Carb(onara) Loading in Paris

Les grèves in Paris continue...*

I've been averaging seven miles a day on foot since last Thursday to get to and from my food tours, but this morning I had a long walk across the river for a cheese workshop, and as an added bonus there was a huge protest march this afternoon, so it took me almost two hours to get home after being rerouted due to closed bridges and roads.

The entire time I was walking (and hungry!) I was focusing on two things;  one was not getting run down by the inexperienced cyclists and trottinette drivers, and the other was making a giant bowl of comforting, filling spaghetti carbonara for dinner when I got home.

And a giant bowl it was! I should have invited several friends over to share it with us. (However, I know I'll appreciate the leftovers when I get home tomorrow night!)




*There are a few more days of strikes (grèves) predicted, but hopefully things will get back to normal by this weekend. 





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Off The Beaten Path In Paris: La Ferme d'Alexandre

Located just a block away from La Grande Épicerie in Saint Germain, la Ferme d'Alexandre doesn't feel "off the beaten path," but I wanted to share it with you anyway. I've come to love this place, not only for their fabulous cheese selection, but for the kindness and knowledge of  the owner Alex, and the entire staff.

I shop here every week to  buy fromage for the French cheese workshop we offer at Paris by Mouth, so I've gotten to know them and what they offer very well. And if you follow me on Instagram, you've most likely seen many of their cheeses and their beautiful blue and gold tile floor!



They always have some interesting sheep milk cheeses from the Pyrénées and right now their goat cheese section is amazing! You can also find the last raw milk farmer produced Époisses in France here, as well as a handful of delicious Italian cheeses.
And in addition to cheese, there is a good selection of charcuterie, unpasteurized butter, cream straight from farms in Normandy, honey, small producer wine and jam, and bread on the weekends.
If you find yourself near either of Alex's fromageries, they are definitely worth a visit!



La Ferme d'Alexandre
19 rue Saint-Placide
75006 Paris

and

21 rue Mouton Duvernet
75014 Paris

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Life. Right Now.

Just a few things to share...


First, we would appreciate your help.

We're moving next month with a chihuahua who will celebrate his 15th birthday in January, so we would love any recommendations from our Paris friends for a good dog vet, especially one located in or close to the 15ème arrondissement.

Merci in advance, from Tico and from us!

Secondly, I was on the radio!

Last July I had the pleasure of meeting Poppy Tooker, the brilliant woman who produces the Louisiana Eats! show on NPR in New Orleans. She was visiting Paris with my friend, Peter Patout, and I had planned to show the two of them around some of the great places to eat in the Marais. We were to meet on what turned out to be one of the hottest summer days that Paris had ever experienced, and when I showed up to collect them, all sweaty and disheveled, Poppy took one look at me and asked if I wanted a cocktail. Made with lots and lots of ice.
Right then and there I knew that this woman was a kindred spirit.
She went straight into the kitchen and mixed up a batch of drinks made with icy cold vodka and San Pellegrino Limonata. One of those and I felt like a new woman!

After cooling down, we decided to do the sensible thing and spend the afternoon inside, enjoying cold drinks and the refreshingly cool, air conditioned apartment they had rented (a rarity in Paris!). The Marais would have to wait.

We met the next morning and spent a few hours wandering around the 3ème arrondissement, chatting, nibbling, meeting the commerçants and lingering in every air conditioned shop we could find, then followed it up with lunch at a local Moroccan place.

Poppy shared our experience on her radio show on Saturday. I was super nervous to hear how I would sound on air, but was pleasantly surprised. Did she use some sort of magical computer program to make my voice sound better? I wish I knew.

If you're interested in listening, here's the link.



Finally, and yes, I know how glaringly obvious this sounds, moving sucks.

There's just SO much to organize and it seems like we're spending almost every single waking moment dealing with the To Do List.
As of this afternoon though, I think we're finally on top of it. Phew!

Looking forward to our new view!

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Will BBQ And Brownies Kill Off French Cuisine?

Some of the negative comments on social media about the recent opening of a Texas BBQ joint in Paris by a Frenchman got me thinking...

As an expat in France who loves to cook and eat, appreciates everything food related and has been watching the culinary scene in France evolve over the last decade, I've noticed that in recent years there seem to be a lot of expats getting their knickers in a twist over foreigners (e.g. Anglophones who have moved to France and/or French people who have traveled to (mainly) Anglophone countries and have returned to France) opening restaurants or BBQ joints or coffee places that said expats deem to be not "French" enough and will, in their opinion, cause the eventual demise of French cuisine.

Strangely though, if it's a new sushi place, a Mexican restaurant, a Korean joint, an Indian resto or a falafel place, then that's perfectly fine. But put the words "hot dog," "BBQ" or "fish & chips" on the menu and watch the outrage unfold on Facebook and Twitter.
Ironically, the loudest and most resentful voices are usually from those who only spend a couple of months of every year in France (or Paris), from expats who only plan to stay here temporarily or by visitors who think that the French eat nothing but French food, 24/7.



Here's what I don't understand about this whole thing...
If a young chef from, say, Chicago, goes abroad and spends a few years cooking in France then returns to Chicago and opens up a new French restaurant and puts items on the menu that she or he was inspired by and learned to cook while living abroad, do you think that the French expats who live in Chicago run around moaning and complaining that said chef isn't offering dishes that are "American" enough? Or that the food they're putting on their menu will ultimately change Chicago's restaurant scene and its culinary traditions for the worse?
Of course they don't.

Maybe you don't think that Chicago has a cuisine that warrants the same kind of attention as French cuisine? (If you're from Chicago and think it has the most sublime cuisine on the planet, please forgive me, I'm merely using it as an example here) 
So for argument's sake, I'll use New Orleans, because there's no denying that it is one of the most unique and amazing food cities in America, home to a long standing, richly layered culinary history.
I can tell you from experience that no Japanese, Spanish, Thai or French expat living there freaks out when a new Japanese, Spanish, Thai or French restaurant opens up.

Yeah, I know. French gastronomy is sacred. It's even registered with UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

But if the French are embracing these changes, then who are we étrangers to complain? Paris is a huge, multicultural city and a few new influences like barbecued brisket and donuts aren't going to kill off French cuisine.

Personally, I'm happy to know that I can pop over to Paris and enjoy a delicious French meal one night, a spicy burrito the next and some shrimp dumpling soup the day after. Just like I would be able to do in cities like Seattle, Brussels, London or Barcelona.

You know what they say, variety is the spice of life.
Now please pass the chips and salsa.




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5 Things

1) Sun dappled Normandy.




2) One afternoon - 20 cheeses - 5 kinds of wine. I departed in a semi coma, but very happy and satisfied.




3) Happiness is a boulangerie - patisserie.

4) Bright pink peonies at the market.

5) Parisian café people watching. One of my favorite pastimes.



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For All You Cheese Lovers Out There

Paris By Mouth now has an informative Tour de Fromage that offers cheese tastings at several fromageries around town and will introduce you to a wide variety of the more than 500 cheeses produced in France.

Notes on Cheese, The Murray's Cheese Notebook is just the kind of thing I needed a few years ago when I started keeping tasting notebooks.

Did you know that French goat's cheese had it's own ambassador? 
 
Formaticum and the Brooklyn Slate Co. have created the Cheese Survival Kit.
The only thing missing from that bag is a nice, big wedge of cheese!



When I'm researching a new cheese, I turn to these three books;  Mastering Cheese: Lessons for Connoisseurship from a Maître Fromager by Max McCalman, The Cheese Primer by Steven Jenkins and French Cheese (Eyewitness Series).

I love these downloadable Cheese Tasting Note Cards from Culture magazine.
So practical!

Pike Place Market hosts the Seattle Cheese Festival the weekend of May 19-20, 2012. Or if you happen to be in Provence that weekend, check out the Fête du Fromage à Banon, celebrating the village's namesake fromage de chèvre.


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