FF Rocks!

So yes, I'm here to work, and to have a professional experience, but I mean, I gatta take advantage of the city as well! So I've been doind other things than work, and well, it involves a lack of sleep... since I work at 4am on weekends... Marylou had friends over for dinner all week, and it was fun. Saturday, after work, I went to the qualifications of Paris-Bercy, an ATP tournement(tennis) with Julien and friends, so that was fun for 3 hours, and then I had the Franz Ferdinan show!!! It was at the Zénith, in the Parc de la Vilette, and it was GREAT! they really put a great show. The visuals were the best I've see in shows(although I don't have that many shows to my curriculum...)I was planning to go alone and finally decided not to go, when Marylou told me she was going with some other friend! So I finally got a ticket from a scalper. goodie, goodie. But then I went to bed only at 12... working at 4... thank God for the extra hour of sleep with the time changing! Going to take a nap now...

Berthillon

There's a lot of great things in Paris, and one of them is Berthillon ice cream on l'île St-Louis. Honestly, it must be the best ice cream (sorry B&J's...) I don't know, it must be something with the cream, or the fresh ingredients they use. Their sorbets are also amazingly flavorfull, but I have to admit -I'm sorry, my critique get's out...- the texture is not that smooth like I like... but the flavor is sure there. I opt for the 'glace' which varies depending of the seasons. It's so smooth and creamy. Chestnuts, pistachios, passion fruit, fig, pear, apple, raisin, prune... ah, so good.


The last time I went I was tempted by the chestnut-rum, and prune-armagnac and well, I wish you were all here to taste it! Well, you can at least have a look! I'll have to try something alike when I get back. On weekends, or luch time, it's not unsual to see a line of people waiting, all the way to the next block(!) So if your impatient, there's always the other shops that have the rights to sell the ice cream on the island. The downside is that you pay a bit more and you don't get all the choices like the original shop. I think it's worth the wait in line... You can also see the Berthillon writting in restaurants, where they are proud to say they use this ice cream, and think it supports the high price...

Berthillon Glacier 31 rue Saint-Louis en l'île, 4th
2euros - 1 scoop
3euros - 2 scoops and so on..

Jam session #2

So we changed the collection about 1 month ago at the pâtisserie... We used to have a dessert in a glass, called Emotion Eden(saffron creme brulee, peaches+apricots moelleux(dried), saffron gelee, gold leaves). A surplus of the apricots was in the fridge since then, and Emmanuel was kind enough to give them to me instead of throwing them away, which would've been a waste since they were still perfectly fine. I soaked the apricots in water overnight, added some grated apple, sugar, pectin and lemon juice. Oh, and vanilla and at the very end, some almonds. Delish!!! I use Bonne Maman jars, that's what we have around here...

Try Something New: YUZU

The first time I heard about this citrus fruit was when I was doing my stage at Area with chef Ian Perrault on Amherst in Montreal. It's juice was added to a tuna tartare adding quite a zing to the whole. It is very bitter, often compared to a lemon and is often used in similar places. Especially to flavor salads, sauces and it is also used in desserts. Cream, tart, cake... try it anywhere!

Yuzu seems to be the new 'hip' thing. A fruit that not many know about which gets your attention when you just say it! 'yoo-zoo'. woooooooo! or taste it, it's so tangy!
The yuzu fruit, also known as citrus juno, originates from China but is now mostly grown and cultivated in Japan. It has a size of a golfball, it can be yellow or green, and is thought to be a cross between a mandarine orange and a lemon, but it's taste is closer to the one of a lime. It has a very thick skin, which is probably needed to survive up to -15 degrees! but it leaves little place for juice...

At my work, we use yuzu under the form of a cream, and we make a 'mousseline' with it by adding butter to make the 'surprise'*. Other pastry chefs use yuzu more and more. Sadaharu Aoki makes a yuzu tart right now, and pastry chef from Per Se in NYC mixes it up with mangoes. Try it out! You can find it in the form of juice in specialty food stores, but fresh... I have no idea! probably hard to find in western countries... I never saw a real one, but maybe at the Jean-Talon Market?? If I see one here, I'll let you know. It is now in season, one of the first citrus fruits to be ready in the year.

Surprise YU: crispy meringue, 10 hours baked and raw apples flavored with yuzu, and yuzu mousseline, wrapped in orange cellophane, sold for 5.80euros(!) at Pierre Hermé Paris
72 rue Bonaparte, 75006
185 rue Vaugirard, 75015

ok ok, so busy last week! last weekend, Vanessa came down for 3 nights from Rennes. It was good to see her, we walked around, went to the 'puce', saw a movie... Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, alright I guess. She left on the monday afternon, and I was meeting Patrice and M. Beausoleil from les Chèvres at 7h15 for dinner. They invited me to a really nice place, Ze Kitchen with the old sous-chef of Guy Savoie. He uses a lot of spices, suttle but there. Really good, it was a very plesant evening. Then Pat was arriving tuesday morning! We met after my work and bumped into Patrice and M. Beausoleil! They were just comming out of the boutique. I hope they liked my tarts... So the week with Pat flew buy! It went really well, I tried to show hi as much as I could... Typical stuff like the Eiffel tower, arc de Triomphe, we walked a lot around little streets and gardens, Montmartre, Père Lachaise cemetery, we went to see a one man show for 1.5euros(!) and hung out. It was plaisant. It always feels good to have people from home come and visit.

Ze Kitchen Galerie, 4 rue des Grands Augustins, 75006