
Category Archives: poetry

Daurade: A noble fish and dish
by Ullrich
The street markets in Paris will ruin me sooner or later, financially. But this morning, I couldn’t resist to a perfect daurade that I turned into a simple and noble French dish.
Categories: Dinner, France, good food, Lunch, nature, Paris, poetry, seafood, signature dish • Tags: Cooking, Food, Food photography, recipes, Seafood

Winter Pleasures
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

Paris s’eveille…
by Ullrich
…is a classic song that you might know, if not, here’s a flashy 1970ies video version featuring Jacques Dutronc (who seems to have eaten psychedelic mushrooms at the time of the recording, anyway)…WELL, THIS IS NO LONGER TRUE, access to the video was blocked and I don’t know why, actually. Anyway, here’s a link to another youtube version. I had a taxi ride to the airport this morning and, passing by Avenue Marx Dormoy, some hero butchers unloaded their fare. […]
Categories: hero butchers, poetry, Whatever Works • Tags: Food, Paris, Poetry

A party without proof…
by Ullrich
…that’s what I sadly have to offer today. Had around 40 friends at home to celebrate on Saturday, we’ve killed 18 bottles of champagne, 12 bottles of Pic St. Loup, 6 bottles of Pommard, we’ve been eating lots of sushi, a beef fillet cooked in a salt crust, a real foie gras with fig chutney, a huge pot of Thai-style chicken, a tray of gratinated daurades (guiltheads), a big French cheese selection complete with Beaufort, Camembert de Normandie, Epoisses, Selles-sur-Cher, […]
Categories: Paris, poetry, Whatever Works • Tags: Food, recipes

Automn pleasures come again…
by Ullrich
…soon the fish vendors here will display their still lives made of scallops in lovely shells, the French oysters reach their peak and the heavier fare returns to all tables. I had a first seasonal feast these days while celebrating the 80th birthday of good, old George, we were a happy dozen around the big table and our friend Olivier prepared a cold buffet, containing oysters and crabs, shrimp and tarts and a very nice lentil salad (mixed with mango!). […]
Categories: Dinner, good food, poetry, seafood • Tags: Food, recipes

The “white tuna” of Kabul…
by Ullrich
I know this might be a bit confusing but my work life as a world affairs reporter for SPIEGEL magazine makes me drive on the fast lane from time to time. Yes, I’ve been to Oslo two days ago, and after that in Brussels, yet since this morning I’m back to Kabul, flying in via Frankfurt overnight. It’s my fourth time in this country named Afghanistan and I will try to find out whether the situation here has further deteriorated, […]
Categories: Lunch, poetry, seafood, signature dish, Whatever Works, World • Tags: Fish, Food, Kabul

VIDEO: A full kitchen day in 3 minutes…
by Ullrich
…makes a pretty edgy video as you will see. I found the clip thanks to a facebook friend’s recommendation and I thought you might like it, too. What you see is Alinea restaurant in Chicago, where young chef Grant Achatz is doing quite spectacular things with food. He has won so many awards in recent times, earned highest rankings and the food critics are all kneeling down, that he must do something right. Anyway: here’s a quick look behind the […]
Categories: chefs, poetry, World • Tags: Chefs, Culture, Food

Cakes for an end game…
by Ullrich
…made by dedicated people I don’t know but admire for their passion. It’s a lot of fun to search Google for “flag cake pictures”. 80 percent of them come with stars & stripes, as you can imagine, but tonight the USA won’t play a role for a change. Oranje and “la Roja” will enter the pitch for the final match of this World Cup 2010, the event is only two hours away. Tomorrow, quite a lot of people will eat […]
Categories: poetry, signature dish, Whatever Works, World • Tags: Food, Football, Nation

Out here on my own…
by Ullrich
…was a hit ballad song once you might have forgotten or never heard, I always loved it, actually, and I still do like it, I found it on youtube just a couple of minutes ago and was asking myself what might have happened to Irene Cara? Anyway – I’m on my own this week, family is gone which is nice for a change on the one hand and on the other it isn’t, of course. I miss our dinners and […]
Categories: poetry, seafood, Whatever Works • Tags: Fame, Food, Music

Learn French while having a Calvados…
by Ullrich
…right after the starter and then another one after the main course and maybe a last one before the dessert is finally served – that’s what is called a trou normand in colloquial French, a Norman “hole”, meaning in fact that you “extend” the capacities of your stomach by rinsing it with hard liquor. That sounds barbaric? Well, Normandy is quite a rough place, food there is mostly about butter, cream and cheese so you can always use some help […]
Categories: Drinks, poetry, Whatever Works • Tags: Food, France, Wine