bleudauvergne

What did she do to it? Who judged the chili contest? I find that the salsas are never up to par and the chips are almost always stale here. Never ever dishes using corn tortillas, and the flour tortillas taste chemically, as if they have been revved up with additives for long life. And it's never spicy enough. The food rarely ever makes it to the table warm. Forget any bean product. It's not like the ingredients are not available (except masa harina), it's just that it's been so stereotyped here that it has become a bad caricature of itself.

There was some banter in the Small Town Dining thread in the Adventures in Eating forum about the Mexican food in France being laughably bad. In my experience, the actual quality of the food is not so bad as it is just plain mediocre, but at the same time it's really expensive which translates to a dissapointment for me almost every single time I try a new place. A lot of people ask why on earth we'd even eat Mexican food when in France, and it most likely does not seem a logical choice for people traveling to France for a visit, but many expats I know say that the single thing they miss foodwise about living here is the lack of quality Mexican food. It's something I crave every once in a while, that's for sure. I've taken to making my own tamales from time to time, and serving them when we have American guests, always appreciated, and Loic brought me a tortilla press when he went to Mexico last year. We also have a stock of various dried and some smoked peppers (I compiled my list from a thread in the Mexico forum and Loic got every kind I asked for) which add a whole new dimension. Every time one of my friends or colleagues goes to Mexico I ask them to bring me back some masa harina, which is not commerically available in this country. There is one authentic Mexican place in Vieux Lyon, on rue du Boeuf, called Mexico Lindo, that makes their own chips that come out hot to the table but they don't serve corn based dishes for the most part other than that. The chef at this restaurant came to Lyon to go to the Bocuse Institute, and then went back to Mexico after he graduated for a spell, then came back to Lyon to open his Mexican place. It's expensive but if you're craving the real thing, that's it. Are there any other places that serve good Mexican in Paris or elsewhere?

This blog is wonderful. Thank you so much for the photoshop tutorial!

I also feel that Vin de Noix is very sweet in general. But then again it is very common to see sweet wines offered at aperetif and also at dessert. It's a question of personal preference, really. I like my vin de noix after dinner, but I think my husband would take his at aperetif. Mine's together now. We'll see in a couple of months how it works out. Lucy's mix: 38 green walnuts, quartered 1 vanilla bean 2 star anise 2 long peppercorns 2 thick slices of lemon (inspired from Divina's nocino recipe) 1 cinnamon stick 1 cup grade B maple syrup 2 cups Noilly Pratt Original Dry 1 quart vodka (I didn't have any eau de vie and I don't want to wait until tomorrow!) Smells divine. edited to add that I am sealing off the top of the bowl. My mother in Law does her vin d'orange in a big bowl as well.

What would happen if we added some maple syrup? Would it ruin everything?

Unfortunately I wasn't able to talk anyone out of an ancient family recipe so I'm winging it this year. I also tried to get my friend in Grenoble to get me the nuts and she acted like I was crazy. I like the idea of a vanilla bean, and I'm going to use eau de vie and add something else, haven't decided yet. Not too much sugar, though. I don't think I'll be able to do mine in a jar, I'll have to use a big huge bowl, hope it's still good if it sits in the dark because I'm going to put it in the cave. Only one month? What if we let it sit for 2 months?

That sounds kind of funny.. ← Oh la la. I had to special order them from a vendor at the market, you usually don't see these at the market here in Lyon. OK I wear gloves, cut them up, put them in a large vessel with some eau de vie and some wine and some sugar and put it in a covered vessel the sun for a few months, stirring something like once a week?

I have got some nuts and will do something with them tonight.

What I do when I've got the food blues is carefully dice an onionand get it sauteeing. After sizzling for a while, I usually can muster up the courage to dig something up. The problem is that when I'm beat and uninspired, if I don't do the shopping and cook, we don't eat. And we can't shop very long in advance due to our small kitchen and small fridge. If this lasts more than a day or two we can get in trouble. I always try and have something in the freezer but it's not always easy.

Kate, it is an absolute delight to see you here. Welcome.

Journal entry 30090412 We’re hurling through outer space at a rate of 23,000 miles an hour. I’m in the cockpit of the ship we call the white Cadillac, due to the nasty smell that lingers from a decade of missions conducted by that pointy nosed tannin calquing Earth freak. It sucks to imagine the late great Capitain Fodorum, lecturing us with his lisping condescending earth wise extra stellar fungal knowledge. “Muenster is one of the most glorious of semi-soft cheeses in odour and texture when allowed to affine properly… ” I remember his shrill pompous whining, his enormous nostrils staring at me as if inviting me to search them like craters in an asteroid for fosselin life as I contemplated the jock strap ammoniac accosting my senses in every nook and cranny of this vessel, knowing that one day it would be mine. But that is the past now. The ship is indeed mine as of three days ago. I managed to negotiate this post, yes, but the question is, how am I going to get rid of the organisms that allowed me to get it in the first place? These pesky fungal entities are murder to eliminate from a retro disto oxygen mix reconditioning system like the one we’ve got. The built in bugs have long fallen out of whack due to his vile habits, I am talking the odor is not going to be eradicated unless we radiate the ship at Neo New Laos Century Station and introduce some new bugs. I don’t think I have the budget to do it. I know this is the reason I even got this ship to begin with, I should be thankful. Since we’re on the way, I’m thinking we can make a stop at Epoisse Enorme, the one place that will definitely have a huge contingent of fungal scrape dealers on hand to at least let us recuperate some of the losses that we’re going to incur with the radiation that’s going to be required. As much as I hate those seething smelly Earth freaks, they do pay a fortune to fill their petri dishes with rare specimens, and this ship is the paragon of nasty, many of them originating from the grand Terra him or herself. Problem is in order to get the big cash, I have to prove I can fess up the real goods. Therefore we are going to have to corrupt the big Fo’s cheese cave which apparently was bequeathed to some disease loving inter stellar association. God. Was really hoping that we could just eject it at Present Boomerorbital Depository. I know the stuff is valuable but for the life of me I can’t understand why in outer galaxy’s name we have to endure such vile nastiness, and why the hell they want it. The reason why I have been appointed Captain of this ship is because I am a positive thinker. And for this reason, we are going to stop off at Epoisse and let those stinking hippies scrape just about anywhere they want. And they can have a cheese party too, plus I’ll thow in as much of that rotted fruit extract the big F kept blocking the holds as they are willing to take. It will be excellent to get rid of it all.

Sometimes its hard to tell what would be offensive to our guests. I try not to scare people. But sometimes you just get into trouble when you have guests that have problems with specific meats. Veal, rabbit, venison, horse, donkey, goat, even duck gets people upset. You never know what's going to freak out a teenager, it changes from day to day. In the last couple of months I've been trying to understand the appeal of horse here in France. After trying it a couple of times, and trying smoked corsican donkey sausage, I have come to love it. I serve it to some people but if there's a risk, I try to keep it out of sight. On the same topic, we had a Russian guest for dinner a couple of weeks ago, and for aperetif, we served slices of smoked magret de canard. So we said - this is duck. He raised his eyebrows, and he seemed a bit disturbed by it, and said - Like Korea? We were at a loss, trying to figure out what he was talking about. He said - Well, there's a first time for everything, and ate some. Then he said, out of the blue - I have pet dog at home. I imagined ducks swimming in the bathtub, but then suddenly I realized he thought we said it was dog. I felt so sorry, and we quickly cleared that up with much laughter. But at the same time, I developed a certain respect for the guy because although it clearly was not something he'd normally eat, he had the grace to give it a try because it was bring served to him. Edited to add: In answer to the original question, should you disclose ingredients? Yes, of course. But there are ways to do it that are more gentle than "you just ate dried donkey sausage". You might say, "In Corsica, they have a tradition of making sausage from the meat of work animals. This smoked sausage is made from Donkey. It has a peppery taste. Would you like to try some?"

You've got to have the nose for it. My mother had a nose for good food. She and I did a lot of driving in the rural South when I was around college age, various pilgrammages to visit family here and there and then once we took our time driving to Houston. I was an uncomfortable teenager (also raised a Yankee) and we arrived in Crowley Louisianna at sunset. There was a long strip of abandoned shop fronts and it seemed to me there was absolutely nothing there. In fact I think I remember tumbleweed and clouds of sand and remember the clunk clunk of us driving over the rairoad tracks, taking a U turn, because mama saw something, and the clunk clunk back over. She'd seen a sign. Hand painted "Crawfish Tonight" was all it said. The room was completely white and flourescently lit with one flickering bulb. I don't remember people speaking much. And we paid out 5 dollars and got the big plate. Steaming, heaping piles of crawfish fresh from a spicy boil and cups of melted butter. We ate a whole platter and then another, and then we ordered one more and took it back to the hotel room. It was the first time I ever took a photo of food.

Wow those currants take me back... Thanks so much, your pics are beautiful and on the table that pudding looks great!!

I have been to the sites where people have posted them and they are really amazing! If I could I would do things right like this : Buy an apartment in Vieux Lyon across the footbridge from the St. Antoine Market. Equip the entire apartment as one big super haute gamme kitchen with a bedroom, and rent it by the week. I'd go to cooking school myself and then teach a la carte from a menu that changes with the season. You get the carte at breakfast, make a choice, we hit the market, and then and we cook whatever you've chosen that morning/afternoon. Ahhh. Daydreams.

Le parc des Buttes Chaumont. Take a blanket, saucisson sec, fruits, bread, and cheese. and wine. I also agree with the garden behind the Musee Rodin.

If anyone has any tips on how best to carve a turtle please do chime in as well.

I though I might revive this thread, since I spent Saturday and half Sunday in Paris this past weekend with my niece. Saturday afternoon we found ourselves in the Marais, and we followed Menton1's advice and went to l'Alivi, where we had lunch on the terrace. The fresh sardines, served on a bed of lemon vinaigrette marinated fennel and sprinkled with coarsely ground pink peppercorns, was simply perfect. I followed by another cold entree since the weather was quite hot, an off-menu salad with smoked boudin noir and chatains (a kind of chestnut). An unlikely but delectable combination. My niece had the corsican sheeps cheese stuffed pasta, which looked very good. I didn't have a taste, though. We did not order dessert or wine. Lunch for the two of us was easy at about €35. That evening we strolled by the Eiffel Tower and a stone's throw from there is the Cafe Constant where we lucked into a wonderful table by the window upstairs. The fare was a very good value for the money, Lyonnais for the most part, and they had a nice list of wines sold by the glass, which I appreciated very much. I particularly recommend the tete de veau right now, which is perfectly prepared with its sauce gribiche, and presented beautifully. My niece, who is now the expert in quenelles due to her sejour here, said they were excellent. I was pressed for time at Lunch on Sunday and near the Gare de Lyon, where I was going to pick up my train for home. Beyond the sad looking kiosks selling frites and beer, and towards the gardens, I ran into a place called l'Arrosoir, where I ordered the "planche" which was generally laden with thick slices of jambon de savoie, saucisson sec of several types, some Cantal, butter and salad. Included in the price was a glass of Cote du Rhone. An excellent bargain in nice surroundings with attentive service at 11€.

I agree with the idea of toting some nourriture along with, sausages, etc. I don't think however, that Salomon (in his NYT article) should give anyone the false impression that the food is any better than what one might be able to prepare on their own, unless he's prepared to name names of refuges that do prepare quality fare. I would be seriously interested and would plan a special hike if I knew the food was good at a particular refuge. Of course it was not all dismal. One good thing is ice cold beer (very expensive) and pretty good wine. Another was the view and the experience as a whole, which outweighed the insipidness of the meals by all counts. There's nothing like that feeling that comes with snapping open a nice cold beer upon arrival at the refuge.

There were very few hikers at this particular refuge, practically everyone there were glacier climbers. They took off at 04:00 the next morning to hit the glacier, making a lot of noise and being generally disruptive. We were able to enjoy breakfast in solitude at the refuge, and the coffee was instant, as well as the milk from powder. In my typical way I mused about what I'd do to improve the place, including hiring a couple of helicopter drops beginning by equipping the place with a kitchen that can run on electricity. They had plenty of electricity - the place was rigged with immense fields of solar panels which are a recent addition, but the stoves were run on gas which apparently had to be hand carried bottle by bottle up the hill. An update of the kitchen facilities would immensely improve their capacities to turn out more palatable fare. The water also was plentiful and the place was equipped with plumbing, thus I'd equip the place with real dishes and prepare long slow cooked meals over long periods of time. But that's just what I would do. They had us crammed in the place like sardines, so I think that the place is not at a loss for funds to make necessary changes and still keep the costs to the hikers and climbers at an acceptable rate.

We went hiking in the Alpes last weekend and called ahead to reserve a bed at the refuge des Evettes on the edge of the Glacier bearing the same name near Lans le Villard. The hike, about 3 hours and involving some snow patches and rough spots but generally pleasant, was beautiful. Dinner was served 'family style' and started with a bowl of thinly reconstituted potato soup (from powder) which was passed from person to person to ladle into their plates at our table of 18, and was cold by the time it made it to us. The table (way at the other end) then received one platter containing 20 boiled diots de savoie, small sausages, and a bowl of macaroni to fight over amongst ourselves. The cheese was a wedge of tomme apiece, and then we were each doled a cold soggy rolled crepe which had apparently been flambeed with rum but none of us could taste it. The wine, served in jugs for an extra 6€, was a lovely red vin de savoie. It was the highlight of the meal, basically the only thing that they didn't mess up. The New York Times recently had a feature about hiking from station to station (NYT Article), where they lauded the meals with fanfare as "a dinner whose preparation doesn't include the direction 'just add boiling water.'" Solomon listed several pre-planned trips ranging in price from 900 to 1600 Euros per person. Is there something I'm missing here or did he just get that all wrong? The cost of our lodging plus dinner and breakfast was around €20 a head at the refuge, maps are cheap, trails are well documented and marked, no guides needed. Someone's getting taken for a ride here. Anyway, if anyone wants a station to station guide for €900 a head, please consider calling me - I will not only guide you from station to station, but will use the communal facilities (available outside the kitchens at most mountain refuges for free use) to cook up some real food. Any other experiences or recommendations are welcome if anyone has had better experiences at any of the Alpine refuges.

What are the ramifications of juicing cherries, pits and all, and then straining, to serve as a drink? I ask this question, as I contemplate what to do with the motherlode of cherry picking bounty.

Eden, have you ever tried a cherry pitter? It does not work on all species of olives, especially the ones that aren't very ripe. But it does work on some. Perhaps you can find a breed available to you that the implement works with. Olive and herb stuffed lamb sounds really really good. What kind of herbs do you use? Rosmary? Thyme? I am a lamb and garlic lover, myself. Also one of my favorite things to do with a gigot when they're in season is to tie the leg to the spit and then paint it with Chartreuse vert several times over the course two days before I roast it. I was inspired by J. Child's use of gin in a lamb dish and took it one step further. The result was fabulous. I had this dream that it would burst into flames, but it didn't. I will post the recipes very soon, promise.

Wow, that was a nice read. Thanks. I recently picked up some of my cookbooks again as well. I decided to challenge myself by choosing recipes because they used interesting combinations or flavors that I am not accustomed to. I was rather pleased with the result of a salad that used grapefruit, smoked fish, pomegranite, etc. It was something I would never do on my own. Hmm, If I were to go back to the books, I think it would be to learn how to do some of the Lyonnais specialties. Reading this essay, in fact, got me to the library where I picked up a Leon de Lyon cookbook. Some of the recipes look pretty interesting! I love the graphic for the essay, Dave. Nice work.

Sigh. I guess I'll have to throw together a French meatloaf.