Louisa Chu

nightscotsman, I've got pastry tomorrow so will definitely ask then. I'm dying to find out. Doing regional cakes tomorrow so this will be interesting. An aside, most of my classmates hate when I ask questions. It sometimes depresses me. I wish we had the kind of discussions there as we do here. Michael, as for Poujauran, I have a love/hate relationship with them. I like their more interesting boulangerie items - especially a crusty mini fig/nut bread - but have not been impressed with their viennoiserie - find their croissant au beurre almost always a bit sloppy and overbaked - canneles good - but a little lacking in toothsomeness sometimes. But their rudeness, shocking. I will not buy from there - if I want something, I ask a friend to pick it up. Just wanted to add - they're not being snooty. In fact it's quite the opposite.

Sorry, I have not seen cannelés made nor have I made them myself yet but I will ask the pastry chefs at school next week as I do plan to make them eventually. A comment and a question. Comment, Parisians consider Poujauran to have the definitive classic cannelés in the city. They're very good but I hate the women who work there. And question, basic, basic question, do most professional patissiers in the States not go by weights? Thanks. Poujauran 20 RUE JEAN NICOT 75007 PARIS 01 47 05 80 88

La Cuisine de Bar is actually owned by Poilane - and right next door. La Cuisine de Bar 8 RUE DU CHERCHE MIDI 75006 PARIS 01 45 48 45 69

OK, I'm in. But no I won't be done with my exams. They're the week after. You can all help flashcard me with recipes through dinner.

Yes, I'm still here and sorry I haven't RSVP'd yet. No I can't make next Friday, definitely not a Thursday and don't know yet about that Saturday. Does that help? No I didn't think so. Let me get back on this after next Monday when I can breathe again.

Brand name? Maille. From the tap at the shop at Madeleine.

No. In fact I prefer to braise with no cover. But covering or not covering is not important - braising with just enough liquid at a low temp for a long time is.

If only I'd attended last year's Maillard reaction convention. Wonder what was on the buffet?

No, Quick.

OK, righty-o. You're right. Searing does not actually "seal in the juices" as I so carelessly claimed, but it does seize the meat on the exterior. I am not a food scientist so cannot correctly explain the physical process but what does happen then is that not only do you gain colour and flavour to a cooked exterior while the interior remains raw until cooked low and slow in braising. OK?

Canard, duck, canard, joke? Expliquez, s'il vous plait.

Some tips for braising. Sear your meat well first - this will colour it nicely and seal in the juices leaving you with nice tender meat - and season. Remove the meat from the pan then lower the heat, sweat your vegetables then colour them lightly and taste and season. A large mirepoix is fine. Remove the vegetables from the pan and deglaze with water, wine, stock, etc. Potatoes. Use a waxy kind of potato - it will not fall apart. Peel and hold in cold water to keep from discolouring. But when you slice them do not soak or rinse them again - you want to the starch to hold the potato together and to slightly thicken your braising liquid. Season your potatoes and add all the meat and vegetables back into your pan, layering if you like. Add enough additional water or stock to just almost cover the contents. Use a pan that is just big enough. Boil then simmer until the meat and potatoes are done. Braise over a low heat so that the meat does not seize and toughen. If you'd like your braising liquid further reduced, keep it simmering low until you reach the desired reduction. Taste and season at the end of reduction. Sorry I don't know anything about crockpots.

Why did you have scraps? But with those scraps you could have made a terrine and perhaps better understood where the ballotine came from in the first place. John, I wish you could have been at my school this week - Le Cordon Bleu Paris - because while the students made the ballotines - a recipe similar to yours but with a thick foie gras center - the chefs also made terrines. Now, I've seen them pick at the lobsters and maybe fine cuts of beef, but these guys come running when it comes to terrines. It's the soul food of French chefs. So much so that the executive chef de cuisine broke out baguettes, cornichons, good mustard and wine for his tasting - that never normally happens. You would have found with them a brotherhood of cooks who while perfectly capable of executing the finest haute cuisine much prefer the alchemy of transforming scraps to something truly fulfilling. And I have to agree that while I quite liked the ballotine it was a bit bizarre in the making. And thanks for the Q&A. I often visit your site late at night when I need some confirmation of good things in this world.

A-llez a-llez a-llez a-llez! Moi! Friday and Saturday nights best. Thanks Marc for a bit of atypical Parisian enthusiasm.

I also say Spago - especially a table in the garden. A quintessential southern California experience. Maison 140, the Avalon and the Viceroy are all owned by the same group. I absolutely adore them but only wish that they put half as much thought into their staff training as they do their impeccable design. If you do choose Spago, stay at Maison 140 for more reasonable rooms - starting around $150. Extraordinary and my preference and I do love the bar too. But be forewarned that they are tiny and rather intensely modern Chinoiserie. And no pool. You are allowed access to the idyllic pool at the Avalon, but it's just not realistic to use it without a car. Or stay at the Avalon - starting around $200 - for a luxurious midcentury modern experience. Again, the wonderful pool. And heed the warning about avoiding a room overlooking it. The last time I was there Keifer Sutherland jumped in fully clothed and the ever attendant Beverly Hills Police were summoned. In fact, I think the rooms in what I think they call the Townhouse - a converted apartment building across the street on Canon - are much more pleasant. And quiet. I'm partial to these hotels and Spago because I used to live in the neighborhood. And walk. But take the side streets. Circumnavigate around Wilshire at all costs. I can give you a walking route if you'd like - my dog and I know every step well.

But I'd think that it would be easier and therefore cheaper to buy lychees in Chicago from Florida than London from Spain. Thanks for the link.

Amazing. The low price and that they came from Essex. And I should mention that the price in Paris was for a kilo and in Chicago a pound. Just amazing. I wonder how they've come to be such a common and cheap item here in Europe and not in the States? I never even had a fresh one until just a few years ago - from Florida. Thanks again for the info.

I'm just curious, I know you received the lychees as a gift, are they very common in London? I'm so surprised to find them all over Paris as there were not any commonly available in southern California. And do you have any idea what the going price is where you are? I've found some really good ones - juicy, small pit - here in Paris on promo for only about 2.50 euros. My mom tells me they're about 10 US dollars in Chicago. Thanks.

It's hard to generalize anywhere. I've been to foie gras "farms" here in France where both ducks and geese are free-range and come eagerly to feed. At the stage I saw them they were grotesquely deformed but run they did. I've heard that at others where I'm sure they're not so open to visitors that they are still force fed with funnels down their throats. I believe that Charlie Trotter must know these truths intimately. Rather than condemn him for hypocrisy perhaps he should be applauded for bravery. Furthermore I think it should be required that every single person be required to kill their own food at least once. Death gives you so much more respect for life.

kit, not my suggestion but elyse's. I think in that situation that the batter would just be too heavy for the whites.

That's it. Work the mixture until it "flows like magma" to quote our chef. At the correct point it will be fluid and shiny. I thought it would be more understandable than faire tomber l'appareil!

Quite elaborate pre and post desserts with what sounds like a substantial and hearty dessert in and of itself - for lunch! And have you in fact given up desserts as threatened? And welcome back.

Sorry VM, don't know any other way. I'll admit that my everyday brand is Leader Price non fat which I quite like sweet or savoury. And cheap! 12 small cups for about 1.25 euros! Cheapie disposable cups but good yogurt nonetheless.

Tea light holders and individual bulb planters. Our yogurt containers here in France are clear glass and terra cotta.