Emily in France 🇫🇷 Welcome Back, Francophiles!
I'm still thrilled to live in Paris.
Sometimes, I forget I live in Paris.
No, really. (And yes, even pre-pandemic.)
It's so easy to get caught up in the nitty gritty of the day to day, to forget, even for a moment – though sometimes for a day or a week or more – that my grocery store or my bank or my garbage bins are in PARIS. (Though granted, it was even easier back before I was working as a tour guide, before I spent so many of my days face-to-face with those for whom Paris is but an ephemeral pleasure.)
Not that I'm complaining. Paris is an excellent place to spend one's day-to-day.
These days, tours are back in full force, and with it are Paris' visitors. And I couldn't be more glad. Sure, the queues at museums are longer; sure, I hear English being spoken – loudly – more than I have in the past two years. But I'm thrilled: Thrilled to be spending so many of my days with the people who remind me, over and over and over again, how very lucky I am.
Cheese of the Week
There are cheeses that the French characterize as animal (that's animal as an adjective. Animaly? Animalesque? Animalish?) Until recently, I dubbed these same cheeses barnyardy, a neologism that never hesitated in making guests on my food tours chuckle. I have recently started saying, instead, that these are the cheeses that make you aware of their roots on a farm. The ones that seem to whisper: "A sheep was here."
Buche des Aldudes does not whisper.
This sheep's milk cheese hailing from the French Basque region is a barrel of character, with a wrinkly rind revealing a fudgy, smooth interior that certainly looks like a mild-mannered goat cheese, though there's nothing mild nor mannered about it. Rich and wholly funky, it'll make you feel like you just French-kissed a sheep.
(But like... in a good way.)
To discover more of my favorite cheeses, be sure to follow me on Instagram @emily_in_france and tune into the Terroir Podcast, where Caroline Conner and I delve into France's cheese, wine, and more one region at a time.
What I'm Eating
Café Constant used to be one of my favorite restaurants in Paris, not only because it's one I have fond memories of with my Aunt Carol (whose birthday was YESTERDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!) but also because it was a good spot serving classic bistro fare within spitting distance of the Eiffel Tower all afternoon long, with no break between lunch and dinner. Since Christian Constant retired and Cyril Lignac took over the helm, here, they have done away with this awesome little quirk, but the menu has also gotten a makeover, and it's still as delicious as ever. More on the blog.
Discover more of my foodie finds via Instagram @emily_in_france.
What I'm Writing
1. It may surprise you to learn, given all this cheese talk, that I also eat a lot of salads. (No, really, a lot. Think about how many you think I eat and then round it up.) So I was thrilled to delve into the secrets to awesome salads straight from restaurant chefs for AllRecipes.
2. I may be a native New Yorker, but Chicago deserves its pizza crown – and nickname as Pizza City, USA. Want to know why? I have things to say (about 2,000 words' worth) for InsideHook.
3. Copious doesn't begin to describe the dishes at Chef Stéphane Jégo's stalwart 7th arrondissement Basque bistro, which remains stalwartly the same even through years of pandemic-induced closures. For Paris by Mouth.
What I'm Saying
1. Bordeaux is home to some of the most famous – and most expensive – French bottles, but are they really worth that hefty price tag? This week on The Terroir Podcast, Caroline schools me (and all of us!) on the history of this region with a whopping 53 AOCs, and she dons a chef hat in concocting a recipe for the perfect steak to enjoy alongside your favorite bottle. Meanwhile, Saint-Emilion's Kelley Moueix, of the JP Moueix group, explores some of the nuances of making wine in this medieval village with a rich history, and I shares the tale of nuns tasked with using up egg yolks left behind from ancestral fining techniques. Tune in to the Terroir Podcast for more!
2. The French may seem really set in their linguistic ways, but French is an evolving, changing language, like any other! It features multiple registers, from familiar to respectful, and it also has more than its share of unique slang expressions, dubbed argot. This week on Navigating the French, I'm joined by Charlie Whitesides, founder of Street French, a resource for Anglophones who want to speak French like the French do, to explore what makes contemporary French unique.
What I'm Reading
1. Little Women is a book that has touched so many generations of women. In an attempt to explore just a few of the reasons how and why, four writers penned essays exploring their relationships to each of the four sisters. A must-read for any lover of the original.
2. "Everything I’ve ever done is about using humor as a weapon. I don’t think I’m mean, but everything’s touchy now. When things are touchy, isn’t that when comedy gets more exciting?" In these ever-odder times, I've been gravitating towards art that is joyful and uncruel... but I also loved reading this no-holds-barred interview with John Waters about why humor should pull no punches. (Note: Humor should punch; comedians should not be punched.) In the New York Times.
3. This story on the challenges of being a librarian in a time of banned – and disappearing pre-banned – books. In the Washington Post.
A bientôt !