chefzadi

When I saw the picture I also thought it was a gateau basque. It's one of my favorite things to make, though I also include sour cherries in with the pastry cream filling. So good. Until you posted the picture, I wondered if you weren't describing a Financier, an almond-y pastry that's available in most patisseries. They're small, however, but also rich, buttery, and delicious. I don't know their origin. ← This is a version of gateau basque. The amandine upthread looks more like it's genoise based.

I agree with everything Ptipois said. I've never heard of a cake called Amandine whether in Brittany or outside of it anywhere in France. Of course it could exist, it probably does exist, but it sounds like a recent invention and not a traditional specialty of any particular region. As for almonds the North Africans introduced them to the European side of the Mediterranean. Almonds originate in the Middle East and Central Asia. The cake looks delicious. Reminds me of the best homemade.

couscous festival The participants are limited to certain countries. I say France should be included. It is the most popular dish over there and certainly has a huge North African (largely Algerian) population. I really want to enter...BUT

Overkill, uneccessary and unrealistic. I am quite familiar with professional food handling procedures. Halloween cat's friend is donating food through a church to needy people. If every food handler as you define needed a permit thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people who rely on shelters, churches, food banks for sustenence would starve to death. I won't repeat what Pan and Behemoth have already mentioned in response. I agree with them in this regard.

I have. Lies I tell you, all lies! I did it last week to find out some new things about myself. I didn't know I have 6 brothers or that I moved to the States a few years later than I thought. Seriously though this goes back to Mr Clifford Wright's comment upthread regarding the potential of the internet. The stuff that's been written about me in print doesn't show up. But the internet is immediate and accessible globally. His site is fantastic by the way. Really informative. Clearly a scholar and teacher willing to share what he knows.

Will any of it take place at one of Le Cordon Bleu campuses? LCB North America has 14 campuses. LCB International has about a dozen. Certainly broadens the potential reader base thousands and thousands.

Most likely, you will not be paid a centime more. And the diners won't pay any less than they do. But more of your colleagues will be hired, for as meager a salary as they're already paid in this trade. ← Whenever my wife wants a good laugh she looks at my first pay stubs when I was working in France. Although I have to say American restaurants have painfully small kitchens and smaller BOH staff compared to French restaurants.

Nyleve- You aren't impressed with fancy schmany food because you haven't tasted my cooking. I'd describe my cooking like a grandmother who is a professional French chef with a little North African soul thrown in. Aside from the North African soul part I think the most endearing thing about Lyon is it's long ago tradition of Les Meres. I've said it before, but I can't resist "Lyon is the gastronomic center of France". Of course Algeria is the gastronomic center of the world.

I know what you mean!

B'Stilla? B'Stia? A neighbor taught me to make it several years ago---and it's usually phyllo, lots of layers. Though I did chicken out and make it with.....well, you know. ← Bastilla, basteeya, pastilla... numerous transliterations. The addition of cinnamon is regional. The pastry is traditional warka (this also has several dfferent names) phyllo or spring roll wrappers are adequate substitutes if those are all you can find in the States. In Algeria Bastilla has many variations.

Salam Alaykum Halal sushi Here is a website that might be of help. PM me if you want. We can get a list going here of local halal restaurants and groceries. Farid

Fantastic idea! It just gave me another idea. Volunteering to teach some classes at local hospitals. The cooking with disabilities course is so valuable for this. I also agree, it's important to take something that tastes good. My wife's parents totured her with vats of seaweed soup when she was in the hosptial after giving birth. It used to be one of her favorites, but not even the site of it sometimes makes her gag. I'd like a big sausage sandwich or mayb pastrami. A steak sounds good too. Or something along the lines of pot au feu or kalbitang.

This is a great thread. I'll be using alot of the ideas myself in this thread myself. Alot of slow cooked country French dishes don't require refrigeration. (Heck none of it did untill we had refrigerators. ) think of dishes especially with wine in them, such as coq au vin or boeuf bourguignon. Your friend can use very cheap wine (hey I made these dishes with wine in a box for a bunch of rich French people and they all said it takes just like grandmas and got teary eyed) with inexpensive cuts of meat and add more vegetable garnishes. Frittatas or Spanish Tortillas are a good source of protein and can be filled with a range of vegetables. Pasta dishes with tomato/vegetable sauce. Enchiladas, the spices and chilis in the sauce keep the dish from going bad quckly. To echoe what Michael said, soups with pulses, dried beans, lentils keep really well. They are nutritious, cheap, filling and very tasty depending on how they are seasoned. Inspiration can be drawn from India, the Middle East, North Africa... Some rice or bread and it's a complet meal.

To answer the original question: plastic baggie. The problem with salt in restaurants sort of reminds me of the problem with kids in restaurants. I've heard of it, but have never experienced it. Maybe I don't get out much. .. (I'll sit back and wait for the response from someone who assumes I really mean that. )

Um... I was joking about the foam and gelee. ← So, now what am I supposed to do with all the gelatin sheets and nitrous chargers I bought? ← Make Jello and whipped cream for the kids. Maybe I'm too old fashioned or not good with word games. Aspic and mousse. Sound familiar anyone? I was taught that the best aspics do not contain added gelatin, sign of poor technique and artificial texture. The nitrous chargers make mousse from ingredients that could not tradtionally be moussed without the addition of cream or 'hold it' for a short while in mousse state without the addition of gelatin. If anyone wants to follow with a lecture on the differences between aspic and gelee or mousse and foam, go for it... but if your trying to explain it to me you're singing to the choir or the maestro as the case may be.

I would have responded, "YES I DO INSIST, CAN I ALSO HAVE SOME KETCHUP AND A LITTLE EXTRA OF THE PARMESSAN IN THE GREEN CAN THAT I KNOW THE CHEF USES." ← Amen to that, Touregsand! Maybe someone can enlighten me: what is so insulting to a chef (or in Shelora's case ASSBUCKET) if a customer asks for salt, but there doesn't seem to be a problem with a customer asking one of the wandering waiters offering to grind fresh pepper from some behemoth of a pepper mill over your food? Kind of silly, if you ask me. And for the record, follow me out to the street to ask me about SALT at your own risk! ← It's a new pretension that's starting to become some sort of trend these days. I can probably give numerous reasons for why customer's shouldn't salt food at the table. However a chef who is insulted by something like this has a fragile ego or a monumental one. I'm sure someone here can mention some famous chefs of yester year emphatically against customers salting food. But I've never heard of customers being refused salt untill recently or being lectured by a server about how the chef has perfectly seasoned everything. The whole thing is really comical from my point of view.

Um... I was joking about the foam and gelee.

It's hard to get salt these days in a restaurant? Sometimes we don't put it on the table at a restaurant because people steal the shakers even at the fancy shmancy places (I've never experienced this in Europe though). At home we don't put salt on the table because we never salt food at the table, of course we salt while cooking to suit our owns tastes. I can't imagine a chef training FOH to deny a customer salt.

I was teasing about the paperback edition. Hope the humour wasn't lost in translation. I'm sure you know that already. I'm convinced the book is of student interest. More than that....

I've been thinking about this dish and I see it as a variation of a Tangia, a very uncommon dish.

The whole thing will make sense if Ducasse invests in a place for Delouvrier that serves the kind of food that Delouvrier does so well. Incidently that sort of place is a $$$$Cash cow$$$$. Chef Delouvrier has proven himself at ADNY. A loss of a star from the NYT doesn't mean anything to his career especially given why that star was lost and the reviewer. If Ducasse is the smart business man that I think he is, he will surely not pass up such a golden opportunity. Oh wait, maybe he staged the opportunity. I can't even imagine an old style chef like Ducasse suddenly telling Delouvrier that he's out of a job because of this review. I don't want to get into too much speculation but from the start they were more like equals than any other chef in Ducasse's organization... Delouvrier is his own man/chef, he would thrive in his own place.

I did a quick read of some of the other threads regarding children in restaurants. Weird, bizarre, many of the things that are considered negative behaviour in the States would go unnoticed in France. The range of things that are considered bad behaviour was startling in the other threads. A toddler toddling around, children perhaps talking a bit too loudly, some were disturbed even by the mere presence of children, because they might act up. One person said she had 30 years of experience with horrible children in restaurants. I wouldn't disagree that French parents tend be stricter than Americans (very broadly speaking). The education system is very different also and the French system focuses on teaching children to be "Citizens of France, citizens of the world." There is also a greater emphasis on language (reading, writing, memorizing poetry and recitation, field trips to performances of plays.. which reminds in another thread there was some talk about taking kids to see live theatre or concerts). I want to stress that expextations of what constitutes good behaviour and how children are socialized in France varies greatly from the American model. Both countries are pluralistic, by the way. Stricter in certain ways, but more relaxed in othe ways. My wife was shocked that in a big city like Paris total strangers would come to us and want to hold our daughter and kiss her. Never, ever would this happen in America, unless of course it was another French person. French teachers are also much more affectionate with students, especially the younger ones. Hugs and kisses are not uncommon. As are words of endearment. A playground attendent always calls my daughter "love of my heart." I think Mr Busboy summed it up nicely We are more relaxed about the whole thing. (I also have experience teaching French and American kids of all ages cooking and soccer. So I know better than to generalize to much about which ones are better behaved. Although I can tell you that American parents get pretty agitated when their child is criticized or reprimanded. )

I suppose when locals eat brunch in Paris they are acting like "Americans in Paris" as well. I can't eat anything in the morning. Coffee is it, maybe a brioche or croissant on rare occassions. My friend's from Normandy really like a buttered baguette, they dip it into coffee. I think the only time I've had a 'French breakfast' was at home on a weekend. I didn't even notice it was served outside the home untill I went back to France to visit and stayed in a hotel.

I do or did or use to do. I also invented the art of steaming couscous 4 times, rather than the usual 2 or 3. I find that poking a tiny whole in each grain of couscous yields superior results. Triple cooked chips isn't a rocket science, eureka sort of invention. I've seen line cooks do it all the time. Chips were cooked twice, the second one was supposed to be the final one, but the steak wasn't ready, when it is ready, the chips are a little cold, boom back in the fryer for a third cooking. Using modern technology to reduce the humidity in potatoes has been used by mass commercial producers for a long time. I imagine Heston;s chips are very tasty.

Hi Marsha- Great blog. I've been swamped with work these days so I haven't been able to post as much as I would like in this thread.' GO!!!!!