I look forward to baking this cake in autumn when mandarins are at their peak; some varieties continue into June and winter, which gives you time to get into the kitchen and start baking. In this cake, the lusciousness of the pistachios and the sweetness of the mandarins, make a perfect and flavoursome match. They [...]
Years ago, in 2007, I attended La Varenne Cooking School in Burgundy, and one of the many dishes we cooked there with the chefs was the classic Tarte Tatin. The class was held in one of the beautiful kitchens of the Chateau du Fëy, the home of La Varenne Cooking School and its founder, Anne [...]
Moules Marinière is one of the best-known classic French mussel dishes. The recipe hails from the wives of French sailors living along the northwest coast of Brittany, where most of France’s mussel catch is harvested. It is a typical French provincial bistro dish, in that these Bretagne sailors’ wives could afford to make a [...]
I always enjoy baking these Anzac biscuits for Australia Day and Anzac Day. They are a quick, sweet, treat to make in about half an hour; they provide a wonderful activity to bake with your children and are always a special favourite. Anzacs are oat-based chewy, sturdy biscuits, said to have been first created by [...]
Cooking all these chicken dishes and stock as I have been in this Covid-19 winter 2020, reminded me of some happier times and our visit to Bresse, the home of the famous Bresse chicken, la volaille de Bresse, and the Monday market day in the market town of Louhans in Burgundy. The summer of 2017 [...]
Way back in 1957, Bresse chickens were the first food and the first chickens to be awarded the AOC, Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée and more recently, they received the AOP, Appellation d'Origine Protégée, accreditation. This AOP label is the European Union version of France's AOC, Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée. It basically means the products with these labels [...]
We are having a sensational trip along this glorious canal. Every-day is blue skies and sunshine and something new to see. For the past two days we climbed a staircase of 36 locks, each about 500m apart so it was busy and tiring getting up and down to do the ropes to secure the barge [...]
Pipérade from the Basque* country is made with green or red peppers and pimentos, onions, tomatoes and garlic, slowly cooked together, with beaten egg added at the end and slowly stirred through to cook the eggs; it is usually served with slices of the famous and delicious Jambon de Bayonne, which is similar to prosciutto. [...]
‘MFK Fisher among the pots and pans: celebrating her kitchens’, by Joan Reardon. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. As a former librarian and an avid collector of books on foodie people and all things to do with food, cooking, France and travel, I share a favourite book here from time to time. It was [...]
