Dave Hatfield

So, the only thing new about this is the shape of the box. Round instead of square. Wine in boxes has been around for a while here in France. Its not just the cheap stuff either, nor, of course, is it the top of the range expensive, lay down, blah, blah wines either. There is a lot of perfectly drinkable middle road wine available in boxes. An example is the chardonnay I buy from the Minervois region. I can pay about $5.60 a bottle for it or I can buy the exact same wine in a 5 liter box for $3.35 for a bottle's worth. Either way I get a nice well balance wine which is great for everyday drinking. In fact I'm sipping some as I type. I ask, given the choice which would you buy? As with all wine you have to taste, pick & choose. There's a lot of junk wine sold in boxes, but, then again, there's a lot of junk wine sold in bottles as well. It's usually more expensive junk in the bottles.

I too admire the agenda & the addition, but would add: I will NOT eat ............. As in I will not eat food which is out of season and comes from a long ways away.

Think it did exist & still does in some towns. We occasionally see a knife sharpener turn up at the local markets. Shira, if I were you I might just go into a kitchen supply store and buy an inexpensive sharpener. You should be able to find one for less than 10 Euro's. The more expensive part is that you need to buy a good steel (either old fashioned or a new style with diamond dust) to keep your knives sharp. Use it frequently.

Interesting that you should start this thread just now. I just saw the first kangaroo for sale at our local Hyper Market this week. I was interested, but: - I've never cooked kangaroo in my like. - I've never eaten it, not even the few times I've visited Australia. So, I'll follow with interest and, maybe, give it a go. g'day to ya!

One answer for all of the extra bits including your breasts (the duck ones that is) Rillet! I'm sure there are posts that talk about it. Or if not then Paula Wolfert's "Cooking of Southwest France" will have instructions. If not then I'll do a post.

A slice of baguette cut crossways, then a smear of Dijon mustard, a thick slice of garlic sausage and a slice of cheese (cheddar, cantal or like) on top, a sprinkle of herbs de Provence over, then under the grill until the cheese melts. Delicious!

Here's a method I recently tried. It was astoundingly good. I doubt that my beef was as good as yours sounds so I would expect your results to be even better. Here is a link to the BBC food site. The recipe is by Heston Blumenthal of "The Fat Duck" fame, He's a bit of a nut, but an absolute perfectionist. His methods work! Good luck!

I once stood by and chatted with Maurice Chevialier for about 15 minutes in a tosca in old town Madrid. Can't remember which tapas we had. Needless to say this was a long time ago. Even John was a youngster back then. Does this count? There's a French connection and a food connection.

Thanks to both of you. I'll try Intermarche since we're not close to a Monoprix or a Carrefour. Let you know when I find them.

Do it in the flute if you prefer, but I'd for sure pre-mix the honey & Cointreau. Otherwise you won't get the combined flavors since there won't be much mixing in a flute. Suspect this is why the original recipe was the way it was.

Here's a quote from an article in today's Daily Telegraph. "The pastry is Tunisian in origin, but is now made in France and is called feuille de brick. In Tunisia it was used for making deep-fried pastries filled with spinach, cheese and eggs, spiced meats or fish. Feuilles de brick look and feel like fine, lacy cloth with a satiny sheen and texture. When fried they are crisper than springroll pastry and when baked they have a dry, melt-in the-mouth crunchiness, which is better than filo." I've never heard of this pastry before, but the article does say that its now made in France. So, does anybody know where to buy it? (outside of Le Grand Pomme as well please if possible.)

I traveled the countries of Europe for over 20 years equipped with an almost unlimited expense account. Love to eat well and all of my colleagues knew it. They also learned quickly that I'm a value for money sort of person, still am. I'm more happy to have found or be taken too an 'unknown' place that offers superb innovative food (Maybe given some other recent posts I shouldn't use that word, but you know what I mean I hope) than to most 3 stars. After all anybody can spend money if they have it. It takes talent and perseverance to find the up & coming places. Maybe it comes from having grown up poor. I don't know, but give me great value any day. I still think its to be found in France more than in most other countries. Possibly because there are more people who truly appreciate good food here as a percentage than in most other countries.

Here's how I do it. 1) Cut through the skin across the width of the belly piece. The cuts should be about 1/4 to 3/8th inch apart & parallel. Rub some coarse salt into the cuts. 2) Peel the cut 3 or four large onions in half. 3) Arrange the onions cut side down in a deep roasting pan then place the pork belly over them meat side down. (The idea is that the onions make a sort of trivet or rack so the fat can run free. Also, the onions will be delicious served with the belly pork.) 4) Roast in a 120 degree Centigrade oven for at 3, but 4 hours is even better. 5) Take the pork out & turn on the broiler of the oven. When hot put the pork back in on a low shelf. 6) Watch like a hawk!! Pull it out just as soon as the crackling is formed. You may need to turn the belly once. 7) Let rest then slice along the cuts in the skin to make nice portions. Works every time. I'll be doing one later this week & will try to remember to take pictures.

Just remember that practice makes perfect. What are family & friends for if not to practice on? They'll eat our experiments and praise the effort if not the results. Also, in my case, Linda is my severest critic. Genuine praise, but genuine criticism as well. David, Thanks for the compliment. It means something coming from one who makes TT's that look as delicious as yours!

Not saying that a 12" skillet can't be done, but its a challenge. Especially for one just starting to make tarte tatin. I can't say that I've seen many 12 inchers her in France. Two 8" tarts would be somewhat over the square inches of one 12" tart and maybe easier to make?? I'll be interested to see how you proceed.

Don't worry too much about the pan. Any frying pan that's over one inch deep will do. A 12 inch skillet is much too large. Try 8 inch or at the most 10" otherwise it will be too unwieldy. All you have to worry about is that the handle will take the high heat when you finish off in the oven. If necessary I've found that just leaving the oven door slightly ajar with the handle sticking out works pretty well. In all due modesty try my recipe. Which you can find right here. Its a combination of several recipes that I've played with over the last 20 years. Its tried & proven in multiple attempts. All I can say is that our French friends love it. They say that I must have been a Frenchman in a previous life. I'm flattered!

Have you researched the board? Your enquiry is quite general in nature and has been answered lots of times before, you may find more targeted/explicit questions get a better response. ← Agreed. There is so much information if you look for it. Try John's regular restaurant reviews for instance. There are even interactive maps of Paris restaurants for you to find & look for.

None of the above. Carrot cake still half frozen from the day before. (We couldn't wait)

Since the discussion has been very Paricentric I've been staying out, but, obviously, price/value changes radically when you get out of the big cities. I think this is true not just in France, but almost anywhere. In any case my French high ratio places range from simple lunch places for 12 Euros for four courses including wine to Michelin One stars at 27 Euros for a 3 course lunch. These prices just don't relate to Paris in price terms, but neither do they have Paris overheads to contend with. Quality wise I think there is a valid comparison. Good food is good food wherever you find it!

Too bad you won't travel. You could more than save the price of a trip. My best advice is to try to buy i9n Limogne at the Friday market. Normally only one wholesaler shows up. He looks at & weights everything on offer then sets a price. Once that's done, if you've been observant, you can approach one of the 'finders' who has roughly the quantity you want to buy & offer him the same price as the wholesaler. Normally they'l take it. Since most of those who show up are small finders the quantities aren't too large. Lalbenque is a waste of time for the individual buyer. Its all over far to quickly and in far larger quantities than most of us can afford. You can, however, fly in as they have a very nice little airport! Caussade isn't a bad second choice.

Ok here we are. I think the ordinariness of this selection threw people off. There is one one sort of unusual cheese. Front left is good old Boursin. Did you know that it comes from Haute-Normandy East of Evreux? This is the traditional with garlic & fine herbs. None the worse for being an 'industrial' cheese. Front right is a Brique de Vache. You can, of course, also buy Briques of goat & sheeps milk as well as cows milk. I think these are modern cheeses as I can't find reference to them in any of my older cheese books. Still I like them for their robust taste. Center is a Cantal Entre-deux. I think the entre-deux crust threw people off. This is an absolute favorite of mine. Excellent both for eating & cooking as well as being not too expensive. Back Left is a cheese called Canoe which is new to me. I suspect the name is either new or very local. I certainly haven't seen it before. It is a chevre and the shape is traditional; the taste is of a middling aged chevre. Back Center is Chaource as was guessed. Another of my favorites. Needs to be aged which is hard to do correctly. Said to have originated in the 12th century. Finally, Back Right is a Bleu de Pays. I'm sorry that the picture doesn't show enough of it for anyone to possibly guess. Now, I like Bleu de Pays and I like the price at only 7 Euros / Kg, but I can't find any reference to it anywhere. I do have a theory as to what it is. Given where I buy it and its taste I think its a failed Bleu de Causses. The AOC Bleu de Causses is strictly controlled and there are few producers. This Bleu has a very similar taste and is definitely a cows milk cheese. In any case as I say I really like it. I'm sorry to hear that people are cutting back on their cheese eating. Its one of the pleasures of life and not expensive if done in moderation. I eat cheese nearly every day & $10-15 buys enough to see me through a week if I buy carefully. mjc good try. Keep it up you were right that they were all French. Dante - good line up & I'll bite . What kind of cheese is it? Can you eat it now or does it have to wait until January 20th to ripen? Love to have a taste report!

Don't know if this is 'different' enough, but if you go here you will find an illustrated post on how to do an de constructed turkey. Great recipe, delicious and different. Sorry, the link isn't very precise. You need to go to November 2007 to find the 2 posts referred to.

Didn't say anything about either rare or duck I didn't say you did Dave! It was meant as a response to this earlier post: ← Sorry for jumping to the wrong conclusion. Something I rarely do. edited to add the pun. Couldn't resist!

Amen. I am expecting a lot of clever, down-to-earth, sane ideas to come out of the next few years. A positive knock on the head generating a new sense of home economy. Maybe we'll see the return of the real cheap bistrot (not its caricature of the 90's and 00's), which had disappeared for a couple of decades. And the true return of bistrot food. ← Amen to your Amen! We live in hope.

Not a lot I suspect. Their main trade is the corporate diner & there's enough of them to keep things going. I think anyway. Will be interesting to see. I completely agree that those on vacation who try to cram too many 3 star meals into a short time are being pretty silly. Think there was a whole thread about this a while back.