Louisa Chu

Jellybean, thanks - you know they just don't keep me as up to date like I'd like them to.

No, not pain d'epis which I know of course but the boulangerie on Grenelle on the park side of Bosquet. Let me look out the window to get the name - Gourmandises d'Eiffel - the blonde woman who owns the place lives in my building. Pain d'epis - I like them fine but nothing so special to make me walk the extra block. And you do know about my love/hate relationship with Poujauran? Love their bread - they have an especially good apricot petit pain right now - hate the vendeuses. Jellybean, you're funny - thanks very much - I promise I'll be learning as much as I can.

Jane, welcome to eGullet - and Jellybean I was totally thinking about Monaco too - Jimmy'z - I love and hate that place! How about Ducasse's Bar & Boeuf - then go to Jimmy'z after?

Thanks very much - but I haven't achieved anything yet at El Bulli! From what I hear, yes, El Bulli does their staff meals in house - kind of a necessity given their remote location. At ADPA we take our meals in the Plaza personnel restaurant - except for the chef and sous-chef who have their meals made just for them - but it's still simple food - salad, sandwiches, or pasta. I'll post more detail over on the France board later. My favourite staff meals were at our family's Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant just outside of Chicago. My favourite dish was thin, transparent rice noodles cooked in chicken broth - served with chicken broth, the finest julienne of crispy-skinned roasted duck, fistfuls of green onion and cilantro, finished with a generous squeeze of hot sauce and half a lemon freshly juiced over.

Bux, with all due respect - and you know I respect you - I can't help but strongly disagree on a number of points. And Mort - that's a whole other story - if he ever gets around to lending me a copy of Goose then I can address those points - until then, we have a chain grocery shopping trip planned together in the near future - so I can try to persuade him that they've actually got some good stuff in them - especially the ones in France. I just can't tell you how wrong you are when it comes to the average Frenchman and their daily bread - not necessarily wine - but yes, bread - absolutely daily bread. Yes, we might go to Paul in Paris because it's convenient - especially in certain neighborhoods during the work week - but when it comes to the weekend - or any time you have that is your own - you go to your favourite boulangerie - and every neighborhood has a good one. Paul's fine - it really is - but if anyone tries to tell me that the average Parisian can't tell the difference in quality - or actually prefers it - then I'm sorry, we'll need a long night, a few bottles of wine, and some smokes - lots of smokes. This reminds me that I've got to look up my favourite pastry chef at Cordon Bleu - he told me almost a year ago - when we were making the Galettes des Rois together - that he was going to go and open his own shop - and he just did. My neighbor who owns our boulangerie across the street - she's not interested in branching out - she does a nice business already thanks - and has a life to boot. Think like a Frenchmen and you'll understand why chains will not win in France.

But typically doesn't mean always - some houses do flavour the batter too - like chez Herme for example - some of their pastries are flavoured differently than their fillings of macarons. I have friends who own the amazing Amoretti - sounds like a good name for a magician, and I guess they are when it comes to pastry products - they sponsored Albert Adria of El Bulli at the World Pastry Forum in Vegas - and they make a showstopping range of flavourings. I cannot wait to experiment more with their products - especially when it comes to a delicate, concentrated pastry experience like macarons/macaroons.

Typically with macarons flavouring is not added to the batter - but in the case of chocolate - cocoa powder will be added - and coffee - Treblit/coffee-flavoured/coloured extract. Hey did you see the new Black Licorice flavour? I'm going to try that one next week.

Hey, don't think I haven't fantasized about it. I do have my whole North Face expedition kit here - and all my SCUBAPRO gear - talk about the freshest seafood!

Random, why a pastry cream? But having asked that, a pastry cream in and of itself should not be a conservation problem. How long are you planning to hold it before serving? And yes, nightscotman's right - your genoise's supposed to be dry - you want to imbibe it so that the syrup just starts to soak through to the other side. But I don't get adding the whipped cream - a well made pastry cream will hold intact - adding whipped cream completely changes the product and the conservation. A buche de Noel does not have to be rolled - you can use a log/roll mold and then cut layers of whatever you want your pastry to be. I like using a dacquoise - but then again I like dacquoise for just about anything. The current Laduree newsletter has a recipe for their chocolate buche de Noel - try emailing them for a copy.

Sandra - you already know how much fun that would be - and dangerous too! Can you imagine us there? Two trash-talking girl cooks - in at least four languages!

Pan, yes - now that we're on Christmas break at ADPA. Ted, I don't know yet - I'm waiting to hear back. One of the cooks at Ducasse has a friend who just started there so he's going to try to help me out too. Bux, I'm kidding - I'm not camping out!

Hi Irwin, are you talking about the typically coconut pastry macaroons? We always have this confusion. Margaret's talking about the traditional French pastry macarons - basically a delicate cookie sandwich - here's Laduree for example. And Steven, what I'm saying is that the macarons we make at the Plaza are far better than the one's I've had at any patisserie - and the ones for ADPA, even beyond that. I have friends who've slaved over the macarons at Pierre Herme - the highest status ones by Parisian standards - we've compared notes - and macarons - and we agree that ours are better. And of course I should note that they should be - the small scale production we do has far more quality control than their volume operation. Overbaked and defective macarons at ADNY? I'm really horrified. Macaron duty was one of my first jobs in gastro pastry - perfection is taken very, very seriously. You would not believe the number of pastries that never make it to the filling stage - I'd thumbprint them to make sure they didn't make it through - that is crush the top with my thumb. And even after my obsessive-compulsive eye, the chef would still find some that were just not perfect enough. What makes a macaron good? Interesting that you ask - because I've had this discussion many, many times with my various pastry chefs. The first and foremost consideration in French pastry - beauty - it must be perfect and appealing to the eye. Is the colour good? Shape round? Top smooth? Edges even? Pairs matched? Then you consider the filling - texture, taste, colour - then you can perhaps start to fill. But when you flip the macaron is it flat - or has it stuck a bit, so it's concave? You have to consider the filling and the pastry because you may need to slighly cave in the flipside - so that you can barely see the filling - you want equal amounts - and just enough but not too much. Then comes pairing and finally storing - after all that hard work you still get some waste because inevitably some macarons will get a little crushed from crowding. What I like in a good chocolate macaron is exactly what I like in a good brownie - eggshell-crisp crust, slightly chewy pastry, strong bitter chocolate filling - to contrast with the sweetness of the pastry. OK I guess I've come to the realization that my favourite macarons in Paris are the ones I make myself!

admajoremgloriam, thanks so much for the tip - I'm going to check it out today. For those who aren't familiar with the passages in Paris, they're 18th and 19th century, ironwork and glass covered passageways - perfect for cold and rainy days - of which we'll have a couple this weekend.

Emily, Robuchon takes reservations at 11:30 for lunch and 18:30 for dinner. pirate, it's nice to know the Relais ranks first on your list. Ducasse oversees that kitchen too.

Margaret, I just wolfed down three big chocolate macarons at lunch today - they're my favourite too - but lots of subtlties there. My favourite chocolate macarons were made by one of my pastry chefs at Cordon Bleu - he used to be the chef de patisserie at La Tour d'Argent. He made his with an unsweetened, dark, bitter, cocoa buttercream filling - he explained that since the macaron pastry is inherently sweet, that it's better with an unsweetened filling. In fact he made a standard sweetened filling version for comparison - the difference was startling. He had us try the unsweetened fillings on their own - he also made lemon buttercream, vanilla, etc. - and they were quite unappetizing on their own - but married with the pastry - a revelation. I've been to all the places you mentioned - and had tried all the macarons from Pierre Herme, Jean-Paul Hevin, and Laduree - chocolates but not macarons from Maison du Chocolat and pastry and sandwiches from Paul, but again no macs. Of the above I like the ones at chez Hevin the best - most beautiful and I felt like best understanding of the chocolate. Of macarons available to the public - though not really a retail outlet - the ones we make at the Plaza Athenee - for tea - are outstanding. And the ones we serve at ADPA - even better.

byrdhouse, the Hotel du Champ de Mars is right across the street from Marie-Anne Cantin.

Thank you all so much for your interest and support - it's what gets me through the particularly meticulous mise en place sometimes - knowing that someone cares. Ted - and anyone else who might know - what was your friend's housing situation? Their dorms are full up and I'm waiting to hear back about alternates. Part of me thinks - hey, they're in a national park - near the beach - why not camp out? Kidding. GG - me too, me too. Simon, I was thinking that too. And yeah, quoi de neuf? Hey Jordi - that's so cool! Come on - give it up - how'd you get it? victornet and I want to know! Pan, nope - no pay - and no, please don't try to imagine what it's doing to my finances - it's quite frightening. Some stages do pay - nominally - that's what I get at ADPA - but it's all part of my education - an investment in my future, as they say. At least I don't have to pay them - which on really good days, I can't believe I don't.

Today's lunch was our last service before our 10 day Christmas vacation. I'm physically and mentally drained. Here's the New Year's Eve dinner menu. I'll add details over the next few days. Le Diner de Saint Sylvestre 2003/2004 Noix de St. Jacques en coquille, cresson/caviar A very large scallop brushed with olive oil, lightly salted, seared, then finished in the oven. Served in shell, on a thick, watercress cream. The hot scallop will then be garnished with a tiny chilled scoop of oscetra caviar - decorated with one painstakingly perfect chervil leaf. Foie gras de canard des Landes, pommes/coing Homard de breton, pommes Macaire, aux sucs de crustaces, oscetre caviar royale Volaille de Bresse, bouillon, celeraic, truffes noirs Vacherin Mont d'Or Plaisirs Sucrees de Nouvel An Confiseries/Mignardises

Yah, no way Robuchon. Besides the bar seating, as my friend/roomie Grace describes it "It's like a bar scene - but no cleavage." Emily you've got a couple things going on. Your night's a Saturday night - a lot of gastronomic restaurants will be closed - L'Arpege and Ducasse included. But it's the holiday period which means those places will be easier to book because the regular clientele will be out of town - mountains, country house, etc. But that also means a lot of cafes/bistros/etc. will be busier. I don't think you'll have to worry too much about the Hawaiian/Parisian redundancy! And if you're worried about wandering around, take a taxi back to your hotel - really. If you're willing to spend a bit of money, then why not a three-star? If you go to the Michelin site they tell you the hours/days closed. With your babysitting chores on the horizon, pourquoi pas?

Dear Jeffrey, OK, I know this is bait, but it's so enticing that I'll just have to bite - of course animals eat Camembert - the animals under discussion here being dogs. You do remember Paris - the one in France? I swear that my uniquely fabulous Karli - German Shepherd and Yellow Labrador mix - can sniff out a perfectly ripe Camembert even better than our esteemed neighbor, Marie-Anne Cantin. No slight to Madame Cantin at all - Karli just knows our cheese preferences better. Sincerely, Louisa

Dear Jeffrey, Michelin gave El Bulli their third star in 1997. And you had the pig's foot carpaccio the two-starred El Celler de Can Roca.

Dear Jeffrey, What happened in 1974? And what favourite foods were you deprived of? Did you binge after? Do they remain favourites? What form would the chocolate take? Modern form or another feast from antiquity? Sincerely, Louisa

Dear Jeffrey, It depends on the Golden and the pig. Are we talking about the ideal diet for an English working field dog - or a bicoastal American pet? Potbellied or Iberian? Generally speaking of course the Golden is carnivorous and the pig, omnivorous. How did your wife smuggle Sky King into Manhattan and why was it necessary to do so? Has he been profiled by the authorities? And are you actually trying to say that it's more convenient to go and purchase dry dog food than it is to fry eggs and bread? And what will be the price of your believed convenience? And yes, you detect proselytizing - I cook daily for my dog. Sincerely, Louisa

Um, not yet - El Bulli - The Stage - Season 2004

Pinch me - pinch me hard. It's just been confirmed. But I still don't believe it yet. Nor have any of the details worked out. Don't speak Spanish - forget about Catalan. But one thing I do know is that I will be working there up until closing night Season 2004 - the hottest night of the year at El Bulli!