Archive for the ‘pastries’ Category

My Day at the Paris Cookbook Fair – Part II

Friday, March 9th, 2012
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I attended the Paris Cookbook Fair yesterday. For me, the fun took place at the food and beverage stands and the cooking demonstrations.

Festival du Livre Culinaire

There was one area in the exposition hall that was dedicated to products from Brittany. There, I met Adrien Auroy, sales representative for Coreff, an artisanal beer-brewing company in Carhaix, France. I tasted three of the beers that were on tap: a blanche (white), an ambrée (amber), and a stout. Of the three, I was most intrigued by the blanche for its refreshing, spicy taste. Adrien told me that it was flavored with coriander.

Adrien Auroy - Sales Reperesentive of Coreff

Adrien Auroy
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Because man cannot live by beer alone and (presumably) needs intellectual stimulation, I left the food hall and went to see the presentation of a new book, Food on the Silk Road. There, three chefs recounted their adventures traveling the silk road in China in search of the foods that eventually found their way to Europe.

Chakall - James McIntosh - Jimmy Yang Jimei

Chakall - James McIntosh - Jimmy Yang Jimei
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

In another part of the exposition hall, author Teresa Severini Zaganelli gave a talk about her book Grapes in the Glass, in which she endeavors to teach youngsters and adults about wine production and responsible drinking.

Teresa Severini Zaganelli

Teresa Severini Zaganelli
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

In the French Show Kitchen I watched Chef Cyril Rouquet make an orange-flavored Saint-Honoré. This classic French cake is a circle of choux pastries on a pâte feuilletée base. The choux are filled with crème chiboust and the cake is finished with whipped cream. Lots of calories here, but who is counting? After samples were distributed, I sneaked back for another bite!

Cyril Rouquet

Cyril Rouquet
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

I will continue the saga of my day at the Paris Cookbook Fair tomorrow! I still have to reveal the amazing technique that I learned for making Bad Piggies’ Scrambled Eggs.

The Paris Cookbook Fair will run through Sunday, March 11.

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Tasting Tarte Tatin from Morange Bakery

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012
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Tarte Tatin

Tarte Tatin
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Yesterday I spotted Tarte Tatin on the display counter at Morange, a bakery located on rue Mouffetard.

Tradition has it that Tarte Tatin, an upside-down, caramelized apple pie, was invented by the Tatin Sisters in the 1880s. The slices of Tarte Tatin that I purchased had beautiful, large chunks of caramelized apple resting on a flaky pastry shell. I took them home and heated them in the oven at 150°C.

To taste a well-heated Tarte Tatin is to enter gourmet heaven. The apples in the slices that I had purchased were not overly sweet and the thin and flavorful crust was crispy and soft at the same time (crispy where the apples had not touched the edges of the crust).

It is difficult to find a thoroughly-warmed Tarte Tatin in restaurants. In our experience, most of them are served with a cold center, where the density of the apples resists reheating. But the slices that we purchased at Morange came out of our oven piping hot all the way though. They were delectable!

Morange
123, rue Mouffetard
75005 Paris
Tel: 01.47.07.35.96

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Galette des Rois at Morange

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
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Galette des Rois

Galette des Rois
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Fève

Fève
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

To celebrate Epiphany, which fell on the 6th of January, we purchased a galette des Rois (Kings’ cake) from Morange, a bakery in our neighborhood.

The cake, which cost 8€, measured about 6” in diameter and had crispy puff-pastry layers filled with dense, semi-sweet frangipane.

The surprise came when I found a fève (a porcelain charm in the shape of a duck) hidden in my portion of the cake. According to tradition, the person whose slice contains the fève is King for the day. I briefly wore the paper crown, whose circumference, however, was not large enough to fit my big head!

Boulangerie Morange
123, rue Mouffetard
75005 Paris

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Millefeuille at Brasserie Lipp

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011
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Millefeuille at Brasserie Lipp
(c) Discover Paris!

Founded in 1880 by Léonard Lippman, the Brasserie Lipp is famous for its Hareng Bismark (pickled Baltic herring), its Choucroute Lipp (sauerkraut with sausages, pork, and ham), its Pied de Porc Farci Grillé (stuffed, grilled pigs’ trotters), and its exquisite millefeuille. The latter is furnished by Delloyau, a renowned Parisian pastry and chocolate maker.

I recently had the occasion to taste the millefeuille at Lipp during a presentation by Pierre-Yves Jaslet on the history of the restaurant and the neighborhood.

The serving was generous, comprising two layers of thick vanilla-flavored custard cream sandwiched between three layers of puff pastry. The top was dusted with powdered sugar and embellished with zigzags of caramel.

The delicate pastry is difficult to eat, because the pressure of the edge of a fork on top of the pastry squeezes it down, causing the cream to ooze out. I finally made careful cuts with a knife, but even then the pastry almost collapsed in the plate.

I found the custard to be somewhat pasty, but that is the way it is supposed to be. I would not normally choose this dessert in a restaurant, but this was a special occasion to try it at the historic Brasserie Lipp!

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Galette des Rois

Wednesday, January 5th, 2011
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The twelfth day of Christmas, Epiphany, is celebrated with Kings’ cake, or galette des Rois, as they are called in France.

Galette des Rois from Pain de Sucre
(c) Discover Paris!

The cakes, made of flaky puff-pastry layers with a dense center of frangipane, are sold in bakeries during the month of January. We wanted to purchase our galette from a specific bakery in the Marais, but when we arrived at the address we found that it was no longer in business. We stopped at a coffee house in the neighborhood to purchase some fresh-roasted coffee beans and were told that one of the finest bakeries in Paris was the nearby Pain de Sucre. So we hastened over there and purchased a small galette (for two to four persons). This 6 ¾” diameter by 1” tall cake weighing 290 grams cost 20€. A pretty penny to pay for such a small cake!

We found the galette to be quite buttery and flaky; its 3/8” almond-paste filling was light and airy, rather than heavy and pasty as one so often finds in these pastries. Each contains a porcelain bean (fève, in French). The person whose slice contains the fève is King or Queen for the day! He or she gets to wear a paper crown, which is provided with the galette.

Pain de Sucre
14 Rue Rambuteau
75003 Paris
Tel: 01.45.74.68. 92

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