Emily in France 🇫🇷 Say Cheese!
Back in the saddle.
Yesterday, I woke up at 6am and walked to Montmartre, enjoying my first coffee before daybreak. By 8am, I was ensconced in a bistro kitchen, testing lights for white balance and watching a chef pull together mise en place for two of my favorite bistro staples.
I'm not making food videos full-time by any means, but for the first time in years, I've spent the past three days as part of a team making culinary magic on the small screen, and it's reminded me how much I loved the year and a half I spent doing this almost ten years ago.
Of course, this time, things are a little bit different. Instead of producing videos in a kitchen studio, I'm going directly to restaurateurs. And instead of producing for a culinary tablet, I'm actually making a show that many of you will be able to watch on your TVs at home in about a year's time.
I've uncovered the technical secrets behind this gooey coulant au chocolat; I've discovered why, despite its name, the vinaigrette in poireau-vinaigrette must be made before the leek.
I've made a meal entirely out of leftover beauty shots of award-winning egg-mayo, and I've enjoyed Paris' best croque monsieur from the top of the Printemps du Goût department store.
I've also eaten a chocolate-sesame doughnut hot out of the fryer.
I swear, it's not all fun and games. I've also had to run out of restaurants abandoning beautiful plates of food in order to get to our next destination. I've traversed Paris I don't know how many times, and my boots have nearly given out from all the pavement-pounding. But it's exhilarating and fun, and I've met fantastic people, and I've been able to shine a spotlight on some of my favorite chefs in Paris. And isn't that what this job is all about?
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Cheese of the Week
Both fig season and goat cheese season are reaching a close, so it's the perfect time to pick up a fig-infused goat cheese – and there are a lot to choose from. The Figou, for example, is actually shaped like a fig and boasts a fig jam heart. (I've also had the unfortunate experience of buying a different fig-shaped cheese that was fig-like only in form). This far simpler specimen was round and fresh and filled with a dollop of fig jam – and frankly was just as delightful in flavor.
As goat cheese season ends, I'm definitely in the mood for bloomy-rinded friends like this Camembert de Normandie, with woodsy, earthy, mushroomy notes. Learn more in this week's cheese video! (And get even nerdier with a piece I wrote about the issues plaguing this popular cheese for the BBC).
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
Aside from the bites I snagged during filming, this week I had the distinct pleasure of devouring this "parfait" (Australian for semifreddo) from le Saint-Sébastien. It saw forest honey paired with loads of plums and a tasty crumble. (I also enjoyed the pressé de cochon, which is basically boudin blanc without casing. I will be devastated when it's no longer on this ever-changing, seasonal menu.)
Discover more of my foodie finds via Instagram @emily_in_france and on the blog.
Where I'm Going
1. To opening night of the Fête des Vendanges de Montmartre.
2. To Dijon, to speak at a conference about gastrodiplomacy (and discover the only spot still making Dijon mustard in Dijon).
3. To dine at what I have been assured is going to be a mind-blowing eating experience in the heart of Burgundy.
What I'm Writing
1. Socca, a chickpea crêpe cooked in a wood-burning oven, is a simple specialty with a big presence along the Mediterranean. I discovered the secrets behind its perfection (and, OK, tasted more than a handful) for Food52.
2. Allegra Angelo, co-owner of Miami's Vinya, shares her “secret weapon” Champagne and a bottle she’d drink on her last day for InsideHook.
3. From Beuchert’s Saloon, recreate Chef Bart Hutchins's chicken and waffles from the comfort of home. For InsideHook.
What I'm Saying
Outsiders looking in are wont to wax poetic about the French lunch hour as an emblem of the French work ethic, but la pause déj actually got its start for reasons of hygiene. To explore the ins and outs of what makes the French lunch hour so special, historian Martin Bruegel, author of Food History: A Feast of the Senses in Europe, is joining me on Navigating the French.
What I'm Reading
1. The pendulum of food trends is forever swinging. From a forced focus on authenticity (sometimes to the detriment of folks who actually grew up eating a certain food or cuisine), it seems the new trend is "chaos cooking," which could be just a newfangled way of describing that woebegone 80s attraction to "fusion." More in Eater.
2. Paris is shutting off the Eiffel Tower's lights over an hour earlier than usual as one of several moves to reduce energy use. More in Fast Company.
3. After visiting northern Italy last summer and Naples this summer, not to mention reading all manner of books both fictional and nonfictional about the country of my father's ancestors, I was very intrigued by this story about a journalist distilling the news into digestible, understandable morsels for his fellow Italians – and what his popularity says about the way that Italians consume news on the whole. More in the New Yorker.
A bientôt !