Chocolate & Zucchini

The publishing house behind the French Régal is Uni Editions, and you can get a subscription here: http://www.dossierfamilial.com/boutique/in...?boutique=regal . Because it's in French only, here's the lowdown: the rates are 19 euros for a year (6 issues) if you're in France, 27.16 euros if you're abroad. In the latter case, you can't subscribe online, but you can call them for instructions at +33 (0)1 43 23 45 72. Clotilde.

I find that most Parisians (at least those to whom I've had the opportunity to faire la bise) start by leaning to the left so the right cheeks touch first. And two kisses, definitely two. About air-kissing, I would like to add this: it will look ridiculous and chichi and hypocritical if you overdo it and don't even touch cheeks with the other person, but you are not supposed to kiss the person's cheek full on, either, unless it is a very good friend and you want to express your affection. To me, la bise is more a brushing of the cheeks than an exchange of actual kisses. (And this is especially important if you're wearing a fresh coating of lipstick.) I've also noticed in recent years that it has become more and more common to reach up and place a hand on the other person's upper arm (same side, just below the shoulder), as you kiss him/her, even if it's someone you're just getting introduced to. And I second Ptipois's note on men bise-ing each other, although I've only seen it done in a context of friendship, and never on a first encounter. Clotilde.

Hi all, I'm doing a little research on cheese shops in Paris (see compendium here, by the way) and I'm a bit confused when it comes to the Dubois name. Older references talk about an Alain Dubois with cheese shops at 80 rue de Tocqueville and 79 rue de Courcelles. But the 2007 Guide des Gourmands awards a Coq d'Or to Martine Dubois (Alain's wife? daughter?), mentions the Tocqueville location only, and praises her "for her courage" in addition to her talent. Does anyone know what happened to/with Alain? I hope this doesn't come out the wrong way -- I'm not hoping for a crunchy bit of gossip, I would just like to understand who owns and operates the cheese shop now! (FYI, and from what I understand, Laurent Dubois, who's a Meilleur Ouvrier de France and has his cheese shop in the 15th at 2 rue de Lourmel, is Martine's nephew.) Thanks for any info you can share! Clotilde.

Don't know how deafening this will be, but I liked the numbers too...

I am sorry to confirm that Claude Deloffre is indeed closing her shop -- it seems selling books isn't much of a business these days (unless you're la Fnac of course). As for the Kitchen Duets (one Brit + one French chef, each cooking their own interpretation of the same dish), they will be held at Selfridges, in London. Clotilde.

It has been my experience that Secco is much stronger on pastries than on bread and viennoiseries... Clotilde.

The photo does seem recent enough.

I don't know all the details, but I believe there was a lawsuit between Jean-Luc Poujauran and Stéphane Secco: something about Secco buying the bakery *and* the name, thus preventing Poujauran from using his name in a business context. The court ruled in favor of Poujauran (the whole thing lasted for years and was resolved in late 2005 / early 2006), who can now use his name for his wholesale activities, but apparently Secco can still use it on the storefront of the bakery. Unless, of course, that is the subject of another lawsuit. Bottom line is: the bread sold to individuals on rue Jean Nicot is Secco's, not Poujauran's. But Poujauran has a lab on rue Jean Nicot (right next door to his old boulangerie) and the bread he makes there is sold to restaurants. I hear he also makes a fine galette des rois that one can order in bulk (01 47 05 80 88) for l'Epiphanie. Clotilde.

For physalis (they used to be a popular garnish for desserts, but they seem to be a bit passé now, don't they?), I've heard the terms ground cherry, cape gooseberry, husk tomato, or love in a cage. Not sure if those terms are actually used by anyone.

I've just found this, which seems to contain more recent reviews: http://www.parispremierevod.fr/cms/display.jsp?id=p2_324253 (Note: They ask that you install stuff and I personally haven't been able to make it work -- I use Firefox on a Mac, it's not like it's an unusual configuration, but don't get me started -- but I'm guessing it should work on a PC with Internet Explorer.) Clotilde.

Perhaps we could start a "bring zurban back to the people" petition? Bethala and mzimbeck - Thanks for the kind words!

I have read that Hachette is considering creating a web-based equivalent to Zurban, or shifting the focus of Pariscope to make it a little more like Zurban in terms of content. I'm not sure they'll have the budget for either of these projects, but it would be nice if they did. Other than that, there's the free weekly A Nous Paris in the metro on Mondays or Tuesdays. Not as good as Zurban, and not as good as it used to be, but they do mention events, restaurants, etc. (And John Talbott usually includes these restaurant reviews in his digest.) Clotilde.