David Lebovitz's Blog, page 114

Spring Cleaning

We've had some really nasty weather in Paris during last couple of weeks. Some days were so bitter, dark, and cold that even though I had my heater on full blast, I was bundled up a wool coat and scarf inside of my apartment. And you know it's really cold in Paris when the normally indifferent teenagers (who wouldn't be caught dead wearing anything but a t-shirt and perhaps a down vest, no matter how bone-chilling cold it was), were bundled up in hats and scarves. Chic women had gone into survival mode, slipping off fashionable pumps and wearing bulky winter boots, with their faces tucked under hats with long side flaps.

For about a week I thought there was a national holiday because the streets and outdoor markets were deserted. Hardly anyone was in the bakeries buying bread or on the sidewalks. But no, it was just too cold for anyone to even think about going outside.

Then, this morning I woke up and the sky was blue and it was so warm that I could open the window and breath in some of the fresh air, hopefully signally that spring is almost around the corner. It also prompted some thinking today about a few things I've been considering, which I've decided to put them in action, some involving changes to the blog. A few you likely won't notice, but there'll be a few more substantial ones in the coming weeks.

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Mexican Hot Chocolate

I was a little perplexed as to what constitutes authentic Mexican Hot Chocolate. Thankfully a reader from Mexico explained to me that unlike other hot chocolate "drinks" in the Mexican repertoire, it traditionally was a mixture of cocoa beans and sweetener. Yet nowadays folks generally use sweet chocolate bars as a base, which are made from coarsely ground chocolate with a dose of cinnamon and sugar, and sometimes almonds, and are conveniently sold in tablets or bars in Mexican shops.

That chocolate bears a passing resemblance to the coarse chocolate that Mexicans have been grinding up in metates for thousands of years (which I think is why Mexican women have those power shoulders), and today you can find Mexican chocolate quite a bit slicker than the stuff that was (and still is, in some places) pounded for hours and hours. Although I'm not Mexican in any way, I have a deep love of anything edible, and drinkable, that's Mexican—from horchata, to the twirly green bottle of citrusy Squirt soda that are fun to swill on a Mexican beach, along with a basket of chips and some spicy roasted chili salsa. Or guacamole. Or duck tacos. Or ceviche. Or all of them.

The chocolate used nowadays for hot chocolate is classified in America as "Sweet Chocolate", which is different than what we label as bittersweet or semisweet chocolate.

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Citrus

Last month I was teaching at Central Market, a chain of pretty amazing supermarkets in Texas that has just about anything you can imagine—including cooking classes. And I never pass up the chance to teach there. For one thing, the staff is uniformly excellent and it's just a pleasure to step into their kitchens and work with them. But the other is I get to wander the aisles of the supermarket, which is like no other in the world.

French nut oils, Texas honeys, a crazy machine that shoots out crisp Korean wafers at the ultra-high speed of a shotgun, a homemade salsa and guacamole bar, barbecued ribs that I'm still dreaming about, a excellent selection of British cheddars and French soft cheeses, in-store scratch bakeries, and candy-coated chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, which I'm now (unfortunately) completely addicted to. And those Korean wafers are pretty addictive as well, although the blasting sound the machine makes when firing them out kind of scared me. (I get a little gun-shy in Texas, y'all.)

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Food Blogging

When I started blogging there were about ten people blogging about food, at least that I was aware of. Now it's like the shampoo aisle at the drugstore; there's hundreds of shampoos that all do the exactly same thing (In spite of what all the advertising tells us). With so many choices that people face when clicking around the Internet, how do you differentiate your blog and connect with readers, and stand out a bit from the pack?

For years I've generally shied away from giving advice or offering opinion. After all, everyone's blog is different and like books and movies, it's impossible to pinpoint what makes a blog click. But at the recent Food Blogger Camp, I compiled some thoughts for my presentation. Please note that although I do point out some things that have clicked for me, there's plenty of terrific blogs out there that do the complete opposite and work very well. There's not a "right" or "wrong" way to write or blog and all points are certainly open to interpretation and discussion.

What struck me after the camp was that a few weeks afterward, folks started changing their blogs; redesigning them, changing fonts, getting rid of clutter, making them easier to read, and most of all, feeling a renewed sense of purpose for their writing and their recipes.

The first things to ask yourself are "Why am I blogging?" and "What am I going to blog about?" Most people are doing it for fun and perhaps to share recipes or food-related experiences. A while after I started my blog, I was talking to Elise Bauer of Simply Recipes and said "My blog isn't a food blog" and she gave me a pretty odd look. (Odder than the ones I usually get.)

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Homemade Nutella

Many years ago I worked in a restaurant in New York with a group of other cooks, who were mostly women and we were all friends. We'd gather in the cold morning kitchen, working around a communal wooden counter near the warm stove armed with cups of strong coffee as we set about our various tasks while engaging in conversations while doing all the repetitive work of chopping the piles of vegetables we used for soups, salads, and other things that we were going to prepare the rest of the day.

One woman, who I'll call Mary Smith (and who, for some reason, we all called her by her complete name, "Mary Smith", rather than just "Mary"), was bookish and almost librarian in her demeanor, and she was attending a local Ivy league institution, getting her doctorate in Russian and Russian studies. She worked very efficiently with no unnecessary movements, and always had perfect posture, like a ballerina, along with pristine skin and straight brown hair pulled sharply back in a tight ponytail.

One quiet morning we were all going about our usual business of silently peeling onions and chopping celery when Mary put her knife down on the counter, looked up, and simply announced, "Who do I have to bl-w around here to get some carrots?"

Startled at the suddenness of her request, as well as the straightforward delivery of it, we all just kind of froze for a moment in mid-action, and stared at her until someone broke the silence of disbelief.

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Mexican Restaurants in Paris

People think it's odd that there's a craving amongst a certain crowd (namely transplanted Californians…but with a growing number of curious locals) in Paris seeking Mexican food. But like any city with an international population, a variety of ethnic food and places are welcome.

(And if you don't believe me, I've been reading about the hoards descending upon the Italian food emporium that recently opened in Manhattan.)

Parisians, notably the younger set, are becoming more adventurous about Latin American foods and the quality of Mexican places is getting better, including a few joints that are rolling out their own tortillas. Even Chipotle has been eyeing France, along with a few other European countries.

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Candied Citron

A few years ago I got a message from a nice young couple that had worked their way through each and every recipe in Room for Dessert, my first book, and wanted me to sign their copy. And let me tell you, these kids were really pioneers, as this was well before the "cook every recipe from the book" blogs got so popular—they didn't even have a blog!

When I met them, the book was filled with bookmarks and stains of all sorts. Obviously well-used, they really didn't even need to tell me that they'd made everything in the book. But they did confess that the only recipe they couldn't make was the candied citron, because they couldn't find any citron.

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Princess Crepe

I wasn't on planning on going to Princess Crêpe, which I'd passed a while back and was intrigued (for lack of a better word) by their unusual look. Well it was "different", as my mother used to politely make me say when something was out-of-the-ordinary. If we were in Harajuku, it'd fit right in. But in Paris, this is decidedly different from the rest of the surrounding area, the Marais.

I'd gone by the place a few times in the morning and they have "different" hours, open from 1pm and closing up a few hours later at 7pm. So basically they open after lunch and close just before dinner.

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Larnicol: Kouign Amann in Paris

People come to Paris and want to try Kouign amann and I can't say I blame them. And I truly feel for them when I tell them that although you can find Kouign amann in Paris, you really need to go to Brittany and have one. Well, I used to tell them that—but I don't have to anymore because Brittany has finally come to Paris, courtesy of pastry chef George Larnicol.

Kouign amann is one of the most elusive pastries to make, not very tricky, but it involves a few steps..and a whole lotta butter. In fact, the name comes from the Breton language and translates to "butter cake", and I don't know of any cake (or dessert, for that matter) that has more butter than this. A few bakeries in Paris make them, and you can come across examples at some of the markets, but some foods don't really translate outside of where they're from (few outside of Norway really crave lutefisk, for example, and I can't say I'm been on the prowl for haggis in Paris) and Kouign amann falls into that category.

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Ready for Dessert Notes & Tips

I've been in the midst of working with the publisher in the United Kingdom for the release of Ready for Dessert and The Perfect Scoop on this side of the Atlantic*. I'll announce the dates as to when they'll be available, but I'm thrilled to have them more readily available to European readers. And my shoulders will be happy as well because you have no idea how much work it is lugging boxes of 3-pound books through airports.

Books go through rigorous editing after they're written, then they're copyedited, then proofread by the author. Then the book gets punted back to the editor, and back to the author for a final look through. Then it gets forwarded the designer, then to the printer.

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