Tag: French Cooking

Auguste Escoffier and the Invention of the Restaurant Kitchen Brigade System

March 20, 2024

Not long ago, I read a book written by Julia Child’s great-nephew, Luke Barr. His Ritz and Escoffier: The Hotelier, the Chef, and the Rise of the Leisure Class revealed what happens when two geniuses meet. These two men probably did more to change the way high-class hotels and restaurants operated, and the impact is … More Auguste Escoffier and the Invention of the Restaurant Kitchen Brigade System

A Little Side Trip to the Dordogne/Périgord

February 5, 2024

Reading Martin Walker’s Bruno, Chief of Police Novels It’s interesting how synchronicity works. My current, long-term writing project involves France – actually Paris – during World War II. However, there’re are only so many words about that time I can take in at once. So when I discovered a series of novels set in the … More A Little Side Trip to the Dordogne/Périgord

An Appetite for Paris

November 8, 2023

You know those books you read years ago, loved, and then put back on the shelf? But couldn’t really forget, no matter how many years flew by? For me anyway, A. (Abbott) J. (Joseph). Liebling’s Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris (1959) counts as one of those books. Mr. Liebling’s writing included a lot more … More An Appetite for Paris

Cordon Bleu, Paris

November 5, 2021

The lobster just wouldn’t die. Neat black-and-white drawings in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking fail to tell the whole story. Nothing there about squirming bodies, queasy stomachs, and misplaced stabs to crustacean heads. “While professionals simply cut up the lobsters with never a qualm nor a preliminary, you may find this difficult.” … More Cordon Bleu, Paris

Florida Oranges, and Other White House Desserts

August 28, 2017

Desserts and sweets served in the White House reflect the culinary history of the United States. The patterns of cooking, eating, and serving food in the White House originally relied heavily on the British heritage of the Thirteen Colonies, a pattern that generally continues until the present day.  Although wars and economic depressions plagued the … More Florida Oranges, and Other White House Desserts

Vivre en l’Outre-Mer, or, The Trials of Living in French Congo ca. 1923: Part III

June 6, 2015

Once settled into their bungalow overlooking Stanley Pool in Brazzaville, the Vassals faced the problem of hiring household help, especially a cook. Unlike many Europeans, they found a cook who knew his business, of whom Gabrielle wrote: I am glad, too, to have a change from German cooking.* Our primitive black Matamba is far superior … More Vivre en l’Outre-Mer, or, The Trials of Living in French Congo ca. 1923: Part III

Vivre en l’Outre-Mer, or, The Trials of Living in French Congo ca. 1923: Part I

January 26, 2015

When the French government appointed Dr. Joseph Vassal, Englishwoman’s Gabrielle Vassal’s French husband, Head of Health Services for Equatorial French Africa (A.E.F.), he exclaimed happily to her, “Je suis nommé en A.E.F.” Naturally she asked, “What’s A.E.F.?” So he replied “Afrique Equatoriale Francaise,” and pointed to Gabon, Tchad, Oubangi-Chari, and the Congo, with its capital … More Vivre en l’Outre-Mer, or, The Trials of Living in French Congo ca. 1923: Part I