Stuffed Savoy cabbage

Serge Gainsbourg and the cabbage-headed man

Love him or hate him, Serge Gainsbourg is the definitive Dirty Old Man of French culture. The chain-smoking singer made 17 studio albums and over the course of his career he also painted, made films, and tried his hand at literary expression. March 2nd marked the anniversary of Serge Gainsbourg’s death 26 years ago. Is this provocative and irreverent singer still relevant today ?

Chicken pho (Phô ga)

Feeling flappy or flagada ?

It’s no secret that I love Belleville. I fully support the “Belleville Hills” t-shirts I’ve seen around the neighborhood the past couple of years, proclaiming pride in this area of eastern Paris. The colors, the people, the odors ! The ongoing construction projects and the racaille, or riff-raff ! They all make up this vibrant, working-class area I call (almost) home.

Red pesto

Artists’ studios at Soleil Rouge

At first, as you step into the cluttered, vast space, nothing is recognizable to the uninitiated eye. Little by little, you begin to make out intimidatingly large machines and collections of tools beyond comprehension. As you learn to see the order in disorder, things come into sharp focus : tangible sculptures and beautiful objects created from pure craft, ingenuity, and talent.

Gratinéed onion soup

Not-so-dignified French traditions

What is it about the simple word gratinée that makes food so delicious ? Everyone loves crisp-browned and bubbling cheese on top of gratinéed potatoes or on the ultra-classic French onion soup. Only kids have the guts to ask for “more crispy” – plus de croustillant – but when it comes time to clear the table, I’ve seen friends fight to take the gratin dish away. Why ?

Tropézienne brioche tart

Sweet success

Paris in summer is a ghost town. Even though the juillettistes are back (those vacationers who leave in juillet or July), the aoûtiens (“Augusters”) are away for at least another week. In just a few days, I’ll also be joining the ranks of aoûtiens who have left the city in favor of sunnier climes. And one of the first things I’ll do when I get to my destination – the Var – is to pick up a Tarte Tropézienne.

Cool as a cucumber soup

How to master the art of the amuse bouche

Amuse-bouche ? Palate-tickler ? Mise en bouche ? Mouth-entertainer ? Or how about chef’s greeting, “appeteaser,” mouth-pleaser, or pre-appetizer ? Whatever you call it, the tiny bite you’ll eat at the beginning of a meal is usually found only in gastronomic restaurants. But why not chez toi ? Read on to find out how.

Absinthe cucumber cocktail

Blue hour, green hour

Ah, almost summer ! As the days here in Paris finally begin stretching out easily to ten p.m., on the sunniest early evenings, people everywhere are lounging on outdoor café patios or terrasses. In my ‘hood, we’re catching up on local gossip news, and just watching people go by as they leave the Père Lachaise cemetery. But some of us are taking advantage of what used to be called l’heure verte, or the green hour.

Mousse duet of raspberry and white chocolate with pistachio crumble

The wedding cake

Last week, a friend who was getting married asked me to make her a wedding cake. She wanted an uncomplicated dessert : nothing like the traditional French pièce montée, nor was it to be an American-style tiered wedding cake. She wanted simple ? I kept it simple.

Spaghetti with sea urchin

The adventure of Le Corbusier’s barge

On a blustery day last February, I navigated my bicycle down to the Seine River. Along the quai d’Austerlitz floats a slightly dilapidated barge, where I had an appointment with two architects, Michel and Julien. They’re in charge of restoring Paris’ first-ever floating monument, a river boat called the Louise-Catherine. The goal of our rendez-vous ? A private tour of this unsinkable memorial to fascinating times past.

Scallops with Champagne cream

Sparkling wines for a sparkling holiday

You, like people all over the world, might be popping a bottle of bubbly tonight. My man David-Nicolas will probably pick up a bottle or two of his favorite brand of Champagne, Ruinart. But did you know that not all sparkling wines, or even Champagnes, are created equal ?

Chickpea salad with cumin

Not even scared : Même pas peur

Have you ever wondered why the rooster is the national emblem of France ? The word Gallic comes from Gaul, the name of France before it was France – back when Vercingetorix was kicking some Roman ass. But the Latin word gallus also means rooster. In French cooking, we talk about gallinaceous birds, otherwise known as poultry. But the real reason ? For some French people, it has to do with singing.

Breton flan with salted butter caramelized apples

In the eye of the wanderer : Hermès and an island paradise

If you’ve spent enough time in Paris, you know that surrendering to the peaceful exploration that Parisians call flânerie is a perfect way to re-discover the city in autumn. Noticing everyone’s new fall styles boots, uncovering an area of the city under a rain of golden leaves fluttering to the sidewalk, or even stopping in a pop-up, or temporary, exhibit, are all part of the experience.

Soufflé-stuffed crêpes with Roquefort and walnuts

The building blocks of French cuisine

Buckwheat crêpes, or galettes in French, are a staple of any Parisian household with kids, big or small. They make a great lunch, filled with ham and cheese, or quickly-sautéed mushrooms, or with any other filling you might have on hand. But for a more soigné meal, did you know they can also be filled with a soufflé ?

Belle Hélène pears with crumble

A new old opera and Pierrick Sorin, French video artist

Belle Hélène pears are one of my very favorite French desserts. Succulent just-ripe pears, simmered in a spice-infused light syrup, served with vanilla ice cream and topped with warm extra-dark chocolate sauce… What could be more perfect for fall ? Escoffier got it right when he invented this dessert, a tribute to the operetta La Belle Hélène.

Peach and lemon verbena sorbet

The peach walls of Montreuil

Even though the heat of July has mellowed into late August cool, I’m still craving the warm, sweetly perfumed white and yellow-fleshed peaches that arrive at the markets in Paris from the south of France. But nearly 150 years ago, Parisians stocked up on peaches that came from right here in Paris, or at least, in the neighboring suburb of Montreuil.

Summery seafood pasta salad

Babette’s visual feast and Henry Darger, outsider artist

Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art ? Sometimes it’s hard to tell. One thing is sure : art reproduces what is in the depths of the subconscious mind, and that’s nowhere more evident than in the work of American artist Henry Darger. But when the line dividing art and life is indistinguishable, what you get looks a lot like the life of French-American creator Elizabeth R.

La zézette

A short history of a Belleville café

At the crossroads of four different arrondissements, Belleville is known among Parisians as a miniature Chinatown and for its rowdy bars. But who knew that the area’s history was so rich in entertainment ? Even before it was a part of Paris, Belleville was already the city’s most talked-about party district, beginning with the construction of a wall in 1785.

Moroccan couscous salad

A tribute to Eloise : teacher, mentor, friend

At some point in your education, if you were lucky, you had a transformative educator who was dedicated, enthusiastic, and funny. That teacher knew how to grab your curiosity and channel it in the most inspiring ways. Most importantly, that teacher shaped the course of your life. And if you were really lucky, the result ended up looking like something I’d call destiny.

Fruit smoothie with jasmine tea cakes

The dada diva

When Jasmine Vegas steps onto the stage in Paris, she’s almost always armed with her shiny “suspender piano” (accordion), vintage cat-eye glasses, and maybe even a black panty-liner to match her black dress, as she once told a surprised audience when this short-lived feminine protection was first introduced onto the market. Just who is this provocative “Dada diva” ?

Mini ham toasts with pickle butter

The pickle picker-upper

Get out your wicker basket and gingham blanket : it’s picnic season ! Pâté, hard-boiled eggs, ham, and fruit salad or a full-fledged fruit tart – whatever you can dream up to put in your basket is perfect, but don’t forget the corkscrew and a bottle of rosé. And of course, the condiments. The most important one is a jar of small French pickles or cornichons.

Rhubarb custard tart

Does form follow function ?

What’s more important : how your food looks, or how it tastes ? Any professional chef, myself included, will tell you that both are essential. What your dish looks like whets your appetite, and makes you want to take that first bite. But how food tastes is the most important, and it’s what keeps you going back for more. Or is it ?

Cranberry elevator cocktail

Life at the top

Who hasn’t ever dreamed of living in a penthouse apartment ? For the views alone, a flat on the top floor of a city building is tempting, even if the price is far less so. Penthouses are also known for their luxury appliances and frequently large outdoor terraces. But whoever invented the penthouse clearly never visited Paris, where life at the top takes on a whole different meaning.

Beef and broccoli with oyster sauce

The other dark side of the Parisian wardrobe

Many books have been written about how to dress like a Parisian. When I first moved to Paris, I thought I would just naturally soak up the local style, through fashion osmosis. In my mind, the process also included a fairy-like personal shopper, who would actually go into stores for me and do the dirty work. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person who doesn’t like shopping, right ?

Honey and spice bread

How to find a little sweetness in a world of brutes

Last Sunday, helicopters were still grinding through the blue-gray Parisian skies as I walked home through the blustery Père Lachaise cemetery late in the afternoon and began typing these lines. Far below the helicopters, millions of demonstrators were marching peacefully through the streets of eastern Paris in support of the 17 men and women murdered last week in Paris in connection to the weekly satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo.

Peanut-crusted fish filets with lemongrass-coconut rice

The Hipster Adventures and a French comedian

Chicken and sausage gumbo

The Mondrian dress and Paris’ most unusual Olympic runner

Chicken and sausage gumbo

Have you ever been insatiably curious about someone you see regularly in your neighborhood ? It happened to me last summer. I kept seeing a tall, beautiful, and muscular woman, who ran. And ran. (Apparently, she loved running.) She had a large unmistakable tattoo covering her thigh : the colored interlocking rings of the Olympic Games. What was this champion runner doing right in my neighborhood ?

Eggplant and blue cheese pasta

Put on your worker’s blues

Who in the world has ever heard the phrase “Put on your blues” ? Every manual worker and artist in France has, and they’ve probably used the expression themselves : Mets ton bleu ! It’s an expression that dates from the end of the 19th century, when the "blues" were born. Miners and other manual laborers in the Unites States had blue jeans, but in France, the bleu de travail is a whole other story.

Fish terrine with zucchini scales

How to create edible art

English-speaking foodies often ask me what the difference is between a pâté and a terrine. For many Parisians, the definitions are hazy at best - it’s what the French like to call the flou artistique or artistic blur. I only know how blurry it is to Parisians because I think I’ve asked at least one third of the city’s population this very question : what is the difference between a pâté and a terrine ?

Cookie crumble figs

3 things you never knew about figs

The first time I was faced with a mound of black figs, I have to admit I felt a bit half-hearted, and even a little anxious : a well-meaning friend had brought me a whole basket of the fruit from her parents’ house in the Parisian suburbs. Sure, I’d seen figs a few times at the local market, and I thought they looked good, but I’d felt too intimidated to buy any. Now that they were in my hands, what in the world was I going to do with all these figs ?

Lemon confit and ginger roast veal

Can you afford the Costes of living ?

Have you ever been to the Hôtel Costes on the rue Saint Honoré ? If so, you would have stepped into the luxurious, plush world of sexy darkness which reigns throughout the hotel’s bar and lounge. Bohemian trappings like the baroque furniture and the rooms containing disproportionate amounts of red velvet have earned the Hôtel Costes a special place in the hearts of Paris’ most ardent aesthetes.

Purple breeze

Untamed and tighter than Lana Turner’s sweater

Do you remember Tiki ? That slightly frightening carved-wood divinity from the 1960s ? Recently, I went to the quai Branly museum to see the exhibit Tiki Pop : America imagines its own Polynesian paradise, which is all about the American obsession for South Pacific culture from the 1940s to the 60s. I do personally own a muumuu dress, and I have a vague memory of tiki mugs and tiki torches. And the hut-like architecture styles displayed in the exhibit looked familiar to me once there. But how could I have known who Don the Beachcomber was before I was even born ?

Great greens tabbouleh

Band of bastards !

This isn’t a story about bastards. It’s a story about tabbouleh. Well, okay - it IS a story about a band of bastards. And it’s also about a bastard tabbouleh, full of colorful tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, parsley, arugula, and crunchy sweet pomegranate seeds. So if you’re a tabbouleh purist, then you should read no further !

Armenian nutmeg cake

The sweet that even “salty” friends will love

It turns out that Pixar doesn’t have the monopoly on epicurean rats living in Paris. Long before rodent Rémy was tasting stew in the 2007 movie Ratatouille, an entire vermin population had to contend with an unwanted move when Paris’ wholesale market left its central location at Les Halles. The Road to Rungis, a young adult novel by Christian Léourier, recounts the story of Gaspard and his son Achille, two uprooted rats who follow their food source from Les Halles to Rungis market, just south of Paris, in 1969.

Kickin’ chicken curry

The strangest way I ever made a friend

There was never a more unlikely source for a recipe than my friend Paul. The first time I met this guy, I wanted to drop-kick him into the Seine. The suede elbow patches on his tweed jacket, his moleskin pants, and the tiny round glasses slipping down his nose all belied the cracked and unhinged apartment door where he greeted me : Paul had just been paid a visit by the huissier, or repo-man.