David Lebovitz's Blog, page 119

November 4, 2010

…and she can cook, too!

Sophia Loren cookbook




(Seen in the window of Gastéréa bookstore in Lausanne, Switzerland.)

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Published on November 04, 2010 23:19

November 2, 2010

Bircher Müesli

müesli


I have quite a few "issues", including an aversion food that's blue which wasn't intended by nature to be so (I don't understand what's up with that 'blue raspberry' soda), I don't like getting dressed first thing in the morning or talking to others for at least the first hour of the day, I get uneasy when being driven anywhere by a taxi or hired driver, and I'm so terrified of my bank back in Paris that I avoid making money so I don't have to go in there and do anything scary like, say, make a payment or deposit money into my bank account.


swiss yogurt


But nothing strikes fear in the heart of me more than one thing: Hotel Breakfasts.

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Published on November 02, 2010 22:32

November 1, 2010

Sharjah Market

coconuts


I have a really dumb habit of always wearing flip-flops, or similar sandal-style shoes, then discovering that I have to do something really precarious a little while later. I remember scaling down rocky cliffs at beaches and almost killing myself, as well as assorted other idiocies attempted with rubber-clad feet. Really, it's amazing I'm still alive.


market in Sharjah ripening dates


Like the flowing robes, sandals are part of the uniform in many Middle Eastern counties, so I took advantage of the warm weather (and freedom from packing all those socks), and donned sandals when we headed towards the market in the emirate of Sharjah.

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Published on November 01, 2010 10:31

October 28, 2010

Chocolate Mousse Cake

chocolate mousse cake


There are two things hard about living in France. The first is ….well, let's not get into that today. The second is getting recipes from French women. It's not because they closely guard their secrets, but it's because they frequently use recipes as guidelines rather than making them by rote.


So if you ask a question, the response is often—"Because that's always the way I did it." Which was what I was told when I read the instructions on the hand-written recipe I snagged, that said to dip the bottom of the bowl of melted chocolate in a larger basin of cool water to bring down the temperature, where lazy old me would just let it sit on the counter until it was cool. Who wants to empty all those dishes out of the sink?


chocolate mousse cake recette


They often refuse to specify exact quantities. "Just add enough flour until the dough looks correct" is a fairly common response when I press for things like 'details', and I keep imagining how much easier writing a cookbook (and a blog) would be if I could give instructions like that.

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Published on October 28, 2010 01:33

October 27, 2010

Maoz

maoz falafel


Yes, that's me in the corner, wolfing down falafels at Maoz. I was trying to figure out a way to break the news, but my favorite falafel place in Paris is not where you think it is.


Last time I went to another joint, the French fries that came out were so light and limp that I was wondering what was going through the head of the cook who plated 'em up. Let me state this simply (and in bold): If you have a professional-strength deep fryer, there's no possible excuse for soggy fries.


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Published on October 27, 2010 03:10

Moaz

maoz falafel


Yes, that's me in the corner, wolfing down falafels at Moaz. I was trying to figure out a way to break this news, but my favorite falafel place in Paris is not where you think it is.


Last time I went to another joint, the French fries that came out were so light and limp that it seemed like they just waved them around in some lukewarm oil for a few moment then plated 'em up. Let me state this simply (in bold): If you have a professional-strength deep fryer, there's no possible excuse for soggy fries.


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Published on October 27, 2010 03:10

October 25, 2010

Potimarron (Roasted Pumpkin)

potimarron slices


I won't lie to you; fall is a very difficult time of year for bakers. It's not that I don't like apples, pears, quince, and apples and pears, but it's always sad to see summer fruits like peaches, nectarines and the line-up of strawberry baskets disappear from the markets. And I know I'm not the only one to see stone fruits go, as there's even a variety of peach called "Last Chance" that gives you fair notice that it's truly the end of the line.


I was lamenting the end of summer (and fall, apparently, judging from the brisk weather) to a French friend who said that fall was all about l'espoir, which struck me as kind of odd since 'hope' isn't a topic that's often on the agenda around here.


romain with potimarron potimarron slices


In France, big, giant pumpkins (potirons) are sold at the outdoor markets. No one would think of buying a whole one—if you made a big circle with your arms, you can get a pretty good idea of how big they are. (And also, for example, one would not fit in my elevator with me. I can barely get in there with my market basket as it is.)


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Published on October 25, 2010 00:53

October 21, 2010

A la Biche au Bois

oeufs dur mayonnaise


It's a standard request. Whenever people ask for a restaurant suggestion in Paris, even before they open their mouth I know exactly what's coming—they want a suggestion for a restaurant that: 1) Serves traditional French food, 2) Is budget friendly, and 3) Has no tourists.


There are plenty of budget-friendly places to eat in Paris, like Chartier and L'As du Fallafel, but ones where you'll find honest traditional French cooking are harder to come by these days. If you're looking for the rare combination of good food and atmosphere, and modest prices, most of us have given up on the classic bistros and brasseries whose food slides deeper and deeper every year into the "lower than ordinary" category due to corporate takeovers.


There are a variety of reasons, and as Alec Lobrano noted in his terrific book Hungry for Paris, ".."it was accountants, who edited the menus" that were often the most responsible for doing a lot of the great old brasseries in. And nowadays most of the food in them is merely passable, but hardly memorable.


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Published on October 21, 2010 09:29

October 18, 2010

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

oatmeal raisin cookies


We seem to be going though an age of competitions and it's interesting for me to see so much fascination with being a chef, and people acting out on television what goes on (or they perceive goes on) in restaurant kitchens. I spent most of my life behind the stoves and let me tell you, it's often not pretty and I would not want anyone following me around with a camera while I cooked. (Which is why this blog doesn't include a webcam.)


I'm not sure how this fascination with being a chef came to be as it's really 'grunt' work and there's nothing at all glamorous about it; no matter how many tattoos you have or how much you swear at underlings, there's still a ton of work involved and no way you're going to get through it by the end of your shift. Sure, I had a great time cooking with friends and co-workers (well, most of them…), but the grueling hours and the physical labor involved is one of the main reasons that I'm permanently damaged, both physically and psychologically.


flocons d'avoine oats


Thankfully I was part of that elite group of people in the professional cooking world: The bakers and pastry chefs. Unlike the line cooks, who were whooping it up and play with fire, we disciplined souls were in the back of the kitchen, dusting doughs with flour, rolling out cookies, melting chocolate, and creaming buttery cake batters. But a regular chef once said to me—"Why are all you pastry chefs so weird?"


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Published on October 18, 2010 03:05

October 15, 2010

Brie

brie de meaux cheese goat cheeses


This week I watched a television program on the phénomène of locavorism in France. Being a resolutely agricultural country, the French are no strangers to being connected to the earth and to farmering. But those days are waning and the announcer went to a supermarket in Paris and came out with a basket containing just a couple of items in it. (One was pain Poilâne.) And when she inquired about that, she was told, "There's not much grown on the Île de France." (The IDF is the départment where Paris is located.)


But if she had gone to the local fromagerie, she would have likely seen several substantial disks of Brie de Meaux resting on the counter, a cheese which is made about an hour outside of Paris.


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Published on October 15, 2010 01:09