"french food" news and stories

Classic French drinks at Brooklyn's Bastille Day. Photo: Alex Van Buren

Bastille Day is tomorrow, but in New York City the party started as it so often does -- early. From an uptown street fair in Manhattan featuring the decadent pastries of Francois Payard to a boozy, New Orleans-like outdoor fete on Smith Street (often called Brooklyn's Restaurant Row), the city was awash in stripes of red, white and blue.

Those wondering how to pay homage to that long-ago storming of the Bastille prison via gastronomical decisions tomorrow, not to worry: We've got a classic Provençal recipe and a few Francophilic cocktail ideas coming your way tomorrow.

Meantime, after the jump, a recap of the Brooklyn event (more pictures here) from moules frites to the peculiar triumph of anise-tinged Ricard.

I attribute my fascination with the French city Biarritz and the Basque region to an incredible food shop called Maison Arostéguy. Although I have not yet visited the store, there's no doubt in my mind that it's truly a treasure chest of delectables.

When the shop first opened in 1875, it specialized in high-end commodities from the colonies that were trendy during that era. For five generations, the same family has managed the shop and preserved its dedication to fine foods from around the world. The store also highlights many delicacies from the Basque region including piment d'Espelette, black cherry jam, sheep's milk cheeses, and a savory mixture of spices and fleur de sel.

Currently, I am addicted to their purée of piment d'Espelette. Piment d'Espelette is a deep red pepper that's cultivated in Espelette, a charming Basque village. The pepper is said to have become a culinary icon in the region. And, in June 2000, it became an AOC product. I use the purée with grilled and roasted meats. Suggestions on where to purchase products from Maison Arostéguy can be found after the jump.

I like to make sure that I offer up a good balance of new and old cookbooks in this (mostly) daily post. I love to flip through all the glossy new cookbooks that are hitting shelves these days, but sometimes I find myself turning to the old, the known and the comforting. Today's book, Crepe Cookery, isn't a volume I grew up with, but as it's one of those light-weight, magazine-sized editions that was once sold in grocery stores, it feels familiar and as if it was something that was always at hand.

Written by Mable Hoffman (who also wrote Crockery Cookery, our April 1st Cookbook of the Day) and printed in 1976, this cookbook was the first exposure that a lot of people had to making crepes at home (if they weren't ambitious enough to make them from Mastering the Art of French Cooking). It offers helpful, step-by-step pictures on how cook crepes using either the upside down (dipping the crepe pan into the batter) or right side up (ladling the batter into the pan) methods. There are also lots of pictures demonstrating the varied ways you can fill, fold and serve your crepes.

There are five all-purpose crepe batter recipes in this book, as well as recipes that incorporate graham crackers, mashed potato, wheat germ, beer, yogurt, cornmeal and chocolate. She also devotes 15 pages to the various pans you can use to cook crepes, how to season them if purchasing a new one and their pluses and minuses. It's a surprisingly relevant section, considering that the book is more than 30 years old.

If you like making crepes, or are looking for a good introductory book to help you learn, this might just be a good book for you. There are multiple copies selling on Amazon for a penny (plus shipping), so it won't cost you much to check it out if you're intrigued. c

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Several days ago, I asked you, my beloved Slashfood readers, for help on what to do with about a bazillion cherries I had picked up. One of the overwhelming responses was for a cherry clafouti - the French dessert-t thing that's made with a pancake batter and fruit. I am not yet telling you what I am doing with the cherries -- it may or may not be a cherry clafouti -- but until I post that, here are eight cherry clafoutis from around the food web for your viewing, reading, and perhaps eating, pleasure:

1. Noshtalgia is cheery about cherries
2. Amy does Julia Child's recipe
3. 28Cooks uses sour cherries
4. You might get a muffin top if you eat the clafouti from MuffinTop
5. Mahanandi is the one in the picture
6. Clafouti from Becks N Posh is not for the Frenchman
7. Lucullian Delights adds a little spice
8. Smitten Kitchen's clafouti is a cliche come true

• Seems like every food mag is doing a travel issue these days, and Bon Appetit is no exception. Their "Where To Eat Now" cover story focuses on France, Italy, Australia, and Spain.
• What is friuli?
• Here are several recipes for country cakes, including some from Greece and Ireland.
• A step-by-step guide to making Shanghai Soup Dumplings.
• You really should be using mangoes more.
• More recipes from this month: Porcini-Crusted Filet Mignon with Fresh Herb Butter, Toasted Almond Ice Cream Sandwiches, Italian Sausage Meatball Heroes, Vanilla-Date Breakfast Smoothie, and several ways to cook with wine to add flavor (and keep things healthy).
• Also in this issue: an interview with Michael Palin.