Louisa Chu

Au Tombeau de la Vaisselle is the E. Dehillerin of Nice - according to my friend Rosa Jackson - who runs Les Petits Farcis - market tours and cooking classes in the centre of Nice. Au Tombeau de la Vaisselle 3 place St-François - 06300 Nice - France 04 93 85 84 10 Rosa's also the brains - and beauty - behind Edible Paris - personalised gourmet itineraries in Paris.

Chef, congratulations. I wish you happiness, wealth, and longevity. I will see you in March.

Adam - weird pastry people - redundant. But that's coming from a cook - and if you ask them, we're savage psychos. You can't just substitute ground almonds and marzipan - totally different recipes. And then there are the different types of marzipan/pate d'amande - depending on the sugar content, almond quality, etc. Maybe we should take this over to the pastry board if you want to get into this more.

Speaking from ADPA - for my ADNY brethern - Yes. Not enough.

Adam - this is where my painfully traditional Cordon Bleu Paris education comes in handy - it's like a convent school for cooks. Frangipane is an almond cream - made with almond paste/pate d'amande/marzipan - rather than ground almonds - and does not need panada. Almond cream/creme d'amande - butter, sugar, ground almonds, egg, and rum - is THE traditional filling for pithiviers and galettes des rois. Panada - butter, flour, milk, yolks - blond roux, cold milk, cooked dry, then yolks - like choux pastry dough. When normal people - not Cordon Bleus - talk about frangipane, they can just mean almond cream. artisanbaker, moelleux means more than just moist - it's a soft, luscious, mouth-feel kind of thing.

My friend Grace makes an amazing rendition of this dish. She's Korean-American, a fellow Cordon Bleu, and now we're roommates - not far from one of the best Korean markets in Paris - Hana by La Motte-Picquet - the other good one's Ace by Opera. She starts off by marinating thinly sliced pork belly - nicely striated meat and fat - in red pepper paste. Then she squeezes the kimchi dry - she prefers a well-fermented lettuce kimchi - but reserves the liquid for another use. At home, her family's cook will make it fresh - they have their own kimchi fridge - but here she buys it - if it's not funky enough for her taste, she'll let it sit out for a day or two. She then renders some fat from the pork - sets the meat aside for another use - adds crushed garlic to the pan, then the kimchi. She lets it cook through well and then start to caramelise before she turns the heat up, sears the pork, deglazes the pan with some sake, reduces, adjusts the seasoning with soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili paste - then turns it out to plate. She likes to sear the firm tofu in another pan - or just steams it. We have it with Korean rice - small-grained, pearlescent.

Adam, frangipane is an almond cream. And Pithiviers is just a general term for a filled puff pastry - what people think of in France when you say Pithiviers is a puff pastry round, with a scalloped edge, scored sunburst design, filled with almond cream/frangipane. But as I'd said it can be a general term - like Violon/Cafe Constant's minced wild game pithiviers. And then a Galette des Rois is just usually smooth-edged - with the feve, crown, etc. It's kind of like saying cake - which is usually sweet, but can be something savoury - and then a birthday cake - for a certain occasion. And yeah, some places have the dry/unfilled galettes - like Lenotre. And most places in Paris have the southern brioche one too - I forgot to mention that Maison Kayser has that one too - which must be really good since that's more the domain of boulangers and M. Kayser is a boulangerie god. Bux, I've seen the Mickey Mouse feves - not cool.

According to my friend Grace - roommate and fellow Cordon Bleu - the best yuja-cha is made from scratch - and her favourite's made by her family's cook. The cook take fresh yuja fruit, cleans it, slices it thin, confits it in honey and/or sugar, and then makes it strong and sweet with just a bit of hot water. Grace likes to drink the tea first and then eat the fruit to finish after. She says the jellied tea's fallen out of favour with kids in Korea - they want Starbucks or Coffee Bean - but she still finds it in art district cafes in In-sa-dong. And she seeks it out when she goes skiing - at Yong-Pyong or at Phoenix Park - for cold-weather comfort. Grace had told me before about the yuja fruit - how in Korea - people will take a fresh fruit, place it in a beautiful, small, open basket - and then put it up in the back of their car as a natural air-freshener. She says their family drivers have to be careful to not let the aroma get too strong. Grace also told me about how the ginger jellied tea - saeng-gang-cha - a favourite amongst older people in rural areas - is taken with a raw egg mixed in. But maybe what's most fascinating - or at least most titillating - is the whole jellied tea subculture. It's not uncommon for country workers to call for a jellied-tea girl on a scooter. A guy out working hard in the fields or rice-paddies - rather than taking a coffee break - will whip out his cel phone and call his favourite Madame - at the local cafe - or da-bang - and ask for his favourite jellied tea - and favourite jellied-tea girl. She'll come out on a scooter - with or without a chauffer/bodyguard - and mix up the tea to his taste - while he flirts and feels her up - then back to work. Same kind of service available in the city - but sometimes the girl walks over with a tray - instead of the scooter. And extra services available at an extra charge.

artisanbaker, the pineapple coconut's popular because that's what Pierre Herme does - and as he does, so do most French patissiers. curlywurlyfi, you can do an all savoury pithiviers too. At Le Violon and Cafe Constant they have a wild game pithiviers right now. Bux, those are like the feves they have at Maison Kayser this year - medieval fantasy figurines. Galettes - they have the traditional frangipane and an apple. Crowns - multi-colour jewel-tones on matte gold. Adam, I didn't know that - other than the southern version - which you see all over Paris too - what other kinds of galettes are there? I had the chocolate galette from Pierre Herme - as a treat from a very sweet and generous friend - warmed through in her oven - with vin chaud as our aperitifs - a giddy gouter. Flaky, buttery classic puff pastry - rich, dark bittersweet ganache filling - a deeply satisfying chocolate and patisserie experience. The feve - custom-made for PH by tse & tse - white porcelain pastilles - with PH logo and other abstract designs - modern but tactile. Crown - delicate, lacy, laser-cut tissue - wearing stars in your hair. Passed Laduree's Madeleine window - saw a galette decorated with an almost transparent slice of candied orange. Will try to stop in today or tomorrow.

DJOblong, welcome to eGullet. I think I finally figured out where you need to go - it's been bugging me - on the tip of my tongue. You need to go to Le Pre Catalan. I've never been to One if by Land, but from what I've read of it and what I know of Le Pre Catalan, I really think this is the perfect place for you - the perfect place for your big honeymoon soiree. It's in a beautiful park setting, historic room, marble wood-burning fireplace - and it's an inventive gastronomic restaurant. Check it out here. Congratulations - and bon voyage.

I did a brik variation once at Cordon Bleu with leftover ingredients - brik pastry, chicken pistachio stuffing - ground myself, with extra chicken skin, and lots of garlic - and the egg of course - gotta have the egg. Deep fried until golden - dusted with a little powdered sugar - from the pastry class next door. Bit into it too hot - but when I hit that soft egg yolk - lust, pure lust.

Good and interesting - price irrelevant - ADPA or Pierre Gagnaire - if you can get a table.

Jamie, thanks very much. I hope you like it as much as I did. I went on one of my long lunch breaks from Ducasse - so surreal to go from kitchen to dining room to kitchen again - and the Chef is so nice.

Jordi - Catalan curses - oh you will have to teach me - please! You know it's the most important key to being accepted into any kitchen! Afford me - depends on what we're talking about.

Jordi, so you can teach me how to swear in Catalan then! Barcelona - thanks so much - and yes, we should talk - that sounds so cool - when's your projected opening date? Because at this point it looks like I'll be going to China for a month right after.

How are products and water heated? What are the rehydration stations - are they used only to rehydrate food? Is there a minimum calorie to package weight ratio? And do crewmembers have min or max calorie requirements? Thank you.

La Cave's 20E p/p - get there at the start of service - and get the hot plats ASAP - they run out - you can work on the huge terrines, cheese boards, and dessert buffet at your leisure - and don't go with your dog - there's just no room. Jamie, thanks for compiling the original list - this will be a good reference for everybody. On it I really like La Cave, L'Os, Cafe Constant, and Aux Lyonnais for the serious bargain cuisine. And I know you said you didn't want to do the lunch thing at the haute places but I really want to recommend the 39E lunch at Le Violon - crazy value and such a nice setting - especially decadent when you know you're doing it in the middle of the day.

Pierre Herme will have the white truffle macaron at the shop for the forseeable future - it's one of his signature items that he keeps every season - like the Ispahan - the rose/raspberry/lychee macaron. The white truffle's more of an aroma than a flavour - your friend probably wanted something more like the pH3 - the white chocolate filled boules - and those are part of the current collection.

Miguel, thank you for that languidly romantic tale of the Portuguese puree. In France, you beat it into submission, applying torturous heat, and exquisitely scalding milk - judiciously.

Can you please describe the space prep and dining experience? The shrimp cocktail for example - how's it packaged? How's it prepared? Who prepares the food? How so? What's it like when they actually eat? How long do they have to eat? Thank you so much for this fascinating insight - high on the hedonic scale.

Moby, here's a few of geeky answers. There's a picture of a cocotte on the homepage of the Creuset website here - no, it's not non-stick. And yes, on the hot milk. I don't know how the puree's made - didn't see it during mise en place - but will next time. fresh_a, the spareribs were really good. But even better was the pot au feu special yesterday - especially the marrow bone, good toast, and fleur de sel.

Churchgoers? Um, not the people I know - it's just another reason - as if it's needed to eat - and drink! Epiphany - was on all my French calendars - as the 4th this year - even the one from the bank.

Thanks Moby! No bain marie for the puree. Nicolas - the chef de partie for poisson and garnitures chaud - showed me how it's done. The puree itself is done ahead of time but finished during service - it's held cold as part of mise en place. For service, the puree's heated in a Le Creuset cocotte - another with hot milk on the side. Because the puree has more fat - butter and milk - than potatoes - it's very unstable. The puree has to be just hot enough - just bubbling around the edges - and then vigourously mixed with a whisk. But as many as these that Nicolas churns out the chef was still constantly checking the consistency throughout both services - a couple of times finding it just a little too liquid - barely, barely so but just enough to send Nicolas back at the whisk.

Bux, Hevin does a lot of pastries - wide variety not much volume - more than chocolate too - chaussons aux pommes, etc. Galettes des rois variations - going over to chez Herme finally today - they have the classic, chocolate, and the caramelised pineapple again this year - cannot wait to see the feves! Epiphany - of course you're right - sorry, I should have been more clear - it's the real date, then the observed date - like George Washington's birthday, etc. - the Epiphany holiday's always observed here in France on the first Sunday after New Year's Day. Robert, thanks very much - for taking your time - and that of your friends - to talk to the chef for me - and the very kind words. I was very, very - VERY - fortunate to work all the stations at ADPA - I started out leafing parsley and ended up fileting the saddles of lamb. Catalan - get right on it! Note taking - it happens but very discretely in Paris gastro kitchens. At ADPA because we're changing teams it was happening pretty frantically. But yesterday I spent the day at Robuchon and couldn't believe how the chef just let me run around and freely take notes and pictures - but I think it was because he knew where I was coming from and would be well-behaved - it's like being in a big family - what you do represents not only you but who raised you. And Bux, like I said, I'll get right on learning Catalan!

Bux, I don't know Jean-Paul Hevin but I'll ask. Do you know that they do pastries too? In addition to the macarons, they have a nice selection of pastries available every day at all locations - but there are a few pastries they only do on Saturdays - like a chocolate millefeuille. c and c - Laduree - that's another house I can't wait to see. Last year they had those micro Laduree teapots as their feves. I did not see the macarons! I'll let you know if they've got the apricot again this year - that sounds so good. And yes, Dorie's Paris Sweets - amazing and beautiful book - demystifies French pastry - with such lyrical stories. chezcherie, you macaron addict you! Try emailing them Laduree. I don't know what the feves are this year. robert, you had the southern version - also available up here in Paris. It's typically a brioche base cake with candied fruit. And yes, please, I'd love some more insight into El Bulli - especially the logistics of working and living there. But see, the thing is, I like the vegetable cutting and the fish cleaning - I like all that stuff. menton, it's Epiphany the first Sunday after New Year's Day. So Bux actually the date changes - this year it was this past Sunday the 4th.