Emily in France 🇫🇷 11 Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Me
You know I like cheese but I bet you didn't know...
I am extremely adept at picking fruit at the peak of ripeness.
I always say I don't like chocolate, but the reality is just that I’m very particular about chocolate. I dislike chocolate cake and will not eat chocolate ice cream. I find plain dark chocolate boring; I prefer plain milk chocolate but I can't eat very much of it. I mostly like chocolate with stuff in it, and I prefer the stuff to outweigh the chocolate. And the stuff should mostly be peanut butter.
I am the fastest pee-er (peer? peeer?) you will ever meet.
I have a truly terrible natural sense of direction.
I believe in magic.
I eat the same giant salad every single day for lunch. When I have to go without it (because I’m eating in a fancy Michelin-starred restaurant, for example), I really miss it.
My favorite game when I was a kid was “school,” where I would pretend to be a schoolteacher and make my siblings do homework assignments. (I was really fun.)
My pajamas are scrubs from the hospital where I was born that my father stole 38 years ago.
I only wear one kind of sandal. I’ve been ordering them in various colors from the producer since 2013. If they ever stop making them, I will be bereft.
I’m allergic to most metal, which is why I wear wooden earrings. (Also, I really like them.)
I’ve still never read the Brontes, and I’m really embarrassed about it.
Cheese of the Week
Typically, when we think about goat cheese, we think about chèvres frais, the thin-rinded, creamy, spreadable fresh cheeses that are so popular this time of year. But goat's milk can be used to make any kind of cheese, including hard, pressed tomme-style cheeses like this tomme aux fleurs I discovered at Chez Virginie. The flowers give the cheese a bit of a nutty flavor, which marries quite well with the natural grassiness of goat’s milk.
To discover more of my favorite cheeses, be sure to follow me on Instagram @emily_in_france, subscribe to my YouTube channel, 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
Brasserie Bellanger is a neo-brasserie serving excellent iterations of French classics at reasonable prices in a fun, hip ambiance. I adore their leek-vinaigrette, and on a recent visit, I fell in love with their roast chicken. More on the blog.
Where I’m Going
1. To check out Best Tofu, to see if it's worthy of its name.
2. To teach a class on food writing to a group of American students currently traveling with Allison Zinder.
3. To le Compas, for my favorite salade niçoise in Paris. (There’s nothing better during a canicule!)
What I’m Doing
TERRE/MER is a ceramics and culinary retreat I co-host in the Mediterranean seaside town of la Ciotat. This long weekend is governed by creativity and terroir, encompassing a 10-hour ceramics workshop, three locally-sourced meals a day (prepared with love by yours truly), hands-on cooking workshops, a cheese tasting (bien sûr), and more.
We'll be welcoming our next small group September 4-7. Book your spot now!
What I'm Writing
1. Fresh cheeses are typically the youngest offerings in any cheese case, and while you can certainly make them with the milk of any animal, in France specifically, these tend to be small, lactic goat’s cheeses. Sixteen of France’s 47 AOP cheeses are chèvres, and you’ll also find loads of non-AOP goat cheeses all over the hexagon. Add to this the handful of fresh sheep’s milk cheeses like le Berrichon from the Loire, and you’ve got a wealth of mild-mannered stunners to discover. For My French Life.
2. It’s ever-more important to take your cod liver oil, according to the results of a new study1. Researchers have found that a combination of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids can work in tandem to slow biological aging. For Organic Authority.
3. From the archives: Wander around Paris on a Monday without dinner plans, and you may be stuck eating a vending machine baguette. Parisian chefs tend to take their well-deserved day off on Mondays, which makes finding anything even remotely delicious tougher than getting a clear view of the Mona Lisa. We’ve got you covered. This guide has restaurants with options ranging from plant-driven small plates to classic French bistros to some of the best pizza north of Naples—and they’re all open on Mondays. For the Infatuation.
FAQs
With the goal of bringing you the content you crave, I'm soliciting your help. What questions can I answer for you? Drop them into the newsletter chat, and I’ll answer as many as I can!
What I'm Reading
1. This analysis of Roger Federer’s Dartmouth commencement speech, which explores – among other things – the illusion of effortlessness and why it’s essential to move past our failures. In the New York Times.
2. This not-always-appetizing but truly evocative ode to conciata romana, which includes an exploration of anaerobic cheeses, whose flavors the author compares to "the sulfurous pits of hell.” In Milk Trekker.
3. A moving ode to biodiversity. In Not Drinking Poison.
A bientôt !