bleudauvergne

Things usually start up again at the rentree, as John mentions above. The rentree begins in the last week of August and it means first week of September at the latest. The word rentree in French carries more meaning than back from vacation, it can also mean the start of something new! Now is a very good time to come to France because most people are in good moods, and an excellent time for you to be making your visits. It is also a very good time to get results from local administration, for some reason things can happen much more smoothly during the month of September... Just called Stohrer and Pierre Herme to round out Luna's list. Herme's closing took place already (in August) and they're open now and in full swing. Stohrer does not close and they are open 7 days a week until 8:30 PM, as usual. Enjoy your weekend!

Yes! This will help me glean just a few more days of vicarious vacation in as I trudge back to the daily grind. Johnnyd, just seeing your name up there gave me a charge! That papaya looks excellent. Those special plants that come up when we nonchalantly chuck seeds in pots are the best kind, especially if they produce FRUIT!

I'm catching up on the subjects I missed during vacation, Wow pitpois, great photo report, and I will do everything I can to catch this next year, it looked like a lot of fun!

We returned from vacation and I strained mine yesterday. Having used vodka and first kept it in a covered bowl and transferred it to a sealed jar, the concoction was black as tar. It tasted strong. The flavor is very nutty and interestingly spicy but a bit too much, in my opinion. I want to lighten the flavors - Elie, what do you dilute yours with?

Beautiful blog. Thanks for sharing your corner of the world. I particularly loved the ice cream.

I would like to second the thanks - I truly enjoyed reading that. Thank you. Any more kid memories of food?

I has only been steeping for about 2 weeks yet, I'm going to leave it for another month. I may remove the pepper at some point, because it is already prevalent. I don't want it to overpower anything. As long as the flavor stays up on top I'll leave it in. If it gets close to heating the mouth I'll remove them. Adam, can you tell me something about Hippocras? Sounds very interesting.

In the town of Bessans we stopped off at the Fromagerie. His shop is on the street. Mr. Melot makes Beaufort and Tomme de Savoie right in his shop, which smells of rich cheese curds and envelopes you in a humid almost sweet atmopshere, cool and fresh. It was an interesting shop, he had his own cheeses, and also sold some of the other local cheeses, wines, jellies and jams and crafts made by other townspeople, like the hand carved spoons. I asked if I could take some photos and he agreed. He did not speak much or offer us any commentary, silently standing in his workshop as I quietly took some photos. He finally spoke when we asked him some questions, though. One full tub to one wheel of cheese. He starts two of these a day. New curds in first press before adding the wood bands which are progressively replaced by smaller and smaller bands. Tomme de Savoie. He does about 10 per day. He starts a few cheeses a day and has two different caves off site in which he ages them, usually for about 18 months. The lait cru he sells is kept in a tub of tap water. The town itself is just below a glacier which is constantly melting. The tap serves ice cold water all the time, so this is enough to keep the milk nice and fresh. As we left he went out back to hang his cheese cloths to dry. He said that it was a very time consuming job and he never gets to take vacations or days off, ever. I asked him if he ever takes stagieres, you know, to learn how to make cheese. He said, yes, but he normally takes stagieres that generally have some knowledge of cheesemaking, from the cheese school. If anyone is interested in contacting Mr. Melot to set up a stage, you can write to him (In French) and address the envelope: R. Melot, 73480 Bessans, France. He might teach you a thing or two if you're willing to put in a few weeks of labor.

It's pulling something out of the vermouth I added, I would also say that all of the pepper flavor instead of being heat in the mouth, is present at the outset in the nose, and a very brief high flash of black pepper flavor that completely dissapears into the nuts - I would not describe it as heat, though.

The conversation on walnut wine continues in a new thread ... Vin de Noix

I have tasted it - and I love the pepper (poivre long). The star anise is present and I'm pulling it from the brew because I don't want it to develop any more, it might assert itself too much, I am so glad that you mentioned it and I caught it on time! However, the pepper is just amazing, it is present right at the front and then as the flavor of the nut develops on your tongue it goes away and the nuts come through. I imagine when it's done and bottled I'll make spicy sesame crackers and serve mini chevre and bleu tartines to compliment out the peppery nut wine. Although I used Maple syrup to sweeten, you can't taste the maple sugar flavor, and my guess was about right for the sweetness. I suspect that it will take on even more nut flavor in the coming weeks.

My vin de noix is now completely black in color, looking good! I stirred it yesterday. Smells really good. I think I might take the spices out. I'll taste tonight and see. This past weekend at a party they served some sangria in some really pretty jars. I took a picture and will post it tonight.

Oh la la. I would love to see the look on the mother-to-be's face when she saw that cake. Beautiful clear and inspiring presentation! Thank you for also showing us the drawing you made beforehand, because it made it much easier for me to see how things developed. Thank you!

Adam, Since I have a batch of vin de noix going right now, I am curious to hear a description of the vin de noix you tasted in the Dauphine. Were you served vin de noix maison with your ham and cantaloupe, or was it a purchased product? If it was purchased, did you find it to be very sweet? The reason why I am asking is that I have been putting a lot of thought in to the vin maison issue this week, and discussing it with a number of people who do their own of various kinds. One comment that I am hearing again and again is that the vins on sale from mass production that are touted as specialties of the region are almost always too sweet. Any thoughts?

I heard the monkey brains story when I lived in China as well, and the location was the South China island of Hainan. In fact I think my boss told me the story. Thank goodness it's not true.

Thank you ever so much for that wonderful report, Adam!

This weekend we had fun with a blowtorch and a norweigen omlette. That's an ice cream cake covered in meringue which is sometimes broiled but much more fun blow torched and then flambeed with rum. I have seen people make instant caramel with sugar which they pulled into strings to make a pretty garnish on a dessert.

Dear Kelsey what a great project! I have a few addresses. My first question to you would be what kind of cheese interests you, since many different types of cheese are made a stone's throw from here. As to where to go for a good selection of cheeses in Lyon, I'll also put my list up within the next couple of days.

So true. The most chauvinistic Frenchman, the most bloated with national pride, will gladly feast on nems, phat thai, fajitas, colombo, and particularly couscous (a national dish), as long as they're good. There is simply no correlation between his bigotry and his culinary tastes. Yes, isn't it so? ← Really? This has not been my experience in the small town (5000 people) near Angers where my in-laws live. Not a non-Angevin restaurant for miles (actually, never seen one). I'm Korean American and am a decent cook of many different cuisines, and I try to cook for my in-laws when they come and visit, and they consider my Italian dishes "exotic"(hello...pesto is exotic?!?) and are not enthusiastic about eating foods which are unfamiliar. I remember going by a market where they sold aubergine and my MIL turned to me and said she didn't know how to cook it. My in-laws don't seem to be unique in there region-centric, and absolute uninterest (bordering on suspicion) of foods which are not familar. ← I've seen it both ways. My French Mother in Law is a breath of fresh air, I think this may come from some competition with her sister who lives nearby, always experimenting and following the latest international cooking craze. She is one of those madames who dyes her hair in the latest color and carries it perfectly. She loves my cooking and encourages me, which is very helpful. I have also had a certain type of dinner guest, normally the more conventional type, usually the ones who extend invitations to my husband to picnic on some large plot of land with a crumbling chateau owned jointly by about 40 bickering cousins, who taste a terrine de foie gras which I have brazenly prepared with star anise and maple syrup and blandly say "interesting" because they're afraid to admit they like the way it tastes. They have this idea of how things should be properly prepared, and like Jenn says, feel that anything that strays from the norm is sacrelige. These are also the people at the dinner table who act as if I am not there, and ask questions about me to my husband, refering to me in the third person, because they think I might say or do something shockingly distasteful, if I were to actually speak, being from that country, you know. As far as the best and the worst foreign foods, on the one hand, I'll reinforce the idea that colonial presence does have an impact on what foods are accepted here, which mixes in the presence of immigrants from these countries, but in a completely different way than the way immigrants brought their cultures with them to the US, for the following reasons: In France, in fact in Europe, the immigration experience is completely different than that in the US. In France, immigrant populations have been historically pushed to drop their cultural and religious identity, marginalized when failing to adapt at all levels, and caste into subservient roles that keep them struggling financially for generations. This is a fact. Only today is some semblance of equal opportunity opening to 2 and 3rd generation immigrants in France. While it is OK to open a restaurant serving North African specialties because the French developed an understanding of and acceptance of this type of food in a colonial context, and will be the clientele in these restaurants, In the US, the philosophy is somewhat different, where large populations of immigrants come, make money, and have the income to participate, thus fuel their local economies and encourage competition. This is why we find cheap ethnic variety in the US to a degree unequaled in France. Once you have diverse cultural populations becoming clients in their own restaurants, the quality improves, because they're no longer supplying a product which has been altered to suit what they think their customers might like. I don't think that French contemporary tastes have much to do with it on the whole. There is a large contingent of French who embrace international diversity, and there are still of course the ones who won't even think of trying anything new, but that is universal.

Looks great, Pan. You must have developed quite a few relationships with the people who work in your local restaurants, eating out the way you do. Being a "regular" is a wonderful thing.

I have six cans in the house: 2 cans of duck fat Loic found on sale 1 can of green pepper corns (not pickled) 1 can of caviar from Russia 1 can of Chiles Chipotles adobados, saving for a rainy day 1 can of lobster bisque concentrate that I bought nearly 5 years ago (expired in May) I sometimes will pick up some canned kidney and navy beans for 3 bean salad, I think the bean salad is better with the canned beans, maybe because that's what I grew up on. We have a lot of dried beans and always prepare our chick peas from dry.

With this I agree. The Francophiles are oftentimes more French than the French themselves. There are more French chains than just Quick. Some of them are bistro chains. Also in France prepared foods can be easily purchased through the traiteur, etc... I'm not exactly sure what the point about Mexican food in France is. There are lots of countries that don't have good Mexican food. And there are parts of America that don't have good Mexican food. Is this a huge culinary void in France? Are French people depressed about the lack of good Mexican food in France? ← It pretty much is a culinary void in France for me, mainly because I appreciate being able to go out for good Mexican food at a reasonable price, so much so that it becomes a craving from time to time. I can't fulfill that need in any restaurant I know of here.

Bravo.

Ah yes. That's one good thing I can get in a Mexican restaurant here, the Dos Equis even at 6€ a pop. I do enjoy that. the Margharitas are never very good though. We make those at home. There's a bookshop where I pretty much do all of my book shopping here and they have taken to giving me freebies when I stock up on the cookbooks. Last time it was a Tex Mex cookbook. The recipes were so bad, can of this, can of that... really bad. I think there was one recipe in the whole bouquin that I would even consider trying. I haven't done any real research into what kind of cookbooks are available in French. I guess that would be worth looking into.

Yes, jiaozi is always a whole lot of fun with a group. I usually invite lots of people whenever we make them, but sometimes we just have to have them for the two of us! Speaking of the dough, I have also used a bottle to roll out the dough. I find that using the curved shape helps to get the right mound in the middle.