Provence – Page 2 – CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN

Les Quatre Mendiants au Chocolat, A Candy Offshoot of Provence’s Thirteen Christmas Desserts

December 8, 2010

Gorgeous, huh? Yummy? You bet! And the best part is that, with a quick flick of a switch and your wrist, you too can make these beauties, part of the Thirteen Desserts of a Provençal Christmas. Mendiants au Chocolat Noir ou Blanc Makes about 75 – 100 candies, depending on size of circles 1 pound … More Les Quatre Mendiants au Chocolat, A Candy Offshoot of Provence’s Thirteen Christmas Desserts

Begging the Question: Les Quatre Mendiants and Provence’s Thirteen Christmas Desserts

December 7, 2010

The truth is, the dishes associated with Provence’s Thirteen Desserts abound with religious symbolism. Take the Four Beggars, or Les Quatre Mendiants, which symbolize something that we in the secular West have basically lost, a sense of awe and fear about the natural world and all that is in it. The Thirteen Desserts likely represented … More Begging the Question: Les Quatre Mendiants and Provence’s Thirteen Christmas Desserts

Idylls of Cuisine, #91

December 4, 2010

[A photograph, and nothing more, for silent contemplation.]

One of the Thirteen, the Tangerine

December 3, 2010

The color certainly captures your attention, doesn’t it? Such a glossy — almost neon — orange. When I was a kid, I always wondered if anyone else ever got a wrinkly tangerine bumping around in their Christmas stocking. At some point along the way, I found out that the Victorians were big on citrus fruit … More One of the Thirteen, the Tangerine

No Partridges, Just Thirteen Desserts: French Christmas Culinary Traditions

November 30, 2010

I love culinary traditions … and usually I don’t mind cooking all the foods associated with upholding those traditions. Like Thanksgiving dinner, for example. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole (from scratch, mind you), pumpkin pie with whipped cream (crust handmade just prior to baking), and sweet potato casserole (no marshmallows). … More No Partridges, Just Thirteen Desserts: French Christmas Culinary Traditions

Idylls of Cuisine #3

March 1, 2009

[A photograph and nothing else, for silent contemplation.]

Italy in Provence

February 26, 2009

Memories of Provençal food continuously whisper to me. And reflection forces me to draw the logical conclusion that the food of Piemonte, Liguria, and Provence share the same grandparents. Or even the same parents. Countless, interminable wars guaranteed both the emigration and immigration of people (and food) over the centuries. Walking cookbooks, I call those … More Italy in Provence