this would probably not work in France...

Thoughts?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/17/us/17meatless.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=globaleua210

Baguette à la Provençale

After living in France for a combined period of time totaling about a year, it is rare for me to be so completely taken back by a baguette or other type of bread that I feel I must include it in a food blog. Pain or bread in France is like water and every single town- large, medium, or small WILL have their share of completely fantastic boulangeries with their own variations of the classics. At Boulangerie d’Antan (there are three in Nantes) I discovered one baguette, so delicious, so completely mesmerizing that I felt it needed its own entry. So here you go folks, behold…
Baguette à la Provençale!!



I must have a thing for anything labeled “à la Provençale” because my last post included a duck paupiette à la… you guessed it… Provençale.

I was in line to buy some wheat bread at this boulangerie when to the left of the counter I saw a small basket with just two of these baguettes. The bright orange color immediately caught my attention and my eyes wandered to the little paper label in front of the baguette. It had the name of the baguette and the price. 2.90 euros… Oh dear, a little pricy for a medium sized baguette.
After fifteen seconds of deep reflection I decided to get one. If there were only two baguettes of this kind left at 11:00AM it must mean that people have bought the rest presumably because they are tasty, or at least I hoped so.
I was hungry (I had a small breakfast that day) so as soon as I left the boulangerie I tore off the end and ate it. The salty flavor of tomatoes and red bell peppers filled my mouth, and I felt a piece of sun-dried tomato within the crust. It is the most flavorful baguette I have ever tasted without being too overpowering that it wouldn’t be good with cheese or with dinner. Quite the contrary, this baguette is delicious on its own, with just a bit of butter, or as a complement to a dish and imagine what it would be like as part of a sandwich. How I wish I could export La Boulangerie d’Antan to Boston.

A real treat from the market

Le Marché de Talensac, located 10 minutes by bus down the street on Rue Paul Bellamy, is a real hidden treasure in the middle of Nantes. A huge indoor and outdoor market, le Marché is open every day, except Mondays from about 7:30 to 1 :00pm (it stays open a bit later on Sundays.) Produce (fruits et légumes), poultry (volailles), pork, beef (Boucher), cheeses (fromages et crémeries), Flowers, pastries, seafood… you name it, the marché has it.
My roommate and other friends started going a bit at the beginning of the year, but it has now become very habitual to go to the market, especially on Sunday mornings to pick up our produce for the week. It is not an exaggeration when I say that produce bought at the market lasts ten times longer than produce bought from the supermarket or any other store. That statement might sound extremely intuitive, but it is not until I experienced supermarket-bought tomatoes spoiling after only one or two days that I realized how lucky I am to have a market so close to my home, but also how important it is to conserve small local and responsible farming and food production organisms.

At a stand called « Volailler Delanoë » I got the most delicious paupiettes de canard et de lapin (duck and rabbit paupiettes.) These are thinly sliced pieces of meat, which are stuffed, rolled, and then secured with string. My favorite was my duck paupiette, which was stuffed and seasoned a la Provençale featuring red and yellow bell peppers, and olives. These I believe are common flavors from Provence in the South of France. I bought the two paupiettes already prepared and ready to be baked. I asked the butcher how to prepare them, and he told me 20-25 minutes in the oven would suffice. I accompanied the meat with two quick side dishes of spinach and red onion and boiled parsnips. YUM !

It was the perfect meal for a chilly, rainy afternoon.

A nice local cheese

Le Curé Nantais is a local cheese made from cow’s milk. I had it for the first time at a Creperie where it was beautifully melted inside a galette along with sausages made with Muscadet white wine. Just wonderful.

I made a similarly exciting discovery one day at the market when I saw that they sold entire blocks of this very smooth, creamy, and “melty” cheese for a reasonable price. I don’t think the Curé Nantais is the most sophisticated of cheeses, but it is a cheese that locals are proud of because of its long history and extremely rustic and traditional roots that it maintains to this day.

According to the Cure Nantais website: http://www.curenantais.com/WEBSITE_2009/page_cure_01.html
The still small and family-owned (they limit production to 2000 cheeses a day and sell only in the Pays de la Loire cities) production site is located in Pornic – a small seaside town in the Pays de la Loire (the department that Nantes belongs to) eventhough the cheese was originally conceived and produced in 1880 à Saint-Julien-de-Concelles, East of Nantes.

The cheese is made with the same methods from its conception, using whole « raw milk » or what we know as non-pasteurized and non-homogenized milk which they collect twice a day… pendant l’aube et l’aurore- meaning sunset and sunrise. For at least one month, the cheeses are aged and routinely undergo salt water and Muscadet white wine washes which undoubtedly add to the flavor.

huitres. yes please!

My first experience with raw oysters came at the age of thirteen during a stay in Paris. I was participating in a French exchange through my High school and a one-month stay in Paris seemed like a dream come true. For a girl of 13 I would say I was extremely adventurous. I tried everything my host family offered and never said no to a new experience. I’m glad I did because little did I know that 4 years later I would be studying abroad in France, and two years later actually living in France. That short little exchange paved the way for some amazing opportunities in France.

This is where my story begins. It was a cloudy weekend in February and the Cocault family decided to take me to their beloved « campagne » (The country side- where every French person jets off to at the first opportunity – a chance for busy Parisians to escape the shuffle and pressures of daily life and where they are offered a chance to reconnect with the idyllic, traditional, simpler French way of life.) A three-hour drive saw us arrive at the house of Monsieur Cocault’s parents- a lovely couple that by all accounts was ready to welcome an unknown American import into their home. I remember papie (grandpa Cocault) looked exactly like my host dad but more wrinkly and bony. Mamie (grandma Cocault) was a lady who made Pâté de Lapin (rabbit) and stored it in little glass containers, and kept weird Bird feathers in her attic, which I came across while exploring the house with my host sister Agathe. This is also the first time I saw a bidet… but that is a whole other story that I would like to tell but unfortunately has nothing to do with food.

That afternoon, Papie walked into the dining room with a silver bucket filled with ice and what I learned were live oysters, freshly gathered from the sea behind their house. Papie sat down, took out his shucker in silence as if beginning a sacred ritual, and began to shuck. This man of about eighty shucked faster and more swiftly than anyone else I have come to see shuck an Oyster. « Alors Andrea, tu veux gouter? » They asked me. Did I want to try…? They assumed I would say no or that I would hate them by the tone of their voice. Papie handed me an oyster, drizzled some vinegar with shallots on it and told me to suck it into my mouth, chew it once if I wanted to, and then swallow. Hi stone of voice was grave and frankly I was a bit scared.
I took the little Oyster, and poured it in my mouth.

The next three seconds were the worst gastronomic moments of my life. The taste of sea filed my mouth, the salt water hit me like a giant wave and the slimy Oyster felt like a blob of Jelly so potent that I swallowed immediately. I felt the oyster move down my throat, and I swear I felt it move! I was panicked, and Agathe started giggling as she handed me a pièce of baguette with butter to help it go down. I wondered why on earth people would subject themselves to this….

Fast-forward six years, and I could not love them more. A true delight of salty fishiness. Whether you have them with just lemon juice or with wine vinegar and shallots or plain on a piece of buttered bread, they are just wonderful. At the market at Talensac, I can buy 8 oysters for about 2,70 Euros. Not bad…

love affair with a Mont Blanc

It was love at first sight. It came as suddenly and unexpected as a spring rain. Romantic movies and stories do not prepare you for the real thing. I walked down the crowded entrance way of the famous dessert shop Angelina in Paris- the location nearest to the Louvre with Sarah and her friend Jess and felt a chill down my spine. The decor was lovely, and the sweet smell of their famous slow churned hot chocolate filled the air. Of course I was excited. Sarah as well as other friends had given this bakery and Salon de the, rave reviews. My eyes immediately began searching around the room for a glance at their world famous desserts. While these pastries don't come cheap, I threw caution to the wind and settled on a cup of their piping hot, but oh-so-thick and decadent hot chocolate, which they keep warm in copper kettles, and bought a single Mont-Blanc.

Mont Blanc.

Mont Blanc.

Mont Blanc.


The stuff dreams are made of.

A crispy and airy merengue base for a mound of delicate and smooth whipped cream topped by chestnut paste which is piped on top of the cream and merengue in delicate strips. A light dusting of powdered sugar gives it a snowy effect.

If you have never had chestnuts- or more specifically "marrons" which is what you find in France, do try them. Enjoying a dessert that does not have a chocolate component is a rare occurrence for me and should speak to the interesting and perfectly balanced group of flavors in the Mont Blanc. It's not too heavy, but full of sublte flavors... vanilla bean especially.

a classy meal on the go.

Who would have thought that I could buy escargot on the go...? Well yes folks, you can in France. For a measly price of 4 euros, I can consume 12 large escargot already prepared in a tasty bed of garlic, basil, and lots of butter. When I say lots of butter, I mean more butter than is probably okay to consume in one night.
I was a bit apprehensive about buying pre-packaged escargot because well, escargot are cooked snails and I'm no expert on snails. While my dinner on Thursday night might not have been reminiscent of classy soirees at 4 star restaurants where waiters dressed in a suit and tie offer you a hot ceramic pan carved with holes the perfect size to fit the little cooked gastropods and where the meal is accompanied by little silver tongs used to help you handle the shells with ease... I can confirm to you that I had a very enjoyable meal with the help of my oven.

My first escargot experience was with my mom at the "world famous"? La Cigale here in Nantes which boasts the title of One of the Oldest Brasseries in France. There we had the six Escargots, which were of course swimming in a sea of butter, accompanied by bread and more butter. Simply delicious.

You have GOT TO love France. A delicacy offered in a foil encasement and wrapped in plastic at the supermarket...
I might surprise you when say my supermarket escargot were actually quite tasty as compared to ones I have had in restaurants.
All I had to do is preheat the oven, pop in the little suckers until the butter was sufficiently melted and warm. YUM!!!

Even if you don't like escargot, the French are right about one thing in the very least. The combination of three flavors create a taste explosion unlike any other: GARLIC + BASIL + BUTTER. Try it right now. You will not be disappointed.

Pineau des Charentes

According to an online definition, Pineau des Charentes is: "a regional French aperitif, made in the départements of Charente and Charente-Maritime in western France. Whilst popular in Charente, it is less well-known in other regions of France and somewhat uncommon abroad.
It is a fortified wine (mistelle or vin de liqueur), made from a blend of lightly-fermented grape must and Cognac eau-de-vie"

I bought this bottle at the Wine and Food Expo that took place in Nantes a couple of months ago from a lovely older couple who made it in their Family owned distillery. She was so sweet and gave me and the two other people I was with free samples of some of their products. There is a light pineau- the color of sweet white wine. I liked both but ultimately chose the red instead of the white which I thought was sweeter.

and the trend comes to France....

It's no surprise that trends that start in the United States take a little while to migrate to other parts of the world, but eventually they do. And like any good health food craze trend, the Greek Yogurt has come to France!

In the United States, we call it Greek Yogurt, but in Greece, do they just call it yogurt?
The idea that Greek Yogurt has a higher dosage of certain properties because of its triple strain method is a different and appealing one. Not only is it thicker and creamier, but it is richer in protein and has less carbohydrates and less sodium.

Anybody who has ever walked through a French supermarket can tell you that there are hundreds of yogurt varieties. Whole aisles are dedicated to yaourt and its thicker French counterpart Fromage Blanc. So why then would they need a market for Greek Yogurt if they already do this food item so well. I don't really have an answer for that, but what I can tell you is that this trend came out nowhere. The first few weeks I was here Greek Yogurt was nowhere to be found. Then one day I thought to change my yogurt selection from the Activia Fromage Blanc to something a little more... well yogurty and less Activia-y. There I saw it, sandwiched between two other yogurt types: Nestle's very own Greek Yogurt complete with images of the idyllic Greek isles famous for their white architecture. Imagine my further surprise when two weeks later, U Express debuted their own more generic brand of Greek Yogurt. By now, there are at least four varieties all priced differently, but all trying to offer the same exotic and creamy taste that only this yogurt (as made by the Greeks) can offer.

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I know this is not the first nor will it be the last time that consumer driven societies borrow marketing ideas from each other and try to copy other advertising models. It was just that it was so interesting to see this phenomenon in action. People clearly bought the yogurt-the shelves would be almost empty days after a fresh re-stock. I mean, I bought it. I saw the neat little packaging and thought... wow! Exotic, delicious, and good for me (according to what people say and write)... "this must be the yogurt for me!" Did I take into account that it was manufactured by Nestle before grabbing the pack of four and hurrying to the cash register? I most certainly did not.

But that's it folks. The French have succumbed to the foreign mystique of the creamiest yogurt around. But is it really all it is hyped up to be?

Until I figure that out, excuse me I need to go eat my daily dose of Yaourt Greque with honey.

Catch-up post #1

I love living in France most of the time for the simple reason that every day can be a little adventure. I can find something new in even the smallest of places, often randomly. One of these places is the small market that is situated, oh, about say 20 meters from our appartment building. It is lovely to not have to walk for blocks upon blocks or commute via bus or tram to be able to go grocery shopping. This little market is U Express, a smaller version of the Super U supermarkets. There is only one fault with it, and that fault consists in its less-than-accommodating hours of operation. Check it: Monday- Saturday 8:45 A.M to 7:30 P.M.

That's it!!! So if you are like me and work until seven at night, by the time you commute home it's 7:32 P.M. and I have missed my chance to get my groceries. And if I have nothing to eat that night... then pasta and beans it is! Or say it's Sunday, and because you forgot that EVERYTHING is closed in France except for the occasional Kebab places, then too darn bad. Wait until Monday!

Needless to say, this has taught me to plan accordingly and to try to get my shopping done ahead of time. Bein, c'est comme ça hein!

But, enough complaining! Shopping in a French supermarket has made me privy to all sorts of delights. Take these following items for example:

Lardons: a type of bacon, most ressembling Canadian Bacon. YUM! Chopped up in small pieces and ready to cook with, they go with especially pizza, in dishes with cheese and as a salty topping. No joke: everything. I challenge you to find something similar in the States. If you do, call me because I will want to know about it.

Dijon mustard. A staple. A really good mustard is cheap and accessible even outside of Dijon. I often go fo the "demi-fort" variety. But this one is our latest purchase and man is it strong... clear your nasal passages with 1/8 a teaspoon- type of strong.

On commence...

It took me three-plus months to start this project. If you know me, this lengthy period of time might seem a little long for someone who enjoys life and food, together, every single day. I LOVE FOOD! I can only say that stress, a little lazyness, and a lot of work prevented me from thinking about starting a project like this. I will be in France for at least another 7 months, and so now is as good a time as any to start a gastronomic survey and study of what this beautiful country has to offer. That means I have to catch up with three-months worth of good eats. I definitely have my work cut out for me, but I hope you enjoy the little tid-bits of information I'll be providing you through this blog.

I want to clarify one thing- a very important thing. This will not be a blog where I review dishes and act like a critic... I will give my opinion, bien sur! But I will mostly just try to document day-to-day food items that I find interesting, yummy, disgusting, or just plain different. I want to remember my time in France not only through the things I did, but the things I ate.

In this blog, I will write about my experiences eating and traveling. I've learned and observed a lot about a culture through its food and the people producing the food. I sincerely hope that you find what I have to say interesting enough to keep clicking through these virtual pages of photos and musings.