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I heart Luc Besson even more so whenever I see him in new interviews. Here he’s talking about how critical it is for us to be humble and aware of the environment, to take care of the planet, and that the process of saving the planet, though critical, could be fun. Click here to see the interview.
Dancing with the Stars, a celebrity dance contest, aired on American TV a few months ago and I was telling my s.o. about how an ex-NFL football player (and 3 time Superbowl champion), Emmitt Smith won, with Mario Lopez losing to him and coming in second.
Him: “Who?”
Me: “Who, who?”
Him: “I don’t know the footballer, but who lost? Do I know him?”
Me: “It’s not ‘footballer,’ it’s ‘football player’. American Football, you know. Anyway, the guy who lost was Mario Lopez. Remember Slater from Saved by the Bell? Did you have that show in France? You know, with Zack, Screech, Jesse and Kelly, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen before 90210?”
Him: “Yeah! I watched that show here. And it was Sleh TAIR, not Slater, ha!
Me: “Weird. What was the show called in French?”
Him: “Sauvés par le gong.”
Me: “Saved by the GONG?! You gotta be kidding. That sounds so un-French. I mean, gongs aren’t really a French thing, if you know what I mean. It’s more ancient Asia. Man, they just pulled that out of left field.”
Him: “I’m serious, that’s what it was called.”
Me: “Is it the same for the expression, ’saved by the bell’?”
Him: “Yup. Saved by the Gong.”
Me: “That’s insane. ‘Bell’ makes sense for the expression and the show because who on earth has a gong? And for the show it works especially because they’re in school and it refers to the school bell. Do they call the school bell in France a gong too?”
Him: “No, silly. That’s ridiculous.”
Me: “That’s what I was about to say about Sauvés par le gong.”
One of the remarkable things inside a French supermarket is the yogurt aisle. It is gargantuan with its shelves upon shelves of yogurt. Endless rows and rows of the creamy stuff; I’m not kidding. It’s enough to make you dizzy. Only second to the cheese selection, it is pretty intimidating. You’ll find so many different kinds of yogurt, you might not know where to begin. You many never even have enough time to try them all. Would you want to? There could even be as many different kinds of yogurts as there are cheeses in France; I haven’t counted.
What I do know, unfortunately, is that I’ve tasted some nasty yogurt in France during my long search for a perfect yogurt. Have you tried some that have a gamey aftertaste and you’d swear the yogurt should be called chevre (goat cheese) yogurt? I have. Yup. Gross. Others are too watery. Some are too artificially flavored with a chemical berry taste. Some trick you into thinking it has natural flavors, for example, “arome vanille naturel” but it’s in fact, artificial flavor that is supposed to mimick natural vanilla. Be careful with the tricky wording. Anyway, almost all of them are artificially flavored. Lots of them have aspartame. Some even have little specks inside the yogurt that LOOK like real vanilla bean grains but they aren’t real at all. In this case, what ARE those suspect specks? You probably don’t wanna know.
Coupled with the problematic and huge selection that I’ve discovered that I don’t like at all, is the fact that most of these yogurts are packaged entirely in plastic, which I absolute hate. Hard to avoid, and terrible for the environment.
Yes, there are some yogurts packaged in glass jars that aren’t horrible, but I found one that I really, really like called La Fermière – and it’s in a ceramic container that is recyclable or reuseable, it’s made with whole milk, and it uses REAL vanilla beans! It is amazingly delicious too. They are easy to spot in the supermarket aisle because they are the color of red clay. After you’ve tasted these, you will never, I say NEVER again want one of those stooopid plastic watery cup yogurts. By the way, they also include other flavors if you want more than vanilla. Other flavors: natural, honey-orange, lemon zest. La Fermière also makes fruity yogurts in glass jars, but I don’t really like those as much. Lastly, the only thing that could use improvement in this yogurt is the packaging on top. It’s plastic (which I wish they didn’t use but oh well) and it’s hard to open just one without lifting the lid on the other. Still, these were a great find.
From Time.com
“The people of France agree on very little, but for decades one touchstone of national feeling has been respect and love for a frail, bearded, beret-wearing force of nature named Abbé Pierre. The death on Monday, at the age of 94, of France’s “voice of the voiceless” has inserted a pause in a divisive presidential election campaign as France pays homage to a man of unerring courage and compassion; a man who embodied the best of French traditions.
In a land of foxes, Abbé Pierre was a hedgehog. His one big idea: that the plight of the poor and homeless calls for constant outrage and action. His organization, Emmaüs, created in 1949 to enlist the homeless themselves in the work of building shelters and a future, is now present in 35 countries. Every public figure in France has lamented his passing. President Jacques Chirac said that France “loses an immense figure, a conscious, an incarnation of goodness.”
The offspring of a well-off family in Lyons, Henri Grouès was inspired by…”
L’Alliance pour la Planète, is a large collective made up of NGOs, associations in France related to helping the environment and trade unions, consumer groups, farmers, etc. working to fight against the planet’s environmental problems.They are calling on all residents of France to mobilize and take part in a protest against global warming.
On February 1, they are asking citizens to please turn off all of your lights from 7:55pm to 8pm. This means all of your lights including unplugging surge protectors and night lights, as well as turning off or simply unplugging televisions completely. (Many televisions in France have a red light on even when the television is turned off.)
This small gesture is meant to attract the eyes of the media, and decision-makers – to get them to focus on wastefulness among other things, and how it is harmful to the environment. It is to also to show the French presidental candidates that global warming / climate change is an immediate danger and must be included in the political debate.
Why February 1st? A new report will be submitted in Paris the next day by le groupe d’experts intergouvernemental sur l’évolution du Climat (GIEC) / the intergovernmental group of experts on climate change for the United Nations. This will let them know that the people of France take the subject of global warming very seriously. The alliance wants decision-makers to work for the improved progress of the environment because it is an urgent subject that needs to be addressed right now.
For more information contact:
L’Alliance pour la Planète
Cyrielle, Les Amis de la Terre : 01 48 51 18 95
For some time now, I’ve been wanting to mix things up a bit and start another theme for blog posts. So I thought about something involving French food. One of the things I’ve been incredibly amazed at in French homes is the absence of variation in French recipes. Perhaps people don’t need any change for reasons of…perfection? Perhaps. I get bored with the same things and tend to try to create different flavors and spin a different tune with standard themes. Sometimes, I can only do that given what’s on hand (coupled with my laziness to go drive to the market and get any ingredients). Anyway, so my new blog theme is this: hybrid recipes that are almost French but infused with another culture or idea or ingredient that is not typically French – it’s called Massacred French Recipes because their names will oftentimes massacre the French language and the recipes will only have hints of Frenchness in them. Will purists call these Sacrilege? That’s fine. They might be! All recipes will be my own experiments in the kitchen. I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to do these but will try to do them on a regular basis. Kudos to daily food bloggers who do this regularly with much more complex recipes, and then take eye candy photos to boot.
I thought I’d call these cookies, “Peanut Butter Palmiers aux Pépites de Chocolat,” By the way, “pépites de chocolat” means chocolate chips but sounds fancier in French, doesn’t it? This recipe is not fancy though, but rather, a simple one. These cookies are basically palmier cookies (Elephant ears) made with puff pastry puff dough with peanut butter and chocolate chips.In French puff pastry dough is called pâte feuilletée. You can make it yourself, but it’s much faster and easier to buy it already made. My favorite pâte feuilletée here in France is from Tablier Blanc (make sure to get the one that says pure butter) in the refrigerated section of the market; In the U.S. there’s an ok one from Pepperidge Farms (thaw it out first). I had a round pâte feuilletée in my frig and used that one but it’s best to have a rectangular one that is approximately 12 inches in length by about 10 inches. For mine, I trimmed it on 2 opposite sides to (sort of) resemble a rectangle. Don’t waste the trim I put several chocolate chips in a strip and rolled them up like a tiny croissant. (Just bake them with your cookies.)
Regarding the chocolate chips. In France, you can buy French versions of them but they are pretty stingy with ‘em here and there aren’t many in one bag, and they are tiny. I always buy Nestle’s chocolate chips in the U.S. and bring them back. I’ve grown up eating them and sort of need them now! They are always good to have on hand.
I used organic crunchy peanut butter (with sea salt) from Germany that I buy from an organic store in Burgundy. You can use the peanut butter of your choice.
Here’s the recipe:
Peanut Butter Palmiers aux Pépites de Chocolat
- 1 pâte feuilletée (puff pastry)
- 1 C crunchy peanut butter
- 3 Tablespoons of pure cane unrefined sugar
- 1 C Nestle’s Toll House Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions:
Flatten out the pâte feuilletée, cut it if necessary into a rectangle. In a small bowl, mix together peanut butter and sugar, then spread an even layer over the pâte feuilletée covering it entirely. Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the peanut butter mixture. Using your hands or a rolling pin, gently press down the chocolate chips so they stick to the peanut butter. Next, fold the two (long) opposing sides to meet in the middle of the pastry. Press down gently. Then fold over again meet in the middle. It should resemble a roll. Wrap it in its parchment paper and refrigerate for about 20 minutes to harden. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. After refrigeration and the roll is nice and firm, cut into about 3/4 of a inch slices with a very sharp knife and place on baking tray lined with parchment paper or silpat. Leave approximately 2 inche spaces between cookies. Bake for about 30 minutes or until light golden brown. Wait until they are completely cooled down before eating. Makes about 22 cookies. Note: The uncooked roll freezes nicely so you can save it for later use.
Last note: What actually got me to launch this Massacred French Recipes thing was the fact that David Lebovitz is hosting a “Sugar High Friday” on the 26th, which I thought I’d participate in – so make sure to check out all the posts next week related to his specialty, chocolate. Get ready to drool chez David Lebovitz.
I’m not kidding. This must be a brand spankin’ new law effective January 1st or something – though I can’t find much information about it online. The customs regulations page on the American Embassy in France website is 4 YEARS OLD.
So, how do I know that mailing packages containing any food from France to the U.S is not allowed? I like sending care packages to the U.S. and elsewhere to friends and family. You know, some chocolate, dried wild mushrooms (jar), nougat, chestnut puree, snacks, etc. I send out lots of packages pretty often. Just a couple of weeks ago I mailed a package to my very good buddy Angry B in Tennessee. He should’ve received the package by now but won’t because my mailman brought it back to me just a little while ago. Poor B, he might get even MORE angry!
I wonder, “WTF?!” And then I think, “WTF?!” again when the mailman asks me to pay 15 euros. Me: “But! it was returned! WHY should I pay even more?!”
“The people at Customs charge a fee when they have to work,” he says, and adds, “Hey, don’t blame me. It’s the U.S. that is imposing this restriction, and THEY SAY NO FOOD in packages.”
This is so messed up.
A note: The post office where you mail packages should know about this new regulation and should simply not accept your package. Since mine didn’t know about it, I not only had to pay this 15 euro fee but I also now have to go back to the post office to get reimbursed for the cost of sending the package. I’m glad I at least get refunded for that, but it really is inconvenient and unfair considering they (not me) made the mistake of letting it go to customs. Shouldn’t then pay for the fee? Does anyone know anything about this?
Just last week, a new political group was formed and officially entered the European Parliament. The group called, “Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty,” (ITS) is a far right and extremely nationalist faction founded on anti-immigration, anti-EU Constitution, and against Turkey’s membership into the EU, among other things. Not surprisingly, the largest component of this group is made up of France’s far right political party, the Front National, led by my most unfavorite French politician (of course I HAVE no favorites but he is the worst) Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Composed of 20 members and representing 7 countries (France, Romania, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Bulgaria, England), the political group, Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty, is led by Front National’s #2 member (yeah, #2 all right), Bruno Gollnisch.
Bruno Gollnisch, the Chair, is already making news and was given a three-month suspended jail sentence and fined 5,000 euros ($6,371) for questioning the Holocaust. Apparently, he disputes that the Holocaust was a crime against humanity. Pfff. You’d expect a guy to say something like that when his boss (Le Pen) says things like, “anti-semitism can be funny.” He was also ordered by the judge to pay 55,000 euros in damages to the plaintiffs, and to pay for the judgment to be published in the newspapers that originally printed his remarks. [Read the article here]
Gollnisch, wasn’t in court to hear the verdict because he was attending a European Parliament session.
Ouverture Facile means “Easy Opening” and refers to the fact that this game starts out easy. But after that, there’s nothing easy about it. Though, it is fun and challenging. It’s a riddle game that doesn’t spell out the riddle in words but in ideas and pictures and you have to figure out what you must do to move on to consequent levels. You may get stuck somewhere at times but it might be helpful to step away and think about it a while, then return to it the next day or a few days later. This isn’t a mindless game (not dissing mindless games though!) Ouverture Facile will put your brain to work so at some level, you feel like you’re not really wasting time when you solve each level.
Millions of people come to Paris to specifically see Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. She is a landmark masterpiece in her own right and some would venture to say that Paris wouldn’t be Paris without the Louvre. In turn, the Louvre wouldn’t be the Louvre without The Mona Lisa (among many, many other art pieces). Imagine if she was not there the day you went to the Louvre to visit her. Gasp! And you waited in that God awful line for freakin hours…
Actually, the Louvre has been pondering the idea of renting her. I don’t think that’s such a wonderful idea but it certainly would help the megabazillion amount of debt France has accumulated over the decades, and some countries are very willing to sacrifice their first child pay what they must, seemingly prohibitive cost and all.
I was surprised to read that the Louvre did lend Mona Lisa out in 1963 for seven weeks so she crossed the ocean and hung out in New York and Washington – much to the chagrin of many of the Louvre curators. For the moment she will stay put. On a related note, The Mona Lisa didn’t stay put in 1911 because she was stolen by a Louvre employee and so, she lived in his apartment for two years before he stupidly tried to sell her to a Florence art dealer. How did he do it? He simply walked out the Louvre with the painting hidden underneath his coat. She IS pretty small. But try stealing the painting now with a bullet proof, sound proof, glare proof, quadruple glass, temperature sensitive casing.
Anyway, I’m not sure where this post was going but it began with this find: a whimsical and fun desktop wallpaper version of The Mona Lisa. It then led me to some other Mona Lisa discoveries I thought I’d share. What would people do if this version was in the place of the original when Mona Lisa was being displayed somewhere far, far away, like in Dubai?
In Second Life (a 3D virtual world), France’s anti-immigrant extreme right party, the Front National, led by Le Pen set up an official, virtual HQ. This, as you might imagine, caused a reaction. Ok, it started a war in virtual territory. The best thing about being in a virtual world is that the weapons can be created in this world and so, as many people protested, they also witnessed or took part in catapulting pig grenades on flying saucers that exploded into the FN headquarters. Other innovative inventions surfaced and wreaked havoc on the area.
I don’t know how many supporters of the FN are in Second Life, but it is scary that Le Pen has as many supporter as he does. The saving grace here is that there was a virtual war against them and pigs were flying!
But seriously. As far as I know, Le Pen hasn’t been able to present himself as a presidential candidate for lack of enough qualifying signatures. Yay, to that! To quality, a presidential candidate must be sponsored by 500 elected officials from at least 30 different departments or overseas territories, no more than one-tenth of them elected within a single department or overseas territory. The list of these sponsors (names and qualifications) is published by the Constitutional Council. No candidature is acceptable without these “500 signatures.
For more on what’s happening in Second Life, go here: Fighting the Front
Me: Sweetie, do you know that saying, Two’s company, three’s a crowd?
Him: Not really but I know what you mean.
Me: You know, the third wheel?
Him. Haven’t heard that but I get it.
Me: How do you say that in French? Is there a French equivalent?
Him: Yeah, it’s tenir la chandelle / hold the candle – as in, the third person has to hold a candle for the couple, I guess.
Me: That is so medieval!
Some of you anti-Monday people will probably appreciate this T-shirt I got for my little niece.
Front: J’aime pas le lundi / I don’t like Mondays
Back: mais j’adoooore le dimanche ! / but I loooooove Sundays!
I know, I have sort of become obsessed with these cute Ts but the store that sells them is having a huge sale right now!
Since we are (ok, since I am ) on the subject of cows in France I thought it timely to post this photo of another cute T-shirt I got from the same store where I found these cute Ts. Remember?
Elle est vachement belle la vie means, “Life is really beautiful” (with “vachement” meaning “really” or “extremely” but carries a pun in French since vache means cow.) So true. I almost translated it as, “Holy cow, life is beautiful” but it’s not really that. Oh well, you know what I mean.
[Visit The Ark to see more animals]
Salon du Mariage – January 12, 13, 14
Rub shoulders with celebs Eva Longoria (marrying Tony Parker) and Jeri Ryan who are planning their summer weddings in France. Actually I have no idea if they’ll be at this salon; I think they might have already planned everything. Who knows. Anyway, Maybe you’re planning your day to tie the knot in France? This salon helps you plan your perfect Parisian style big day even if you do decide to wear that black wedding gown.
Wedding Salon
Carrousel du Louvre
99, rue de Rivoli
75001 Paris France
admission: 10 €
Tel: 33 (0) 1.43.16.47.47
Website: Le Salon du mariage au carrousel du Louvre
Puces de la Cité (Antiques Market) – January 14
You’ll definitely find the famed porcelain of Limoges, the capital of Limousin here but on the 2nd Sunday of every month, you’ll also find their huge antiques market. It is one that rivals some of the very famous antiques markets in France, and is worth a peek if you’re into antiques.
Puces de la Cité (Antiques Market) at the la Cathédrale Saint-Étienne
Place de la Cathédrale (the the town center)
Limoges France
Tel: 33 (0) 5.55.34.46.87 (Limoges Tourist Office)
Hours: 8am to 6pm
The 12th Annual Megève Polo Masters – January 18 – 21
Called “ski joëring,” this is the equestrian sport on a snowy playing field. Some of the world’s best polo players show up in Megève for this exceptional event. There is a total of six teams. Since we’re having such a mild winter, I’m not sure if there’s snow in Megève (in the French Alps) right now. If all goes well, try to attend this unusual sport in a few weeks. Check their website regularly or contact the tourist office.
The 12th Annual Megève Polo Masters
La Plaine d’Arly
Megève France
Website: Megeve Tourist Office
70, rue Monseigneur Conseil BP 24
74120 Megève France (Tourist Office)
Tel: 33 (0)4.50.21.27.28
e-mail: megeve@megeve.com
Le Salon Du Meuble / Furniture Fair – January 20 – 25
Tired of the same ole furniture from Ikea or the ugly expensive furniture everywhere? Do you have a Clic Clac? Pressed board white shelves? Plastic anything? Yuck. Get rid of it!!! Go find something nice at this furniture fair. Please remember to consider the materials that your furniture is made of. Some materials can be toxic to you in your home and then for the environment. Choose wisely. The show usually attracts about 40,000 visitors and the exhibitors come from all over the world, representing 50 countries. (60% French, 40% International)
Le Salon Du Meuble / Furniture Fair
Porte de Versailles
Paris France
Admission: 10 € (for the day) (to visit extra days see the website)
Tel.: 33 (0)1.40.76.45.00
Email: salondumeuble@cosp.fr
Website: Le Salon du Meuble
More information: Download the brochure (pdf)
When I’m visiting my family in California, one of my rituals is to go to Costco with my sister to buy an enormous box of Reeses for my sweetie. Those are not available in France. Once, my sister grabbed this huge bag with about 10 heads of Romaine lettuce in it. I’m like, “What are you gonna do with all that lettuce?” She casually says she and her family (of 4 which includes 2 very little girls) would eat it of course. Me: “I know that but how long will the lettuce last?” She says “About a month.” Me: “OMG A month??! Eiuw.”
In France, whenever I buy a head of lettuce at the market, I will be lucky it if lasts three days. Though, rarely it lasts even that long. Seriously. Doesn’t it makes you wonder how on earth the lettuce from Costco lasts an entire month? That is insane.
Back to this post. During the winter in France when her potager (veggie garden) freezes, my mother-in-law resorts to buying lettuce in the markets. The same freshness rule applies: lettuce freshness = 2 days. That means that you would really need to eat an entire head of lettuce quickly if you don’t want to waste anything. Or eat rotten lettuce. Do-able, I know, but sometimes you don’t want a salad but you need just a few leaves of lettuce. And no, eating rotten lettuce ISN’T do-able. What to do?
My mother-in-law does this: say she just needs a few leaves for hamburgers or something. In the market, she picks a leaf off a lettuce here, and another leaf off a separate lettuce there, etcetera; that way it doesn’t make much of a dent. She then puts her stray leaves with a bag a radishes (tops still on) or other vegetable and so the lettuce SORT OF gets camouflaged. She goes to the cashier buys all her stuff, and voila! No rotten lettuce leftover and problem solved.
Though not exactly stealing, I only consider my mummy-in-law commiting a half of a crime because she does pay for the radishes which would include the weight of the lettuce.
If you think about it, it is sort of practical – but that isn’t to say I’m recommending that you do the same. Really!
So, don’t go crying to the police when you get arrested for shoplifting, and say something like, “but officer, other people do it! Look it up on this blog…”
I saw these in the market a couple of days ago and thought, What are Samurai Onions??! That doesn’t sound very French! So, I bought ‘em out of curiosity. Strangely, it also says, “Les saveurs de Mamy” (Flavors from Granny) so, why “Samurai”? I haven’t the slightest idea.
I was secretly hoping it would resemble the delicious pickled rakkyo from Japan. LOVE that stuff. You know, samurai being Japanese in origin plus little pickled onions. But no.
After tasting one, it was a little surprising because it had a spicy kick to it, which is very un-French. There are little chili peppers floating in the brine. I like the spice but the flavor from poor granny was too much; the distilled vinegar flavor was like a slap and punch in the face. (I might’ve tasted a slight glue flavor too. *shudders* Anyway.) Oh granny, you disappoint me. I’m afraid the rest of the onions will end up in the compost bin.
New stuff from Apple being announced right now! Streaming notes and photos from French site, Mac4ever.org
I really, really, really hate this commercial campaign by BDDP & Fils. M6 Mobile Orange (for cellular phone service) has several different commercials airing on TV and they’ve just been…well, J’en ai ras le bol!
There’s one where a guy drops a mouthful of spit off his balcony, then runs downstairs and outside to catch it in his mouth before it falls on the ground.
A separate ad has a guy falling alseep in a train and hanging inches below his mouth is a gooey loogie, which before it detaches and falls, he sucks it back up into his mouth.
ICK!!! Another is not as nasty but it has a girl preparing letters to send off but she doesn’t want to lick the stamp, so she uses the saliva that is dripping out of her dosing grandma’s mouth.
One ad has a guy using the slobber from his dog to use to turn a page in a magazine he’s reading in a park.
All for the sake of the tagline: Keep your saliva for tonight. (so you can use it to talk on your cel phone later) There are more of them too!
Honestly, they are all so….as my 8-year old niece would say, “EWWWEEE!” I wondered what the heck they were thinking and asked my sweetie about it. Was it really supposed to be funny?
him: “Yeah, I guess it’s supposed to be sort of funny.”
me: “I don’t get it. It sort of doesn’t make that much sense to me. Keep your spit so you can talk tonight? What the?”
him: “OH! There’s a French saying, ‘Garde ta salive’”
me: “So, it’s a saying! I didn’t know that.”
him: “It doesn’t mean keep your spit so you can talk tonight. Actually, it means ’shut up,’ basically. But that is where that whole idea comes from.
me: “Oh. Ok. Still. I wish they’d go away.”
It’s the first week of the year, which is NOT too early to plan some trips! Take advantage of these very affordable deals from the U.S. to Europe on Air France. For example, it looks like from DC to Manchester, England, the roundtrip cost is only about $300. Flights to Paris are under $500. That is mega cheap. Go for it! You have until Janaury 9th which is in two days, and your departing flight must occur before March 31, 2007.
More info: Sweet Winter Deals at Air France
[Disclosure: I was contacted to write a short review of a recipe from chefs.com, so while this is a sponsored post, everything (except the actual recipe) including the opinions expressed within it are my own.]
The following side dish recipe from chefs.com resembles the typical French dish called “Gratin Dauphinois” (sans “e”) but has a little bit of an English twist because it calls for cheddar cheese and single cream. It’s a simple yet necessary comfort food that should be in kitchen repertoires everywhere.
Prep time is a quick 10 to 15 minutes, and it takes about 60 minutes to bake for most cooks. This amount of time can vary depending on your oven. My oven is small and never needs the same cooking time as most recipes require, so I baked my gratin for about 45 minutes.
I have to admit: It was hard for me not to deviate from the original recipe because that is what I always do: I cannot leave a recipe alone! As is, however, this recipe is not only easy and fairly quick, it is also very yummy; you won’t be disappointed. How could you not like creamy, cheesy potato-y goodness? Exactly. Here’s the recipe (I’ve added some info fyi):
The gratins that I’ve eaten in French homes, have typically used gruyere cheese (or emmenthal) as well as a bit of ground nutmeg, and instead of cream, they used crème fraîche. Here, this recipe uses “single cream,” which is more of an English term. In the U.S. we’d say “half and half.” Since half and half doesn’t exist here in France (that I know of), I used whole milk mixed with whipping cream. This mixture equals the required fat content of single cream (half & half), about 18%.
While I’m on the subject of finding equivalent ingredients, cheddar cheese is sort of hard to find in France, at least where I live in Burgundy. But! It does exist here if you look hard enough. In the some parts of France, you can find it as “fromage Welch” or you will just see it labeled as “chédar” or even “Cheddar.”
The recipe itself, is straightforward and I had no problems with it. I’m afraid, though, that some people would want more details in this recipe. For example: how thin should the slices be? What size pan should I use?
You might be like me and use recipes as inspiration to have as a base, then work from there. If I were to spin a different variation on this recipe, I would definitely add layers of carmelized onions or leeks, use crème fraîche instead of cream and egg; perhaps I’d use different cheeses, maybe some crispy bacon on top or add small cubes of ham. I’d also add herbs. Possibilities: herbes de Provence or just some fresh thyme.
While typically this is a side dish, I think you could serve it as a main dish with a light, crispy salad on the side.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
