Emily in France 🇫🇷 What's in Your Kitchen?
Do you have a juicer?
I sometimes find myself wondering what other people keep on-hand as kitchen staples. Not in terms of ingredients (though I wonder that, too) but in terms of tools.
I'm currently renting a furnished studio devoid of a chef's knife, for example, and without any saucepans, but that has a juicer. To whom is a juicer more important than a knife, than a mixing bowl? To the owner, it seems. And I imagine that people would be surprised to find that I have long had an immersion blender – even when I bought my (certainly carcinogenic) pans from Honest Ed's in Toronto; even before I had wineglasses.
(Let's be honest... I still don't have wineglasses.)
Most French people, I've found, have a salad spinner, something that I don't think many American cooks own. (Or at least, not the ones I know.) They all have a selection of both big soup spoons and little coffee spoons; they have little tiny drinking glasses that mean I upcycle 500- or 600- glass lentil jars to drink from.
What about you, reader? What oddities or novelties are concealed within your kitchen cupboards?
Cheese of the Week
We chatted a bit about the delight that is sheep's milk cheese last week, but for an iteration that is far less barnyardy than my beloved Buche des Aldudes, I present to you Ossau-Iraty (that's pronounced oh-so-ee-rah-tee): a Basque pressed cheese that's rich, creamy, and herbaceous.
Did you know that sheep milk contains twice the butterfat of cow or goat? That said, the globules of fat are smaller than in either of these other milks, making it easier to digest. The fat also makes resulting cheeses creamier, and the pressed Ossau-Iraty melts in your mouth in an explosion of grassy, nutty flavors. It may well be one of the oldest cheeses in Europe; locals claim it's been made for over five centuries. I like it plain, but I love the salty pate with something slightly sweet: quince paste or black cherry jam are common, but the fig and walnut paste at Fromagerie Jouannault in the Marais – or this tasty chutney from Le Saint-Sébastien – are delightful as well.
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.
Where I'm Going
1. To the Château de Rambouillet – I've never been! – the former home of Francis I, Marie-Antoinette, and more.
2. To the last days of Per Adolfsen's private show in the Marais, on recommendation of an arty friend in New York who dubs him her favorite artist.
3. To L'As de Fallafel, just to make sure the namesake falafel-filled pita breads are as good as I remember them being.
What I'm Eating
Beneath the classic appeal of its exterior and the gorgeous details of the tiling within, the bakery case at Boris Lumé is positively chock-a-block with foreign influence, ranging from Snickers-scented tarts to Japanese baked goods like an-pan, to this lemon tart with a surprise at its center. More on the blog.
Discover more of my foodie finds via Instagram @emily_in_france.
What I'm Writing
1. Le Grand Bain might be my favorite place to eat in Paris right now, so I was thrilled to share my thoughts with Paris by Mouth.
2. Hélène Seillan was born in Gascony to French parents, and these days, she divides her time between two of the best winemaking regions in the world: Sonoma and Bordeaux. She shares what she likes best about both of her homes with me for InsideHook.
3. From the archives: Long-ago lava flows in the Auvergne created the underground cellars that have long been used to age one of my favorite cheeses: Saint-Nectaire. I delved deep into this tradition for Atlas Obscura.
What I'm Saying
1. Périgord and Dordogne are home to some of the most luxurious products money can buy, ranging from foie gras to decades-old cuvées of Bordeaux, from black truffles to sweet white wine. This week on the Terroir Podcast, Caroline and I delve into some of these most sought-after ingredients – and contend with whether they're worth their massive price tags. Tune in to the Terroir Podcast for more!
2. The French would love for you to believe they’re all descended from the Gauls, and as a society have fairly assimilationist views of what makes someone French. Dr. Gemma King is joining me on Navigating the French to help shed some light on a term that might appear to be purely descriptive of a multiplicity of identities within the tapestry of Frenchness but actually has some built-in connotations of purity and what it means to be truly French: d’origine. Tune in here!
3. Would it surprise you to know that the way we use "faux pas" in English is different from how it's used in French? In this Bonus Episode of Navigating the French, Paris Underground Radio producer Jennifer Geraghty flipped the tables on me to chat all things faux pas. Tune in to hear some of the missteps we've both made since moving to France via Patreon.
What I'm Reading
1. No, you're not imagining things. I have indeed written about The Caretakers before, but I wanted to highlight it once more because this wonderful book by my dear friend Amanda Bestor-Siegal is finally available on bookstore shelves! Go support your local bookseller (or find it online) and listen to this author interview with Jennifer Geraghty where Amanda reveals some of her process and inspiration.
2. I find language positively fascinating, and seeing how language evolves over time is pretty nuts. So I loved reading about why we use "lol" so much – and how the meaning has evolved from an actual laugh to a phatic use that might mean we finally have a marker of sarcasm after centuries of linguists trying. In Vice.
3. You might already know about Mr. Limata and his commitment to read books to his students during lockdown, but I'll never tire of learning more about his mission to make a difference in young lives and awaken a passion for stories. In Represent Collaborative.
A bientôt !