by Ullrich
…that’s what a friend sent to my inbox today. He went out having lunch at a Chinese eatery here in Paris – and these guys have added yet another nice line to the grand old book of tricky menu translations. The Brochette de poulet turns out to be…well, check out for yourself and have fun! We could, by the way, start a series of stuff like this, what do you think? Feel free to send similar finds to me directly, […]
Categories: Whatever Works
by Ullrich
…and so does winter which is a good reason to have some last festive meals these days, with good friends around the table and some dark red wine in the glass. Tonight, I’ve served a beef stew enriched by the ingredients mentioned above, a ragout de joues de boeuf, that’s beef cheeks, and with them I’ve braised half a butternut squash which adds colour, flavour and structure. Such a stew is quite the opposite of fast food. To get the less […]
Categories: Dinner, good food, hero butchers
by Ullrich
…that’s what my 5-year-old son has done today. He came up with the solution pictured below, combining five of the best French cheeses on one slice of bread, thus creating a culinary Tour de France: What do we have here? From the top: a creamy Valençay made of raw goat milk, then a piece of Mimolette followed by a bar of rich Beaufort d’alpage, a piece of Tomme de Savoie (both from the Alps) and finally a cube of Neufchâtel from […]
Categories: Bread, Savoy, signature dish, Whatever Works • Tags: Beaufort
by Ullrich
…despite the fact that you have to wait at least 5 to 6 weeks to get a table there. In other words: this restaurant in remote Rue du Nil is so fashionable right now that no womens’ magazine wouldn’t have covered it already. I think it’s fair to say that Frenchie is the most prominent place to eat in Paris right now (together with Yam’tcha, where a French lady is cooking Chinese). The cook here spent some time in Britain working […]
Categories: Dinner, good food, Lunch, signature dish
by Ullrich
…while I was loitering with 500 odd other journalists in the grand atrium of the Julius Lipsius Building in Brussels where the European Council (complete with Merkel, Sarko and Berlusconi) was hammering out a rescue plan for the poor Greeks. Hungry as I was in the afternoon I stepped down to the canteen seeking for food and here’s what I got: You might know the saying that “there’s nothing like a free dinner”, well, that proved somewhat true today. I […]
by Ullrich
…when you have friends to take you out to the right places. I’ve come here to cover the European Summit starting tomorrow but tonight I had an almost Parisian style assiette de l’ecailler, complete with oysters from Normandy, shrimps from wherever, bulots (that is: sea snails) and some lobster. A good start, I’d say. And the wine from the (French) Loire region was nice, too…
Categories: Whatever Works
by Ullrich
Ten of these were “perfect”: best baguettes 2010. …the jury has announced that the top ten bread samples handed in for yesterday’s annual competition for La meilleure baguette de Paris were just “perfect”. So here’s the (shopping) list for your records: Le Grenier à pain (Michel Galloyer et Anne-Marie Guillard): 38, rue des Abbesses, Paris 18ème Daniel Pouphary: 28, rue Monge, Paris 5ème. Macaron’s café (Dominique Saibron): 77, avenue du Général Leclerc, Paris 14ème. Yves Desgranges: 6, rue de Passy, […]
Categories: Bread, Whatever Works • Tags: Meilleure baguette de Paris
by Ullrich
…Djibril Bodrian from Le Grenier à Pain in Montmartre, 38, Rue des Abbesses. This was twitter news a couple of hours ago, now it’s officially confirmed. Bodrian was a runner-up in recent years already, finishing at least twice in the top ten. Today, the jury ranked his bread first out of 163 samples handed in by other Parisian bakers. For Bodrian the award means 4000 Euros of prize money, a good economic perspective for the coming weeks – and a […]
Categories: Bread, Whatever Works • Tags: Meilleure baguette de Paris
by Ullrich
…and where to buy La meilleure baguette de Paris 2010. The jury at the Baker’s Guild – 15 experts, split in three groups – has closed the doors just a couple of minutes ago, right now they’re supposed to be tasting and sniffing already, munching and nibbling at hundreds of baguettes delivered to compete by the best Parisian bakers this morning. These very honorable craftsmen flocked together at Quai d’Anjou, one of the most prestigious addresses in Paris commanding great views on […]
Categories: Bread, Whatever Works • Tags: Meilleure baguette de Paris
by Ullrich
…and if you’re lucky, your name will appear on the guest list. Good stuff was served yesterday night at a friends’ place close to République, in a long, narrow street where Chinese craftsmen are lined up selling shoes and handbags en gros. We were 8 around the table, that’s the Chinese lucky number – but the food (and the excellent wine) was French through and through. Our hosts had prepared the salad you can see above, a generous, late winter […]
Categories: Dinner
by Ullrich
If you’re not familiar with the expression “cocktail dinatoire”, never mind, but it’s a clear signal that you’re neither French, nor familiar with Parisian habits. The pattern is always quite similar: friends, or friends of friends, invite you to a cocktail dinatoire in order to neither overwhelm you with a full-blown, formal dinner invitation, nor treat you too carelessly by just serving a glass of wine. I always thought of it as a crossing between happy hour and dinner whilst there’s […]
Categories: Apéro, Dinner, Drinks, France, Paris, Snack • Tags: Cocktail, Cocktail dinatoire, Cooking, Food
