ComeUndone

I hope this is not just a seasonal offering but President's Choice now has a frozen puff pastry dough made with butter! The dough is already rolled out and ready to be cut. Although the ingredient list shows content of other fats as well, it listed butter before all the other fats. I hope it contains a decent amount of butter. I will report back on the quality shortly. Tarte Tatin, here I come!

It's already that time of year to think about gingerbread projects! My coworkers and I have been building gingerbread houses for the past four holiday seasons and it's something all of us really enjoy. The building that you want to build has very clean lines but that also means the royal icing adhesive must be very neat and well-hidden. One thing that I find with modern buildings is that they are often too stark for gingerbread projects. Decorating the building in holiday theme is a fun way to include more colour and add a touch of festive atmosphere. For example, instead of replicating the pale blue glass wall exactly as shown, it would be whimsical to have it in a checkerboard pattern of pale pink and pale green. Of course, drapping garlands of greenery with tiny red dots of holly around the building is always fun. Looks like a really fun project! Good luck!

It is difficult to name just one but here are a few that have influenced me quite a bit: - In The Sweet Kitchen (Regan Daley): my first cookbook but I like it not because of its recipes, but for the references that it provided for ingredients and equipment. This book equiped me with a strong fundamental knowledge. - The Cake Bible (Rose Levy Beranbaum): the explanation after each individual recipes was helpful because it demystified the differences between a variation and a master recipe and Rose explained how the difference affect the end result. - Chocolate Dessert by Pierre Herme (Pierre Herme, Dorie Greenspan): loads of really good building block recipes. I came to this book with more experience in baking and quickly realized the superior quality of these building block recipes compared to others that I tried. - Gordon Ramsay's Just Desserts: introduced me to the wonderful world of plated dessert and how to highlight the main component of the dessert with garnishes and secondary components. - Grand livre de cuisine d'Alain Ducasse Desserts et pâtisseries: truly eye-opening. Continuing on the plated dessert subject, this book offered many inspirations.

Nov 1, 2004 Day 8 was a holiday in France but more importantly, it was also the last day of the Salon du Chocolat at Paris Expo. It was purely by chance that I was in Paris the same time that the show was held and I did not even realize it until I saw all those advertisements in the metro stations. Not knowing how big this show really is, I was totally floored when I arrived to discover over a hundred vendors from all over the world, keynote speakers, as well as demonstrations from famous pastry chefs and chocolatiers. The ticket price was 10€ per adult. Lindt's chocolate house welcomed everyone at the entrance. This year was the 10th year anniversary of the Salon du Chocolat and the special theme this year was New York. According to the program, on the first day of the show (Oct 28, 2004), there were demos by Claudia Fleming (Mallomars), Bill Yosses (Devil dogs), Martin Howard (Josephine Baker’s sweet snack), and Francois Payard (Croquant aux noisettes et son fondant de chocolat blanc aux cassis et croustillant Japonais). Just going through the list of guest chefs invited to demo is like reading a who’s who in the current Paris pastry/chocolate scene. Among the invited are: Nicolas Gras (pastry chef at Ledoyen), Gilles Marchal (pastry chef at Hotel Le Bristol), Alain Leconte (pastry chef at Taillevent), Pascal Niau (Director of R&D at Dalloyau, MOF), Sebastien Gaudard (pastry chef at delicabar), Pierre Herme, Christine Ferber, Philippe Gobet (director of Ecole Lenotre), Hugues Pouget (pastry chef at Guy Savoy, dessert champion of France), Laurent Duchene (MOF), Didier Steudler (Ecole Ritz Escoffier), Nicolas Bernarde (pastry chef at Le Cordon Bleu, MOF). There were also many prominent people giving discussion/tasting sessions. I attended three demos in total: Tanghana by Philippe Gobet (Ecole Lenotre), Palet chocolat a la feve Tonka by Hugues Pouget (Guy Savoy), and Le carre au chocolat by Laurent Duchene. Of the three demos, Lenotre was most well-prepared for the size of the crowd. They handed out printed recipes to all attendees and passed around miniature size of the Tanghana. I was impressed that they decided to do so given the complexity of the recipe they demoed. It was a layered dessert in a glass containing Tanzanie cream, Ghana chocolate mousse, chocolate brownie bits, shards of salted orange caramel, chocolate ice-cream, Ultime chocolate sticks, and gold leaf (not added to the freebies, of course). I’m looking forward to try this recipe soon. Chef Pouget did a plated dessert that was simple in comparison but I picked up some useful tips. It was a circle of chocolate biscuit layered with a ganache infused with Tonka beans (seems like this is the fashionable ingredient this year). After chilling to set the ganache, chef Pouget cut a sliver of the cake so that the circle can stand upright on the plate. The dessert was plated with a line of chocolate sauce, a quenelle of chocolate sorbet, and garnished with a spiky caramel almond. Chef Pouget showed us a useful trick of making the caramel almond. Simply insert a toothpick into the almond, dip the almond in caramel, and stick the other end of the toothpick upside-down inside a Styrofoam box. The caramel will drip off from the nut and create an elegant long tail. Chef Laurent Duchene made an entremet of chocolate mousse cake which he showed as part of his chocolate showpiece. It was not nearly as interesting as the previous two demos. Other than the demo, Salon du Chocolat set up an exhibit of some of the past pieces shown in the chocolate fashion show. Here are some of the pieces which I found interesting. Hevin's chocolate guitar A chocolate parasol! A dress made of macarons...the program showed a picture of this piece worn by a model on a runway. It looked much better than on the mannequin. I like the tiny chocolate hearts on the shawl. This piece looked stunning. Of all the pieces, this was my favourite. There were many showpieces displayed around the exhibition hall. Here are some of the more interesting ones: Stilletos and chocolate....what more can a girl ask for? This picture was taken at the Hevin counter. Dalloyau I think the sand was made of chocolate too. Lovely spray colour I like the lines of this seahorse. One of the few showpieces that looked like it would taste good. The intertwining pieces looked so fragile and curvy. The little catapillar looked so whimsical. No chocolate show is complete without free samples. At Salon du Chocolat, there were over a hundred vendor, all tempting the visitors with tasty samples. The exhibition hall was roughly divided into the artisinal area, the big corporate area, the high-end boutiques, and the international area. In the artisinal area, I found the Arnaud Larher booth. I purchased a bottle of his hot chocolate and I'm just waiting for an occasion to drink it. The artisinal area was my favourite part of the whole show because there were many chocolatiers from other areas of France. It may be a long while before I will have a chance to visit those places. So I felt really fortunate to have a chance to taste these excellent chocolate. One of my favourite was the margotin from Les Gourmandises de Coye from Coye La Foret. It won the best praline at the Salon du Chocolat a couple of years back. The chocolatier proudly worn his gold medal around his neck while explaining to customers about his products. My love affair with chestnut continues... A somewhat novelty item. A champagne glass lined with chocolate and filled with chocolate-coated orange peel. In the international area, the Madame Setsuko booth offered interesting chocolate with a heavy Japanese influence (think chocolate wagashi). I was tempted to buy some chocolates from one of the few Japanese chocolatiers. However, remembering that I will travel to Japan later this year, I decided that I can wait. Although the exhibition hall was too crowded, I was really glad that I had the chance to attend a show of this high caliber. Dinner at Chez Denise was a lot of fun. I was seated at the same table with a Spanish couple. The waiter was really friendly and it was just such a nice place to chill after a busy day of chocolate tasting. I had escargot, onglet grillee (carnivore heaven), and baba au rhum (too boozy). The portions were huge but for reasons unknown, I finished everything....must be all the walking.

Oct 30, 2004 After an action-packed Friday, I decided to sleep in a bit for a little R&R. S called early in the morning to let me know she’ll be meeting me at noon. I slept a bit more and was quite refreshed when I went out the door at 10:00. Not wanting to wander too far, I walked over to the Bretueil Saturday market. The selections and the number of stalls were good. There were countless vegetable stands, seafood vendors (love them!), cheesemongers, and chacuteries. In addition, there were pastry and bread vendors, stands specializing in apples, spices, dried fruit, and numerous bulk items. Since I did not eat breakfast, I thought of having a roving buffet breakfeast instead. I started with a bag of 10 chouquettes (cold & a little sticky) and received countless greetings of “Bon Appetit!” as I strolled past different stalls. Wanting to try the Reine de Rennette apples (we don’t get that in Canada), I stopped at the apple stand. However, the apple lady advised me that it was already at the end of the season and recommended the Fuji instead. Although we too have Fuji apples back home, I trusted her opinion (after all, she’s the pro, no?) and was glad for every sweet juicy bite. At one end of the market, a man was selling a huge pan of paella by the kilo. I’m a sucker for paella so I asked for a small 200g portion. I suppose he’s more used to larger orders so I explained that I wanted a small portion for an impromptu picnic. He obliged and even gave me a plastic fork. [Confession time: I carried a small travel-size fork in a plastic case throughout my trip…..just in case I wanted to taste my purchases immediately!] Sitting down at a bench facing Place Breteuil, I slowly enjoyed my unusual breakfast. The rice was not flavourful enough (he warned me that he did not add any salt) but the chorizos and the huge shrimps were excellent. Hurrying back to the flat to meet with S, I couldn’t help but made a detour to Rollet-Pradier upon Dorie Greenspan’s recommendation in Paris Sweets. The store was surprisingly modern. On the ground floor, one side was the pastry section and the other was the savory takeout section. Upstairs was the tea-room. I bought their specialty La Bourgogne for tasting later. The cake is a sandwich of two dacquoise disks with a filling of chestnut buttercream and biscuit. The dacquoise was properly crunchy but I wished the chestnut flavour to be more pronounced though. As it turned out, S was already at the flat when I returned. After some settling down, we went out for lunch at Café Constant. On Thursday, I sat at the ground floor so for a slight change, I requested for a table upstairs this time. It was really lively and cozy. We had the hachi plat du jour and mushroom omelet. The hachi was a casserole of pureed potatoes and cured beef. It was a bit too salty but since the puree was so smooth, it made for a wonderful spread for the bread. The omelet was soft, delicate, and bursting with assorted mushrooms. It was simply wonderful comfort food. Unfortunately, the side salad was salty beyond recognition and I had to give up. We ended the meal with an Ile Flotant. It was a lovely big snowball of meringue (so round!) sitting in a pool of silky crème anglaise with a drizzle of caramel. S only had two bites so I finished the rest with little hesitation. It must be tricky to evenly cook such a large ball of meringue. I must say that it was evenly cook through and through. Do not skip dessert if you dine at any one of Christian Constant’s restaurant in the 7th. After lunch, I took S to Au Bon Marche and the plan was to do some boutique shopping around the 6th. It was a perfect plan because S can check out some Parisian fashion while I can finally go to Pierre Herme. It had been a while since I last shop with another person so it felt quite different. Honestly though, I was too excited about going to Pierre Herme to pay much attention to the beautiful clothes around me. After some poking around, we finally located the store on Rue Bonapart. There was a huge lineup that snaked outside the store on this busy Saturday afternoon but we were both absolutely impressed by the dazzling pastries. As the lineup moved forward, I was first greeted by the entremets (including the legendary Cherry On The Cake), then the mignardise-size pastries, individual-size pastries, and finally the macarons. It was difficult to make a decision, not only because everything looked inviting, but also because I was asked by the store clerk for my orders before I had a chance to take a good look at all the offerings. The store itself was narrow with the left-half being the pastry display case and the right wall shelves lined with chocolates, pate de fruit, weekend cakes, cookies, and viennoisserie. With so many people in the store, unfortunately I did not get a good look at anything other than the pastry case for the immediate decision on hand. One thing that I really like about the new batch of high-end pastry stores in Paris is that none of them uses the traditional sloped chest-height refrigerated display cases. Instead, the display cases often resemble more like the glass-enclosed counters at a jewelry store that come up to belly level. There’s only one level for display but because the counter stretches far longer than a traditional display case, the customers can actually get a much better look at the pastry and it honestly provided for a more dramatic and streamlined look to the store and to showcase the products to their best advantage. Finally, I ordered a Madame Figaro, Mont Blanc A Ma Facon, Emotion Carre Blanc, an Ispahan, and a 21-piece box of gerbet macarons. At the cashier, there were copies of the catalogue so of course I put one in my bag. With the help of the catalogue, here are the detail descriptions of what I ordered (translated to English for copyright concerns) and some of my impression (no, I did not eat all of them immediately….they are included here for clarity’s sake). Madame Figaro (available until Jan 16, 2005): financier biscuit filled with orange and berries, brioche and orange flower water flavour crème brulee French toast, brioche polonaise-style cream, fresh fruit and flower. The flavour combination was complicated but the citrusy floral flavour of the orange flower stood out. Quite pleasant really but I was a little disturbed by the bright orange glaze. Ispahan: rose flavour macaron, rose-petal cream, whole raspberries, and lychees. I’ve heard so much about the Ispahan and it did not disappoint. The flavour combination of lychee and rose was mind-blowing and the textural contrast of the juicy lychee inside the silky rose cream was really sexy (for lack of a better word). Although I’ve already read many detail description of the Ispahan before, what a revelation it was when I finally saw the drop of dew on the rose petal. Genius. Mont-blanc a ma facon: pate sable, eglantines compote, vermicelli of chestnut paste, meringue, and crème chantilly. I was not impressed by this mont-blanc. As much as I enjoy anything made with chestnut, the vermicelli was too dense and tasted too much like crème de marron right out of a jar. Plus, there was not enough meringue and crème chantilly to balance the sweetness of the vermicelli. The eglantines compote was a nice touch though. Emotion Carre Blanc (available starting Aug 24, 2004): individual dessert in a transparent glass, pear and nut gelee, pear and airelles compote, nut biscuit, maple syrup-flavour mascarpone cream. Absolutely delightful. This dessert was complex but everything worked so well together. The mascarpone cream had an unexpectedly nice salty sweet balance not unlike a salted caramel. The biscuit offered a bit a crunch. The compote was fruity and the gelee was barely set. Each component tasted good on its own but when I dug my spoon deep into the glass and get a mixture of everything, that’s when the magic happened. Lovely. The gerbet macarons were uniformly round and have a diameter of approximately 35mm. They are slightly larger than other stores’ but the flavours offered were the most unusual. White Truffle and Hazelnut: very fragrant with white truffle but it was a little weird. Inca (avocado, banana, chocolate ganache): the avocado taste was my first impression. Banana flavour was subtle. Finished off of rich chocolate taste. This was quite enjoyable. Azur: very strong citrusy yuzu taste. It’s nice. Olive Oil and Vanilla: The vanilla taste was the main flavour here but after I finished chewing, the olive oil flavour came through. This was better than I expected. Chesnut and Matcha (green tea): the slight bitterness of the matcha balanced out the sweetness of chestnut quite nicely. Passionfruit and Milk Chocolate: After reading about the passionfruit and chocolate combo previously in a Herme cookbook, I was intrigued to finally taste this combination. It was very fruity and this was one of my favourite flavours. Caramel with Fleur de Sel: Saltier than I expected but I finally understand why salt and caramel is such a popular combination in recent years. Truly excellent. Rose: This was not too memorable and far inferior to Ispahan Chocolate: deep and rich chocolate flavour. Not very special. Coffee: This was one strong punch of coffee flavour. It was so simple yet so….right. All in all, I was not disappointed by my first encounter with the pastry of Pierre Herme and walked away with a lot of inspiration. However, it is interesting to note that in comparison to other pastry stores in Paris, Herme’s products do tend to be on the sweeter side. When I read through the catalogue, I noticed that they also listed Herme’s cookbook. What I found most interesting was the fact that you can request to have the book signed by the man himself. Now that I’m back home, I’m really kicking myself for not getting that. My next stop was Sadaharu Aoki for French pastry with a Japanese influence. The shop was very tiny with a mostly white interior (quite a contrast with the dark colours used at Herme). I only bought a black sesame gerbet macaron. The macaron was noticeably smaller, about 25mm in diameter, but oh so full of the fragrant nutty flavour of black sesame! It was very good indeed. Too bad I did not have a chance to try their green tea millefeuille. That’s really pretty much it for the day….S and I tried to get in L’Atelier de Joel Robouchon but it was an hour wait. Then we walked over to L’Epi Dupin but it was closed on Saturday. We ended up getting takeout from Grande Epicerie to go with the Herme pastry. I had a cold scallop appetizer on a round of slaw. Boy, I love good scallops.

Another day, another class at Lenotre’s pastry school. Unlike the day before, I arrived at Pavillon Elysee today with time to spare. The topic today was Opera cake. One of the main reasons for choosing this class was the variety of different skills this cake involves. Little did I know that I would pick up some many useful tips by the end of the class! Here is a brief summary: • How to make a pliable jaconde: do not overbake. It should only take a little colour. Before the batter goes into the oven, remember to run your thumb against all sides of the pan. This prevents overbaking along the edges. • How to peel the parchment paper from a sheet of jaconde: turn the jaconde upside-down so that the parchment paper faces the ceiling. Put a cooling rack on top of the jaconde and start peeling. As you pull, the cooling rack is slowly moved away by the parchment as well. The weight of the cooling rack is helpful in keeping the jaconde down and prevents tearing. • How to slide a cake layer from the cooling rack to the mould/cake ring. • How to prevent the assembled cake from sticking to the bottom of the mould: paint the bottom of the cake layer with melted chocolate and dust the bottom of the mould with cocoa for good measure. • How to adhere the assembled cake to the cake board: a tiny dab of glucose In addition, it was also good to observe the techniques that chef Francois Schmitt used such as glazing, brushing syrup onto the jaconde using cross strokes, cutting & trimming of the cake, whipping egg whites, and most interesting of all, making a crème anglaise-based buttercream. I was surprised to find how easy it was to make this rich buttercream without the hazzle of cooking a sugar syrup. A crème anglaise was made on the stovetop and whipped until cooled to room temperature. By the time it was cooled, the crème anglaise increased in volume by quite a lot. Simply beat in softened butter and the buttercream would be ready for flavouring. Chef also showed us a trick to soften butter using the microwave. Just simply wrap cold butter in clingfilm, heat in microwave briefly, punch & flatten with hand, and heat more as required. This is a very convenient trick indeed. After class, I considered briefly of staying at Pavillon Elysee for lunch but decided not in the end. Instead, I walked along Champs Elysees to Publicis Drugstore. I was a little disappointed by its limited selection but it was an interesting retail concept. I decided that I had to seek out BE boulangepicerie at long last. After a long walk, I finally found the place. It is located in a somewhat business area and I did not find too many tourists on my way over. I chose to eat at the sit-down area (they have a different menu than the take-out) and ordered a club sandwich. The sandwich came in an elegant and simple stack of four rectangular sandwiches in a vertical stack, impaled with a long skewer. There was also a side of undressed curly endive and tiny slivers of sundried tomatoes. Two of the sandwiches were toasted crustless pain de mie filled with curry mayonnaise, bacon, and hard-boiled eggs. I preferred the second sandwich better with its filling of a tomato-based spread and chicken coldcut. Although the mayonnaise was good, it was too rich for my taste. Impressed by the club sandwich, I got a mushroom veloute and a fig blancmanger for dinner as well. Armed with a bag-full of food (don’t forget my Opera cake from class), I returned to the flat before heading out to Les Halles for some shopping. My first stop was E. Dehillerin and found myself wanting very few things from the store. Although I would have like to purchase a set of individual-size tart rings, I wasn’t entirely convinced of its good value so I got things that would be difficult to purchase back home instead. I walked out with a St Honore tip and a bird-nest tip for making the vermicelli in Mont Blanc. When I asked the shopkeepers about the electronic thermometers (like the Matfer one we used in class), he informed me that a good one would cost at least 150€ so they only carry the traditional glass models now. My next scheduled stop was G. Detou but I made a detour to La Bovida. I loved all the takeout disposable containers very much but since I was not sure they were at a good price, I passed. At G. Detou, I wanted to get a can of pistachio paste and when I saw the cases of marron glaces (1kg for 19.95€), I couldn’t resist. With only a few minutes until store closing time, I stopped at A. Simon and finally bought a traditional candy thermometer despite the Celcius-only marking. I really like the metal cage design around the glass tube. It beats anything I could find back home. With the stores around me closing up for the day, I dashed over to a store specializing in uniforms, hoping to get a nice-looking chef jacket for L back home. At the store, the shopkeeper showed me the very limited selection for women chef jackets. Unfortunately, none of the available ones were to my liking (not exactly nice enough for a gift). Could this possibly be a reflection on the lack of women in the upper echelon of the kitchen? Now that I’ve made all my mandatory stops, I decided to wander a bit in the neighbourhood before taking a rest for the night skate. I loved all the nice little boutiques in the Les Halles area and made a reservation at Chez Denise for the next Monday. By this time, I really must return to the flat for dinner. The mushroom veloute was delightful with a smooth texture and a subtle earthy taste of mushrooms. The blancmanger was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting a jiggly panna-cotta but was greeted by an almost bavarois-like texture instead. The almond flavour complemented wonderfully with the fresh figs and poached pears. You know how at the end of a long day of activities, it’s hard to bring yourself out of the comfort of your couch and head out the door again? Well, this was exactly how I felt before getting out for the famous Friday Night Inline Skate. With a little trepidation, I followed other fellow skaters to the meeting point at Montparnasse Bienvenue. I was really impressed by how some skaters were comfortable navigating around the metro on their inline skates! I emerged from the subterranean to find myself surrounded by the largest crowd on skates EVER. There were people in Halloween costumes, people with boombox strapped to their back, people with flashing lights on their wheels, and best of all, a person with a customized backpack with music blasting and lights flashing. I quickly changed into my skates and moved carefully towards the middle of the pack. Before I realized it, we started moving forward. What a thrill it was! It felt at the same time like a carnival, a marathon, a party, and a pack of juvenile delinquents about to descent upon the city of lights. Police on skates as well as volunteers were blocking off traffic and pedestrians so we could tear our ways through the streets. Onlookers from building balconies were cheering us on. People at the side of the streets were giving us high-fives. It was unlike absolutely anything else I’ve done before. Experiencing the city while sceneries were flying by was liberating to say the least. Getting to know Bastille by my dislike of its cobblestone surface was a totally unexpected encounter. Of course, crossing the Seine while taking a hurried sideway glimpse in fear of tripping on potholes was also priceless. By the time we arrived at the Republique, it was already past eleven. Hoping to return home in time for the last metro, I decided to call it a night and found my way back from a strange neighbourhood. This is definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

Oct 27, 2004 The day started slow. I thought there’s a market at Pont d’Alma so I headed that direction after a quick breakfast of more pain Poilane, butter, and Swissdelice vanilla yoghurt with vanilla beans (I simply love the choice of yoghurt in Europe!). Unfortunately, I didn’t find the market so I headed over to Anne-Marie Cantin fromagerie on rue Champs de Mar for some cheese instead. While I was strolling by rue Cler, I decided to finally give those golden translucent grapes a try. At the cheese store, I was excited to find vacherin available. They were only available in large wedges though. Considering that I didn’t want to eat the same cheese until the end of my vacation, I got a half round of Camembert and a thin block of Comte instead. Realizing that it was almost time to leave for lunch at Pierre Gagnaire, I quickly dropped off my groceries at the flat and took the metro to Etoile. The restaurant was easy to find and was a quick walk from the station. They sat me at a table in a little nook with a good view of the whole dining room. I eagerly started to read the menu and regretted that I did not bring my dictionary. It was the height of autumn (i.e. game season) but I didn’t recognize many of the vocabulary. Along with the carte, there were also a lunch set menu (90 €) and the tasting menu (225 €). I had my heart set on trying the langoustine starter and the turbot main course so decision was easy indeed. While I was perusing the menu, the pre-amuse arrived. I included a score out of 10 indicating how much I enjoyed the dish. These are the notes I made immediately after the meal but since I did not have the menu in front of me, they are only as accurate as my memory goes. Crunchy Foie Gras Ball A ball of foie gras skewered on toothpick coated and deep fried to have a crunchy exterior and creamy interior. Love the textural contrast. [8/10] Fromage Frais Canape Square of thin pastry topped with fromage frais and half a blackberry. [6/10] Mushroom Pate A spoon of mushroom pate served with a bread stick and a square of nori. [7/10] Crunchy Stuff A savory tuile topped with some kind of seeds and folded in half like a taco. A dried veggie puree stick. Both stuck in a cup of bread crumbs. I did not understand this and I made a mess of the crumbs. [4/10] Shortly after I ordered, the dining room started filling up. Before I knew it, the amuse-bouche arrived. Oeuf Mayonnaise (?) Half of a poached egg yolk rested on top of a mound of soba noodles in a pool of foamed mayonnaise. Chopped egg whites sit in a pile on the lip of the bowl. This was one of the highlights of the meal. The yolk was addictively gelatinous which complemented perfectly the texture of the mayo. [10/10] Grilled Eggplant A roll of grilled eggplant topped with a round of sausage and a triangle of daikon. Topped with dressed bitter greens. The roll stood in a pool of creamy yellow sauce. The eggplant was very flavourful. In fact, so much so that I had trouble deciding whether it was over-salted or just flavourful. I liked the peppery taste of the greens though. [7/10] Fromage Frais with Apple Ice The famous magnetic coffee cup held not too dense fromage frais topped with green apple granite. Excellent flavour combination. [8/10] Beef Tartare A deep bowl of tiny cubes of beef, lardon, onions, capers. Topped with a lacy tuile of crunchy baked parmesan cheese. The cheese tuile was expectedly salty and crunchy. I was surprised to find it so greasy though. My mouth was so coated with grease that I suspected it prevented me from enjoying the tartare as much as I should. I liked the texture of the tartare. [7/10] Grilled Sardine A tiny sardine filled with some pate on top of julienned leafy veggie. Tasted good but lacking in sardine flavour. [7/10] One of the important things to me at this meal was to cleanse my palate between each dish. By the end of the amuse-bouche, I had already tasted 9 different dishes. An overwhelming thought was taste-sensory overload. Even with a tasting menu at any other restaurant, I doubt that I will try this many different flavour combination in such a short time. The langoustine entrée arrived with five different preparations: Tartare This dish was a revelation. I never imagine that the sweet flesh of langoustine would go so well with slushy apple sauce. The tartness of the fruit brought out the sweetness of the langoustine in the best possible way. [10/10] Poached Poached langoustine sat in a steamed egg white and topped with a creamy foamy yellow sauce. The langoustine was poached so gently that it rivaled the smooth texture of the steamed whites. I found the sauce too rich in retrospect though. [9/10] Bouillon I had high hopes for this dish because I thought the broth would be like a concentration of the langoustine flavour. The jellied bouillon was flavourful indeed especially with the dollop of carrot puree. However, the langoustine flavour was subtle. [8/10] Pan-Fried Langoustine tail rubbed with a spice mixture and pan fried. Served with mache and dressed bean sprouts in a demi-tasse. My first impression was loving every bite of it. The langoustine maintained its wonderfully juicy texture. As I gave more thought to it, I understood why I liked it so much. It reminded me of the stir-fried lobsters popular at Cantonese seafood restaurants. [9/10] Grilled Two skewers of langoustine were grilled and served with a lime/balsamic vinaigrette. The tartness of the sauce was just right to highlight the smokiness of the langoustine. [9/10] At the end of the entrée, I felt that it was worth every euro of its 110€ price tag. Before I had enough time to savour the décor of the dining room, the main dish arrived. Steamed Turbot Filet This dish was served with great fanfare. It arrived covered in a ceramic dome. Once opened, the waiter spooned the sauce over the filet. The sauce was filled with black peppercorn and other spices. I was curious to find that the filets rested on top of a ceramic steamer. Wouldn’t the sauce drain to the bottom? Questions aside, the filet was nice but a little overcooked for my taste. The sauce was, for lack of a better word, intriguing. Every bite offered a different flavour. [8/10] Turbot with Mango In a separate bowl lied a mound of turbot pieces and mango cubes. I thought it came from the really tender part of the fish just under the fins. Although this dish was not a ceviche, the lime juice and the mango combined gave it a very tropical flavour. A nice counterpoint to the steamed filet. [9/10] Braised Lettuce with Turbot Skin Just when I thought that the third preparation had yet to arrive, a waiter appeared and deftly removed the steam rack to reveal a mound of lettuce below the now-consumed filet. The juice of the steamed filet drained to the lettuce and turbot skins. This was absolutely genius. The lettuce was expectedly flavourful but the fish skin was a little mushy. Sort of like yabu for some strange reason. [7/10] By this time I was quite full. The waiter came by with dessert selections: Les Grands Desserts or soufflé (choice of chocolate, caramel, or vanilla). I couldn’t pass up the chance to sample Les Grands Desserts since it was the reason that I made the reservation in the first place. With a change of cutlery and napkin (who knew that I need a smaller napkin for dessert course?) and finally clearing those pesky crumbs from the pre-amuse, the mignardise arrived first: Cashew praline with crème anglaise excellent. The slight bitterness of the caramel worked well with cashews. Properly crunchy. [9/10] Raspberry Coulis in White Chocolate Tube A fresh raspberry rolled in sugar topped this mini shooter of raspberry sauce. Love the tartness of the raspberry coulis. It was like the essence of raspberry in a bite. [10/10] Candied Orange Peel A small cube of candied orange peel was adhered to a disk of isomalt with a dab of almond paste. It didn’t do anything for me. [6/10] Dark Chocolate Tube Filled with Ganache The ganache was properly smooth and slightly fruity. This was good but nothing extraordinary. [8/10] Sable with Red Currents A matchstick of sable was topped with red currents and black seeds. It looked visually stunning (very geometric) but the taste didn’t stand out. [7/10] Pear Puree A ball of pear puree sat on a spoon and topped with a square of crunchy green sugar. It looked very interesting but I didn’t particularly like the taste. [5/10] So far, this meal felt like a rollercoaster ride and I was coming to the last stretch. Being a part-time student in pastry, I was really anticipating the dessert course and hoped to discover some unusually flavour combinations. Eight courses of dessert followed. Baba Au Rhum A shallow wide brim bowl arrived with a puddle of wine gelee (infused with ginger and other spices) in the middle. On the brim of the bowl, a dollop of thickened crème anglaise adhered one ball of baba and a tiny mushroom cap topped with half of a candied kumquat. I was totally stumped by the mushroom (although it was a nice container for the kumquat). The baba was good but the wine gelee was marvelous. I loved the flavour and the barely set texture. [9/10] Ice-cream I couldn’t figure out the flavour and my listening skills failed me. A quenelle of ice-cream was surrounded by a ring of candied lemon. There was a piece of bright red poached fruit underneath the quenelle and it was garnished with a flower that held many dark crunchy bits. I told you my taste buds were confused. [7/10] Raspberry Soup Nicely tart raspberry coulis with floating pieces of figs and raspberries artfully arranged. In the middle was a strip of almond paste in cream and pink colour. I found the almond paste too sweet for the rest of this dish and I thought the raspberry shooter in the mignardise was far superior. [7/10] Cassis Sorbet A quenelle of blackcurrant sorbet sat on top of blackcurrant compote. Garnished with purple meringue sticks and candied carrots. I did not enjoy this dish at all unfortunately because I was too full to enjoy the tartness of the blackcurrant. [4/10] Pineapple Cake This was a tiny square of a jewel. An almond based cake soaked with pineapple poaching syrup was topped with poached pineapple, pineapple mousse, and a super thin toasted meringue. [8/10] Grapefruit Sorbet with Caramel Foam In a cone-shaped glass, candied grapefruit peel were topped with grapefruit sorbet, caramel foam, and garnished with what tasted like a flattened palmier. The caramel taste in the cookie was excellent but I hated the candied peel. It clashed with everything else in the dish because of its cloying sweetness and it was a dish that I did not enjoy at all. [3/10] Chocolate and Caramel A cylinder of chocolate was filled with chantilly cream and topped with a square of chocolate praline and two pecan enrobed with caramel. This dish was garnished with caramel sauce. After the last disappointing dish, I was convinced that I must be too full to enjoy anything else. I was wrong. This was absolutely my favourite dessert (I prefer fruit over chocolate/caramel in general) because of the wonderful flavour and texture contrast. The pecan was crunchy and sweet with a slight hint of bitterness. The chocolate square was heavenly good although I could not identify it. The cylinder was thin as a piece of paper and shattered like glass. The chantilly was creamy and highlighted the fine chocolate. [10/10] Hazelnut Passionfruit A quenelle of hazelnut cream was served with a puff pastry roll filled with passionfruit pulp and a tuile roll filled with cream. The dish was garnished with three strings of candied angelica. A cube of passionfruit gelee sat on the brim of the bowl. The richness of the hazelnut cream tasted a little greasy but all other opponents of the dish tasted good by themselves. I wasn’t quite sure they worked well together. [7/10] When I was lingering over an after-meal espresso, the waiter ceremoniously brought out a two tier wooden case from the cave. Turned out, it contained pieces of chocolate lined up neatly like jewels. I had a piece of dark chocolate & whisky and a piece of milk chocolate & vanilla. Both were good. The coffee and tea service was quite something too. When I asked for an espresso, they offered a Blue Mountain as well as a Jamaican blend that is stronger. At one side of the dining room, a cart held a few tea sets appropriate for each kind of tea served. After such a luxurious meal, I took a leisurely stroll around the 8th. As the night approached, I decided to get something for dinner. Brief stops at Hediard, Fauchon, and Laduree brought together a simple and good-tasting meal that I enjoyed back at the flat. Baguette (Kayser, purchased at Hediard) This baguette had nice crust and open crumbs. The inside was a shade of pale cream colour. It tasted very good with the Camembert. Camembert and Comte (Marie-Anne Cantin) The Camembert stank but it tasted so creamy and rich! I liked the Comte with toasted pain Poilane too. Macaron Pomme Caramel (Laduree) An individual-size macaron that sandwiched caramel sauce, caramel cream, and slices of baked apple. I wished the apples were more juicy but the caramel tasted good. Passion (Fauchon) Two layers of genoise sandwiched a thick layer of cream and fresh red fruits. This looked better than it tasted. Strawberry Marshmallow (Laduree) Finally I understand what the big deal is with marshmallows. The strawberry marshmallow from Laduree was fragrant and bursting with strawberry flavour. The candy was soft and airy like a little pink pillow. Fabulous.

Oct 25, 2004 After a bit of freshening up at the rental apartment, I started a leisurely walk from the 7th to Au Bon Marche in the 6th along rue de Grenelle. Upon arriving at the department store, I first looked for delicabar. The delicabar is a stylish café in a courtyard surrounded by the women fashion department. The entrance opens up to a long bar with a glass tabletop showcasing all the sweet and savory goodies like precious pieces of jewels. The menu was a little confusing at first with sweet and savory intertwining among each other. Turned out the format made sense in its own way—each method of preparation (e.g. bubble) is presented with both savory (carrot bubble) and sweet (mango bubble). These were what I ordered: Hot Chocolat (delicabar) Different than the Laduree variety, this cup of hot chocolate is a little foamy, a bit more grainy (not in a bad way), and deeply chocolaty. I find the airiness quite a nice contrast with the typical silky thick concoction. Serrano Ham & Griotte Open-Faced Sandwich (delicabar) A simple tartine of thinly-sliced toasted bread, a pile of sliced ham, griotte jam, and a huge curl of butter. I especially liked the sweetness of the griotte jam with the saltiness of the ham. Mango Bubble (delicabar) A half sphere of airy mango mousse filled with Earl-Grey tea cream centre on a round of sable. The lightness of the mousse was just right and I liked the flavour combo of tea and mango. The sable was too tough though. With a full stomach, I was ready for La Grande Epicerie (I always believed food shopping on an empty stomach is cause for impulse purchases). The pastry display case occupied a prominent spot at the entrance and it naturally drew every shopper’s attention. They have a signature cake that looks like a variation on the Herme's Cherry On The Cake. The cake is a cube of raspberry and pistachio layers with a removable chocolate case imprinted with the word “cake” in various languages. I walked out of the store with jars of Christine Ferber jam and many dairy products which would serve as breakfast for days to come. My next stop was La Maison du Chocolat on rue de Sevres. I got a small box of assorted dark chocolates as well as a Florentine. The Florentine was fragrant with the aroma of orange zest and properly crunchy. Of course, the dark chocolate complements the sweetness. So this is what a Florentine suppose to be (you don’t want to hear about my failed attempts). As I would realize later on, this was the first of many revelations during this trip. Poilane on Cherche-Midi was my next destination. There was a small line outside the shop but no matter. I lined up and bought a few slices of the famous sourdough and of course I didn’t miss out on a little sample of punition. Unfortunately, my knowledge on bread is very limited so I can’t really tell how well the bread was made. All I can say is I enjoyed the bread very much. The punition was buttery through and through. Dinner was a simple affair of steak tartare in Café Champs de Mar back in the 7th. Simple and satisfying.

How about.... crush and fold into ice-cream or lemon sorbet grind to powder in food processor and fold into mousse These candies are like the centre of the Cadbury Crunchie candy bars. One of my favourtie candy bars.

The great mystery is solved! According to chef Francois Schmitt at Lenotre's Ecole de Cuisine & de Patisserie, the pros use a special plastic sheet mold to form the macarre. Each sheet is covered with many shallow (5mm) "squares". See diagram. When the macarre bakes up, it will puff up and expand to a square. To pipe a macarree freehand, simply use a no 7 tip and pipe three parallel rows of 3 cm slightly apart. The batter will fill out the groove when baked.

Thank you all for your informative replies.

I have a few questions about ordering aperitifs at fancy restaurants. I will be dining at a couple of 3-star and 2-star restaurants in my upcoming trip to Paris. I like my kir as much as anybody but downing alcoholic drinks on an empty stomach really doesn't agree with me. What are some non-alcoholic aperitifs that I can choose from and which would not seem out of place? Your help will be much appreciated!

This is a little off-topic but I have also just completed 350 macaron wedding favors last weekend. Not trying to be a show-off but here are a couple of pictures for your viewing pleasure: The macarons are filled with chocolate ganache and each measures 5cm diameter. Slightly larger than what I would normally make but they fit the silver basket perfectly. I'm still amaze that I finished this on time! Back on topic of macarre: I will register for the half day macaron class at Lenotre in late October. Perhaps I can ask the instructor?

How about raspberry clafoutis? Just take your favourite clafoutis recipe and replace the cherries with raspberries.

I run into this situation quite often too. Angel food cake is an obvious answer (12 egg whites per cake) but I'm honestly not a fan. However, RLB's Chocolate Angel Food Cake from The Cake Bible does not taste sugary like most other angel food cake recipes that I tried. Macaroon or macaron are both good candidates to use up excessive egg whites as are meringue dried in a low oven overnight. My recent favourite though is financier. Love the recipe in Dorie Greenspan's Paris Sweets. One recipe uses 6 egg whites and the recipe can be doubled easily.

I personally prefer lemon cream with blueberries. Love the recipe from Dessert by Pierre Herme.

In Northern Chinese and Taiwainese cooking, shelled edamame is sauted with a particular type of pickled vegetable, garlic, and/or bamboo shoot. The dish can be served hot or chilled. One of my favourite dishes.

It is out of the way, but the farmer's market at Square One (Sunday only) is the one that I routinely visit. Great selection of fruits and vegetables from 10-20 vendors (depends on the time of year). Two cheesemongers, two carts with sausages and smoked meat, one vendor selling eggs and poultry.

About the mini ice-cream kebab: I was actually going to ask if the facility has waitstaff passing finger food around. If they do, the ice-cream kebab could work because only a small batch goes out at a given time. Otherwise, it will not be feasible for a grazing buffet. Turns out I will have some mini ramekins at my disposal. The remekin is about 1.5" diameter so it will be perfect for a two-bite creme brulee. Not exactly original but the ramekins look so cute that it may even be a little unexpected. Since it will be middle of summer, some kind of fruit soup in a shot glass with a tiny quenelle of cream on top may be quite refreshing. The Gateau Basque from Francois Payard's cookbook tastes marvellous. It is an almond cake flavoured with vanilla and dark rum, filled with pastry cream and fresh cherries. When baked, the pastry cream makes the cake really moist and the cherries turn jammy. One of my favourite weekend cakes. I can probably make them in mini muffin size. Not elegant but tastes so good.

Wendy, I have to plan for a cocktail party for 100 serving mini-pastries too. What a timely thread! I don't have lots of original ideas yet but here are some of the things that I'm considering: - gerbet macaron in different colour - mini balls of ice-cream on skewers (I remember you said before that people like food on sticks ). - poached fruit or fruit salad in tuile cup - mini tarts (choco mousse with one brandied cherry inside) - I want to serve cake but the only thing I can think of is mini-cupcakes so may be not - meringue nests fill with lemon curd and a dot of blueberry compote - florentine

Wendy, what is the title of the Herme professional books you referred to? Is it translated to english?

I82Much, the chocolate that you bought contains 55% cocoa solids. It tastes significantly sweeter than the 85% Excellence that chromedome posted. Personally, I find the 85% Excellence and the 70% Excellence behave very differently when I use them to make ganache. I normally avoid using this 55% chocolate bar for ganache. Instead, I prefer to coarsely chop it and use the chocolate chunks for baking cookies.

What kind of qualities should I look for in an excellent financier? I've tried a number of recipes and there are some significant differences: - melted butter vs. beurre noisette (for the flavour, I suppose) - stir everything with egg whites vs. cook egg whites with almond and sugar until hot to touch then stir in flour and butter (what is the purpose of heating the whites with almond and sugar?) - toasted almonds or not (again, for the flavour) - to rest or not to rest? I baked some financiers over the weekend. Inspired by Neil's suggestion, I made one recipe with almond and another with hazelnut. I was pleasantly surprised by the hazelnut version. This may be a little over the top, but I think I'll put a little dab of Nutella in the middle of the batter next time so I'll have double hazelnut financier! I used the recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Paris Sweets.

I've recently made this recipe. The recipe recommends to serve this cake with Ginger Ice Cream or Caramel Blood Oranges. I enjoyed mine with softly whipped cream and chopped crytallized ginger. This cake rises a lot during baking. I speculate that adding the baking soda to the stout and molasses is to "defizz" the stout. Otherwise the batter would absolutely overflow during baking.

Thanks Lesley for the gelatin conversion. In the Gordon Ramsay Just Dessert book, he assumed 4 sheets=11g so this is what I assumed too. I suppose there is probably difference in gelatine standards between North America and UK. Ted, I used powdered gelatine because I did not have any leaf gelatine on hand. However, I did weight, bloom, and scrape every last bit so I don't think that's the reason the end product did not set properly. I think I'll give the recipe another try with leaf gelatine. Here is a picture of what I ended up doing for the chocolate tasting plate. From left to right: 1. white chocolate espresso mousse tart 2. cold hot chocolate 3. malted milk chocolate tart This is the first time that I design a tasting plate. I try to play around with using white, dark, and milk chocolate for each component. Having two tarts is probably not the best idea of providing textural contrast. However, I really like the white-on-black versus the black-on-white visual contrast. Given a number of restrictions including limited access to fridge, no freezer (i.e. no ice-cream), no oven/stove, and sturdy enough to withstand travelling (I have to deliver the components and assemble on-site), I am really proud of my first attempt. To be honest, I enjoyed this whole creation process very very much. It's fascinating how I started off with one idea and evolved to another.