Emily in France 🇫🇷 Action!

Filming with Milk Street in Paris

My job is nothing if not varied. One day, I’ll be onboard a boat in Normandy interviewing a lobster fisherman; the next, I may be showing folks how to make aioli by hand in the Mediterranean seaside city of La Ciotat. I spend many an afternoon introducing curious travelers to delicious specialties in the Marais with Paris by Mouth, but I also spend nearly as many researching trends in fat-washing alcohol at home.

I’m a writer, I’m a tour guide, I’m a teacher, I’m an eater… and, as of last year, I’m also a fixer. I’ve just wrapped my second shoot for Milk Street, where I’m helping to bring some of Paris’ most delicious dishes to viewers at home.

(Including the rice pudding so delicious Little Sister made sure it was my 30th birthday “cake.”)

This particular shoot brought us all over Paris, and I got to meet some incredible chefs I’ve long looked up to. We discovered the secrets to a perfect Parisian flan, and we got a tip for making a French onion soup that always stays crispy on top.

We got the recipe for Ed Delling-Williams’ famous massive gougères, a staple of his Le Grand Bain, and we also discovered a cool new way to plate garlic bread from Jack Baker of Robert. For dessert, we dug into piping hot madeleines from Romain Thibault of Jouvence, flavored not with the typical vanilla but rather aromatic orange.

And of course, there was cheese: Not just in the gougères, but in a delightful baked camembert, not to mention in a sinfully rich cheese-stuffed cordon bleu.

I’ve come away from the experience with loads of tips, not just for my own kitchen, but of places to go – and introduce you all to – this autumn.

Cheese of the Week

There’s something about the arrival of fall that makes me crave Brie. Maybe it’s the natural mushroomy aroma of the cheese, which seems to hearken to the new seasonal specialties about to arrive… or maybe it’s the fact that I can actually put a wedge of it on my cheese board and leave it there for more than two minutes before it transforms into a puddle.

I like to think of Brie de Melun as Brie de Meaux’ quirky cousin. It’s definitely the lesser known of the two AOP Bries: a bit smaller and a touch more assertive thanks to its lactic fermentation. Just 250 tons of this cheese are produced each year, as compared to over 6 thousand of Brie de Meaux. Unlike Brie de Meaux, which is usually sold somewhere between four and eight weeks of age, Brie de Melun is often aged up to twelve weeks, at which point it develops a slightly reddish tinge to its downy rind and a slightly saltier – way funkier flavor.

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

Disclaimer: I was a guest of the property for this meal.

I may never be truly French, if only because I cannot partake in one of the national sports: side-eye at London’s gastronomy. I can’t help it. I love eating in London. From the wealth of international specialties to the very best in fish and chips, I stand by my frequent assertion that it’s easier to throw a rock and hit a good meal in London than in Paris. Are there some duds? Sure. But London does not deserve the boiled meat and boiled potatoes reputation it once, I hear, justly shouldered. And I recently got an excellent opportunity to eat my words and find them just as true as when I first spoke them, when I was invited to dine at PavYllon, the new Mayfair spot from Yannick Alléno. More on the blog.

Discover more of my foodie finds via Instagram @emily_in_france and on the blog.

What I'm Writing

1. A rich and creamy omelette is a test of a young chef's ability in French kitchens. Yves Camdeborde shares his story behind the illustrious dish, and best practices for making it. For the BBC.

2. If you're going to cook dry-aged wagyu at home, use this recipe. For InsideHook.

3. Meet the only chocolate brand in the U.S. ethically sourcing from Africa. For InsideHook.

What I’m Doing

There’s still time to snag a spot at the next TERRE/MER weekend retreat! From October 5 to October 8, join us in seaside haven la Ciotat for a weekend of ceramics, cooking, wanders through the beautiful calanques, cheese, wine, and community. We can't wait to welcome you!

(Newsletter subscribers can quote the code EMILYINFRANCE to get 10% off!)

What I'm Reading

1. House of Cotton’s gorgeous prose made it easy to ignore some of the plotholes and abandoned threads, and I honestly don't mind. This is a book meant to be read in late autumn, with the impending arrival of Halloween. Creepy and melancholy and heart-wrenchingly gorgeous, I would forgive it any flaw, from its occasionally flat secondary characters to the inevitability of its ending. It's a book you want to immerse yourself in, whose very voice threads itself into your mind for as long as it's on your nightstand.

2. This very open-eyed exploration of what processed food really means – including but not limited to whether molecular gastronomy is just “processed food for rich people.” Culinary historian Ken Albala shared some of the nuggets in this story with me years ago, alluding already to the pendulum swings between technicity and homeliness in food over the past century or so. There are a lot of excellent points here, and it definitely made me sit with, and reassess, my acceptance of phrases like food addiction. In the New Yorker.

3. The exploration of CVS' musical identity I had no idea I needed. In the Paris Review.

A bientôt !