"french food" news and stories

Before the White House got its megagarden, before there was debate over who the president's next chef would be, before WGBH thought Julia Child was ready for her close-up, there was René Verdon, the first professional chef in the White House kitchen. It was 1961, and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy knew that French food was the way to entertain in a big, and very sophisticated, way. So she reached out to Verdon, whose chicken in Champagne had been raved about as "incomparable" by The New York Times.

At the White House, Verdon broke tradition: becoming the president's first personal chef, starting an herb garden to keep things fresh and designing a personal kitchen for the family's quarters.

Verdon passed away on February 2, at age 86, in San Francisco, home of his noted restaurant Le Trianon, reports the Los Angeles Times. In the same way that Jackie will forever be remembered for her grace and flair, Verdon will be recalled as a master of the whisk. Julia Child credits him with her career. She was "lucky" he got the gig, Child told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune in 2002, says the Times, because "everyone was interested in French cuisine."

We already thought other countries beat us on quality fast food -- crawl through any backstreet in Southeast Asia and find a healthy bundle of dumplings with local spices, or Mexico for hot-off-the-grill strips of meat with freshly mashed avocado. But leave it to the French to design a foie gras burger (priced at 5 euros, no less) for their national fast food joint, nonchalantly called Quick.

A decided rival to the golden arches, according to Daily Mail UK, Quick will serve a limited-edition "Supreme Foie Gras Burger" for a mere 5 euors -- that's under $8. Try finding that at a drive-though near you. We on this side of the Atlantic have to reserve a spot with a tablecloth to get this kind of decadence.

Foie gras is produced manually by over-stuffing the livers of duck, literally translated in French as "fatty liver". It's been featured on many a high-end table, like at Daniel Boulud's DB Bistro Moderne, and has been the object of much debate over animal cruelty versus culinary allegiance, ranked up there with the truffles and fish eggs of the world. According to Daily Mail, in the Aquitaine region, it can go for 100 euros per kilo, and even more during the holidays.

But in France, for three days -- December 17 to 19 -- there'll be sliced "foie gras over a minced beef patty, with onion and rocket leaves" at Quick's 360 outlets. So get it while it's hot, you lucky French; we'll just have to stick with our seasonal rib-less beast.

Let's do lunch. But hurry if you were thinking of France. The classic, leisurely and well-endowed Gallic meal is going the way of another kind of lunch, the one preceded by three martinis (on life-support anyway since "Mad Men" ended for the season). UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), which is based in (surprise!) Paris, has just declared traditional French food an "intangible cultural heritage," along with 46 other "winners" such as the unforgettable carpet weaving of Ajerbaijan, the haunting Peruvian scissors dance, and everybody's real favorite, Mexican cuisine (who knew tacos could hold their own with tournedos?). This is not a joke. The French, the greatest consumers of McDonald's outside the U.S., are busy trying to make a buck; they don't have time to tarry over terrines of foie gras with Twitter and Facebook on the side. Tastes have changed, too. Writing in Gourmet, noted Le Figaro critic François Simon said: "Parisians, especially the young, aren't that interested in long, fussy meals anymore. They aren't even demanding good food. They crave a scene." Simon adds a warning not to look to the French housewife for salvation, since "madame has gone off to work." Books have even been written on the subject (Au Revoir to All That: Food, Wine and the Death of France, by Michael Steinberger).

There is only one thing that can save French food now. You. Get your butt on a plane as fast as you can and start eating your way through the best bistros in Paris. Once the food goes, there will be nothing left of the Fifth Republic except perfume, high-speed trains and just-released DVDs of old Jerry Lewis movies.

'The Balthazar Cookbook'
By Keith McNally, Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson
Clarkson Potter Publishers -- 2003
Buy it on Amazon

If you ever thought delectable French food could only be attained at overpriced restaurants, this cookbook by Balthazar restaurateur Keith McNally and company will prove you wrong. And hats off to them for revealing the beauty of French cooking: For the most part, it necessitates a minimal amount of ingredients (of good quality, bien sûr), executed to perfection.

See what we tested and whether the book is worth buying after the jump.

Photo: Le Fooding

Summer's salad days -- which some calorie-counting, bikini-wearing types take literally -- are coming to a close, as beach bags are upended and emptied of sand across the country.

September always has us craving heartier fare: cheese, bread, red wine, prosciutto, frites. We start clicking on plane fares to Europe, only to shudder at the prices.

Thank goodness, then, that Paris is doing us a favor and hopping stateside this September in the form of several events. Francophiles in New York City and beyond might be intrigued by 'Le Fooding,' a two-day urban picnic held at P.S.1, one of the city's fairer museums, on September 25th and 26th.

A dozen well-known Parisian and New York chefs will be joined by mixologists, DJs and performance artists in a two-day extravaganza. We wouldn't have given it much pause if we didn't see the famous Bo Ssam from Gotham's Momofuku on offer alongside grilled chicken necks drizzled with yuzu by WD-50's Wylie Dusfresne and several tempting items from a variety of well-known Parisian eateries. Tickets are $30 per day, and we're liking the Friday night lineup.