Ptipois

Dehillerin has — superficially — suffered from its international success though professionals still rely on the place. But now that online shopping for high quality cookware has developed, a growing part of Dehillerin's business (I notice that at each visit) is done with foreign visitors, some of them extremely uninformed and just there for the "couleur locale", and the vendors have to cater to them as nicely as they can (to be fair, they do take them for a little ride occasionally). But I wrote "superficially" because they have managed to preserve the shop's professionalism and outstanding products, even if these are not the ones on immediate display. The cookware in the dark basement is still some of the best one can buy in France.

Pennylane Failing the proper galetière or bilig, the large round iron griddle placed on a strong gas flame, seasoned with years of galette-making; or at any rate a comal, which reproduces the same cooking conditions; but above all the know-how and tour de main of a Breton granny or even of a younger trained person, it is already difficult to produce good galettes. Don't be obsessed with the "true traditional recipe" because, supposing that it really exists (I doubt it, as usual everyone has different tricks and recipes) you would never be able to duplicate it in different conditions than the ones above, not to mention the quality of the flour, water, butter and even air (important for fermentation). One of the secrets, which is not one, is the raclette, the small wooden item used for spreading the batter onto the bilig. Do you use this? it has to be drawn in a circular gesture all over the bilig until you get a very thin, regular pancake. You do not let the batter spread itself, that would produce thick pancakes. Do not concentrate too much on the pictures you find on the Internet. The holes are due to a slight fermentation of the batter, and this is achieved by letting it rest for a while. You can help the process by replacing some of the water by beer. But your photo 4 is likely to mislead you because it is not a Breton galette. It is a Belgian pancake and it is clearly highly fermented. That's far too many holes as Breton galettes go. Secondly, the holes are a result of adding the batter to a very very hot griddle; but there's really some fermentation involved. Also, given the unreliability of commercial buckwheat flours nowadays, do use the trick of mixing a little wheat flour into the buckwheat flour. This is often done in a traditional context. Your galettes have to be thin, lacy and, especially, crispy kraz. The crispness is only achieved through reheating the galette on the bilig with a lot of butter or adding more butter once you add the garnish to the galette. The holes help the crispness because they let the butter seep through and permeate the batter. Re-read my instructions in my previous post while I'll try and dig out a good recipe from a book.

My favorite poster ever was for a "choucroute dansante" in Vonnas (and no, it wasn't served at Georges Blanc's). I did not manage to take a picture of that one.

Just give me a little time to lay my hands on that recipe and I'll post it here. I think there is no substitute for stockfish. Good-quality stockfish is based on dried cod or sometimes haddock; lower-quality stockfish is the dried ling I can find in Paris, in the African market streets like Château-Rouge. For one thing, do not use salt cod, it is a totally different product. Last night we drove to Aumont-Aubrac through the Aubrac, past Michel Bras' spaceship, and dined at a great little hotel-restaurant. A superior aligot was served along the filet de bœuf in a small silver tureen. Mmmmm.

Dave, in this truffade we had yesterday (yum), the potatoes were not paper-thin. Sort of 2-3 millimeters thick. I didn't see my friend slicing them so I do not know whether he used a mandolin or just a knife. He has both and may very well have used either. About estofinado: it is a highly refined type of brandade from Rouergue, and quite a different matter than our two cherished dishes aligot and truffade, since it is made particularly tricky by the use of stockfish. Stockfish has to be soaked for one week, then boiled. I do have a recipe for estofinado, but I hesitate to give it here because of the stockfish obstacle. Basically it is soaked, boiled and shredded stockfish, pounded to a paste with mashed potatoes, garlic, eggs and lots of walnut oil. Eggs are added at two stages: chopped and hard-boiled after pounding, and then raw, just before the final addition of hot walnut oil which cooks them. Sounds unbelievably delicious.

Here's an update on our aligot topic; as I am now spending a week in Cantal, today I had the opportunity to taste a terrific truffade prepared for lunch by my host, a food writer and historian who is originally from this region. You can see this truffade below and its description here. Truffade is a cousin of aligot; it is based on similar ingredients: potatoes and tomme blanche. A precision on tomme blanche: it is the earliest stage of Cantal cheese, precisely it is "day-old curds". The tomme that was used for today's dish was fresh and springy, with the delicate creaminess that comes with freshness and the typical sour taste that comes with that kind of cheese. For truffade, potatoes are thinly sliced (in the burons — the old cheese farms of long ago, up in the mountains), cowherds used to have potato slicing competitions (the champion was the one who could make the thinnest slices). They are then pan-seared with aged, slightly rancid fat bacon, covered and stewed until a golden crust forms at the bottom of the pan. Then the potatoes are stirred with half their weight in tomme cut into small squares. When everything is well mixed, the contents of the pan are left on low heat until a golden and crispy cheese crust forms under the potatoes. The truffade is then ready to eat with a salad and perhaps a bit of ham. There is another version of truffade which is made in the oven, and another one that is similar to the one I just described, but the potatoes are boiled before being pan-fried. Let us go back to our aligot: here is a good example of the survival of culinary traditions through social celebrations.

Was I the only one who thought Alexandre Planchais' incredible baguette (rated 8) was far above the lot? It is a type of crisp and airy, slightly sourish bread that one used to find in the Western regions of France back in the 60s, and which I thought had completely disappeared since. I was desperate to find that bread again and I was amazed to find that it still existed (and in Paris too). I chose this one because, strictly speaking, it is the real traditional baguette. However delicious they are, "baguettes de tradition française" are now made according to contemporary criteria and do not reproduce the "old" taste and texture. They are rather a modern interpretation of what good bread should be like. Which doesn't make them any less good, but if you want to have an idea of what country baguette used to taste like before the days of industrialized bakery, this is what you shoudl try. Edited by John Talbott only to add link.

Chuao chocolate from Venezuela has earned a big reputation because of its rarity. The Chuao bar by Bonnat is really excellent and has many things one could expect from dark chocolate, so it is understandably successful. However, when comparing with other chocolates, I don't think it has such a great personality and I suspect there is some hype involved in its fast selling-out. I had the same impression last Winter when tasting a bar of Pierre Marcolini's porcelana (made from some of the rarest beans in the world). I was very underwhelmed. The only chocolates that really knocked me off my chair recently were neither the rarest nor the most expensive: Sao Tomé PO by Hévin and most of what Maison du Chocolat and Mr. Chaudun make.

Thanks, but finding it at Lafayette Gourmet doesn't mean it is readily available (it is not at La Grande Epicerie for instance). Pralus has surfaced somehow in recent years but it is still one of the more confidential brands.

Mmm...enjoy! Hours of entertainment for folks who are concerned about this stuff. ← This description strikes me as being quite valid for things that some people consider perfectly edible. Like natto, sürströmming, ripe époisses. Where you draw the line of inedibility may be part of the question.

Braden, When you shop at Tang there are not that many foodstuffs that actually come from China. Fresh herbs are grown in France or flown in from Thailand, as are many of the fruit and vegetables. Lots of stuff (rice sticks, vermicelli, dried noodles, fish sauces, oyster sauce, etc.) come from Thailand of Vietnam. Fresh noodles (wheat or rice), wonton wrappers are made in France, as are fermented pork products like nem chua, and Chinese or Thai-style sausages. How wrong can you go with a package of dried noodles anyway? As soy sauces go, I never heard any bad things about the ever-present Pearl River Bridge but there is also lots of Kikkoman which I prefer for cooking anyway. Most of the other things I buy from the big Asian stores in the 13e are, anyway, so full of salt, sugar, vinegar, chilli, spices, or already fermented to such a point that (IMO) I buy them without any concern. I never heard of the US media scare you're mentioning and hearing about it probably won't change the way I shop. I too tend to believe that the problem is much bigger than China and there's politics involved. For one thing the French media are regularly bringing up horrible stories about hygiene in Chinese restaurants; not that I want to generalize but I don't buy that anymore because I've been through a few kitchens, Chinese or not, and — to give only one example — it would be a good thing if some kitchens of the Costes group were as clean as some Chinese kitchens I've seen in Paris. But for some reason the Chinese kitchens always get the media exposure, and the Costes' never do.

When I got the info from Pascal Le Gac (who was still working for La Maison du Chocolat; now he has been replaced by Gilles Marchal), he did not mention that they were owned by the same company that owned Valrhona. He did tell me, though, that their basic chocolates were made by Valrhona according to La Maison's exclusive recipes and instructions, under his strict control regarding beans, roasting, conching, etc. I have no details concerning Hévin but I do know he controls the fabrication, selects the origins, chooses the precise amount of sugar and butter, etc., so if that is not, strictly speaking, making the chocolate, it is pretty close. At any rate he doesn't just pour it into moulds. At the tasting, his Sao Tome chocolate was my N°1 favorite because it was so personal, very atypical as dark chocolates go. It didn't fall into any model or category, it was really one of a kind. I could describe it as the most un-valrhona-like chocolate I had tasted for years. If Hévin doesn't make it from the beans, it's even more of a feat. The tasting was based on chocolates that were readily available to the consumer. So there could be chocolates made from scratch by the chocolatiers or only conditioned by them; there seldom is any way the buyer can make the difference. Also, if for instance Bonnat can be found in gourmet food stores and in some pâtisseries, it is not so easy to find Pralus or Ducloux.

I didn't realize that M. Hévin and M. Chaudun were making chocolate themselves. Is that what they've said? If so, has anyone seen them actually doing it? It's quite a production if they are, with all the shipping of bean, equipment, space and storage necessary to do so. ← I may be wrong on this, but they do sell their original mixes, compared for instance to Pierre Hermé who uses ready-made Valrhona. Probably they don't mix and grind, conch, etc., the beans themselves but have the chocolate made according to their own specifications (as does La Maison du Chocolat).

I think you'd be very happy in Uzès, especially with a pool and more rooms. Lots of expats, sure, but the right kind, and lots of nice French people too, and artists, especially photographers. Summer photography stages in Uzès and Arles are reputed (I'm considering applying to one next year). Lovely markets, very nice atmosphere (much much nicer than the Provençal coast), not too much hype or attitude (not like Avignon or Aix). The pool is definitely a plus. The city would not be dead in mid-winter, it keeps living and the weather is still nice, though it can be chilly (never as much as in the Morvan though!). Semur would also be very nice, more in the way of "France profonde". It would be more of a true French experience than Uzès, though to be fair Uzès would offer a different kind of French experience (I wouldn't call living in Aix or Lubéron a truly French experience in that respect; Uzès is more authentic). Semur will also be great for food, countryside, beautiful village architecture (and Romanesque churches to die for), and the kindness of South Burgundian people. I don't know which one I would choose, both are appealing. Both places are good starting points for exploring the regions, with Semur being a bit more central. The difference is of about 1 hour of TGV, which is not really a big difference. Do not take the weather into account - however rotten this Summer is in France, you can never count on the weather to make up your mind, especially several months ahead. Take it as it is.

Better late than never, I have just put our pictures from the chocolate tasting on my Flickr account, in a separate set. You may see them here. Sorry there will not be that many pictures of the olive oil tasting, but there will be a few shortly, on a different set. Any people displayed on these pictures who do not wish to appear (the set is for public viewing) should tell me and I will remove them.

Host's Note: I have split these off from the now deleted PLAN for the baguette de tradition tasting topic so as not to lose Ptipois' contributions to the discussion of what constitutes a baguette de tradition. Unfortunately I will not be with you this time; I have to attend the Européennes du Goût festival in Aurillac and will linger a bit in Auvergne after that. I will probably not be back until the 14th of 15th of July. If this could be a little later... (Sorry for being demanding but I'd really love to be there!) You cannot go wrong with boulangers like Kayser, Le Boulanger de Monge, Poujauran (in restaurants), etc. In any case make sure you get "baguette de tradition française" or "baguette tradition", both types of bread being regulated by a law decree (décret Balladur, September 1993). Not all bakers make this baguette, but when they do they have to mention it clearly, and its fabrication will always be done according to the same rules — with of course the many variations brought by each different artisan. Tto make a long story short, Baguette de tradition française is a revived version of traditional French baguette, which had almost disappeared between the 1950s and the early 90s. During the 80s, the baguette situation in France had become very dire indeed, so thanks to the efforts of the Syndicat national de la boulangerie the government was motivated to edict a law defining "pain de tradition" and "baguette de tradition". Here are the criteria: - The legal denominations are: "pain (or baguette) de tradition française", "pain traditionnel de France", "pain traditionnel français" or any denomination containing those terms. - Bread dough has to be mixed, kneaded, leavened, shaped and baked on the premises. - The bread, whatever its shape, should never be frozen at any point and should contain no additives (accepted additives, in small quantities, are soybean flour (never more than 0,5%), fava bean flour (never more than 2%), wheat malt flour (never more than 0,3%). The dough should only be composed of wheat flours suitable for bread-making, drinkable water and kitchen salt. - Leavening should be achieved through the exclusive use of natural bread yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). As long as those conditions are met, it is up to the baker to determine which type of leavening he will adopt: poolish (a liquid starter made a few hours beforehand), direct use of yeast, or levain (sourdough). The shape of the bread is also up to him. Edited by John Talbott only to add Host's Note and link.

Some restaurants or brasseries may have fish soup one day or another as today's special, but where to find a good one on a regular basis is very tricky in Paris. Some years ago Marie Naël, chef of Ecaille et Plume, made a fantastic bouillabaisse and fish soup, but the restaurant is closed. This was the only example of good fish soup I can remember in this city. Of course you may go to a special seafood place like Le Divellec but there you'll pay a high price for that popular dish. For fish soup, nothing beats the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. If I want good fish soup in Paris I go to a well-stocked supermarket or gourmet store, find a can or a jar of fish soup from Brittany (La Belle-Iloise is a good brand), and heat it at home. And I can rub as much garlic on my croutons as I want to.

You're perfectly spot on. It's the cow. Salers cow for Cantal, Aubrac cow for Laguiole. Aubrac cow looks a bit like a Jersey cow, it is a doe-eyed, light tan cow. Here is a Salers cow: it is of a uniform reddish brown color. The milk of both those cows give cantal and laguiole cheeses their character.

I totally agree about Spring and Hidden Kitchen. I don't think Haynes will change your current opinion. It is not bad, it is just not good American food.

Hi Braden. Aside from all the reasons you have given, it is also simply that hamburger is a recipe, and not such a simple one as it seems (first, as you write, there is the product question. Then, there is the savoir-faire). And this savoir-faire is strongly related to American culture. There are very few French people who know what a true hamburger really is simply because there is not much curiosity about that matter. Chain burgers flooding the world are not a matter of cooking and certainly not of curiosity; they are a matter of commerce. Two totally different things here. Hint: much of the savoir-faire problem comes from the fact that French beef is grass-fed, hence much less marbled than corn-fed beef. Charolais is the best example. However there are bovine species in France that are more prone to marbling, like limousine, normande and Swiss simmental. I'd try ground meat of that type with a little ground suet or saindoux added.

Café des Mouettes in Mers-les-Bains (right on the beach, North end) has outstanding fried whole plaice, boiled crab and other simple but good seafood dishes.

If Parisians, or other French people, had opportunities to taste a true hamburger instead of being swamped with McDos, they certainly wouldn't sneer at it.

Couldn't agree more about Christine Ferber. Most everything from Albert Ménès is quite good. Nice old-fashioned, but not retro, French épicerie fine, with an eclectic and personal touch. 0% hype and 100% sincerity.

Paris is just not the best place for fish soup.

Chez Quinson, near Balard, in the 15e, is known for their bouillabaisse, so the soupe de poisson should be OK, but I have no recent information about this place.