John DePaula

That would probably be fine... or try "aujourd'oui" I'm so excited for you! Have a wonderfuil trip!

A friend has asked me to advise her about taking some classes at The San Francisco Baking Institute; however, I really do not feel qualified to comment about culinary education in the U.S. since I did my training in France. She is interested mainly in chocolate work but would like to learn about pastry to supplement her income – a side business, if you will. For the pastry program she’s interested in, SFBI charges about $1000 per week. The choice may be between the SFBI and going to France to study for 7 months or so at Ferrandi. I find that I cannot be objective about the question because I know that the training I received at Ferrandi was the best. Also, the romance of living in Paris and the heart of Europe – well, what can I say… it’d be quite an experience for her. My question is: Do you think she can get a good grounding in the basics at SFBI? Do you think it’s worth $1000/5days? What would you recommend? Thanks. John DePaula DePaula Confections

You may hear an unexpected question when purchasing fruit: "Pour quand?" They are asking "for when" you'd like to eat the fruit so you can get the best degree of ripeness. Very cool. Yes, even riding the metro and buses you'll still do a lot of walking. Eat sensibly but don't worry too much about the calories. Yes, Berthillon is really overrated in my opinion. I don't know of Octave but would rather try that than going to B. Also, r. Mouffetard is SO lively and fun! Near Luxembourg, too. Try the Isphan which is Raspberry, Rose, Litchi. And ogle the 90Euro (big) slice of cake in the display. Quite right! Also, if you're into chocolate, check out David Lebovitz for more Paris chocolate suggestions.

If you walk up Pasteur, about one long block, take a left onto Lecourbe. About a block or so on your left you’ll find a traiteur (deli) with an excellent selection. The details are becoming a bit fuzzy after 2 years… sorry. You really do need to do the picnic thing in the Jardin du Luxembourg. Get a half-bottle of wine and some good bread (we LOVED the bannettes at our neighborhood boulangerie on r. Falguière – like a baguette but with pointy ends and a little fatter in the middle), some good cheese, etc. etc. To get to “our neighborhood boulangerie” follow Pasteur south of r. de Vaugirard a couple of blocks and turn left onto r. Falguière. It’ll be just right there on the right. ETA: By the way, there’s a much flashier boulangerie/patisserie on Pasteur just south of Falguière a block or so on the left. The staff is pretty rude and the products are…well, I don’t like to use language like that on a public board. Enough said.

Sure, you need ratp.fr

Hi Grace, I used to live right near where you’re going to be staying and it’s a great location! You’ll be right there by the 6 and 12 lines and you’ll be able to get just about anywhere in the city quickly. It’s been a couple of years now ( ! ) but here are some suggestions from my list of favorites. They are all moderate to inexpensive with the last two the least expensive of the lot. Just depends on the kind of place for which you are looking. All of these are not too far from Montparnasse. Enjoy! 1. C'est Mon Plaisir Small, bright, sunny feel, updated cuisine that is not too heavy and not too expensive, and relatively quiet but by no means dead when full. Staff is comfortable with English-speakers -- the Brits somehow got this one on their map, and neighborhood folks love it too. They make a grilled shrimp dish with Colombo d'Epinards that was the best spinich dish I've ever eaten. Reservations recommended. 8 rue Falguière 75015 Metro: Falguiere Tel. 01 42 73 07 02 2. Les Dix Vins Excellent wines & plats. Run by two former software engineers who decided to go to culinary school. More interesting traditional menu than most. Quite good. Reservations recommended. 57 rue Falguière, 75015 Paris Tel: 01 43 20 91 77. Metro: Pasteur Call to check their hours; we think it was not open on Saturdays or Sundays. 3. Le Florimond Older and slightly more upscale, excellent fish and, on our one occasion there, a great example of proper French wait service; may not be the most “fun” place for a 24 year old. 19, Avenue de La Motte-Picquet 75007 Metro: Le Motte-Picquet Grenelle Tel. 01 45 55 40 38 4. Baribal Very traditional, not too dark, very lively and can be rather smoky-- no barrier for nonsmoking section -- neighborhood place with the best Pommes Sarladaise (sliced potatoes fried crisp in duck fat with mushrooms) we had anywhere outside of a private kitchen in Dordogne. Wait staff is overworked, so be patient and, if necessary, politely assertive. 186, Rue Vaugirard 75015 Metro: Volontaires or Pasteur Tel. : +(33) 1 47 34 15 32 5. Le Karibou Excellent African food; very spicy for France; very friendly staff and chef, casual. Must try: Poulet Fume Yassa. 32 boulevard Vaugirard (actually it's in Galerie Vaugirard, just off Blvd. Vaugirard) 75015 Paris 15 Tél : 01 43 20 19 49 Some local sights: Boulevard de Vaugirard & Pasteur for view of Eiffel Rue Blomet Wonderful little children’s park called Sq. Blomet (between r. Volontaires and r. Cambronne) with a surprise: Look for Lunar Bird by the sculptor Joan Miro – one of only three in the world. Oh I’m getting so homesick for Paris! Bon chance!

Yeah, that's why I was asking since I know that you can't cut silpats. These do appear to be of a different construction i.e. a single flexible material rather than a laminate.

Thanks!

I have one of these silicone molds and would like to cut it in half for ease of use. Is it possible to cut these without destroying the tray? Image of Gray Flex Silicone Tray

Thanks for your help, Trishiad. I thought that might be the case.

Would you be willing to share your recipe for peanut butter truffle recipe? I've tried a couple of times to recreate it but the texture was always a bit off.

Simplest version: "Bonjour monsieur/madame. Je voudrais reserver une table pour une/deux/trois/etc pour ce soir à/vers vingt -vingt deux/etc heures. Oui, une/deux/trois/etc couverts. Le nom est Blocker. Fumeur/non-fumeur. Merci À ce soir/bientot/toute à l'heure or Au [re]voir." Now people who genuinely speak French can plunge in. ← And if you hear the word 'complet(e)' you may have to try elsewhere...

Well said.

How about: crehm-yuh .

The chocolate manufacturers changed the formulas to substitute milk fat (butterfat) for cocoa butter, we've theorized because it's less expensive. ← Suzy, I think you're exactly right about that. Funny story... a few years ago while living in Paris, I was eager to try out all of the chocolate shops. On one of my trips, I picked up a few pieces from Jeff de Bruges and then headed to my local boulangerie for a baguette, where they also had a small amount of house-made chocolates. The vendeuse behind the counter spied my bag and gave me a knowing, yet disapproving, look: "You know, of course, that they use BUTTER in place of cocoa butter, right?" Well, no I did not know! So anyway, someone in the know may be able to supply details about what is/isn't legal in the EU or France or Belgium. Since more people are reading labels these days, I'd say stay away from any "dark chocolate" that has milk products or, heaven forbid, palm oil or any other fat besides cocoa butter. You've got so many good alternatives out there if you just pay attention. Remember: Life's too short for bad chocolate!

I see. In that case, Hershey's Special Dark is not dark chocolate at all -- it lists milk, milk fat, and lactose as ingredients. Suprise, suprise. Maybe that's why Hershey's descibes it as a "less sweet" chocolate instead of a "dark chocolate." ETA: FWIW, according to this article, there is no FDA standard of identity for dark chocolate. So while most chocophiles might consider that dark chocolate means any chocolate without milk, that doesn't appear to be a universally understood definition. Certainly in my own every day experience, a lot of people seem to think that "dark" means "less sweet" or "higher cacao," irrespecive of milk content. ← Thanks so much for that article, Patrick. VERY interesting! I hadn’t seen that before but it doesn’t surprise me that the U.S. hasn’t a legal distinction between semisweet and bittersweet chocolate. I think that the EU in general, and maybe the French in particular, are much better about legally defining these things so that the consumer knows what s/he is getting. It’s a minor departure from the article (it’s too trivial to call it a disagreement), but I think that bittersweet starts at 70%. In fact, if you look at online sales they seem to draw the line there, too. In other words, 70% is bittersweet. FWIW.

“Dark Chocolate” is any chocolate that has no milk i.e. semi-sweet or bittersweet. If a recipe calls for “dark chocolate,” choose semi-sweet if you like a sweeter result or bittersweet if you like things more amer. More and more these days, you are seeing recipes that specify the percentage of cocoa in the chocolate. Obviously, the more information present will allow you to come closer to the end result that the author intended. Just let the recipe be a guide rather than something carved in stone.

ditto. Thread for Baking with Julia, Recipes

I’m a little pressed for time at the moment but can give you a short answer. I attended ESCF for the 2003/2004 school year following a program of Pastry, Bread Baking and a tiny bit of Cuisine. In brief, the skill level of the chef-instructors is astonishing. I had Didier Averty for pastry classes and I was just blown away by what that man can do. The same is true of our boulangerie and cuisine chefs. Our pastry class only had cuisine classes once every other week, but the meals we turned out were at the very TOP level. Our class started out with a translator, but that ended in December so you really need to be more or less proficient in French by then. Some of our class members who didn’t speak French at all (only one) were really hurting, but frankly, if you’re going to stage anywhere good you should be functional in French. Or course, if you’re fluent, it really helps a lot! Our translator, Stephanie Curtis, told me that Ferrandi is where the French send their kids to learn pastry and cuisine. And anytime we went on a field trip and someone asked where we were from, people were always impressed. “Oh la la! Ferrandi! C’est formidable.” I may be able to put you in touch with one of the cuisine students if you like. PM me. What else… On a day to day level, the histrionics can be a bit much at times, especially for an American who isn’t used to this, but just take it with a grain of salt. Like one of my classmates used to say: “Hey, it’s just dessert. Get over it.” If there was a down side, I would have to say that the student cafeteria was just some of the most horrible food I’ve ever eaten. The cafeteria food was outsourced to a private company since, as it was explained to me, the students at Ferrandi couldn’t be expected to handle all of the food prep and service for so many on a day to day basis. It seems clear that the lowest bidder got the contract. But I digress… Here’s the important part: ESCF Ferrandi can be just what you make of it. While there, you will have access to some of the most talented people in the world of French cuisine and pastry. Want to do extra classes on the side? You probably can. Want to do a stage in some of the most famous kitchens in Paris e.g. Plaza Athenee, Hotel de Crillon, George V? Work hard, do well, and you can. Do not underestimate their connections. BUT YOU HAVE TO BE PROACTIVE. Don’t just assume it’s going to happen. If someone tells you they are going to “make a call” you might just have to go and sit on their desk until it’s done… Do not kid yourself, it’ll be hard work but, like I said, you’ll get out of it just what you put in. Oh no… now I’m getting all nostalgic for Paris! Paris me manque! Bon chance! John DePaula DePaula Confections

Pate a foncer (brisee) Feuilletage (puff pastry) Pate a choux Recommend you start with Doughs, Batters, and Meringues (French Professional Pastry Series) for really excellent instruction covering from basics to more advanced work.

That's good to hear. I'm not a huge fan of dinner parties where pasta is the main form of sustenance (we might be having sandwiches, too, I hear), and the mention of "Alfredo Sauce" on their menu has me a little worried. But at least you make it sound better than the Olive Garden! Do you have any particular favourites? A lot of the stuff on the menu reminds me of...well...the Olive Garden, so it's a bit difficult to judge what might be good. We eat anything, but there will be some vegetarians there, I think, so at least one of our three or four choices must be vegetarian. ← I haven't eaten there often enough to have a favorite dish; however, I do remember that each time I've eaten there I did not feel disappointed.

Ruth posted one in Recipe Gullet: Gateaux Dacquoise I also LOVE the one in Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme.

I've eaten there several times and always thought they were pretty good. Think Simple, Fresh, Satisfying.

So I've just mixed up half a batch of this ganache. I have creme fraiche that I made from 10% cream using culture from the cheesemaker supply place. It also contains rennet and they suggested draining it. I don't think I'll bother draining it the next time because I ended up with lumpy creme fraiche. I heated the chocolate, added the butter and let the residual heat melt it. I did heat the creme fraiche for about 20 seconds in the microwave. It all came together nicely (except for the lumps from the creme fraiche). I used 4 ounces of bittersweet as I have not brought any unsweetened with me this trip. I'll let you know how it works out. ← In Julia Child's Baking with Julia, she has a recipe to make your own crème fraîche: Add 1 Tablespoon buttermilk to 1 cup of heavy cream, stir well, cover, and allow the mixture to stay at room temperature until it thickens slightly (about 12 to 24 hours, depending on the temperature of the room). Chill thoroughly before using. It can be kept refrigerated for about 2 weeks, during which time it will become tangier. I've used this recipe myself for a cake in the book and it's an excellent and inexpensive way to make your own. Just needs a bit of time.

I think that I'd be inclined to reduce the orange juice and sugar to a thick syrup before adding to the ganache; otherwise, you may have too much liquid. Please let us know what you decide and how it turns out! Good luck. ← OH GREAT! that's definitely an idea to tinker with. i took a look at your website, and what proportion of champange do you use in your champange chocolates recipe? do you also use champagne extract or just champage? ← I haven't used the champagne extract - mainly because I haven't been able to find an all natural alternative. (If anyone knows of a source...) I have made the Champagne bonbons two ways in the past: reducing the champagne quite a bit OR just using straight champagne. The two methods produce quite different results with the reduction, to my taste, a bit too bitter. Try the straight champagne method: I think it'll be more "bubbly" and festive which is what [i think] you're going for.