How many forks?

I live in Madison, WI and I review restaurants.

[howmanyforks-blog]

Sanford (1547 N Jackson St., Milwaukee)

Dimly lit and situated among townhouses in an upscale neighborhood of Milwaukee, Sanford is the kind of restaurant you might miss if you drove by too quickly -- I confess that I had to make several U-turns to get there.  But what a shame that would be if you were to miss it, for Sanford is a gem in a city not normally associated with luxury dining.  For this outing I chose the White Heat menu, which consists of:

First course Tagliatelle of Oyster with Roe

Second course Watercress Soup with Soft Egg and Confit Potatoes

Third course Prawns and Roasted Pork Shoulder with Lentils and Swiss Chard, Sherry Vinegar Sauce and Foie Gras Emulsion

Fourth course Prune and Armagnac Tart with Candied Orange and Quatre Épices Ice Cream

I began with the restaurant's signature breadsticks and house cocktail (pictured above).  The breadsticks are crunchy, earthy, and salty, and the house cocktail is a kir-like combination of peach schnapps and sparkling wine.  Paired, they make an excellent apéritif.

Oyster tagliatelle with roe.

Watercress soup and confit potatoes.

Next came the oysters and watercress soup, two courses whose only shortfall was not quite meeting the lofty inventiveness and deliciousness of the main plate and dessert.  The oyster pasta was simple and delightful (to say nothing of superb with a glass of dry sherry on the rocks) and the watercress soup was alive with the aromas of garden-fresh vegetables and herbs.

Pork shoulder and prawns.

With the pork shoulder and prawns came tell-tale signs of a restaurant devoted to quality -- well-seasoned shrimp, tender meat, a perfect balance of crispy ends and juicy centres.  Under the slightly sweet sherry vinegar sauce, a decadent main plate.

Tart.

Dessert was a medley of frozen sweets -- spiced ice cream and a tart with thick, cold liqueur cream inside.  In both dishes the spice comes straight to center stage.  The shortbread-like crust of the tart artfully complements the filling in both texture and taste.  Even though you'll be full at this point you will almost certainly want seconds.

But, if it is not too late at night, try to content yourself with Sanford's café mocha as a post-meal, post-dessert treat, a luxurious cappuccino-esque blend of coffee, chocolate, sugar, and milk.  Though rather expensive, it is well worth the price.

Sanford is essential eating for any foodies who find themselves in this corner of the Midwest.  It's even deserving of a drive from Chicago.  Three forks.

*****

Free valet parking.  No dress code, although business casual to business smart strongly recommended.  Reservations not required.  Four-course menu $49, individual plates $20-$35.

[howmanyforks-blog]

New blog

Since I no longer live in Paris, I have decided to re-purpose this blog as a review site for restaurants.  I'll post about any restaurant I happen to find myself in, but they will mostly be in the Southern Wisconsin/Chicago region -- unless, of course, you have a favorite and are willing to pay for my flight!

I've also come up with a Michelin-like rating system for the restaurants I review:

One fork = Recommended.  A good experience.

Two forks = Highly recommended.  I'd take someone here first if they were from out of town.

Three forks = Worth a significant detour.  Go, even if you have to drive a few hours to get here.

Four forks = This restaurant is of such high quality that it's worth flying in and staying overnight just to eat there.

If a restaurant is of mediocre or poor quality it will get no forks at all.

[howmanyforks-blog]

Cutting the cheese one last time.

Thursday, 20 June 2013

Today I had two goat cheeses, or chèvres: Picodon and Cabécou.  Now, do the words goat cheese make you squirm?  Have you had goat cheese before, and was it a little too ... je ne sais quoi ... for you?  Then these may be the goat cheeses for you: neither was too tangy and each of them has merit that makes it worth a try even for chèvre-o-phobes.  Who knows ... maybe if you try them both, you'll find a new favorite.

Let's start with the Picodon.   I'd been keeping it in the refrigerator for over a month now with the hopes that it would become hard with age, but when I took it out of its casing it was actually soggy with milk on the bottom.  Not a bad thing for me, but perhaps not the texture that you're looking for.  Still, it was milky and salty (good traits for cheese!) and not very tangy (possibly good, especially if you prefer a milder cheese).

Picodon in its natural habitat.

As for the Cabécon, it was very creamy and even milder than the Picodon.

It's not recommended to pair most red wines with chèvre.  Instead, say the experts, pair it with a sweet white wine, like the white Bordeaux above.  I must have a tongue made of tin because this pairing did nothing at all for me; in fact, it was even slightly unpleasant.  My batting average with white wines seems to be quite low, so any wine experts are free to chime in with advice.

Tomorrow I visit Le Pré Catelan, one of ten restaurants in Paris with three Michelin stars.  Night, all.

[howmanyforks-blog]

A little slice of America.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

Even in Paris, there's nothing like American comfort food -- after all, jambon cru isn't bacon any more than crêpes are pancakes or omlettes sunny-side-up eggs.  With its bilingual menu, English-speaking staff, and wide selection of dishes you'd find at an IHOP-style greasy spoon, Breakfast at America is your run-to when you've got a sweet tooth for the other side of the Atlantic.

Today I got the three items just mentioned offhand.  You probably won't find them anywhere else in France, and fortunately Breakfast in America does them justice: fluffy, buttery pancakes; perfectly cooked eggs; and crisp (although scant) slices of bacon.  Of course hamburgers and specialty cheeseburgers are available -- with French fries for good measure.

For dessert, try another rarity: cheesecake.  You can find it in France, but ... do as the Romans do, shall we say.  Unless you're here, in which case the cheesecake is nearly perfect.  The cheese is firm, the whipped cream is heavenly, the raspberry sauce is a perfect match, and the crust is sweet and moist.  Most Americans get wrong what BIA gets right. 

Don't forget to wash everything down with a cup of coffee.  Not espresso, mind you, but filtered coffee.  And an unlimited supply of it at that.  

The food's good and the décor is authentic Americana ... so Breakfast is an American hangout, right?  All of the customers slightly to severely overweight, sporting ball caps, speaking English, stereotypical tourists afraid of getting their feet wet?  Not so, in fact.  Despite its unabashed embrace of what many French consider the cultural Antichrist, BIA seems to have caught on with at least some of the locals.  All of the customers that were around when I visited were French- or Other-speakers and there's no shortage of (glowing) French-language reviews online.

Because, really, even the French aren't too good to have breakfast for lunch.

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, Breakfast in America is located at 17, Rue des Ecoles, just outside Cardinal Lemoine Métro station (line 10).

[howmanyforks-blog]

French booze o'th'week: 2011 Ogier Chateauneuf-du-Pape Les Closier

Tuesday, 18 June 2013 

Like cheeses, wines sometimes benefit from an AOC -- appellation d'origine contrôlée.  An AOC is sort of like a trademark; by law, only wines produced in a certain region and under certain circumstances can bear the AOC.  So when you drink Chateauneuf-du-Pape -- pape means "pope" in French -- you can be all but sure that what you're drinking came from what was once a papal vineyard, near the former seat of the papacy at Avignon.

This wine is fruity, moderately sweet, and *ever so slightly* spicy with moderate tannins, and correctly paired it can make the simplest of dishes fit for the Pope himself.  Consider spaghetti with bolognaise sauce (meat sauce) with a side of mushrooms sautéed in olive oil and butter.  Being a sweet red wine, the Chateauneuf-du-Pape complements the sharp acidity of the tomato-based sauce perfectly -- and that's not even the best news.  The wine is an exceptionally good pairing with mushroom, both raw and sautéed. 

To see what I mean, save one sautéed 'shroom for the end of your meal, eat it, then take a swig of the Chateauneuf.  If you sautéed correctly (i.e., the mushrooms are rubbery and soaked in fat), the result will be earthy, buttery goodness that stays on your tongue for at least a full minute.

Well, it's time for my singing lessons, so g'nite.

[howmanyforks-blog]

just had a quick breeze through a few pages and i am in love! defs have to keep your site bookmarked for my next trip to paris! its amazing and i can't wait to read more x

Thank you!  It makes my day to hear that people enjoy what I've written.

[howmanyforks-blog]

Tartare de boeuf (or "Eww, Raw Meat!")

Monday, 17 June 2013

Can't decide how you want your steak cooked?  Then don't have it cooked at all and order tartare de boeuf instead.  This dish, in a phrase, is finely chopped, seasoned fresh beef -- and it's really good and très, très French.

F***in' iPhone camera.

Note that I do mean "fresh" in a more literal sense than usual -- what you'll get looks like a thick, uncooked hamburger patty, occasionally with a raw egg on top.  However, the meat is carefully chosen to reduce the risk of illness, so you shouldn't have much to worry about in the way of food poisoning.

What does it taste like?  As much as I hate to classify food as "like" another food ... it tastes an awful lot like tuna salad with miniature pickles.  As such it's an acquired taste, and if you don't like that somewhat peculiar sensation you might want to select something else.  As for me I found the dish enjoyable in its own way, especially with the frites maison (a common side dish in France and not just for tourists).  

I'd definitely order it again.  With some snails for good measure.

[howmanyforks-blog]

Vaux-le-Vicomte, Opéra cake, and Brie de Meaux

Sunday, 16 June 2013

If you're lucky (and mass transit-savvy) enough to visit Vaux-le-Vicomte, southeast of Paris and just barely in the Parisian region, you may notice that it looks a lot like Versailles.  But that's because the architect of Vaux-le-Vicomte was also the architect of Versailles -- and there's a story to that.  One evening a certain Nicolas Fouquet, finance minister under King Louis XIV and owner of the estate, threw a lavish party at his home, which the King attended.  The intent was to impress Louis XIV with the estate -- and Louis XIV was indeed impressed.  So impressed that he threw Fouquet in prison for life on suspicion of embezzlement, confiscated the estate, and then commissioned the same architect who had designed Vaux-le-Vicomte to build what we now know as Versailles.  It's a classic story known by all the French.

Despite its similarity to the more well-known Versailles, Vaux-le-Vicomte is worth a visit if you are staying in Paris for a while and have about half a day to spare.  Whereas Versailles is larger-than-life, Vaux-le-Victomte is more accessible -- when you tour the château you'll feel like you're visiting an upscale model home.  Most noticeably, the rooms, though just as luxurious as those in Versailles, are denser and cozier and the grounds, though smaller, are less crowded.

Sunday was a special day where visitors were encouraged to dress in 18th century costume, the reward being a slightly cheaper ticket and a free cocktail.  I didn't participate but about 1 in 4 of the visitors did -- and almost all of these went all out.

So what are your options as food is concerned?  Do you eat at the on-site cafeteria or grab a bite before coming?  It all depends on how big your breakfast was -- the plats here seem to be unappetizing, overpriced pseudo-spring rolls filled with pickled fish.  But when in Brie (the region east of Paris), why not eat as the locals do?  The cafeteria serves slices of Brie cheese au lait cru, which means that they're strong and cheesy and Camembert-like, not mild and pasty like "regular" Brie.  This is your opportunity to try this very French cheese, so pick up a crispy bread roll (note that they charge individually for these) and a slice of Brie and make yourself a picnic. 

And, while you're at it, why not try some Opéra cake?  It's like a French Tiramisu, with layers of almond sponge cake soaked in coffee.  On top is chocolate ganache, while coffee buttercream binds the layers of cake together.  How could you regret a decision like that one?

I suppose I'll find out when I step on the scale.

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Vaux-le-Vicomte is located in Seine-et-Marne département, 55km to the southeast of Paris.  You must go to Gare de Lyon, take either the RER D or Transilien R to Mélun, and then take the Châteaubus (which stops one block in front of the train station) to the château.  If the bus isn't operating then go by car, taxi, or thumb -- it's too far a walk from Mélun and there are no closer train stations or alternative bus routes.

[howmanyforks-blog]

Ice Cream on the Île Saint-Louis

Saturday, 15 June 2013

Located just east of Notre Dame, the Île Saint-Louis is the perfect place to take a vacation from your vacation.  It has all the elements of Parisian street culture -- food vendors, street performers, accordion music -- and on Saturday its shores are lined with Parisians enjoying an ice cream cone or picnic.  I would highly recommend that you go on your last night in Paris, especially if that night is a weekend night.

Don't forget to order an ice cream from Berthillon à emporter.  This ice cream, though rather expensive, is of the best quality and you won't regret trying it -- I ordered three scoops and the Nougat et Miel alone was worth the price of all three.  Then find a place to sit for a moment and relax -- it's what you're supposed to do on vacation.

Say hello to my new friends: Vanilla, Café, and Nougat et Miel (nougat and honey)

If you're feeling a mite peckish, you might also order a quiche from Berthillon.  Though far from exceptional, it's certainly decent and, with the salad that comes with, it makes a good lunch or dinner.  Try it for yourself.

Or you could be a kid again and just have ice cream for dinner.  I can't say that I wasn't tempted to.

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Berthillon is located on Rue Saint-Louis en Île, on Île Saint-Louis.  The closest Metro station is Pont Marie (line 7), but Bastille (lines 1, 5, 8) is probably more convenient.

[howmanyforks-blog]

Neva Cuisine: A Lunch You'll Neva Forget.

Friday, 14 June 2013

The meal I had at Neva Cuisine today was not a budget meal, but it was a good meal, the kind that you should eat at least once while in Paris.  I highly recommend it. You should try all three courses, but if you try nothing else try the dessert. A few days of egg sandwich-eating will be worth the pleasant memories.

I took a picture of the restaurant front this time, but unfortunately a band of goons broke my camera.  I was able to recover everything apart from the storefront.  So this image from L'Express will have to suffice.

TODAY’S MENU

Apéritif Martini

Amuse-gueule Pieces of toast with ginger and horseradish mustard

Entrée Duck foie gras with toast, rhubarb au cassis with lettuce

Plat Echine de porc pressée

Dessert  Sphere déstucturée au chocolat Samana pur origine

APERITIF

In France, martinis don’t seem to be served in the traditional V-shaped glass with an olive.  Instead they’re served on-the-rocks in a (very) small glass.  A nice lead-in for the meal, with a very strong peppery, even slightly salty, taste.  Try a martini rouge with the bread and salted butter that comes with the meal.  I think you’ll be pleased with the result.

AMUSE-GUEULE

The last place you’d expect Japanese cuisine would be in a Parisian restaurant, and yet this amuse-gueule tasted as Japanese as a plate of sushi.  It’s because the mustard-like sauce (which is of the perfect consistency) has ginger and horseradish inside.  Phenomenal.

ENTREE

The whole of this dish was even greater than the sum of its parts, and that’s saying a lot considering that the parts were exceptional in and of themselves.  Perhaps there’s not much to add about the foie gras, but the rhubarb pieces au cassis formed an excellent garnish and the toast was as perfectly cooked and buttered as any piece of bread I’ve ever eaten.  The sum: the piece of toastwith foie gras on top and dipped in the (blackcurrant?) sauce tasted like a perfectly-grilled piece of toast with a thick fruit jelly spread on it.

PLAT

  The échine of a pig is meat from its back, close to the head.  Apparently — attention, dieters — it’s very fatty and thus very caloric.  But all the better for those of us throwing caution to the wind!  The slice of meat I had today was tender and fatty — a powerhouse of juicy, meaty flavor.  All this with a slightly awkward selection of vegetables to the side, including a few somewhat-cooked onions that came off as ungainly.  But these minor faults were soon forgotten with the arrival of the main attraction, the centerpiece, the …

DESSERT

If you’re going to order this dessert — and, by all means, you should even if it means adding a few euros to the menu price — get your video camera ready after your plat is taken away.  Half the fun of this dish is the presentation; the waiter presents a dish with a chocolate sphere on it, then pours a ladle of molten chocolate on top, melting the top half of the sphere away in a dramatic fashion you can’t put down on paper.  But of course the other half is eating it.  And to that, all I can say is that under that vanilla ice cream is a bed of pineapple pieces just waiting for you to soak them in the melted chocolate.

Sometimes, your imagination is the best author.

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Neva Cuisine is located at 2 Rue de Berne, a very short walk north from Gare Saint-Lazare.  No dress code.  Reservations strongly recommended.

[howmanyforks-blog]

Wine! Cheese! Part Two!

Thursday, 13 June 2013

Today I've come to the conclusion -- a conclusion among others, mind you -- that Sauternes is probably best drunk on its own before or after a meal, rather than during.  On Monday I skeptically tried it with some sweet chocolate and found my skepticism confirmed -- the combined sweetness was quite excessive.  Today I tried it again, with last week's Roquefort (another recommended pairing) and got only a slightly bitter aftertaste for my efforts.  Clearly personal tastes can differ, but I'd be curious to put myself in the shoes of anyone who recommends these two previous pairings.  In the meantime I still think that Sauternes served cold is a satisfactory apéritif or drink all on its own, almost like a white Porto -- even though I personally prefer a wine that's less sweet and liquor-like.

Which brings us to today's two setups.

1. 2008 Saint-Emilion Grand Cru + Camembert au Lait Cru and Reblochon

Saint-Emilion seems to be a relatively mild wine; when you first take a sip you swear that you're drinking a slightly fruity water.  Only a second later do you realize, from the little burn at the back of your palate followed by the slightly more intense fruitiness at the front, that you're indeed drinking wine.  Indeed, for me this wine was too meek, and I didn't taste a satisfactory match with either of the cheeses, both of which are supposed to pair well with it.  What a shame.

Now for a word about the Camembert.  Au lait cru (oh lay crü) means that the cheese is made from raw milk, as opposed to pasteurized milk.  You can buy both at any French grocery store, but the lait cru version seems to be slightly more expensive -- and rightfully so.  For those who prefer stronger cheese, raw milk Camembert has a little more kick, a little earlier in the aging process, than the pasteurized version.  

In any case, if you allow the wheel of cheese to sit for about a month (in your fridge, please!) after you buy it, it will age and grow wrinkles like you see below.  This aging dramatically affects the cheese's taste; young Camembert is creamy and mild, but aged Camembert -- well, it's so much stronger and "cheesier"!  Buy some Camembert at a store near you (I think you can find it under the President brand) and try aging it.  Then after about a month, serve it at a party -- and see how long before it "disappears"!

Aged Camembert.  You can tell it's old by the wrinkles.

2. 2011 Chinon + Camembert au lait cru and Beaufort

The most remarkable thing about the Chinon, a wine from the Loire Valley, is that it's ... spicy.  You heard me right -- there's the distinct taste of pepper in this wine.  When you swallow it there's even a little burn in your throat. Not that I'm complaining ... in fact, I may have to pour myself another glass.

As for our two cheeses, the Chinon went moderately well with them both: especially so with the Beaufort, a Comté-like cheese that's nutty and pasty on your palate.  Perhaps there are better matches out there, but I found that the Chinon enhanced the "cheesiness" of both quite well.

And now, friends, it's time for me to take a bath.  Good night.

[howmanyforks-blog]

Kir, Crème Brûlée, and Things That Are In Between Those Two

Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Today was more parts than whole -- I went to a brasserie near the Pont de l'Alma (site of Princess Diana's car crash) but, unfortunately, was not overly impressed with what I got for the (high) cost.  So I don't feel the need to mention the establishment by name, as I usually do, but I will tell you about what I got -- especially the two bookends, the apéritif and the dessert of crème brûlée.

Apéritif Kir

While apéritifs -- drinks to whet your palate -- are strictly optional, you shouldn't leave France without integrating one into at least one meal.  More specifically, you shouldn't leave without trying kir, a wine cocktail that's served at every brasserie worth its salt.  It's white wine with blackcurrant liqueur -- sweet enough to make you hungry for salty, but not so sweet that it's wrong to drink beforehand.  

Tapas

Strictly speaking, tapas plates are more Spanish than French -- more Madrid than Paris.  However, I've seen some, but not all, Paris brasseries offer them, and they may be worth a try if everything on the entrée menu just looks too damn good.  They consist of small sample plates of certain entrées; the one I had today was ultimately not voluminous enough to substitute for a meal but adequate enough that I could have picked favorites and ordered an extra plate of preferred items.  My personal favorites among what you see below were the front three -- some canard foie gras in a berry vinaigrette, some rare beef on a *very* cheesy wafer, and finally an extremely small piece of toast that nevertheless filled my mouth with flavour.  I found the others -- including a "beef spring roll" without beef -- to be lackluster and hollow.

Dessert

Of course you can't leave Paris without trying the ultimate French dessert of crème brûlée.  Although not worth €9.50, the crème brûlée that I had this afternoon was more than satisfying, with a crisp, wafer-like layer of caramel on top of a creamy custard with a good consistency.  And the blueberries were a nice addition.  Yes, blueberries.  To call this touch of fruits rouges "adulteration" would be wrong -- rather, it improves the original recipe by bouncing the caramel against something substantial, not drowning it in a sea of sloppy cream.

Notice the brown sugar crystals on the sides.  Yes, I did scoop them all up.

Conclusion of the matter

Although the food today was mostly quite good, the quantity-price ratio was very disappointing.  This relatively small amount of food cost nearly thirty euros, which is as much as Le Buisson Argent would cost for three larger portions of superior quality.  But the price of a Parisian restaurant, it seems, is like the price of real estate -- you pay more for the location than for the quality or quantity.  Therefore, if you can possibly help it, try to have lunch in a less expensive student district rather than a touristy one on the Seine like the one I tried today.  

It's very likely that the 2€ Métro trip (not to mention the smaller crowds) will be worth it.

[howmanyforks-blog]

A petit déjeuner: Breakfast in France, and where to find it

Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Whoever said that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" obviously wasn't French.  In France breakfast is usually quite small, perhaps bread or a pâtisserie and a cup of espresso.  In fact, the name for breakfast is petit déjeuner, which means "little lunch" -- it's a mini-meal, not the hearty one that you may be used to.  Few places serve breakfast as a full meal of any note, but today I found one such place: Claus, an elegant little restaurant near the Louvre whose raison d'être seems to be serving up a memorable p'tit déj parisien.

The entire downstairs of Claus is a shop where coffee beans, cookies, and novelty breakfast items are sold.  They've also put some of their restaurant items out for take away (or to tempt you as you go upstairs); coffee connoisseurs and those in need of rapid weight gain are encouraged to have a look.  By contrast if you prefer to sit down (and why wouldn't you?) the only seats are à l'étage (upstairs).  I strongly encourage you to select the seats diagonal from the stairs and next to the window; both of the upstairs windows are too small for the room and you'll miss the Parisian ambiance if you sit elsewhere.

Claus has, hands down, the most variety of any Parisian breakfast menu I've encountered, but if you want a true French breakfast skip the eggs that they offer (eggs are considered a lunch or dinner food in France) and order pâtisseries instead.  Today I ordered what you see below: a croissant, a lime yoghurt with gingerbread on the bottom, a double espresso, and a cinnamon roll.  With a bit of shame, I admit that I couldn't resist getting a "ChocoNut cookie" as well.

Everything that I ate here was top quality: the croissant had a flaky, crispy outside and buttery, soft centre; the yoghurt was thick and creamy and, with the gingerbread on the bottom, reminded me of the taste of key lime pie; the cinnamon roll, though not exactly fresh out of the oven, tasted of cinnamon and was not too sweet (and was only 1€); and the cookie was perfectly indulgent -- sweet but not sickly sweet, with nuts, not overbearing, that you can chew and a caramel chocolate in the center.  And as a nice touch the meal came with a carafe of refreshing lime water.

  Downstairs at Claus.

I hesitate to call Claus not to be missed -- the window size problem upstairs is an almost unforgivable blunder for Paris and, at its core, it's really a better-stocked patisserie with seats -- but if you are staying within walking distance I recommend going at least once, especially since the prices (a rather large breakfast can be yours for 9€) are quite reasonable for this quartier.

Eh, go once even if you have to take the Métro.

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Claus is located at 14 Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau.  Métro: Louvre Rivoli (Line 1).

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French Booze of the Week: Chateau Le Pape 2010 Sauternes

Monday, 10 June 2013

What could be better than some sweet milk chocolate?  More sweetness?  Well, not necessarily.  This week, based on a recommendation, I tried some Sauternes wine with chocolate and concluded that sweeter doesn't always equal better.

For a little bit of background, Sauternes is a kind of white wine produced in Bordeaux, in the southwestern part of France.  Some of the most expensive wines ever sold come from this brand -- one 1811 bottle sold for over $100,000 in 2011 -- but you can find more reasonably-priced bottles at French grocery stores.  It's a "dessert wine," very sweet and almost liqueur-like, so much so that it overshadows the fruitiness that I usually like in wines.  Oddly enough the back of the bottle recommends that it be paired with "desserts," but this wine is so sweet that I can only imagine it being overkill paired with a dessert of any significant sweetness.  Case in point, I tried a glass of this Sauternes with some Lindt "Passionnement Fondant" (Belgian) chocolate -- which I highly recommend even though it's Belgian and not French.  The only significant thing enhanced was the bitterness of the chocolate, and that was weaker than the negative experience of sickly, overwhelming sweetness.

Later this week I will try it with some foie gras (the other recommended pairing) and let you know what I think.  For now the wine's getting to my head and so I bid you à toute à l'heure.

[howmanyforks-blog]

Le Buisson Ardent: Kingly food for the peasants among us

Friday, 7 June 2013

I've sung the praises of Jussieu before and I'll sing them again.  (But only this one other time, I promise.)  As a student neighbourhood it's obviously an excellent choice for the budget traveller who's willing to not be picky, but what about the gourmands among us who want a little something extra in our food?  For them (for us, I should say) the news is good -- in the sea of high-quality Parisian restaurants the street-smart traveller can fish out a meal here for the same price as a Brasserie Lipp hamburger and fries (about 25€).  Hands down, the best fish I've caught so far have been at Le Buisson Ardent ("The Burning Bush") next to Jussieu.  Their lunch menu changes every day, but you can rest assured that you'll get something to remember no matter what you order.

Unfortunately, I lacked the foresight to, you know, take a picture of the actual restaurant.  For the moment this one from Google will have to do.

Since I had my final mathematics exam just after lunch, I got only two courses: an entrée and a main plate*.  For just 3€ extra I could have gotten a dessert, but when you don't have the time ...

TODAY'S MENU

Entrée    

A plate of (left to right in the image below) sundried tomatoes, drops of pesto de roquette, aubergine (eggplant) purée, grilled coppa (shoulder pork salami), and goat cheese with a sesame cracker.

Plat

Seven-hour pork shoulder with vegetables.

The meal started out, as it often does at "nicer" resaurants, with what the French call an amuse-gueule**.  It's usually a (very) small entrée or cup of soup that's rich in flavour, a chance for the chef to show off his culinary skills in miniature.  This time it was a sort of carrot purée, cool and sweet and slightly fruity.  It's the kind of soup that the French clean off their dish with a piece of baguette -- don't worry, the baguette comes with the meal and the only true faux pas is to waste good food!

Amuse-gueule.

But the most amusant course to this gueule was to come out next with the entree.  Though plated separately, these five main items were clearly meant to be experimented with -- certain pairs complemented each other in the same way that wines complement foods.  Especially striking were these three pairs: aubergine + pesto (really brings the basil of the pesto out), aubergine + tomato (the acidity and slight sweetness of tomato on a bed of earthiness), and goat cheese + tomato (acid + acid, mellowed by the cream of the cheese). 

Entrée.

Last (it's hard to call any dish here least) was the pork shoulder, which after "seven hours" of simmering in its own juices was a carnivore's dream.  All of the positive traits were here -- the meat was tender, juicy,  and slightly fatty but not blubbery.  It's the kind of dish that was made for a quality red wine -- if I hadn't had a demanding task directly ahead of me I would have ordered a glass of Bordeaux to accompany it.  The worst part of this course was eating the last bite -- not an oft-earned compliment for a meal.

Should you eat at Le Buisson Ardent when you come to Paris?  Absolutely, but perhaps it's best saved for your last day.  You'll be glad you came, and you'll certainly smile at the rapport prix-qualité, but if you eat here for one lunch you might -- just might -- come back every day.

Pork shoulder.

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Le Buisson Ardent is located on Rue Jussieu, about 25m from the Jussieu Métro station (line 10).

* Please see previous blog about the difference between these two.

** Amuse-gueule literally means "amuse mouth," with gueule being a slangy (and, on its own, somewhat vulgar) variation of the standard French word bouche.  Usually gueule is for animals and bouche for people.  An interesting side note is that in American restaurants this mini-dish is called an amuse-bouche.

*** raisin = grape, while raisin sec = raisin, usually much larger than you find in US supermarkets.

[howmanyforks-blog]

Cheese, please. (Part 1 of a Three-Part Edutaining Documentary Series)

Thursday, 6 June 2013

Today's setup: Roquefort and Reblochon (left to right) with a sweet white wine.  

In France, cheese is not eaten in the same way it's eaten in 'Merica.  While the French conform to the tradition (universal, I believe) of putting sliced cheese on sandwiches, when was the last time that cheese was one of the courses of your dinner?  Here, it's eaten after the main course and prior to dessert.  It's seldom eaten the way the way I ate it today -- as an entire meal -- but if you're looking for something decadent, cheap, easy to find, and oh so French, it's hard to think of a better picnic than French cheese, a baguette, and a well-chosen wine.  Today's cheeses were Roquefort and Reblochon, both accompanied by a Gewurztraminer white wine from Alsace (the part of France right next to Germany).  

Roquefort

For those of us who like our cheese zesty, it's hard to imagine a better fit than Roquefort.  You can tell it apart by its bluish-green "leaves" of mould, which add the tangy kick that's characteristic of blue cheese.  But even those who shy away from blue cheese might want to give Roquefort a try for its signature saltiness, which makes it a perfect spread for your baguettes and crackers.  And unlike creamier cheeses like Camembert (the topic of next week's post), it's ready to eat as soon as you bring it home -- I've never noticed a worthwhile difference between mature and less mature Roquefort.

Reblochon

(Although you might see a Swiss cross on the packaging of this cheese, don't worry -- it's made in France by European law.)  

I opened today's block of Reblochon after several weeks of waiting and was somewhat disappointed; it seems that Reblochon, unlike the Camembert which it resembles in its creamy texture, doesn't mature that much in a few weeks.  It's a creamy, slightly salty cheese; as someone who prefers strong cheese I found it too mild.  But for those who prefer mild, this spreadable cheese with a rind is perfect.

Gewurztraminer

White wine isn't just for seafood.  This Alsacian variety is sweet without any bitterness, a fair accord with the Reblochon and an excellent one with the Roquefort.  By excellent I mean that it brought out previously hidden flavour profiles in the cheese, underlining and italicizing its tanginess while bringing its milkiness out from hiding.  First drink it over cheese, then drink it over conversation.

Cut the Roquefort thin-thick, like this.  It's poor etiquette to cut it the other way.

Well, I've got to go powder my nose -- so as the French say, bonne soirée !

[howmanyforks-blog]

Where to eat chocolate in Paris

Wednesday, 5 June 2013.

Contrary to popular belief, France is not a particularly good source of chocolate.  It may be a better one than the USA -- "luxury" brands like Lindt are for sale at almost every grocery store here -- but chocolate is not really part of the national meal and, unlike in Switzerland or Belgium, if you pick too cheaply you're likely to get brittle, crumbly, inedible garbage.  The good news is that, as the culinary capital of the world, Paris has some excellent choices for the chocolate connoisseur, of which Jean-Paul Hévin's shop near the Louvre surely ranks among the best.

If you don't look hard for this one, you just might miss it ... (it's the one with the blue signs)

This store is a playground for chocolate lovers.  On the bottom level you find everything from the standard individual pieces of chocolate to chocolate cakes to chocolate bars to chocolate caramels ... all the way up to a chocolate Eiffel Tower and (fully smokable) chocolate cigar.  Even among the standard fare the variety is quite good: you can choose from at least a dozen kinds of chocolate bar, of which at least four are milk chocolate.  

But the real star of this show is the bar/café on the floor above, where you can drink one of a dozen kinds of house-made hot chocolate.  Order the Anne d'Autriche -- it's rich, milky, high-quality chocolate that you can't get from a packet.  It also lacks the spice and vanilla that it's advertised as having, but the chocolate itself is so good that this omission is forgivable.  

Said chocolate bar.

If you want to make a good thing even better, order the three macarons on the pâtisserie menu -- one of each kind -- and eat them with your chocolate.  The chocolat amer (dark chocolate) is actually quite sweet and bursts with flavour in your mouth, while the crème brulée and citron vert (lime) partner with the chocolate to create flavour combinations that are worth twice the price of admission.

What I had -- and what you should have, too.

Are the chocolates at ground level worth buying?  Let me put it this way -- I bought the salted caramel bar before leaving, planning to enjoy it slowly over a week of snack times.  Once I sat down and took a bite, I was unable to stop myself from eating the entire thing in one sitting.  

And I just might be back for snack time tomorrow.

My oh my, that's a lot of chocolate.

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Jean-Paul Hévin Chocolatier is located at 231 Rue Saint-Honoré, one block away from the Louvre and Le Jardin des Tuileries.  The nearest Métro station is Tuileries on Line 1.