Here in France, it is not the Easter Bunny who brings Easter goodies, but "les cloches", or bells, which must be much more difficult to believe for French kids than a bunny. The pastry shops all have huge displays of gaily decorated bells, chickens, lambs, ducks, and of course eggs made generally on the premises . The better ones proudly announce theirs all made with a high percentage of pure cocoa butter. The French are true chocolate aficionados, consuming vast amounts per capita.
Good dark chocolates are made with 70 to 78 percent cocoa butter, with only a tad of sugar. Completely different from the mass marketed so called chocolates most Americans consume, which are heavily leaden with sugar and other additives.
The picture above shows pastry students at Ferrandi mastering chocolate making, as they too, will be expected to offer handmade seasonal chocolate candies. Some go on to specialize in chocolate only, as this country honors ar
tisanal chocolate makers as they do vintners , or fine chefs.
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Towering Pastry
This is certainly the largest assembly of pastry that I have seen. The French call it a "piece montee", which is always offered in French wedding receptions, albeit not this big! This was taken in Ecole Ferrandi's pastry lab where future patissiers are trained. They also offer couses for adults, who just want to expand their pastry skills . 
Ecole Superior de la Cuisine Francaise
The very best school in Paris for producing bright young French chefs is unquestionably Ferrandi's Ecole Superior de la Cusine Francaise. State of the art gleaming kitchens, that have machines and cooking materials,that only the best restaurants might have are there for the future glory of French cuisine. Here there are no cutting costs to preserve the rich heritage that France is so justly proud .
Truffles and fois gras within 8 hours of being removed from fois gras ducks are whisked to Paris for their students. If you are going to produce the best chefs in the world, then you provide them with the freshest, and the best raw materials to work with, irregardless of the costs. The school also has programs that produces pastry chefs and bakers, in addition to fish mongers and caterers.
I have had the pleasure of knowing this impressive school up close and personal, as my son Andre received his CAP in French cuisine from them in 2001. Aimee and I were often invited to "degustation" lunches, prepared by these budding chefs. Oh la la!!! Starting at 12:30, we usually waddled out around 4 pm, after being treated to multiple courses of exquisite foods and wines, lovingly prepared by these gifted young cooks.
One of Paris's best guarded secrets, is the school's restaurant, where literally beautifully executed dished can be had for mere centimes. The wines from renowned producers are likewise for a steal.
Each year, they have a weekend "portes ouverts", which I anxious await, where their kitchens are opened for the public to see and taste. This weekend I nibbled with much delight the delicious samples provided by these future chefs , pastry chefs, bakers and caterers. Vive la cusine Francais!!!
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Mille Feuilles de Pommes et Puree de Racines de Persil
Pretty to look at and easy to do. The taste of both is just divine, really a winning combination!
Apples Golden Delicious
One or two roots of parsley depending on size
Creme frache or cream, additional butter if wished
Salt to taste
Slice apples crosswise about 1/4 inch thick, and sautee in butter till golden on both sides. Boil parsley roots peeled and cut into 1/3 or so till very tender. Approx 15 to 20 minutes. Drain, and put in food processor. Add cream, butter if wanted and puree. Add salt to taste.
Place one slice apple on a plate. Top with puree parsley root and put another apple slice on top. Add another layer of puree, and then top again with a apple slice. Pipe rosettes of the puree on top and around the Mille
Feuilles. Voila! C'est parfait!! Bisous Cherry
Les Racines de Persil
One of my newer vegetable passions is parsley roots. Humble and homely they may be, but their taste is just divine. Petroselinum crispum turberosum is the botanical name for this ancient winter staple that has its cultural roots in eastern Europe and Russia. I had seen them on a few Paris menu's , but lately they have enjoyed a renewed fanfare as one of the "legumes oublie
", or forgotten vegetables.
Perhaps Europeans associated this root vegetable with times of war strife and famine, and with peace and prosperity wanted to forget its humble place on their tables at difficult times.
As you can see it looks like a knobby white carrot, and can be hard to differentiate between parsnips. Parsley roots have a rougher skin and can arthritic look, with a tuff of bright green parsley on top. They are a different from the herb parsley, which has smaller roots. Since they difficult to find in the states, one can substitute parsnips, which are similar in taste.
My favorite way to use them is just as a puree, but makes lovely gratins. They are wonderful to serve along side of rare roasts, and make a nice change from the ubiquitous potato. They have a rounded sweetness with a hint of parsley of course!
La Grande Luminaire de Notre Dame
After a recent noon mass, IView this photo was wandering around the back of the cathedral, where i came upon this incredible sight. I guess it has been there all along suspended from the ceiling in the main nave of the cathedral, but to see it up close left me mesmerized. It is huge! Dating from the middle ages, year unknown, this chandelier was created out of copper and bronze. Approximately 8 feet in diameter and 10 feet tall, it is currently being restored to all of its glory. There are 47 setting candle lights in the second tier and 24 in the first. Of course during the middle ages, oil pots were nestled in the candle holders. I could almost visualize someone tethering high above lighting each pot with a flaring torch, which must have taken much skill not only to not be burned, but not fall.
Crevettes et Saucisson au lait du coco
This unusual combination of flavors really surprises your taste buds, if you like spicy Thai type presentations. Here in France, it is hard to find fresh shrimp like back home in Louisiana. Most is sold already cooked, under the belief that the fresh flavor is captured by cooking it soon after hauling it aboard. I did see one time live hopping shrimp for sale at a marche on Mauberte Mutualite, the morning before New Year's Eve. Whether you are using the cooked or fresh variety, you should make a small amount of shrimp stock, by boiling up the plucked off heads. As in crawfish, the heads contains the shellfish fat which flavors the dish. That why true blue Louisianians suck the heads of their boiled crawfish. I have tried this with our great mussels instead of shrimp and it was just as delicious. Either one will give you a craving for this dish, especially the sauce. Remember these amounts are approximate , so add Little bit more or less according to your taste.
one pound headless shrimp or approximately 2 lbs shrimp with heads on
4 inch long piece of excellent smoked sausage
1 Can coconut milk or creme, non sugared
1 sweet red pepper
2 green onions with stems
2 to 3 cloves of garlic
2 tbs freshly grated ginger
2 to 3 Thai hot red peppers, depending on your taste
2 bulbs fresh lemongrass
1 tbs fresh grated galanga( if available)
3 or 4 Thai lime leaves
fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
fresh coriander sprigs
few drops soy sauce
First simmer shrimp heads in approximately 3/4 cup water for 10 or so minutes, drain stock and reduce to about 1/2 cup and reserve. Finely chop garlic cloves, white part of green onions, and small Thai hot peppers and sweat in small amount of olive oil or peanut oil. Can add a drop of sesame oil if desired. Remove outer lemongrass covering, and finely chop base of stalks, and add to garlic, pepper mixture. Add grated ginger and galanga, along with ground coriander. Add the lime leaves whole or if you are like me who likes to eat them, add thinly sliced.Chop the sausage in dice like pieces and add. Cover spice mixture with the coconut milk or creme. Add the the 1/2 cup or so of the shrimp stock. Simmer over low heat unconquered for about 5 minutes. The coconut mixture should thicken somewhat.
If you are from Louisiana, like me and grew up eating shrimp in their shells, add them whole unpeeled to the coconut mixture. I enjoy the crunch as in Louisiana barbecued shrimp. Otherwise, add the peeled shrimp, chopped sweet red pepper , green onions thinly spiced and simmer for about 5 minutes. Do no overcook
the shrimp. Season with several good drops of soy sauce and lime juice. Taste and season until you achieve a seasoned, slightly citron flavor. The lime leaves give off a in dept lime flavor, but no acidity, therefore you must add lime juice to brighten the taste, In french, we say relever la sauce, or to bring it up to a savory balance and acidity, or it might come across a little flat. Just before serving add the chopped coriander . Serve with plenty of good crusty French bread for soaking up the really fantastic sauce.
For wine, a big, somewhat rustic white wine from Cassis would be perfect. A white wine from Gascogne would be good too, as would would a French Gewurtztraminer. In America, where these are hard to find, a full bodyied sauvignon blanc would do well. Bizous Cheriekiss
Salon d'Agriculture Paris 2006
The salon of agriculture is just plain one of my favorites, that has it all from prize winnings animals to plants, flowers, mules, donkey, horses,fish, dogs and last but not the least huge food halls from all the regions of France and all around the world. There you can taste various cheese, sausages, candies, breads, pastries, teas, coffees, chocolates, and any food specialties that are proudly associated with that region or country.
We always start with the animals prettily groomed, usually with colorful ribbons pleated in their tails or manes. And yes I feel sad knowing that they are there for the food chain, and feel hypocritical for loving animals and yet not being a vegetarian.
There are abundant displays of all sorts of fish, and shellfish that are auctioned off daily. Even saw some live eels,at the Languedoc Roussillon area that I know I could not handle preparing for a specialty that I adored eating in Grisom Plage. Mea Culpa.
Our next stops are the giant food hall, offering endless booths of goodies for tasting and buying. An Italian sausage maker who, we had first discovered at the Saveur salon , was one of the first hit to buy some of his mouth watering Mordatella de Non, a hard to find smoked sausage , even in Italy. The handsome blue eyed guy from Florence was a plus, though the sausages came near the Austrian Italian border.
Some unusual teas from Nepal, exquisite paprika from Hungary, and Tete de Moine cheese from Switzerland got tucked into our caddy next.
We regularly seek out coconut sorbet from Guadeloupe,made with real coconut cream and vanilla, freshly churning in old fashioned wooden casks. Fun to eat listening to steel drum music from the Antilles to French Polynesian dance music.
Towards the end we frequent more the wines kiosks, always looking for a new discovery. At the final day of the salon, with a little courage, aided along with a few glasses of wine, one can diplomatically ask if we could have that half opened bottle, that surely they are not planning in packing up. Our latest "leftover" booty consisted of a delicious cremant from Bordeaux, a highly acclaimed Pomerol, and 1999 vintages of Morey Saint Denis and Chambolle Musigny. The last mentioned were probably more lagniappe, as we had already agreed to purchase three pricy bottles of those for our cave. Tucking in our coveted free loot, a man appeared offering us two bottles of artisan virgin pressed oils of colsa, and sunflower fro only three euros each, only because he did not have any more room in his packed up cases. Quelle plaisir!
The only hard part is leaving, knowing you missed something you wanted to see and having to heft with mighty effort our very heavy and bulging caddy up and down the stairs in the Metro.
As I sipped that lovely free cremant back home while preparing my magrets de canard aux pommes, it was , as usual all worth it!
Notre Dame With Love
When walking towards Notre dame, and then suddenly her image just comes into view, I am as always struck by her sheer beauty. I often try to imagine what she looked like back in the early years, where there were hardly any buildings around her. There were no built up banks along the Seine. Isle St. Louis was still divided into two islets. When her buttresses where lit by torches and periodic moonlight.
When there was no throngs of humans lining up to get in and when masses were all said in only candlelight with a whispering silence I long for to no avail.
A few years ago before the most recent renovation, evening masses were said in the very inner sanctum between the old wooden choir stalls, just in front of the massive alter depicting Mother Mary holding our beloved Christ. Vespers were said just before with the swirlings grey fumes of incense permeating my nostrils. Kneeling on the hard stone floor offered a communion of sorts of her origin. A Mass up front and personal in the most beautiful of surroundings.
As the guards shushed the remaining faithful towards the exit, I loved the mini minutes of feeling all alone in her vast embrace. Ah, delicious silence in the darkness of her nave. The ritualistic placing my hand on the bottom of her pillars, worn smooth by the ageless touching of human fingers felt cool to my hand, a blessing, a connection to the times from the past. If only her stones could talk. Would they weep for the hearts tortured in pain who have come to kneel amongst her towering grey pillars? Would they weep for the destruction that occurred during the revolution? They are caught motionless in time, never to stray I hope as we mortal humans have no choice to do after our time here on earth is up. My touch imprinted however so minuscule remains bonded with the millions others from her past. All searcher and seekers I presume, so fragile , so unknowing then as today.
Yet Notre Dame still stand, still beckoning souls here and beyond enthralled with her beauty. I wish all who come would , in additon to admiring the architecture,give a moment to understand that Notre Dame is a symbol of Our Blessed Virgin Mary 's abiding love for her children today and to come.
