor. Perhaps Owen can shed some insight about what makes this coffee different. Me, I awaken, I take the coffee, my day begins. With a big thanks to Loic.

Our Super High Tech Coffee Machine:



I have to get to the market. It looks like rain. Actually good pictures can be had on rainy days. I also plan to go to an Indian imports shop I've been meaning to check out in vieux Lyon, and also to go to my bookstore and ask about a few orders, plus inquire about balmagowry's magazine.. It would be a shame to have to go to Paris to get it.

Time to get moving! Be back soon!

Edited by bleudauvergne, 17 April 2004 - 01:01 AM.

[arbuclo]

GREAT blog! I especially love all the pictures. Keep 'em coming. Where did you move from when you moved to Lyon? Did your cat have to be in quarantine?

[bleudauvergne]

I notice that Pan is awake, at 6am New York Time. Alright Pan!

I've just come home from the market and am going to process the photos I have taken this morning and get lunch started.

-Lucy

Edited by bleudauvergne, 17 April 2004 - 02:53 AM.

[bleudauvergne]

First Stop - La Boulangerie. My Boulanger's name is M. Phillipe RICHARD, an artisan baker. This means he makes his bread for his own profit, on site.

His lovely wife minds the till.

Alright my dear, here's your croissant:

Their specialty breads are their bread and butter. They sell an excellent baguette, but the other breads are what they sell the most of.

Mr. Richard has a Japanese stagiere. Recent discussions about baguette made me think particularly about her. When I was taking French lessons, I had a Japanese friend who was here specifically to do a stage in a boulangerie. I also had another Japanese classmate who was doing graduate research into Proust's references to food. [GRAND GENERALIZATION] Most Japanese people I know are impassionned by all things food related. [/GRAND GENERALIZATION] I asked Mme Richard if the stagiere was here and if I could come back at a less busy time to talk to her. Madame Richard agreed, and called her out front.
Do you agree to talk to me tomorrow?
There were customers waiting but she agrees to let me ask her a few questions tomorrow!
Yes, I agree!
If anyone has specific questions to ask, PM me and I'll take them down and be sure to ask her.

Next stop was the market - on the Quai St. Antoine. But I'll post about that after LUNCH - we are starving! On the radio right now, Jean-Pierre KOFFE is interviewing people about fish - they are talking about Peche "au petit bateau"! We had this type of fish in the restaurant Thursday! So interesting! And coincedentally, I just bought a fresh line fished Sea Bass.

Be back soon.

:starving:

-Lucy

Edited by bleudauvergne, 17 April 2004 - 06:54 AM.

[bleudauvergne]

Did your cat have to be in quarantine?

Luckily Sissy has never had to be in quarantine. I adopted her as a kitten in Beijing. She spent her childhood there with me, and went back to America with me. No quarantine. But she had to have her shots. When we moved to France, my mom kept her until we found an apartment and sent her Delta pet freight. They mis-marked her bag as passenger accompanied, and she was lost in Paris, rotating around a baggage carousel for hours, and she missed her connection to Lyon. They could not locate her and were not being very helpful, so I finally just decided to hop on the TGV to Charles de Gaulle and get her myself!
Thank you for asking.

[bleudauvergne]

Highlights of my experience at the market this morning:

After leaving the bakery, I walked down the quai to the market. I passed the booksellers who open their stands by the side of the river and spied two bright red 1997 Michelin guides blaring out from the stacks of books that one book seller had piled in the lock box, he was just setting up. I wondered if that would still be useful. Guess not. Restaurants change, bloom and fade, their life span is on average not so long, it seems. If someone had a good meal 5 years ago at a restaurant, there’s no guarantee that it’s still going to be good now. Association with any number of Michelin stars could possibly be a curse, in my opinion. It’s certainly a challenge that forces a test on the fortitude of everything a chef has created, for a restaurant. I get this impression from what I've been reading about people being dissapointed lately.

Rain rain go away!!

I reached the market and decided to close my umbrella, although it was still drizzling. It’s a thing of mine. I have seen couples with enormous wide load child transport vehicles that they conveniently use to load their purchases on, completely blocking all pedestrian movement at this market. Stampedes are certainly possible on the Quai St. Antoine, things must keep circulating, or everything, including the commerce, stops. We’ve always said – When WE have a baby… Second worse are umbrella promenaders. The people who stroll through the crowded market poking every other person’s eye out with an their umbrella. What’s up with that? Donc, close umbrella, unless it’s pouring.

The first place I went was my fish monger, looking for poulpe. We eat fish around once a week, sometimes two. I had some really lovely poulpe (octopus) a couple of weeks ago, which I cooked according to Joel Robuchon’s cooking show’s recipe, a la greque and served with aperetif. Simmered with a packet of coriander seeds. I wanted to try it again. Unfortunately, they only had calamari. So I bought 6 small ones. That should make a nice appetizer or supper, stuffed some time this week. I can throw them in the freezer until I’m ready to use them.



I asked him what I might cook whole. I’m in the mood to stuff a fish. He suggested two fish we have eaten in the past two weeks, and I wanted something different. I was torn between the lake trout from the alps and the line fished sea bass. The trout are easy whole cookers. I finally decided on the sea bass. It’s rare to find it line fished at a price lower than 25 Euros a kilo. I didn’t want it filleted, but he removed the scales and gutted it for me. I want to see about stuffing it. I can fillet it at home, if I do decide not to cook it whole, after all.




The chevre lady who brings the pickings from her garden had toupinambour. I took a picture, because it reminded me of the time I was so happy to buy it that one time. Never ever again. But I do still think they’re pretty.

I asked her if she had any chickory. This is something that only comes really fresh from people’s gardens. Only recently I have been thinking hard about the winter salads, after reading the salad class. Not long ago, we had a bunch of chickory, and I wilted it with garlic to serve with sautéed pork slices. It was SOOOO good. I felt like I was in the middle ages. She said that now at this time I might find some, but it would already be old She said it’s a winter salad and can only be found fresh in winter. There’s always next year…

A chef had left his kitchen to pick up apples.


The cheese lady where I get my bleu d’auvergne sometimes has Diots de Savoie. I’m thinking of making a vegetable soup. Diots are a very subtly seasoned and mild sausage that harmonize exquisitely with mild soups. She didn’t have any left. Oh well, I can get them elsewhere, or substitute them for my butchers godiva. I did get 6 eggs, a St. Marcellin, and my slice of bleu.

Soup. Rutabaga, carrots, potatoes, navets (English name for this vegetable escapes me at the moment), celery root, and my weekly bouquet. Tarragon, Dill, Coriander, Chives, Chèvrefeuille, Parsley. I thought it was beautiful and wished I’d photographed him gathering the bunch together and wrapping it like flowers.




Lastly, M. Coche has expanded his gamme of butters, now filling their decorative moulds with butter made in style Maitre ’d, which is butter with parsley, shallots, garlic, and salt. He says it goes well with beef. I’m thinking of the fish. He offered me a draget (sugar coated almond) to celebrate the baptism of his son, who helps him on weekends at the market. He looks to be about 13 years old, a bright, beautiful child.

Lunch:

Small seasoned aperetif cheeses (with walnuts, and chives).

Crudités du Marché with evoo, gros sel, and a slice of lemon.
Pain au Champs.
Cheese plate. We added a liitle Brebis - Berger de Dombes, and some Beaufort.
Wine – 1999 Chateau de Crémat – Bellet (from the region of Nice Alpes Maritime, a wine made with semillon grapes)

Edited by bleudauvergne, 17 April 2004 - 06:29 AM.