February | 2013 | French Food Fool

Re-Blog: Cocktail dinatoire!

February 14, 2013 by Ullrich

Originally posted on French Food Fool:
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…

Categories: Whatever Works

Do As The French Butchers Do

February 13, 2013 by Ullrich

A French poulet fermier is not the chicken most people are used to. Seasoned just with a mixture of salt, pepper, piment d’Espelette, some lemon juice and olive oil it can turn into a marvellous dish.

Categories: Dinner, good food, hero butchers, skills • Tags: Chicken, Cooking, Food, France

A Perfect Day For Pot-au-feu

February 10, 2013 by Ullrich

When I saw the dark grey clouds over Paris this morning, the idea of a heart-warming pot-au-feu was born right away.

Categories: Dinner, France, good food, Lunch, signature dish, skills • Tags: Cooking, Food, France, Soup

France meets Japan: Delicious Fast Food

February 9, 2013 by Ullrich

A Japanese housewife named Harumi Kurihara has changed my life a few years ago. I bought her book Everyday Harumi just out of curiosity but it turned into one of my cooking bibles (and I fully agree with this excellent blog entry published by The Huffington Post in 2010 already). The subtitle of Harumi’s book reads: “Simple Japanese Food for Family & Friends” and that is true: it is a simple – yet highly refined – cuisine that makes everybody happy, family […]

Categories: chefs, Dinner, good food, signature dish, World • Tags: Cooking, Food, Harumi

Lamb shoulders are for rainy winter days…

February 8, 2013 by Ullrich

Don’t call a lamb from the lovely French region of Lozère just another lamb. It really is much more and you can taste it. Forget about those deep-frozen guys shipped around the world from New Zealand (nothing against NZ!). A Lozère lamb, nicely prepared, will offer rare culinary pleasures, amazing texture, and a sound taste. I cooked this one in the oven – a lamb shoulder from a Parisian expert butcher in the tiny Rue du Pas-de-la-Mule – for five […]

Categories: Dinner, France, good food, hero butchers • Tags: Cooking, Food, Lamb

Bacalhau, Cured Cod, Stockfish: My Final Trial

February 6, 2013 by Ullrich

Last night, I tried it again. Cured Cod, Stockfish, Bacalhau. It was a moment of decision-making. I would either create something alright – or never touch a Morue again.

Categories: Dinner, France, good food, seafood, signature dish, skills • Tags: Cooking Skills, Fish, Food

France: Where you want to eat…

February 3, 2013 by Ullrich

I’ve been out of Paris over the week-end, we’ve visited a dog breeder’s farm in the Sologne region to find us a new flat coated retriever but our short trip happened to turn into a culinary excursion, too. We roamed close to Aubigny-sur-Nèr, that’s very close to the banks of the Loire, so close, in fact, that we had to fight some inundations on the way.

Categories: chefs, France, good food, Lunch, Michelin • Tags: Cooking Skills, Culture, Food, France, French food, Loire

Winter Pleasures

February 1, 2013 by Ullrich

Today, after my visit at the street market not far from home, I couldn’t help unpacking everything I had bought just to admire my great catch.

Categories: France, good food, hero butchers, Paris, poetry, seafood • Tags: Food, France, savoy cabbage, smoked haddock

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Monthly Archives: February 2013