chefzadi

Hello Linda, Sorry, I hadn't read this post of yours before typing mine. And indeed you're right, I had thought this could be the only frame of mind in which you could refer to "Parisian home cooking". What makes it Parisian is only the fact that the recipes have come with people of different origins, all converging to Paris. It is more precisely "what is cooked in Parisian homes". That doesn't produce any regional style like cuisine picarde, cuisine normande, cuisine alsacienne, périgourdine, lyonnaise, etc. Actually, what comes closest to a concept of Parisian cooking is the "cuisine bourgeoise" that used to be cooked in middle-class Parisian households since long ago, but flourished particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries. However, this "cuisine bourgeoise" became a common characteristic of all large French cities. It borrowed elements from other regions but, being French before being regional, it is generally associated with Paris. BTW bistrot cooking is very similar to cuisine bourgeoise, with a more casual attitude. ← We crossed posts. I didn't read this one while typing up my previous response.

Garlic also. My Basque friend who is married to a Parisian says she was appalled by how much he used garlic in his cooking. And yes she did not grow up on Olive oil. It was butter based.

As the second French born person to respond to this thread (born in Lyon and attended culinary school in Paris) I do understand what ptipois is saying and her sentiments. I would say this represents the larger culinary (cultural) establishment in France which is precisely why I left France. Would it be too off topic to mention that were times I could not even get a job interview because of my first name? (My last name could be Italian). I was told over the phone that I am not French. I would say, yes I am. I was born here. My degree is from here. Non, non, you're first name is not French. You are not a French chef. Of course such a book is of greater interest outside of Paris, really outside of France. Just as a French chef who doesn't have a French first name is embraced outside of France but not in France. Would it be too off topic to say that I would never teach at a French culinary school? Why, because I would not be free to be who I am. Which is a cultural hybrid. Hybrid is too simple a word. Eating cassoulet in New York is not the same as eating couscous in France. The French have a longer history with couscous. And the dish is so popular in France that a politician once quipped "Conquest by cousous." Let's not ignore that France's colonial past has affected what the French eat. It doesn't have to be done in book on Parisian home cooking. But it does seem to me that it can be done in such a book and such a book is a glaring opportunity to accomplish this IMO. A French chef lists Thai influences on a menu, but resists Vietnamese. A French chef lists the spices of Brittany or Burgundy but resists North African spices (and please do not tell me that North African spices are too heavy or we use them with unsubtle, indelicate hands. Because that is simply not true). Historical context is important. I demand it of a book if it is too have any interest for me. The professional workshops I conduct include backstory for dishes and techniques. I do know of the matter, having chosen the task of gathering regional recipes for these workshops and seminars. At some point history meets with today. It is the writers choice to cut it off at some point. But for me a book even on history has to relevant to contemporary society. Without this such a book is dead, already written to confirm (conform to) the canon and not to add to it or challenge it. The conservatism of France has left it behind the Spanish and Americans in experimentation and innovation. I do not embrace newness for it's own sake. Actually I loathe this tendency to pursue novelty for it's own sake. It is not news that French chefs have been accused of 'boredom' and complacency while disspassionately pursuing a sort of International style. I suggest to them to look deeper in France for inspiration. There's a lot there that has been dismissed or ignored for too long. EDIT: The Moors introduced spices and flaky pastries to Europe and got as far as Poitiers. The contact goes back a very long time indeed.

Yes indeed. ← I just wanted to say that I enjoy your writings on food. You and Mr Talbott manage to write about high end dining in an engaging way. Nice photo of the dog, btw. ← That's actually me in the photo. Another dog writes the reviews. ← Brings back memories of working in London hanging out with my English mates. The sense of humour.

I somehow managed to survive the french system (in colonial form) but quite frankly it's not something I would ever choose to put my children though. I know everyone seems to be holding Europe up as the model here, but at the elite level, the US educational system is really very good. Our problem has more to do with the disparity between the top and the bottom. ← Nadia- I know what you are saying. I hope you know that. My wife had a very privileged or elite education in America. I had a cutesy country French education. Our daughter attends a high end French private school (is there such a thing as a low end private school ). We thought long and hard about how to educate our children.

I feel that tana butler's thread "Small Farms: Places of the Heart" was a thread intended to tell a story. A story about small farms that she had lovingly visited. Her passionate, engaging style of writing makes me nostalgic even for the smell of cowshit. She takes me by the hand back to the landscape of my childhood. My Beautiful Algeria thread is 6 pages long. I thank the members of egullet for letting me publicly meditate about a subject that means so much to me with support and encouragement. I really hope others here who want to share a story are given the same respect. Thank you for clarifying this for me jhlurie.

Yes indeed. ← I just wanted to say that I enjoy your writings on food. You and Mr Talbott manage to write about high end dining in an engaging way. Nice photo of the dog, btw.

It seems to me that you are oversimplifying some things I've said. Taking them out of context and applying them here. I see no reason to further discussion here. I've already explained my statement here. Start another thread on the matter. I ask that you don't use some random quote or any quotes from previous threads to start it. I've seen that done before and it always seemed like trolling or whatever that sort of thing is called. Of course you are free to do as you wish. We are off topic.

I do not know why you assume that I make this assumption. Most do not operate deeply in the black. A few three stars are goldmines, most are not, many operate in the red. A three star that goes more casual "brasserie de luxe" has a high likelyhood of turning into a cash cow. ← I have seen you write this before. Most do operate in the black. Do you seriously think they would continue operating if that was not the case? As I said the vast majority of three stars are lucrative businesses. I am unsure if there is anyone except for Le Louis XV and one or two of the hotel restos in Paris that operate in the red. LXV is financed by SBM and it is a different story. ← My statements regarding this have been backed up by others in the industry as well. There really is no need to argue about it here. If you have seen me write this before, maybe you missed the part about my saying that top tier places taking longer to start operating in the black. Furthermore my initial point in this thread is that the place would run deeply in the black after the change.

I did that with the Beautiful Algeria thread. Just to get some ideas out of my head. The other threads you mention as sort of open ended blogs are really treated like threads. Aren't they? As in the thread doesn't 'belong' to the topic starter and the topic can be moved and renamed. It can also be edited by moderators. I'm asking because I'm wondering if there a category of open ended blog on egullet that I'm missing? I'm not sharp with policies and user agreements.

I do not know why you assume that I make this assumption. Most do not operate deeply in the black. A few three stars are goldmines, most are not, many operate in the red. A three star that goes more casual "brasserie de luxe" has a high likelyhood of turning into a cash cow.

He'll probably start operating deeply in the black for the first time in 28 years. Good for him. Having to kowtow to a rating system takes the joy and pleasure out of cooking.

Mel's

It's not like people take out their dogs as dates to restaurants all the time. I've never been seated next to a dog in a chair. It's pretty discreet. Or maybe I'm just used to it.

I met who I think is the owner of Mario's years ago. He is Italian from Italy. He kept speaking to me in Italian, despite my obviously heavy French accent. The prepared foods are definately Italian American, although if you are lucky enough to run into the owners they could probably talk a little about real home cooking. I also met one of the owners of Claros in Arcadia. Apparently it's a family run business and this location is run by one of the daughter's and her husband who also asked me if I was Italian. I would say Claro's is heavily Italian-American. I'm still in culture shock over the size of the sandwiches. It's like a whole dinner plate stuffed into bread. I've only been to Milan years ago. So I don't know what the markets are like in Florence. But the stores mentioned above do not have an Italian or European feel. The so called gourmet markets that aim for a Euro look are outrageously expensive. Anyway, I am often mistaken for a Sicilian. For some reason there are more Italians with my last name then in France and I have never met another Algerian with the same last name (outside of my family obviously).

I could try. The only time I had trouble working with women was back in the 70's and 80's in the French Southwest. Some of the older, bony-faced "mothers" in their tight black hats just didn't "get " it about sharing recipes. When living in in the home of Pierre Veilletet ( a famous writer and journalist) and his family in Bordeaux, my host explained that this problem of extracting recipes was all tied up with la cuisine ombilicale (pun intended). He said that mothers in the French Southwest wanted total matriarchal over everything that enters the mouth. For every problem the mother could offer a culinary solution. Perhaps your mother just loves you a great deal. . ← I'm familiar with the French matriarchal thing, although not from my own maman. I think of it as regional. I was also told that some Italian women are like this. I wonder if anyone can verify this? My mother is a woman of very few words. Her cooking is very simple. Badwi and Kabylie farmer style. When I went to Oran I just went without knowing anyone and was immediately taken in by a family for several months. That's how things used to be in Algeria. I chuckled a bit imagining Clifford Wright in a ktichen with a bunch of Arab women. The chit chatting, the little arguments over how something should be made, thinking about gives me a headache. Paula, certainly you must be patient as well as passionate about your work. I know first hand how Magrebis and the French can be. Fantastically generous and gracious as hosts to be sure. But ya know not the most direct and linear. I'm not direct and linear either, which makes my wife crazy sometimes. I don't get to travel as much anymore because raising two children in a very expensive city consumes our travel budget.

The wrong knife comment was a bit weird to me. When I was a bohemian young cook I traveled with just two knives. A chef's knife and a paring knife. No chef ever told me which knife to use since the finished product spoke for itself. I also agree with Yannick's assessment of the dish. But I don't form any opnions of the chef based on it. Chef Mina has his customer base to cater to.

Like that wouldn't IMMEDIATELY set off huge alarms in the food media as far as conflict of interest goes in real life... Amanda Hesser was roasted after her Spice Market review for allegedly having a friendship with JGV and because he had a blurb on her book jacket... Can you imagine if she was an ex girlfriend or an ex-wife? ← Bourdain dated Ruth Reichl?

I figured you'd show up here Alberto. Bolognese with liver is what is taught in some French professional culinary schools. Of course when it comes to authentic I'm totally out of my element here.

The Bolognese I know of does contain liver. But then again I'm a French chef not an Italian one. I prefer it this way.

Fantasitc photos Paula. You must have quite the collection. It reminds me of an article I just read about you. I think it was written a few years ago though. The writer says something like if there is a little old lady dressed all in black in a remote village somewhere in a primitive kitchen making the best version of a regional specialty Paula Wolfert will find her and get the recipe. I'm probably not phrasing it as well as the writer did. But the description made me smile. I'm convinced you could even charm recipes out of my maman.

The Almoravids and The Almohads were both Berber dynasties. The confusion comes because they were 'Arabized' through language and religion. And of course ethnic Arabs played roles in the dynasties. The Magrheb is a complex mix of various cultures. This is still an on and off hot topic in certain regions of North Africa. I am speaking very broadly here for obvious reasons. I don't want to get into too much non-food related historical topics, religion or politics. Back on topic to the Moorish culinary influences. They are exactly that Moorish (Maghrebi) and not simply Arabic. Aside from the lack of pork in the cuisine there's nothing particularly Islamic about it. The so-called Arabs of North Africa are a mixture of Berber, Arab and sometimes Black African, distinct from Levantine Arabs. I don't necessarily disagree with what you say. Just clumsily and briefly pointing a few things. Good to hear! My research project has expanded in so many directions. Professionally and personally it's more exciting than I ever expected it to be. I was born in France to Algerian parents (Kabylie Berber and Arab mixed ancestry) and when I was training in France it was pounded into my head that French food was the finest which I never believed.

I wonder if this book has been translated into English or French (my Spanish is not very good at all). Is this true? Of course the statement is very broad. I have an academic interest in this, I am a French chef instructor.

That's what I did tonight Any tips on cooking the couscous evenly? Mine are not all the same size, and while some cooked nicely, others were a little underdone. ← Big pot of salted boiling water. But because of the difference in size they will never cook evenly unless you do some size sorting and add them add different times. I wonder why commerially produced berkoukes/Israeli couscous are not uniform in size? Here from The Great Book of Couscous by Copeland Marks. It looks pretty good, I wouldn't add the potatoes unlike you really like starch. Also I recommend sauteeing the cooked berkoukes in a little butter or olive oil before adding it to the sauce. Also cooking times vary for the pasta, so check before the recommended time for an al dente texture. EDIT: The Sadaf brand (I think it's a Lebanese company) is labeled "Toasted Couscous Moughrabuya (transliteration variation of Magrhebiya or Moghrebiya, etc) is pretty uniform in size. I'm looking at a package now. There are few pieces in the package that are shaped like orzo though.

Thank you for posting the recipe. I think that it's safe for me to say that when we speak of Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan cuisine we are speaking of the larger Magrheb and dishes overlap considerably. The jump from Morocco and Tunisia can seem very contrasting. But if you take it regionally more than in terms of National boundaries the cooking of Tlemcen, Algeria will be more Moroccan than it will be like Setifienne and Annaba will be more Tunisian than it is like the cooking of Constantine. Than culturally if take a few Kabylies like myself, Anis and Chef Haouri well our cooking will be different but we share other things... I have a package of Malsouka leaves from Anis and I will posting photos tomorrow.