Ptipois

My favorite French whites (no château, no serious, lots of fun): - Picpoul-de-pinet from Languedoc: when it's good, it's good. - Jurançon moelleux, especiallty an aged clos-lapeyre (oops a château), the perfect wine with, um, truffles. It even tastes like truffles. - Saint-joseph blanc - Chinon blanc - pouilly-fuissé from old vines - In bordeaux, I love white pessac-léognan - Coteaux-d'aix, palette: château-simone (a château again, but there are only two châteaux in this appellation) - Condrieu to be continued sometime

I have pretty much come to the same conclusion.

Canned confit is generally better than the ones you buy from butchers. It is a preserve, so it improves with age, and you get a chance to have true mulard parts instead of leftover muscovy legs drowned in fat with the bones sticking out as you buy them. Not to mention that cans and jars contain confit jelly, which you do not get with butcher-bought legs. Most Southwestern brands are good. I like Spanghero and Delpeyrat.

Okay. You are right to hit the nail on the core of the topic, which btw is no longer chicken (or only marginally so) but truffles. All the more since the book is now decidedly out of print, I may as well recall the main points here. Truffles are not just a fungus. They are an aromatic agent whose field of action is very particular, going far beyond mushroomity. At early periods of truffle studies (early 19th century) it was even wondered whether they were vegetable, animal or mineral. Some wrote they were a little of the three. One biologist believed he got rid of the problem by describing them as "animalized vegetables". The truffle is very paradoxal. There is some sort of historical rule concerning the use of black truffle: the more pungent and spicy the diet is, the less truffles are used. When spices and fermented foods go down, truffle goes up. One part of the truffle paradox is that, although its flavor is strong, it may be easily destroyed by other assertive flavors. It is actually very fragile and is better off used with plain, mild ingredients, which it will support and reveal. Also, it is unlikely to overpower the flavors of other foods. As Pébeyre writes, "elle doit avoir un peu de vide autour d'elle", i.e. it should be allowed to perform in a blank space, and not be challenged. Hence its uses with mild fowls, foie gras, pâtés, potatoes, rice, cream, etc. Some strong flavors suit it well (garlic for instance) some do not. To illustrate that, it is interesting to notice that there is no traditional use of truffles in Provençal cooking or in Spanish cooking, although they are plentiful in upper Provence and eastern Spain. Whereas they are important in French Southwestern and Lyonnais cuisines: a quick study of those cuisines and their favorite ingredients will tell a lot. Morels (tastewise) are actually closer to truffles than other mushrooms in the way that they accompany tastes without overpowering them, hence their traditional use with mild-flavored ingredients like first-rate chicken, fish, veal, cream, etc. Trumpets, as mushrooms go, and however much we may like them, are not so versatile and I'd even say they are at the bottom of the fungus scale regarding versatility. They do not really support and bring out flavors, they add something different, as do for instance cultivated mushrooms that are open and a bit on the old side. There is such a difference of nature between truffles and trumpets that you cannot put them in the same category. Take for instance a gamey bird like a guinea-fowl. I'd easily prepare it with trumpets provided that they are fresh enough, but I would rather use a truffle on a milder bird. Not that I think a guinea-fowl with truffles would not be good. But I think the truffle would interact better with good chicken.

1) They can be baked as long as you brush them generously with oil or melted butter. That is how b'stella (pastilla) is made. 2) I find supermarket brik leaves quite acceptable, I am not sure it's worth going to Couronnes for that, especially since there are few neighborhoods now deprived of good halal butchers (who carry all sorts of things). So far I've found the same brik packages at halal butchers and at Monoprix or Franprix. 3) My favorite filling is (all in the same brik, deep-fried) canned tuna, potato salad, one egg, chopped parsley and harissa, Tunisian style. Never better than in Tunisian street carts, but the Belleville Tunisian places make good ones too. 4) Failing brik leaves, I think Turkish yüfka is even better (it is slightly airier in texture). Widely available rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis (lower part) and any sizeable Turkish grocery/butcher shop. 5) Reheating does depend on the preparation but I think deep-fried brik recipes tend to get oilier when reheated and brushed brik recipes tend to get drier.

I realize that you're teasing me. But seriously, if you still do not grasp the difference between trumpets and black truffles, maybe it is simply time that you begin cooking with truffles and see for yourself. There is a book I co-wrote with Pierre-Jean Pébeyre (the best French expert on truffles), which will tell you a lot about that subject. The introductory text is not very long but all the basics on the aromatic specificity of truffles are there. Unfortunately I think the book is currently unavailable but it should be reissued shortly. In any case, I can still recall the basics here. Clicky.

Certainly, but I already did in my first post of this thread. I can also add that you did write that you cooked your chicken with a sauce, but the only ingredient of the sauce you mentioned was the trompettes. Hence I assumed that your other ingredients were more commonplace (cream, white wine, etc.), and that there could be nothing wrong with them. I mean, it is not only a matter of chicken. If you write that you want to bring out the true flavor of anything and then add "I cooked it with trompettes", I think it is only natural that you get the answer: "Well, remove the trompettes then." There is another element that I forgot to mention: not all Bresse chickens are created equal, and the label does not guarantee that you will have a superior chicken every time. I have had wonderful Bresse chickens and average ones, some of them inferior to a supermarket Poulet Jaune des Landes or Poulet de Janzé (which show a more constant quality). It all depends on the breeder. So it may also happen that you do your best to bring out a distinctive flavor that just isn't there. To be fair, I also think that trompettes do not put all the chances on your side, but there may be that other aspect to be considered first. What is important here is considering all the elements involved: a poulet de Bresse from which you want to get the true flavor, and the trompettes. Both morels and truffles are indeed excellent matches for a good chicken because they never compete with it (which is precisely why so many Bresse chicken recipes include them). Trompettes are a totally different ingredient, which can be nice if you gather them yourself and have them very fresh, and quite dreadful if you buy them on a market and they're already too old. Even when they're fresh they can be overpowering, so I'd use them on their own, or in an omelette, or sautéed with vegetables, or with a less delicate meat or poultry, etc., but if the idea is to support and enhance the flavor of a high-quality, superior chicken or fish, I'll just choose another ingredient. I wrote "strong-tasting, sometimes on the verge of mouldy", and likely to "ruin the balance of a dish"; I did not write "rotten" (though they do rot quickly too). I was probably too laconical in my previous post and I'm sorry, but I really did not want to insult you by reminding you that you cannot compare trompettes and truffles, of course not because of their price, but because their use and effect in cooking are of an absolutely different nature.

It should be remembered that Abra and her husband intend to spend one whole year in that French town or village, including the Winter months. Some places are lovely in Spring and Summer and still lovely in Winter, but they can be quite dreary at that time. Morvan is one of those very quiet places, which I would pick without any hesitation for a Summer stay, but I'd think twice about staying there during the Winter months (which are also terribly cold in Morvan). Northern Burgundy is also very quiet outside of the Summer and grape harvest season. Which is why the initial Mâcon-Beaujolais region looked more appealing: more cheerful, with more of a "life" in Winter, and close to the TGV line. Equally "alive" all the year round would be places like the Gard, Ardèche, Southwest, Northern Provence. Some parts of the Deep Southwest (Quercy, Périgord) and Auvergne are also lovely, lively and friendly, but the commute to Paris would be longer since they're only connected by Train Corail.

You just answered your own question.

If it is a preserve you want to serve with cheese, the cherry taste has to be brought forward. I'd cook the preserve at low temperature not to let it caramelize. This recipe looks good because it makes use of a little apple pectin, which cherries do not have too much of naturally.

Normally Label Rouge is supposed to indicate good quality, but sometimes you really wonder why it's there. There is a world of difference between a yellow Landes chicken and the Label Rouge chicken sold by Leader Price. I think each case needs testing, and only experience can be trusted.

Trompettes and truffles have nothing in common, except perhaps their color.

Agreed, except on this point. In the case of France, there is such a thing as an internationalized style viewed from the inside (because the French were instrumental in building it). It's the "export" category of French cooking that has been known internationally as "French cuisine" for about 2 centuries. However, it is far from covering the whole phenomenon, and it has to be distinguished from the other culinary aspects of France — regional, domestic, popular, etc. — which do not differ much from their equivalents in Italy or in other European countries. French haute cuisine as the rest of the world knows it can be misleading. It can mask the complex reality of French cooking instead of helping to understand it. So indeed it does make a lot of sense to have threads about cooking in the French forum.

True, but Italian cooking is just as international... even more so than French cooking. It should be pleasurable to the French ego to see French cooking discussed as some archetypal, nationless style of cooking, but it simply does not do justice to reality.

Try harder John! You can still have us tear each other's hair about this topic. Let me rephrase it a different way and hope it helps: leaning on the Apéricube factor, I believe that some creations (recent or not) of the French food industry are quite respectable, while there is some fake artisanal stuff. Has anyone found any examples of that so far? How about exploring that during the next visit to France, or summon memories? To complicate the subject even further, there is also industrial food mimicking artisanal food (insipid cheeses like Le Vieux Pané, Chaumes, Belle des Champs, etc.), based on the old French nostalgy of "the Earth". Whereas there are "industrial" foods that do not pretend to be artisanal but manage to be quite good. Labeyrie duck foie gras (bloc avec morceaux) is found in most supermarkets. It is one of the best mi-cuit foies gras available in France. Even more complication: some cheeses from semi-industrial laiteries, for instance the Coutançais or the Boursault, are found in supermarkets, but they need not blush when a good fromager puts properly aged versions of them aside their boulettes d'Avesnes or their crottins de Chavignol. There is a Breton salted butter, found in lower Finistère supermarkets (and nowhere else), which I hold much higher than Bordier's. Industrial versus artisanal food in France is a complex subject, which deserves to be discussed a bit further. But I do not believe the topic on out-of-season fruit and vegetable would take us very far, since their relative insipidity remains unchanged.

I think the problem in this case was not the sauce but the trompettes-des-morts. A strong-tasting mushroom, sometimes on the verge of mouldy, which may easily ruin the balance of a dish. There is nothing wrong with a sauce with Bresse chicken, to the contrary: because of its firmness, it really asks for a sauce. That is how it is prepared in Bresse, Lyonnais and Mâconnais. The favorite ingredients are cream, garlic, cheese, butter, mild-tasting mushrooms, foie gras, truffles and white wine. A French-style, cream-based curry sauce is actually not a bad idea.

Since this thread is being revived I'll do a little update on the present state of some of the commented places, plus a few others: Thai: Chieng Mai not recommended (horrible meal lately). Le Banyan very good. Vietnamese: Bi Da Saigon, Pho 14 still good. Also recommended: Xinh Xinh, Le Bambou. Lao: Lao Viet, Rouam Mit and the larger one next door, and Lao Thai, all serving both Lao and Thai specialties. Nice. Chinese: recently discovered Le Fleuve de Chine really interesting (in the courtyard behind the avenue de Choisy McDonald's). Also: Li Ka Fo IMO still the best, ex-aequo with Aux Délices de Shandong on boulevard de l'Hôpital. Restaurant de Chengdu on boulevard de Strasbourg serves good Sichuanese food. (I was there last night and the eggplant in yuxiang sauce was heavenly. Mind the pepper and chilli, they do not just pretend to add them.). Interesting holes in the wall around rue au Maire (3e) where the Wenzhou community is located, Chez Chen is known for its jiaozi dumplings.

The last time I needed/wanted something out of its season was when I was pregnant, and that was more than 20 years ago. So my own answer will be no. And seasonal means "with taste". Edit: the peaches and tomatoes you bought may be a little less tasty than full season fruit, but Summer is close and they are not completely out of season. But try to buy tomatoes in December...

Once I gather all my energy (two months of coqueluche have made me very lazy), I'll give a hand, I promise, and start with a region.

Just my opinion: Le Relais de Venise serves Parisian-style steak-frites at its very best. I think it is perfect in its own right. And the sauce is delicious. Also, it is one of the very few places in Paris where waiting in line is fun (stag parties, pinstriped suits, Porte Maillot hookers, etc.).

There are indeed some people in France who, while they wouldn't dream of affording two- or three-star restaurants on a monthly basis, will go to great lengths to be able to visit, say, Troisgros once in a lifetime or one or two-star places once in a year. This is part of the French respect for cuisine gastronomique. People who set their priorities this way do exist. But they are by no means a general case. Most of them see "haute cuisine" through a haze of legend, or through the image conveyed by the media and publishing. Many do not know what it tastes like (and I've known some of them not to like it once they taste it). Not everybody is impressed by it.

Apéricubes are neither Goutte-d'Or trash, bobo, or Montmartre punk, or Montparnasse hobo; they are possibly plebeian (and why not), and they're nothing to be ashamed about and need no justification. They're one of the great inventions of French industrial food ("industrial" not meaning "low quality").

Boursin — trashy?

I am nonplussed. Have you tried all the flavors?

This is not uncommon: the acute awareness of a price level above which a meal, however refined it is, is no longer worth the fuss, and the one that haute cuisine is, increasingly, aimed at a rich international clientele and caters less and less to natives. And these days, the "hauter" cuisine is, the more a-national in style it becomes.