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OK, this may be a dumb question but I spent too much of the weekend discussing this with my wife not to ask it. Please bear with me while I set it up. French cheese is better than American cheese (but I'll bet our pasturized, process cheese food beats their's hands down) because it is made with raw milk and is "alive." Our government forbids the importation of unpasteurized cheeses unless they are at least 60 days old. Now, when I drop by the local fromagerie for, say, some Epoisses or Pont l'Eveque -- what I believe are formally know as "stinky" cheeses -- I usually find them less ripe than I prefer, and I let them for a week or so until they get nice and runny. So, since I like cheeses that are old, anyway, will eating French cheeses in France actually be better than eating them here and, if so, why? IS there something besides aging at work here? Not trying to kick up a ruckus or anything, and am certainly willing to take the sueriority fo French cheeses on French soil of faith, but my inner Brillat-Savarin wants to know. PS If anyone hasn't read it, the NYT article on Epoisses -- read while I had a gooey disk of the importable stuff in the fridge -- that got my mind racing, is here: www.nytimes.com/2003/05/28/dining/28STIN.html

Saturday night is the Fete de la Musique in Paris, the annual celebration of the start of summer. Last year I was lucky enough to be in Paris at this time. A wonderful feast. On just about every corner in the city were some musicians playing, surrounded by hordes of people. They also have big venue events, like at the Hotel de Ville and at the Tour Eiffel. Boulevard St Germain had a procession of artists from 10PM until well into the night. The only folks who are unhappy are those in cars, who just cannot get through the streets because of the throngs of humanity!! Can anyone lucky enough to be there this year kindly give us a report of the festivities... I will have to live vicariously through that this year!! Bonne fete!!

A friend of mine is going to be spending 3 weeks in France in July. I was thinking of putting together a (relatively) simple and (very) delicious French-themed meal for him before he goes away. I'm sure there's a lot of room for debate here, but what are some classic French recipes that shouldn't be overlooked? I'll probably just do a salad/appetizer course (frisee aux lardons?), a main, and a dessert. What dishes would YOU put on a great French menu? Thanks.

Does anyone know the recipe for these seafood crepes farcies with a Mornay type sauce? They were a specialty of Le Valois restaurant on 58th St in NYC.

Is this french sausage available in US? Or can be substituted by some other sausage?

I checked amazon.fr under the subject of "Littérature gourmande", but it's too overwhelming. I'm looking for something along the lines of "Kitchen Confidential", but i'm open for suggestions. Even better, if a book is translated into English. I've read in parallel english and french versions of Kundera's "Immortality". It was such a pleasure.

Although we spend a lot of our travel time prowling through antique venues, Robert Brown brought to our attention a term we had never noticed before: Vide Grenier or a private party offering his less-than-precious personal goods for sale, much like our garage sale. Yes, Robert, we did find one, 300 locals who hauled their stuff to the sidewalks surrounding the park in the center of Place de Rungis in Paris' 13e. We didn't buy, but that didn't take away from the festive mood of the place and the sellers. There were, in fact, a handful of these sales advertised in Aladin (the French monthly antique/brocante venue locator) for central Paris, and scores listed for provincial locations. I can't say whether you are on the cutting edge of a mushrooming phenomenon or whether this is another case of "heightened awareness" for us. Either way, thanks much for introducing us to this new wild goose sanctuary! ;)

October 19 through 22 are the dates for the annual Fermier show at Espace Champeret in Paris. 200+ artisanal producers of charcuterie, cheese, seasalt, honey, confitures, confiture du lait, eau de vie, calvados, fruit wine, and more than I can remember set up booths, discuss and sell their products. Samples are offered on almost everything that is for sale. There is a raw bar set up, as well as a cafe for lunch. This year I will come prepared with an empty carrier bag and will do serious Christmas shopping. On October 20 and 21 at the Bourse du Commerce, the twice a year Marche du Chocolat takes place. Over 20 of France's best chocolatiers offer samples and sell their product. There are many artisanal exhibits: chocolate molding, construction and decorating; and for the really serious, classes and seminars. From October 31 to November 4, the Salon du Chocolat takes place at the Carrousel du Louvre, exhibiting chocolatiers from all over Europe.

Anyone have any luck with different hollandaise techniques using the siphon? Like cooking the yolks sous vide, hydrocolloids, etc. I'm looking for a mousse that won't move (like whipped cream, shaving cream, et.) and won't break when warm (obviously). Thanks for any help.

Can you tell me what the best way to reheat hollandaise is? Or how do you keep it warm for a while?

The convection oven in my apartment hasn't worked since I moved in, though the owner claims otherwise. I've finally resolved to buy my own, but before I did, I was hoping for some advice. Having not used one before, I hope someone can tell me: -What do they do well? I'm primarily going to want to bake/grill fish and meat, roast veggies, make gratins, etc., though I'd like the option of some low-impact baking: flatbreads, muffins, clafoutis, etc. -Are the simple ones (less than 100 euros) of reasonable quality for short-medium term use? There's a Rowenta one on sale at a little shop around the corner, and that's certainly the easiest option. I'm also space-constrained, so the mini-four size will have to do. Just to clarify, I'm posting here rather than in a general section because most of the discussions there seem to be about professional-quality convection ovens. (And I'm yet to see an American home without a conventional oven.) Thanks!

Over the past several weeks, I've been reading a fair bit about cassoulet here. Before Christmas, I'd found some local cranberry beans at the farmer's market downtown and used them to make my own version of the classic dish. I bought some tiger eye beans at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago and have tried them in the dish too. Beans have never really been a big hit with me but these varieties are really quite good. Who knew? At any rate, here's what I did with them today... First, I put 250g of beans in a pot, covered with cold water, and brought it to a boil. Once it was boiling, I turned the gas off and just let them soak until I was ready to use them. I also blanched some sliced salt pork. Shortly before 4:00 this afternoon, I drained the beans: I browned some chicken thighs and got the other ingredients (minced garlic and 125g strained tomatoes) ready: Once that was all together, I combined it all in my Calphalon pan. When I've made this before, I've used chicken broth (Swanson's low sodium) as my liquid. I felt like Old Mother Hubbard when I went to my cupboard this afternoon and found none there. Instead, I used some red wine and some "potato water" (i.e., water in which I'd boiled potatoes) that I'd saved for making bread. I covered the pan and put it in the oven (350 F) for about 90 minutes. Then I took the lid off for another 30 minutes to let a crust form. Here's the final result: Okay, there's no duck confit, I didn't use flageolets, and I cooked it in a metal pan. I'm calling this my anti-cassoulet. Whatever you want to call it, it was pretty damn tasty ...

Inspired by FoodMan's thread on his Houston Cassoulet, I offer the following blog as my conversion to Clay Pot cooking... For seven years, I have made Cassoulet as my traditional Christmas meal. Back in September, I started the hunt for a traditional Cassole in this thread into which I could prepare my Cassoulet this year. I was unsuccessful in acquiring one of my own, but fortune shined upon me as one was offered as a loaner (therein lies a whole other fabulous story of a budding friendship ). Inspired by Paula Wolfert's November Food and Wine article on Clay Pot Cooking, I opted to utilize her recipe from The Cooking of South West France. It is an extensive, three-day affair. Day 1... Seasoning various pork products to sit overnight in a fridge: Day 2 The hard work begins First it was to sort and soak the beans: Then I had to blanch the pork skin and salt pork: I browned some pork butt: And added mire poix: Then the blanched pork goes in along with some fresh hocks: Adding the prosciutto, tomato, and stock: And then the beans: Day 3 Ragout of cooked pork and beans (basically, everything but the sausages & confit) The confit is ready: So are the Toulousian sausages: Starting to layer into the Clay Pot: Several hours later, Cassoulet is served! The Chef gets the first taste! Loved by all! I'm a complete convert. Within three days, I headed to Chinatown to procur a Chinese Sand Pot for my next clay pot experiment.

At the risk of being labelled heretic on this forum I'd like to raise a cooking question and solicit advice from it's knowledgeable members. Yesterday I attempted to make a carrot cake. This was to be sold at a charitable vide grenier in our village. Naturally, as it was an American dish made by am American I wanted it to be as good as possible so as to not look bad to our French neighbours. Although by no means a disaster the cake did not rise nearly as high as I would have expected it to. It did rise, but each of the layers was somewhere between 1/2 & 1 inch flatter than I thought it should have been. (taste was fine, but it was denser than it should have been.) I don't make a lot of cakes, but I have noticed that whenever I do they don't rise to their full 'potential' I also note that French cakes in general don't seem to be as high or light as American ones. I used French cake flour & added both baking powered & baking soda (this was the passover carrot cake recipe on recipe Gullet) and followed the recipe faithfully. Any ideas? Does anybody else have the same problem? Secondary question: I'm running out of both baking powder & baking soda and I don't see either of them in the local hypermarket. Where can I find them?

I did a search to see if this topic had been covered before and the closest I got was a discussion on Earthenware that drifted towards recommendations of Emile Henry products. I am looking for an authentic stoneware cassole into which I can make my authentic cassoulet. Not being able to read French, I am having a hard time even searching French sites for some place where I can mail order one and I have no friends travelling to that area any time soon. Any brilliant eGulleters out there with a source -- or someone in France want to help me buy one? Merci!

A friend just called asking me for directions for French wines or digestives made from green almonds. Apparently, she acquired a sack at this morning's farmer's market. And has enough to share, should I come up with a recipe.

I ordered a bavette at the butcher and he was quite happy to announce that he had a really nice one at the time, which he said was a "bavette d'aloyau". I always thought that there was only one kind of bavette, one of your common cuts. You get this when you're trying to save money. My husband was not too excited about it when I announced what we were going to have for dinner, because he said that the ones he gets in the average cafe or bistrot with frites are often tough and stringy. I didn't do anything special to them, I just pan seared them and seasoned them with some salt and mignonette. They were amazingly flavorful and delicious, and melt in your mouth tender. I was pretty happy about that and imagined rolling it up with and herbed farce on the inside and roasting it, it was so tender and delicious. The next time I went to the butcher I asked him if I could have some more bavette d'aloyau. He said he didn't have any that day but offered me another type of bavette. How many types of bavette are there? How do you best ask in a restaruant ask what kind you're getting since they are often just offered as "bavette"?

can anyone explain: a) what exact cut does one expect to receive when one orders an entrecôte in France? IF the answer IS a rib steak, then it is "usually" bone-in or bone-less? b) IF an entrecôte is a rib steak, & is with bone-in, then what is the difference bet an entrecôte vs a côte de boeuf? on the other hand, if a entrecôte is NOT a rib steak, than what...? b) when ordering steak frites, in France, what cut of beef is "usually" served? c) what exactly is a faux-filet, i .e., what is it's comparable american cut? d) what exactly is a contre-filet, i.e., what is it's comparable american cut?