eG Foodblog: bleudauvergne

[Pan]

Is it just me or does anyone else think we should phone Lucy and wake her up?

You're mean!

I hope Lucy wakes up well-rested and ready to indulge us with more great photographs and information.

[bleudauvergne]

I made it up, please make it.

Good morning.

[bleudauvergne]

Please excuse me for the last post -

I meant about the recipe for the Coquilles St. Jacques. I made up the recipe. But no one makes things up out of a vacuum. We try things and we see things. But I haven't seen filo used this way before.

[iNDULGENT REMINISCING WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO STRESS THE FACT THAT VARIED LIFE EXPERIENCES ADD TO A PERSON'S OBSERVATION SKILLS WHICH IS A CONTINGENT TO APPRECIATING FOOD]

About my profession, I am one of the many people who studied art at the University, and then went on to do something completely different when there was not enough money to finance a studio. So in desperation and in kind of a rebellious move against my lot, which was basically to either go into lifelong debt by continuing on to grad school or work for minimum wage as a museum guard, I impulsively Joined the Army .

It was there, in my early 20s, that I learned to speak Chinese and there that I first went to Germany, and Russia, and Turkey. Although I was chomping at the bit to get the heck out of that mess the entire time I was enlisted. I hated it. Every single day was a struggle. I toughed out a 4 year enlistment. But many good things came out of it. It made me bolder and stronger, and it was a terrific opportunity for me to travel. I managed to talk my way into a whole lot of fun jobs.

After that, I got a job working for a Swiss commodities trading company in China. It was there that I first started doing a lot of cooking. Basically what happened was I was extremely busy, and could do nothing but work and sleep, because the Chinese day started a 8h00, and then at 3PM the London metal exchange opened. There were always calls coming from the head office and things to do until at least 9PM. It was mindless, brainless work. But it was my job to keep the hedge fund balance sheets and the P/L reports up to date, and make sure our Chinese trading partners opened their letters of credit on time. And I found that if I didn’t stay late and update things; things were hard to handle smoothly during the day that followed.

I had an American friend who took me in and fed me from time to time. She was a young housewife my age in Beijing, following her husband. Straight from the mid-west. She had hired a cleaning lady who also cooked. But she wasn’t happy with her, because she was giving her recipes translated from the English for American dishes, which this Ayi had never seen before. Bless her heart, this poor downtrodden woman was being told to make Chicken and Dumplings without ever having tasted them. So my American housewife in Beijing friend was whining about how she didn’t do this right and didn’t do that right, and that she was going to fire her but it was uncomfortable because she knew she needed the money. So I said: “I need help. My home is a wreck. It is going to implode from the dust.” So I hired her. The first thing I did was double her salary. I could not believe what my friend had been paying her. I also left her to her own devices, and told her I would rather eat Chinese food. She saved my life at that point. She whipped everything into shape, including me. She took my clothes to the cleaners, darned my socks, changed the sheets, did wonders doing the shopping with the food money I left her each week, and lovingly prepared wonderful Chinese food for me which she left for me in the frigo. She hovered over me when I was sick. She was clearly downtrodden no more. Fresh flowers, business with the building management, she was amazing, she was wonderful. Every day she’d left me something great to eat. We had an agreement for her to come during the mornings every other Saturday, in order for her to be able to take instructions from me about what needed to be done. The thing was she did a perfect job, and I didn’t have anything to tell her. So she started to teach me to cook every other Saturday morning. She came with me to the airport when I left Beijing, and she cried when I left. I was really sorry to leave her too, and I gave her monry to send her son to school. I left behind a great salary and a future with that trading company. But the work was too demanding to not have much interest in it. Some people I knew who worked there lived for that kind of work. So it was a dream come true to work 13 hours a day crunching numbers. But I personally did not really feel like I was answering my life’s calling. It became hard to maintain when I began to travel a great deal inside China. I finally just said – It’s time to go.

[/REMINISCE]

Oh, about the Coquille St. Jacques. I saw a recipe in I think either a cookbook called the Great Chefs Cook American or Best American Recipes 2000 (?) for scallops with a roasted pepper sauce, that involved pureeing the peppers and incorporating them into a cream based sauce. It was alright but in my opinion the cream interfered. I felt the sauce was confused. The cream in the sauce, it muddied the beautiful clear voice of the peppers, I felt like the backdrop should be the scallops, and not the cream. But it was with that recipe that I first appreciated the combination of scallops and roasted peppers. And the filo thing lends itself to things that don’t cook a long time. One thing I would do differently, is before serving it I would lean a couple of chives along the inside, against the side of Queen Anne’s collar to make it prettier.

About the Filo. I was browsing through a cook book aisle in a bookstore, and saw one of those fluffy no content photo books all about fantasies in brique. The book was badly done and not very creative. But just the idea of forming, folding, pulling, and sculpting it into shapes was what I took from it. I had never worked with it. That afternoon I picked up some of this dough and found that it is something that fulfils my creative needs quite nicely. It's almost lunchtime, and I am at the office. Food will not be so interesting at lunch - this is a warning!

-Lucy

Edited April 19, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[curlywurlyfi]

But I do need some advice and pointers about what to do with this truckload of candied ginger I have taking up space in my cupboard? Please send ideas if you have any.

Lucy, your blog is amazing. It is capturing the rhythm of French home cuisine so beautifully - thank you!

Ideas for your ginger - what about a pear tart (just fruit, no creme patissiere) with walnut pastry, with chopped ginger sprinkled over the pears? Or ginger icecream (very good with poached plums)? Or traditional gingerbread (the sticky English kind with treacle)? Or, something my father is very fond of, dip small bits of ginger in very dark chocolate + cool on a wire rack, delicious with coffee.

look forward to hearing about today! hope the weather is as nice with you as it is here in London.

Fi

[Pan]

Lucy, do you ever cook Chinese food nowadays?

[bleudauvergne]

Lucy, do you ever cook Chinese food nowadays?

But of course, Pan. How else am I going to get it? Once you've had it on a regular basis for a few years, it becomes a physical need. They certainly don't serve it at Chinese restaurants (although there were two places in L.A. that did a pretty good job of it).

[bleudauvergne]

Ideas for your ginger - what about a pear tart (just fruit, no creme patissiere) with walnut pastry, with chopped ginger sprinkled over the pears? Or ginger icecream (very good with poached plums)? Or traditional gingerbread (the sticky English kind with treacle)? Or, something my father is very fond of, dip small bits of ginger in very dark chocolate + cool on a wire rack, delicious with coffee.

Those are all great ideas, Fi. Thanks.

Hmmm.. :thinking:

[phaelon56]

Lucy - I continue to be amazed by your blog. I'll only hope I can attempt to duplicate the lighting in some future food shots of my own but you know how the light is in Syracuse - the occasions are rare.

By the way - one of my preconceived notions is now in disarray - I was convinced that no one who once lived on Circle Road would ever join the Army

Your sharing about the experiences your husband has when he's working on a problem brought forth some fond memories of my uncle, who passed recently, the first of my parents siblings to go. He related tales of the many times he literally lay awake all night, stared into space for hours or even awoke in the middle of the night with a revelation that solved the problem he was working on at the time (tell Loic it's Jim Early of the physics law known as the "Early Effect" - he may well have known of him).

Like many, you blog has actually inspired me to eat better and cook better. Sourcing of as varied a range ingredients will be a challenge but we have far more options in this area now than ever before.

About the coffee - all I can determine is that the roaster is based in Grenoble and "Alpine Roast" is a dark French Roast. I've had many people tell me how much they enjoyed the coffee in France but have yet to determine if one particular varietal or blend is predominant. Longer, slower roast times do have a tendency to produce a deep, rich, flavor and a full bodied cup. A darker roast produce by a smaller roaster who uses traditional style drum roasters will tend to have this quality. Large commercial roaster these days (and even some microroasters) use fluid bed roasters (hot air moving and roasting the beans rather than a drum moving them and cooking them partly by contact with hot metal and partly by hot air). Fluid bed roasters lend themselves to faster roasting (brighter flavor notes but a bit more acidic and less mellow) and are also poular because they can easily be automated. Drum roasters, even the larger ones, still require an artisan to monitor and sheperd the beans through the roast.

[paul o' vendange]

Is it just me or does anyone else think we should phone Lucy and wake her up?

Why, whatever for?

[bleudauvergne]

By the way - one of my  preconceived notions is now in disarray - I was convinced that no one who once lived on Circle Road would ever join the Army

Owen, I was very young at the time. I think everyone does something they regret during their youth. I got mine out of the way early.

It is indelibly stamped in my checkered past like a stamp in my passport. And no, no one on Circle road disowned me. They knew and know me, they blame impetuous youth and all is forgiven.

------------Blog-------------->

Lunch: Cafeteria Food.

I used a "ticket restaurant", one of the few measly benefits enjoyed by French workers - It is the French version of food stamps, partially subsidized by the government, partially by my employer. Each month I am given the option to buy 10 of these tickets, at €2.40 apiece. They can only be used in restaurants and cafeterias that accept them. The face value of the ticket is €6.65. Therefore my actual cost for the meal is €3.20.

I picked this salad because of the talk of Mussels in the cooking forum.

I was not able to finish the cheese.

Edited April 19, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[bleudauvergne]

Snack - in my office

[slbunge]

Snack - in my office

Is that a coconut-something?

Great blog by the way...had to catch up from minimal eGullet time this past weekend. Great way to avoid working on a monday morning.

[bleudauvergne]

Is that a coconut-something?

It's a Confetteria Raffaello, made by the Ferrero, the famous makers of Pocket Coffee.

[phaelon56]

I think everyone does something they regret during their youth. I got mine out of the way early.  

So did I - then I proceeded to get a few mnore out of the way and a whole passel of 'em after that. I'd need a thread longer than this blog to offer upt he details (as IF that would ever happen!). It's a good thing that no pictures were taken and there's a statute of limitations

There aren't many employer subsidized meal programs like that in the US. There is, of course, the subsidized dining room at the TIAA-CREF retirement fund headquarters in NYC. I'm told that a lunch which would be $30 elsewhere in NY costs about $6 for those fortunate enough to eat there. I don't have that privilege as I'm just a fund contributer who pays for it hidden in the management fees. But.... I digress.

Just curious - are working hours and your commute times manageable enough that you can prepare some of these fairly elaborate meals quite regularly or do you on occasion rely on preparing larger amounts and then freezing/reheatign as many if us do here in the US?

[JPW]

1 word, 5 letters D R O O L.

Now I remember what I loved about living in France. I think that food shopping is improving in the states, but that boulangerie is absolutely mind boggling.

As the son of a physicist, I know how they can often live in a different dimension. It can be difficult to communicate with them, but they are a fascinating species.

Back to review all of those delicious photos.

Thanks, bleu!

[Jensen]

Is it just me or does anyone else think we should phone Lucy and wake her up?

Why, whatever for?

Because I'm in the wrong time zone and I waited oh-so-patiently for the next day's installment of her blog but, by 9:00 pm, I could wait no longer. I was having blog-withdrawal pains and the only solution I could see in that fugue state was to phone her, wake her up, and send her on with her day!

[bleudauvergne]

Just curious - are working hours and your commute times manageable enough that you can prepare some of these fairly elaborate meals quite regularly or do you on occasion rely on preparing larger amounts and then freezing/reheatign as many if us do here in the US?

My commute's not bad. I was driving, and it was a hectic rush hour traffic jam drive that took 30 minutes on average. Then I discovered I can ride the bus, and read. Busses have special lanes to keep them moving. So it's a 20 minute point to point ride from my bus stop by the house. This means I have 40 solid minutes of reading time daily. I read a book a week, normally. I am reading a great collection of essays on home by Mr. Willie Morris right now. When Brooks did his blog, I was reading a book in French about the food of Louisiana. We are limited to a blasted 35 hour work week so I am always forced to leave the office at exactly 5h30.

Edited April 19, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[bleudauvergne]

Is it just me or does anyone else think we should phone Lucy and wake her up?

Why, whatever for?

Because I'm in the wrong time zone and I waited oh-so-patiently for the next day's installment of her blog but, by 9:00 pm, I could wait no longer. I was having blog-withdrawal pains and the only solution I could see in that fugue state was to phone her, wake her up, and send her on with her day!

[ludja]

Ideas for your ginger - what about a pear tart (just fruit, no creme patissiere) with walnut pastry, with chopped ginger sprinkled over the pears? Or ginger icecream (very good with poached plums)? Or traditional gingerbread (the sticky English kind with treacle)? Or, something my father is very fond of, dip small bits of ginger in very dark chocolate + cool on a wire rack, delicious with coffee.

Yes, these are great suggestions! Had to give a second 'thumbs up' for the ginger ice cream/plum compote combination as it was a surprisingly successful and new combination to me.

I had a great dessert a few years back at Hawthorne Lane in San Francisco. It consisted of a flat almond meringue cookie; a scoop of ginger ice cream on top and surrounded by a plum/peach compote. It was so great that I recreated it at home for a dinner. The tartness of the plums just goes great with the ginger ice cream. (I'm a ginger fan, so I've also made ginger/pear tarts and pies... yum).

On another note:

One of my favorite egullet threads was also started by bleu d'auvergne. It discussses homemade aperatifs--and it includes a lovely recipe from her also:

homemade aperatif thread

I guess this vin de noix is not your own yet given the time of year?

[Jinmyo]

Lucy, I... Uh... Your blog, especially the part about your time in China... Or the pictures... Or the general tone of it...

I... don't know what... what to say?...

Uh...

Thanks.

[Jensen]

One of my favorite egullet threads was also started by bleu d'auvergne.  It discussses homemade aperatifs--and it includes a lovely recipe from her also:

homemade aperatif thread

I guess this vin de noix is not your own yet given the time of year?

Well that certainly got my cogs and wheels turning!

Lucy, do you have a recipe/method for your vin de noix? I have a tree full of green almonds. We used to joke that we had 600 pounds of almonds in our garden at the beginning of spring and three 200-lb squirrels by the end of it. (In truth, the squirrels are helped by Dayton.)

I'd love to be able to actually use the almonds for something.

Edited to fix mindless typo and to add final thought.

Edited April 19, 2004 by Jensen (log)

[sashimi]

This BLOG is simply stunning. Thank you for doing this for us -- I've thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.

[bleudauvergne]

I guess this vin de noix is not your own yet given the time of year?

I am patiently awaiting the third week of June in order to get my green walnuts.

The vin de noix we are drinking is something we picked up 10 days ago during our weekend in the Alpes. Speaking of, tonight is tartiflette!

[bleudauvergne]

Lucy, do you have a recipe/method for your vin de noix? I have a tree full of green almonds.

I certainly don't yet. But as soon as I have found the right one I will share it with you.

[bleudauvergne]

Uh...

Thank you Jinmyo.