at least they are trying...

It was last sunday, a great nice day as you can see. It was just so plesant to get off work at the schuduled time for once! it's 11am and I see people playing hockey at the place St-Sulpice across my work! I just stayed there watched them for a while. Other people were taking pictures, I guess you don't see hockey players very often in Paris! It made me feel a bit like home, but not quite: no ice, no rink, no skates... just playing with a historical backround. (at least they are trying...) Then I walked to the jardin du Luxembourg and found this New-Zealand restaurant where they had brunch. In Paris the brunch is a very trendy new thing, but they don't know how it's done(sorry!). A croissant with orange juice and fruit salad, and a hard boiled egg is not what I call brunch.(at least they are trying...) So I thought this english backround place would know a bit better, and they did. But I still haven't found a place with as good brunches as Réservoir on Duluth in Mtl. Surely the first place I'll go my first sunday back home!

What I make

So these are the main pastries I make at work...

Tarte Mogador: sweet pastry filled with passion fruit milk chocolate ganache with candied ginger, chocolate flourless cake, topped with caramelised pineapple and chocolate macarons.

Tarte Citron: sweet pastry filled with candied lemon peel and tangy lemon cream, topped with candied lemon peel and lemon segments.

Tarte Café: sweet pastry filled with cofee white chocolate ganache and biscuit cuillière, topped with cofee chantilly(whipped cream).


Surprise Yu(my favorite!): meringue filled with yuzu mousseline and cooked apples. I love the idea of making a big 'bonbon'! it's so lovely(and delicious!)


Mont-Blanc: sweet pastry dough filled with almond paste, wild rose compote, meringue, créme de marron(chestnut puree) topped with chantilly(whipped cream).


Petits Fours Frais: Bite-sizes of some of the cakes/tarts we have. Tarte:citron, azur(salty chocolate cookie and yuzu cream), café, mogador, Hermé Carré Envie(violet crème brûlée, blackcurrant compote coated with white chocolate based on sablé breton), plénitude(salted chocolate mousse+macaron) Ph3(apricot compote with pistachio praline wrapped in white chocolate shell), Ispahan(rose buttercream, litchi topped with rasberry+rose petal), Victoria(fresh pineapple tart), Mont-Blanc,Plaisir Sucré(hazelnut dacquoise, milk chocolate chantilly and ganache), Satine(passion fruit cheesecake). They look so cute but trust me, they are a pain to make, especially by hundreds for x-mas...

Japanese food

Last week, Ayako,a japanese intern from Le Cordon Bleu Tokyo invited me to have dinner at her place. 'I cook japanese food' she said. I accepted with pleasure! it was really nice of her, and she really cooked quite a bit for 2 an it was good! Miso soup, natto, pork with leeks, and some kind of decomposition of sushi called chirashizusi: rice with veggies, raw salmon and chopped seaweed for decoration, よい!(good!) The conversation was limited, but we were both willing and made efforts to be understood(thank god she has one of those electronic translators!). matané!

Portuguese Style

My roomate Marylou has portuguese parents, and we always eat when they are around! 'Have more of this Steph, c'mon there's more, have some of that, more potatoes?' It's a question, but before you can answer, you have 2 potatoes on your plate... Anyway, it's fun because they bring another note to my french experience, they keep certain portuguese traditions alive and share. This time around was Epiphany, a holiday very much celebrated here, not like back home. To celebrate the arrival of the Kings who offered gifts to Jesus, we eat a Galette des Rois, also called 'Pitivier' or 'La galette parisienne' a puff pastry filled with frangipane(almond paste with pasty cream), with a hidden bean inside, and whoever finds it is King. The portuguese does it differently, and so does other parts of France. Portuguese style is a brioche with candied fruits on top that makes a crown. We don't see it as much in Paris, but Marylou's mom found one at LeNôtre.(picture) She showed up just when ML, a friend of hers and my brother(he's visiting) had just finished lunch and galette des rois parisian style... eat again...
Here are some of the puff pastry kinds we found this year.
Pierre Hermé has 3 different kinds: traditional frangipane, coconut cream with roasted pinneaple, and of course, Ispahan, his signature combination of litchis, rasberry and rose cream.
Poilâne makes an interesting variation by changing the almond cream by hazelnut cream.
Gérard Mullot has one with candied fruits, but I haven't tasted it.

my last day of the year

It's unfortunate that we don't do this everytime... This picture was taken on the last day of 2005. We all stopped working for 15 minutes to eat paté, cheese, salads, quiches and such with wine for the new year. We also did the same for christmas, but this time, the big guy was with us. Anyway so these are all the people I work with at 72 Bonaparte, with 2 stagiaires, the japanese girl and the older man behind her. The japanese girl, Ayako, is with us for another 2 months, and she invited me for a japanese dinner at her place saturday! Looking foward to that, even if communication is not always easy... Arigato!