Category: French Cooking
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French recipe: Ratatouille Without Aubergine
I hate to admit it, but the Paris portrayed in movies is magical. It’s called the City of Light for a reason, and I don’t know who could leave unaffected by the Eiffel Tower lighting up like a glittering beacon over the city. Well, Gaylord, to be honest. He is Parisian. I don’t think those…
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French recipe: Peach Mille Feuille
If I could be a fruit, I would like to cast my vote to be a peach. There may be a lot of us peaches jostling in the fruit bowl. There is a reason this blog’s logo is a peach – it’s a little cheeky (the peach emoji connotations have a lot to answer for).…
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French recipe: Peach and Apricot Clafoutis
Summer: it’s the season to brave the heaving weekend markets, jostling old biddies with their shopping carts. It’s the time to drink iced coffee in the morning, and share a sliced peach so juicy you need some paper towel on hand. It’s the smell of the mosquito spirals burning, their smoke blowing through your window.…
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French Recipe: Goat’s Cheese and Onion Tart
It may just be residual stress from cookery school, but making a tart – sweet or savoury – is up there in the top five reasons to bring me out in a cold sweat. Various forms of confrontation are another. As is speaking French. But back to tarts; over the last 6 and a half…
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French recipe: Dauphinoise Potatoes with Thyme and Nutmeg
This weekend, I made two dishes of dauphinoise potatoes in two days. A tale of two gratins. We mustn’t compare or pick a favourite – just like a careful parent soothing offspring who are indignant to know the truth of the phrase ‘we love you equally.’ This makes no sense to the children who always…
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Pancake Day: French Crepes and Caramel Beurre Salé
It’s funny isn’t it, how one of the best British traditions is actually French? Maybe only the Brits and the French will see the irony of this because, well, we hate each other. In a brotherly-sisterly kind of way. We often get offended by the other’s behaviour and stop talking to them for a while.…
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French recipe: Pain au Chocolat
What are the first three foods that come to mind when you think of France? Take your time, I will wait. Ready? Let’s see – I assume baguettes are up there? Baguettes seem to grow like grass here. What about delicate pastries like eclairs? Or their 1600 cheeses? Basically, anything involving butter? France is pretty…
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French recipe: Creamy Leek and Potato Soup
To quote Elizabeth Gilbert, since living in France, “I’ve been doing rude things to my body.” However, it seems unlikely that this leek and potato soup will help. While Liz made sweet love to pizza and pasta and gelato in Rome over the course of four months in her book ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, I have…
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How to Build a French Charcuterie Board
It was during my first visit to see Gaylord in France that I realised how seriously the French take charcuterie. While it took me another year to eat snails, then a whole year after that I finally encountered frogs legs, charcuterie has been a weekly snack since my plane touched down in 2020. As you…
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French recipe: Spiced Apricot Tarte Tatin
I’ve never kept it a secret that I’m a winter girl at heart. My favourite foods usually involve pastry or suet, I mean, I love lard for goodness’ sake. However, I will admit defeat in favour of summer fruits. This season can claim proud responsibility for the best fruits of the year. One of those…