Visiting the south of France inspired both delight and anxiety. How to satisfy such great expectations? Well, I decided to book my restaurant reservations far in advance to ensure a table. My first stop was La Tables de Nans in Ciotat. Michelin awarded it one-star. Whatever, it was terrific. From amuse bouche to dessert and everything in between, it was superb and the service top notch. Here is the menu and some of what we tasted and saw.
Some Frenchmen claim that bread is in decline in this nation that is known for treasured loaves. Apparently, French kids are as crazy as their American cousins for snacks like Doritos. But it's too easy to blame the young. Honestly, initially during my summer trip here I was surprised as the lacking quality of bread at local boulangeries and restaurants. Pale crusts, flaccid and under-fermented specimens, it led me to ask what happened?
But fortune led me to a taxi driver who brought me to Pierre Ragot's bakery on Rue Cabot (Marseille). Great breads here reminded me of why the French developed such a reputation for their bread. Merci Pierre.
My eight-hour flight to France made me feel like an aging sardine; dry, brittle, and salty. Also, awfully eager to slip into a tub of water. But by the next day, luxuriating in Cassis, well, I was on vacation. More, I was vacationing in a country where citizens get five weeks off of paid leave. And we Americans think we got it so good, boy, Anyway, here are some photos of my first few days in France.
For me, linzertorte lingers among my childhood memories. Recently after making some blueberry jam, I picked up a linzertorte recipe and decided to bake a batch using a a percentage of buckwheat flour in the dough. Suddenly I was back down memory lane, stepping into its toothy goodness.
Tasked with making a simple dinner that was primarily plant-based, I revisited a dish from one of my visits to Turkey. Actually, it was one of my creations, inspired while working in the kitchen of Dilara, my host when I visited Istanbul several summers ago. It was August. And Dilara challenged me to "make magic." As August is Turkey's eggplant season, I recreated my mother's Provencal studded gigot d'agneau with eggplant, and prepared similarly to another frequent Turkish dish, roasted lamb.
Kruste & Krume bakers Barbara van Melle and Simon Wöckl have a wonderful YouTube channel. Shot in their Viennese bakery (and spoken in German), their videos have had me wanting to attempt some of their bread formulas. Here's some of what I tried, Spelt. Emmer. 60/40 Roggenmischbrot. Toast bread and baguette.
I am not sure why macaroni and cheese became entrenched as a deeply American dish. Someone once told me Thomas Jefferson might have introduced it, improvising on something he had discovered while ambassador to France. Since then this simple but lovely pleasure has gone through multiple iterations, including attempts for an easy-peasy version delivered in boxes and sold at our grocery stores.
Recently, me and my wife brought a young friend to the Museum of Modern Art. Besides great art, MOMA offers visitors the Terrace Cafe which serves wonderful food, including their own version of "mac'n'cheese." Our guest, a budding ballerina in the photo below, loves this dish. She even allowed me to interview about her strong feelings about mac'n'cheese, as you can hear in the video below.
I always remember advice from my mother concerning food lingering in the fridge. She told me that before it dies forgotten on a shelf, gather it up to put to use, whether old fruit or scraps of dough. Recently I noticed some plums that were softening. So I proceeded to create a summer plum tarte. It reminded me of visits to my Swiss family's orchard summers past, and all the juicy plums I've enjoyed before.
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