Louisa Chu

Sandra, congratulations on handling this whole situation with elegance and dignity. You go girl.

Paula, they were the chef's comments - just via me! I've not made them yet - I've just eaten them here in France!

I asked our cannele expert at the Plaza Athenee about the cannele problems and here's what he offered. If using flexipans, beeswax is not needed - it's for unmolding only, not the crust. If using metal molds - he says they don't need to be copper - they should be hot, so the beeswax does not block too quickly - then two thin layers applied. All batter ingredient temperatures should be respected carefully - and the batter should not be overworked - that's what typically causes them to rise up too much. And the molds should be well spaced - 10, max 12 to a baking sheet - to allow thorough baking. And unmold hot. Hope this helps!

oscubic, what's been your favourite staff meal so far? And nah, you really don't want to know what they're yelling at you in French! And sorry about misunderstanding - I'm at ADPA for total of four months - 2 more months there to go. I can't believe I've been in Paris now for 15 months - did 9 months time at Cordon Bleu. And good luck on getting paid - that would be a huge deal. They should now be paying you a base stagiaire salary - but most places don't - but definitely you should be getting reimbursed for transport - usually half your Carte Orange if they're not, ask, they won't offer it up. And obviously they're not sticking to the 35 hour work week rule either - the norm. Don't tell me they really put their bread under heat lamps! Told my gastro boulanger and he said it didn't matter that it was warm - it still wasn't good - told him he's biased again! I may know your CB pastry stagiaire - I finished CB end of May so I still have friends staging - so please say hi for me. We get all-you-can-drink wine at the Plaza too - but you can't work drunk!

Thanks so much for the tip. I love Honfleur too. Love that little colourful port - surrounded by the grey slate roofed buildings. Some of the best salted caramel ice cream - must be the milk. And thanks for the reminder - I said that the next time I went I'm bringing a hot plate and pan and frying up some of those tiny grey shrimp in Normandy butter myself.

Yes, worth many restaurants! Bread, cheese - and wine - the holy trinity of French food. Actually the artisanal boulangerie's Pain d'Epis - it right up the street from Marie-Anne Cantin. And yes, Poujauran's good - but don't get me started on Poujauran - I have a love/hate relationship with them - part of our long-running neighborhood feud. And Marie-Anne Cantin's just amazing - beautiful, elegant, rustic window display. And yah, the staff can seem a little cold at first, but always really patient, and usually warm up and get nice with strangers. I'm always begging them to teach a cheese day at the shop - but they say they're just too busy.

My dog, friend, and I had the great pleasure having dinner last night with Bux, Mrs. B, delights, delights mother, David Bizer, and David's girlfriend at L'Auvergne Gourmande last night. Met fresh_a after for drinks - kicked off with beers on the street with Chef Christian Constant himself.

Sandra, that sucks! As for your questions - dunno, yes, and here's what I would have done, I would have quietly told the manager what happened - then to correct the bill - or I would call the police to file a complaint for fraud.

Moby, modesty?! Oh no, that's not it - it's running around with my hair on fire - not literally, thank God. Promise to post more later - big day, going to Robuchon for lunch, walking tour of neighborhood artisans for Les 7 Jours du 7eme, and La Nuit Blanche tonight - but just a few things - new ADPA fall menu kicked off this week, finally starting to get the touch - and respect - in gastro boulangerie, and big talk with Chef Piege about moving to cuisine in the next couple of weeks - even my patisserie/boulangerie chefs fear for me.

menton, La Nuit Blanche is tonight - Saturday the 4th - but I must need to warn anyone going out tonight - stay in your quartier or wear comfortable walking shoes. Yeah, public transport's running all night, but it's going to be packed - forget about taxis. I'm heading over to the the Champ du Mars and the Tower tonight - can't wait! La Nuit Blanche And I hate to rub salt into the wound, but also this weekend/week are Les 7 Jours du 7e - big neighborhood festival here in the 7th. And to add even more insult to injury, yesterday Marie-Anne Cantin had a table out front - handing out free cheese samples. Sorry. I'm going on a guided walk today to visit artisans part of our daily lives - boulangers, fromagers, etc. Les 7 Jours du 7e

The RER E?! No one takes the RER E! Margaret, thanks so much for the tip - going out there soon - and I would have had no idea - thanks again.

menton, I love the supermarkets here too - I spend so much time in them that they start to follow me around suspiciously. The best is the snack food - Nutella has a new snack cup out - looks like a cup-o-noodles - but with Nutella and little cookie sticks for dipping.

Pete, thanks very much for sharing. I love hearing about driving trips through the country - I miss road trips! Three-year old Comte?! That's so cool. I love that stuff - with those crystalized little bits crunching between your teeth - amazing. Thanks again.

Congratulations! Sassafras, sorghum, sourmash? That all sounds so cool! In fact all the desserts sound really great - would love to see pix if you get a chance. I have to say though - and I know you sell a lot of them - that the classic creme brulee's the only one that sounds a little too normal. How about a riff on a pecan pie? It's funny, I'm working on developing a classic American dessert menu with guys here at ADPA - and as far as the French are concerned pecan pie's gotta be on that menu. But back to the creme brulee/pecan pie - I don't know southern desserts and therefore their correctness but I liked the one I did best that I explained was just set like a creme brulee. And then there's got to be some caramelised pecans in there. But I do love the sweet potato ideas too - with housemade marshmallows of course. OK going to look up Chess Pie. Congrats again!

I don't know Danish attitude about food! I can't wait to learn more now. There is that gorgeous place on the Champs-Elysees I always want to try. Salad dressing - not sweet the last few times I've been there - just a basic vinaigrette - nice little salads - last time it was laitue, frisee, radicchio, lentils, sultanas, and walnuts - and free! You're getting me started on Poujauran! Yes, you've been initiated then! That's how they treat everyone who tries to take pictures. I first had that happen when I went with a cousin - and la vendeuse nearly came flying over across the counter. I told her very evenly that perhaps they should have a sign in the shop then - and that she should be more polite. I always warn unsuspecting people with cameras in hand on line. M. Poujauran himself is a nice guy - and again, great bread - but those vendeuses, unbelievably rude - and no, it's not normal for Paris.

Video! We need video!

Bux, the Spanish place - actually owned by a Frenchman - is Bellotta-Bellotta - in my neighborhood in the 7th - I love it. He has one more location - a little more upscale - in the 8th - and will be opening a third here in Bastille - designed by Agatha Ruiz de la Prada - the Spanish designer. He has a fourth location in Boulogne. At B-B, they start you off with a shot glass of very good gaspacho - and some bread from Poujauran next door. They serve more bread - I begrudgingly admit is very good - with a fresh salsa to spoon on. We had an assortment of the jambon - all impeccable - manchego with quince paste, and marinated squid - tender and salty. And I meant to mention this to you before but I think the Cuisine du Bar is positively French - a slight extension of bar baguette sandwiches, washed down by a glass of house wine, finished with a slug of cafe - French fast food.

Bruce, what are you waiting for? tighe, vserna's right - typically when you talk about game season here it's fall/winter. But you can pretty much hunt something, somewhere all year round in France - except spring/mating/breeding season. Every year around this time it comes up in the news - and amongst us hunting/dog people at the Champ de Mars - France has one of the longest - if not the longest - hunting seasons in Europe - lots of pro and con groups hit the media right now. You'd be surprised - or maybe you wouldn't - about how many little old ladies go hunting - with their dogs - on the weekends. Right now, you'll start seeing the wild boar - season started last month - on restaurant menus - and then with the rolling opening dates - wild hare and all kinds of birds. vserna, not farmed - but the old schoolers I know - and the protesters - talk about how especially some of the deer hunts are like shooting fish in a barrel. It's like anywhere else in the world, humans encroach, create preserves, then have to control the animal population - but luckily that's not to say all. Bux, for full effect, come back to Rue Cler around Christmas - you will not believe the kinds and numbers of whole animals on display - they hang rows of whole pheasants practically like garland. And you know how much I love La Sologne, but it's like everything here - the best stuff gets sent to Paris. It's like with seafood on the coast - it usually gets sent to Rungis - before it gets sent back to their very own local markets on the coast. pirate, if you're asking if provenance is designated in butcher shops - yes - they usually deal directly with the hunters. A few things I always think about during game season in France: lievre a la royale - a deboned wild hare - which can hang from hind leg to long ears almost as long as I stand tall - stuffed with foie gras and truffles in a red wine sauce made with its own blood; Tarte Tatin - supposedly accidently invented during the rush of a hunters' meal; and to beware of fake sanglier - beef long-marinated in red-wine - served up by unscrupulous cooks.

Hey! Congratulations on your stage - and welcome to eGullet! We'll have to compare notes sometime - I'm staging at ADPA. I have not yet dined at LC - or ADPA for that matter - but plenty of people here have - do a search and you'll see the threads. Don't even talk to me about hurting for cash - I've been here for over a year now - at least four more months to go. What did you do at GD? What are you doing at LC? How long? Any Cordon Bleu stagiaires there right now? And do you bake your own breads there? I ask because our gastro boulanger thought the food was good recently, but the bread inedible - I told him he might be biased.

A note on the window of one of the better local butchers: Dear Clients, we cannot pluck, skin, or gut your wild game - please go to a qualified veterinarian. And in France, if you need wild mushrooms identified - take them to the pharmacist. God, I love this country sometimes.

Nah, Cafe Constant's the real deal. Here's what I love about the place - the guy who delivers the foie gras in the morning - to both Violon and the Cafe - stops and has coffee - and a smoke - at the bar - with a bunch of other regulars from the neighborhood. It's got such a great vibe. And I love how chef hangs out there - like our local three-star godfather. Kong, I don't know at all - but that view up on Samaritaine is amazing.

Bux, what were those places like? Were they doing dolmas gratineed? I love the sandwich grecque places in the 5th, but compared to the ones I grew up with in Chicago, I wonder where all the spices have gone - can barely taste the stuff. And langoustine anything's good. I helped plate for a banquet recently and we had a few leftover - the chef de partie and I cracked those babies open - fast - before chef could catch us. hollywood, it'd be Casa Luisa wouldn't it? Pan, I know enough about good Mexican food to know I know nothing! I just learned about epazote! fresh_a, you'd think a Mexican restaurant claiming to have the Best Chili in Europe might have been a tip off?! And don't even get me started on good Polish food - I grew up with Polish neighbors - and homemade pierogies - I guess here we'd have to do them stuffed with a Robuchon-esque pommes puree.

Well, whaddya know - a translation by fresh_a - about time! Well, what did I tell you? It's only taken Figaroscope about three months after they open to catch on? What I think is strange though is their comment that the dishes are classic, too long forgotten, and still valid today. I don't get it. I see these dishes on little no-name cafe menus every day - well as plat du jours. What gives? Do they only think it's validated because it's Christian Constant? And they didn't notice the little hole-in-the-walls have been serving the same all along?

Does that give you any ideas, Louisa? Pan, ideas? Like I should get myself back to LA ASAP - or go visit my friends in Mexico? Cordon Bleu did an event with the Mexican embassy last year - and while I heard Mexican friends who worked it that the food was good, even there it was more French than Mexican. hollywood, a langoustine ceviche? Chilaqueles aux truffes? Foie gras tacos? But how cross cultural? Not very - not for lack of knowledge or desire - most of the chefs have done stints in the States and Japan - but that's just not what the client wants there. And even when we do use non-French ingredients, we fully assimilate them into French form and tastes. Moby, you heard it?! My own family doesn't bother listening! Thanks.

Sauce Albufera 500 ml chicken stock 100 ml cream 30 g beurre manie (kneaded butter and flour) 1/2 red bell pepper 100 ml veal stock lemon salt Peel pepper. Remove stem, seeds, membranes. Brunoise. Sweat in butter, season with lemon and salt. Add chicken stock and veal stock. Reduce and skim. Finish with cream. Add beurre manie as needed. Keywords: Sauce, Easy, French ( RG613 )