Cherry Clafloutis, French Grocery Stores and a Fantastic book

Cherry Clafloutis

I think I have a problem. It is really hard for me to go a few days without being in the kitchen and cooking something. I suppose maybe a painter might feel the same way if someone were to take his paintbrushes away from him for a few days. And there is something about being in Paris, that makes me want to cook, bake and experiment even more. Maybe it the Fruiteries on almost every corner, or the wonderful open air markets, or the Patisseries displaying their mouth watering wares in the windows. This city could feed my culinary creativity for a very long time; but of course, it's Paris.

Romain and I visited the Rue de Grenelle Market on Sunday and bought some cherries to have with our lunch. I decided the leftovers would make a great Clafloutis. After making a nice Cod with Lemon Caper sauce for dinner on Monday evening, I baked the Clafloutis. But first we had to go to Monoprix to find a pan that would fit in small oven in the apartment. I think this pan is going to get a lot of use while I am here. It will be worth the entire 4,50 Euros I paid for it.

Now Let me tell you about the Grocery stores. Most French people would probably laugh at how much time I spend in the Supermarche. You who know me, know how much time I can spend in a good grocery store in the US, well double that number......maybe triple since I now have to translate everything, or make note of words to look up later. The Grand Epicerie at Le Bon Marche is as exciting for me, as a toy store for a small child. The selection is great, and the store is super clean with wide aisles. I spent a good hour or 2 in there yesterday and only bought 4 items: Levure Boulangere (yeast), Sel Fin (fine grained salt), Ancelly Pudding Powder (the closest thing I can find to Elsay, the French cornstarch we use in school), and a bottle of Orange Fanta (a guilty pleasure, but not the syrupy sweet stuff that is sold in the US, this is much lighter and may even have some fruit juice in it).

The thing I find most fascinating about French grocery stores, is the products that are sold as every day items. Most people in the US, who do not have a culinary background, might have no idea what they are. So far I have seen packages of pre-made blinis and a myriad of spreads to be served on said blinis. Cartons of Creme Anglais; all you have to do is heat and serve. Rolls of Pate Sucree and Pate Brisee in the refrigerated aisle. Plastic packages of Frangipane for filling in your tarts. Ground Almonds, or Almond flour is as common as peanut butter in American stores. Rolls of Almond Paste are stacked right below packages of various nuts. I haven't done the actual conversion on the price yet, but it seems it might be a deal to stockpile it and bring a suitcase full back with me in September. I could go on.

I've considered as an experiment to buy all the pre-made ingredients for a Frangipane fruit tart and assemble it, then make a from scratch one and compare the results.....just for fun of course. (to take it a step further, I could also by the same tart from a Patisserie and do a blind taste test on some French people.....) I'm having too much fun here. I'm still on a mission to buy cornstarch and there are a few specialty cook stores that I may try next.

One thing that I was looking for before I left the US, was a book of French cooking terms and anything to help me learn more kitchen French. Until yesterday I had no idea if the chef I will be training under spoke English at all (Turns out she is fluent, but I still need to learn French). The best thing I found in the Grand Epicerie yesterday was a book. Right near the baking ingredients was a display of some small cocottes, cooking utensils and aprons. At the bottom of the display was a stack of books titled, "Ustensiles de Cuisine". BINGO! I picked up a copy and started flipping through the pages; this is exactly what I need.

My New Paris Guide

It reminds me a lot of a book sold at Sur La Table titled, "Things Cooks Love". This could easily be the French version. It is divided into sections and has nice clear photos of each item and labeled with the French name. Then after the the explaination of the items, the section continues with recipes that you use the utensil to prepare. C'est Magnifique! Not only is it beautifully laid out; the recipes look fantastic as well. I have plenty of reading to do

Description of Spatule

Another bright spot on my day yesterday: if all goes well, I will be going in to the Cafe on Monday to start some training (yes mister painter, you can have your brushes back). I also will be helping prepare some food for a wine dinner on Friday evening. I can barely contain myself.