bleudauvergne

Amazon lists the English edition of Grand Livre as "Not yet released". The price is certainly attractive ($157.50 w/ free shipping), but the detail view lists the book as a paperback edition. Surely that's not right? The stated list price is $250, so it sounds like the same one that you saw at KA&L. Chipsbooks lists a special prepublication price of $395.00 Hopefully that just needs to be updated. The new J. B. Prince catalog has the hardcover English edition for $225. ← I just picked up the paperback edition here in Lyon at a local bookstore at the price of €50 - I am wondering if this can be the same book?? 50€ is a lot in our house so maybe considering the differences on the economy... I got it home last night and found after removing the seal that the volume is published in French and English, with the French and English text mirrored on two pages. Even the introduction is in French and English. Is this the same as the paperback people are talking about? I took it to bed and scanned through it. I was sorely dissapointed with the photography, or should I say artistic design of the book? The way they went about choosing what to photograph. I would have preferred if they could please photograph a finished ensemble here or there? Or at least some of the ensembles they recommend. I need help with the presentation. I kept thinking the visuals would evolve as we went from sauces to condiments and on. For every single recipe in the whole book you have microplaned raw vegetables and sprinklings of spice, arranged and back lit as if on a canvas. After awhile I was digging though the recipes for content and found the repetitive photography gratuitous. I resented having to deal with the sheer bulk of the volume coming from page after page of practically the same photograph in large format over and over again. I will cook from it this weekend. What are people cooking? I have no idea how to present the finished ensembles, I wonder if we could talk about that.

This is En-Ming Hsu, captain of the US team, contemplating the Netherland's chocolate and sugar pieces at the end of the day. I'm putting this one up in color as well which might give more information on the pieces. Unfortunately I did not get any decent close up images of the Netherland's pieces, but if you look closely there are monkeys climbin on both the sugar and chocolate... On the first day, the day I was there, the two teams that ended up winning were the Netherlands and USA. David, I was not there on the second day. What happened with the Mexican judge? He was breaking things? Was he doing it on purpose? I am reading in the French press that the theme was "flight". Ok this gives some insight on Jordan's sugar piece.

Thank you for this thread. Rachel, What is this tool called in Spanish?

Thank you ever so much for your advice. I will send him to the Mercado de Abastos in Cuernavaca for these things. Should I ask him for mexican chocolate to make a mole or can I use local chocolate with no difference?

All of this talk about "processed cheese products" wrapped in foil reminds me of a true abomination - the Apericube. It was served to me at a French friend's house - the only thing I've had to spit out in my napkin in a long time... Alright, I am going to try this Cancoillotte product and give my report, if I can find some in my neighborhood tonight.

I would love to see the specific criteria upon which the pieces are judged. A score sheet. I think that the individual elements on the score sheet must contribute to the results much more than the judges opinions of value would, due to the structure imposed by the competition at the outset. Every criteria and basis for penalty must limit the final outcome to a certain degree, although in principle these rules should exist in order to most effectively and most evenly gauge the skill of the chef, and not necessarily the level of technological innovation achieved or artistic creativity... On the way to the competition, confiseur and I briefly discussed the pressure involved in these competitions. Sitting on the metro during our discussion, I did not fully understand the level of pressure on the chefs, and was incredulous that anyone in their right mind could give up the opportunity to compete in a competition of this caliber if they were confident in their own skills and were honored with the opportunity. However, once I got to the competition, the reality was a shocker. The spectators were strung out like birds on a wire. The stress was so thick I was half expecting stampedes whenever they played the loud anthem and brought out another dessert. People at the front were standing on the chairs, pushing each other out of the way to get a glimpse, and the people in the back were all anxiously following the camera coverage on the big screen above. The chefs themselves were not only representing their countries, but also battling within an imposed structure of very complex rules. It was competition of the highest level. The discussion everywhere not only entailed the technical skill of the chefs but how they were able to work within the limits imposed to express themselves in the end. The new participants were clearly head and shoulders below the experienced competitors. I was told that this is normal, that competitors need a few years to get familiar with the rules.

I have a friend who is in Cuernavaca for a week and he wants to know what to bring back to me. He has packed an extra bag to fill with things just for me! However I have no idea what to ask for, I know I want dried peppers of various kinds and corn husks for tamales, and Masa Harina, and one of those pans for roasting peppers. What other food products for making Mexican dishes are best bought in Mexico? Does anyone know a thread on this? But mostly, from Cuernavaca, what is the easiest place to buy foods and kitchen implements to travel? Any advice will help. Thank you.

WPTC, 2004 World Pastry Team Championships Wedding Cake Competition In Portugal, Some of the results

Here's a photo of South Korea's sugar piece. The image in the first post is their chocolate.

This takes signature dish to a whole new level. Swiss Chef, it looks scrumptious. Did it taste as excellent as it looks? Enough to inspire the confrerie?

It wasn't the posting that tired me - it was the exhaustion after being at such a high energy event all day. The event took place in the midst of an enormous trade show, with hundreds of thousands of visitors. We did what we could but it was just too enormous to cover everything, so we ended up spending some time at the WPC for the chocolate and sugar competition although there was also a dessert competition which we caught the tail end of. The Japanese in their chocolate with an undulating wave of dolphins. The Japanese had a heart wrenching (and loud) accident just before presentation when their sugar piece collapsed. It was really terrible, and I was so shocked at first that I could not bring myself to think about what emotions that Yoshio Kurimoto must have been feeling. I must have seemed heartless as I noted without any emotion what had just happened. Chef Kurimoto held up alright through to presentation, and then at the end he broke down and they closed the curtain of the Japanese kitchen to give him some privacy. There was an announcement that the Japanese would be penalized on presentation only, which still gives them a chance, I think. Next were the South Koreans, with both chocolate and sugar dragons, very scary alien type creatures but really visually spectacular, pure sculpture. I felt that although they did have visual impact, they did not have the level sophistication as some of the others in concept. The Americans did a sugar sculpture on the theme of the wave also, which was interesting in that he used stylized elements to bring a sense of stillness to the overall piece and then incorporated very flowing and moving fish (they weren't actually moving...) that were simply breathtaking, I liked the duality of it and felt that what he was trying to accomplish was successful from an aesthetic perspective except that the piece did not carry the same dramatic visual impact from a distance as the others, and I think that may have hurt them. Also the cake in the middle was in my opinion rather second throught... Better lighting may have helped, The chocolate was mysterious, spider, bright mesmerizing flowers, rather obscure and I wasn't quite sure what they were trying to accomplish as far a symbolism but an interesting piece. The new competitors, Jordan and Morocco, generally did very pretty decorative pieces. Singapore was also pure deco and very pretty. I caught a glimpse and a couple of shots of Spain. The netherlands did a low def piece that carried a long way visually. Canada was very colorful and had an impressive overall composition. Spain had a problem with their chocolate. They incorporated printed images of works of art reprenting their culture, which was interesting, but as far as artistry with the material, I was a little bit disspointed. The Netherlands did two rather low def pieces (not a criticism at all - the visual impact from a distance was stunning), and the last photo is of the US team captain, En-Ming Hsu giving it one last look at the end of the day. Today it's Lebanon, Russia, Belgium, Columbia, Italy, Germany, China, France, Portugal and Mexico. And today at the end of the day the results will be announced. I think I might try to get there but it looks unlikely because of a prior committment.

The competition was today. We met with another eGullet member, confiseur, at his hotel in Lyon and proceeded to the show. The winners will be announced tomorrow. We are all exhausted but here are some of the photos. Words will come tomorrow (confiseur should be much better at words on this topic, in any case.) These photos were taken to get a feel of the event. Spanish Dessert Japan The Korean Chocolate Piece Singapore Canada USA USA Chocolate details There is a whole story behind the event today but I will have to post that tomorrow. Just too tired.

Looks wonderful. The smoothie man deserves a story...

Wow you're off to a great start! Looking forward to this week with you, Diana!

Could this be actual young horseradish? My image of horseradish is very different, a big coarse black root that's white on the inside. It smelled like real horseradish when I broke the leaves off but the root itself didn't give very much punch.

andiesenji, I am so sorry that your step-dad got sick from drinking it straight from the cow! That's enough to scare anyone. As Boris mentions rather stringent screening in Switzerland for Lait cru, for bacteria levels and filtering, I wonder what the requirements are here in France, I assume they are rather strict. I think it would be worth it to find out, though. I agree it felt good in my mouth. It tasted like a nice rich milk, more than whole milk you usually get. I think putting it in coffee is kind of a waste because it doesn't taste any different from pasturised milk in coffee, although I can see from the way the soups came out that it will be a nice idea to finish out everyday soups. I think it does make excellent hot cocoa, but I don't boil it. I think drinking it plain was the most satisfying, however. I want to to check the normes and maybe call the dairy to see what's required of them. I think that it's better to do that just to be sure, and then maybe get some just for drinking.

Very brief discussion it was - I was to speak to the owner, Mme Henri-Roux. However, they were expecting my call this morning and I never got through, the receptionist had already prepared the answer - They have only owned the restaurant since 1989 and don't know all of the little details of the history of F. Point's life. Voila. They can confirm nothing, not even a trip to Japan. I'd say honeymoon, if he went at all.

In my moment of dazed epiphany in reading the hollandaise recipe I also lapsed into a daydream of making the sauce and also my husband's reaction at using bottle after bottle of wine as I also see that you made a version of the wine reduction with bouquet earlier in your blog with the fish. I was thinking he is going to wonder why our cave is so rapidly depeleting. Ah, this recipe can be divided. So 1/8th would be about 10cls of wine, then. How much does a bottle of vinegar hold in your parts? Excellent looking pasta, by the way.

Hm, not sure. I live in France and most all industrially produced butter is offered in salted and unsalted versions. I think that it may depend where you grew up in France as well. I have, for instance, a recipe for gateau bretan that calls for "farm butter" and when I inquired more deeply into it with the woman who makes these cakes, she indicated that it was salted butter, as it is salted in Britanny, like a cultured beurre de barratte. My mother-in-law, an established home cook in the midi, also strongly opines on the qualities of salted butter. I personally don't inquire when I buy my butter from the producers at the market, which comes in a ball or is cut off of an irregularly shaped block. Sometimes it does come salted. I think when it comes down to the wire, professional standards may be quite rigid, but in cooking with recipes from books at home, we can't be entirely purists in the matter and turn up our nose at salted butter just because it acts as a preservative and the butter could last longer on the shelf. These days with refrigerated shipping and hygeine standards the way they are in the grand commerce, we can't even imagine that a salted butter off the shelf will reach us any older than the unsalted version.

I was pushing hard to stop at a cafe on the way home from the market and my husband reminded me (he is the food auditor) that we received a large bag of cocoa from Madagascar for Christmas. So I complained we didn't have milk. We were just near the end of the market where there was a cremerie, and he goes skipping off to avoid spending the 6 euros on two large steaming bowls of hot chocolate in the cafe. I call after him: "Hot chocolate can only be made with LAIT CRU!" - that ought to put a wrench in things. Oh well, he found some. Well, it was good. Since then I drank a large glass of it cold with no ill effects, man oh man, it is the paragon of lait. In addition, I have used it in cooking and had it in my coffee all week. I'm not sure what I should be afraid of. It tastes alright. My husband asked if we should take any special precautions with it, and the vendor said it's just regular milk that needs to be used in a few days time. Is this true? What's the taboo about unpasturized milk except the fact that it will go sour more quickly? I know that down the line of course the differences it makes in cheese are clear. But when it's new and fresh, what microorganisms live in it?

I thought of this thread the other day at the market. I did actually end up buying some uncooked beets though.

We did the Mont d'Or fondue. It was alright.

Rien, I just stumbled on this again, I'm sorry I missed your last post! I would love to see some photos of what you ended up giving as gifts, that is if you did manage to get some shots before you gave it all away!

I saw at the market a bunch of radis de raifort. The vendor offering it is a producer who comes to sell from his small garden, and always has only a few examples of each thing he sells. He's very serious. There was one time I was in a hurry and I picked up a bunch of things quickly, and didn't have time for niceties, and it hurt his feelings. I make sure to look this vendor in the eye when I deal with him and let him know I appreciate his goods because this is what he does it for. He must make just enough to scrape by. He does this for the love of gardening and everything he sells is absolutely fresh. I have never seen this vegetable, but maybe I haven't looked hard enough. "Raifort" translates to horseradish. I have never been able to find fresh horseradish at the market and none of my vendors want to grow it for me. They say there's no demand. When I got home I snatched up this lone bunch of what is a pungent radish. I snappped off the leaf and instantly it smelled of horseradish. But the radish itself tastes pretty normal. Tell me, is this "radis de raifort" something very common? Is there any classic use for this? What is there to do with it except eat it with butter and salt?

Another interesting fact to add is that Fernand Point's father, who bought the restaurant for him in 1923, died in 1925, and at that point they began restoration of the mansion that became the hotel and restaurant. In 1930, after his marriage to Marie Louise, they undertook major additions to the site, including a terrace and a third floor (in French a "deuxieme etage" is what we know as a third floor) to the house. It is mentioned in the history of the restaurant that the concept of "la cuisine nouvelle" was already in the vocabulary when the restaurant was purchased in 1923, so I doubt that his travel to Japan actually gave birth to a movement. Perhaps this is just a legend. Link to website La Pyramide where you can read the history. There could have been many reasons he went to Japan, one of them may have been to source decorative objects for the hotel restaurant as they undertook the additions and rennovation to the maison. A few years ago I did some research on the first Hermes scarves, and recall reading some trade articles from the early 30s in the library of the musee du tissue here in Lyon (Hermes was based here in the beginning). Asian silk designs and art were all the rage in France at the time, and played heavily in interior decoration. No better place than the source - I called the restaurant in Vienne and have made a rendez-vous telephonique with someone in the direction for tomorrow who may be able to tell me more, I don't know. The history on the website at La Pyramide says nothing about his travel to Japan. I will be speaking to them tomorrow.