So you think that, after long days of work at le bureau, Maman (or Papa) cooks up three-course meals for the family every night? Au contraire, mes amis! Maman heads to le traiteur or le supermarché to get fixings for dinner, just like Americans do. Traiteurs are fixtures in Paris neighborhoods. You can purchase a …
Category: Food
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/15/the-little-secret-of-french-cuisine/
Dec 14
Gluten-Free in France
Two years ago (see this post) we were hard-pressed to find much in the way of gluten-free foods in France. I saw a couple of French translations of Wheat Belly and other “diet books” in a bookstore, but little food for folks who had to be gluten-free due to intolerance or celiac disease. Things may …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/14/gluten-free-in-france/
Dec 13
Last Stop: Paris
We checked out of Colmar and grabbed the train to Paris. Before we left Colmar, we stopped at a French bagel chain restaurant called Bagelstein’s. Before my bagel-eating friends book tickets to France, let me warn you: These are not real bagels. These are bagel-shaped dinner rolls. They are not boiled. If you want the …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/13/last-stop-paris/
Dec 13
French Fluff Fixation
What is it with the French and Marshmallow Fluff? Two years ago we saw this at the Galeries Lafayette food hall: Our hotel in Lyon overlooked a bagel restaurant. Along with the oversized bagel models, there was a large model jar of Marshmallow Fluff. We found a candy store called Lolly’s down the street from …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/13/french-fluff-fixation/
Dec 12
Next Stop, Colmar
Yesterday we took another train from Lyon to Colmar, in Alsace. Colmar is about 45 miles (70 km) south of Strasbourg. Colmar was spared some of the wartime damage that affected Strasbourg and other cities in the area. Since Alsace has been swapped between Germany and France for centuries, the cuisine is a hybrid that …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/12/next-stop-colmar/
Dec 12
Pho in Alsace
After two weeks on the road, my blood fish sauce level was getting extremely low. In addition, the heavy Lyonnais and Alsatian food was wearing on me. We’d seen a restaurant down the street from our hotel that served pho, Restaurant Chez Thuy. We went back there for lunch today. The menu was a mashup …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/12/pho-in-alsace/
Dec 10
La Fête, Last Day (for Us)
The crowds descended in earnest on Saturday. We went to the open-air market on the quai to scrounge up breakfast goodies for two days. We picked up some tangerines, yogurt, St. Marcellin cheese, and two briks, North African pastries stuffed with meat or tuna. Both were good. We did our main shopping of the Lyon …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/10/la-fete-last-day-for-us/
Dec 09
La Moule, Toujours La Moule
Mussels (or moules in French) are the least expensive bivalves around. We make them regularly, either with a standard French prep of white wine, garlic, and parsley, or with Chinese black bean sauce. Penn Cove, off Whidbey Island in Washington, grows the bulk of the tasty critters for West Coast consumption. One of the few …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/09/la-moule-toujours-la-moule/
Dec 06
Lyon Pre-Festival
As I mentioned earlier, we timed this trip to Lyon to coincide with La Fête des Lumières. It’s held every year around December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. As the story goes, her intercession prevented a 17th-century plague epidemic in the city. We figured that we’d have a better …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/06/lyon-pre-festival/
Dec 03
Birthday Dinner
There’s a reason we decided to stop in New York on the way to France rather than on the way home. My mother celebrated her 85th birthday today. We took the family out to dinner at Canale’s in Oswego. I figured everyone would be able to find something to eat there. My sister, nieces, and …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2017/12/03/birthday-dinner/
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