j'aime la cuisine francaise

August 20, 2018

j'aime la cuisine francaise

I love French food

In Praise of French Cuisine - a poem by Martin Farquhar Tupper

'Now Muse, you must versify your very best,
To sing how they ransack the East and the West,
To tell how they plunder the North and the South
For food for the stomach and zest for the mouth!
Such savoury stews, and such odorous dishes,
Such soups, and (at Calais) such capital fishes!
With sauces so strange they disguise the lean meat
That you seldom, or never, know what you're to eat;
Such fricandeaux, fricassees epicurean,
Such vins-ordinaires, and such banquets Circean,--
And the nice little nothings which very soon vanish
Before you are able your plate to replenish,--
Such exquisite eatables! and for your drink
Not porter or ale, but--what do you think?
'Tis Burgundy, Bourdeaux, real red rosy wine,
Which you quaff at a draught, neat nectar, divine!
Thus they pamper the taste with everything good
And of an old shoe can make savoury food,
But the worst of it is that when you have done
You are nearly as famish'd as when you begun!'

I don't agree with the last line of the poem, unless it's Nouvelle Cuisine. Two springs, and a dribble of sauce, decorating a tiny something or other, is not my idea of a fulsome meal.

Looks lovely but not exactly satisfying.

Ask someone, and the chances are, they will tell you that they love French Food, but don't cook it' because they think it is too difficult. That's so not true.

The thing is, you don't have to be a chef to cook really excellent French food.

A French housewife isn't a chef, she just knows the way to make great tasting food that her family likes.

GIF by http://www.englishexercises.org

It does help to like garlic. But it's not essential. Well, actually yes it is. I pretty much put garlic in everything I cook.
Top tip - always crush garlic. Never chop it. Crushing brings out more of the flavour.

What's the difference with the way the French cook? Passion. The French are passionate about what they eat. Passionate about the freshness of the ingredients they use. Passionate about everything connected with the art of creating fabulous food.

There are lots of websites devoted to French cooking, complete with the rules you have to obey. Tell that to any French woman - she'd laugh, and say, the only real rule to creating fabulous food is - love.

My guidelines on cooking?

Never cook with wine you wouldn't drink. Use only free range eggs. Unsalted butter. And if you can't be arsed to make your own stock, buy quality stock cubes or stock pots. Ssh - don't tell anyone, but many chefs use stock cubes.

Freshly ground black pepper, is more aromatic than the pre-ground stuff. Sea salt, like anything that hasn't been messed around with, and is in it's pure form, gives a much better taste to food than table salt.

Table salt is bad news, due to the way it is produced. Here's why -The Health Dangers of Table Salt

Try not to use plastic spoons. Nasty - nasty things.

Wooden spoons make blending sauces etc easier and smoother.

Giphy

Don't worry about wood not being hygienic. I've used wooden spoons all my culinary life, and I'm still here. Plus you can always immerse the wooden spoon in boiling water after washing.

And taste what you are cooking as you go along. If you don't like it, then no one else will. Also, when cooking a dish for the first time, don't deviate on the recipe - second time around is when you can adapt it to suit you.

Good food should be the
kiss that caresses your taste buds with the most delicious of sensuous pleasures, allowing that wanton side of you, to achieve an orgasmic culinary indulgence.

Like making love, eating, is at it's best when you take your time taken to enjoy the experience to the full. So you are totally satisfied. A three hour lunch, can have the same pleasure factor as all night love-making.

At first glance the way the French cook may appear unhealthy. All those rich sauces. Cheeses. Fabulous patisseries. And of course, no one grills anything. Frying food - tastes so much better.

With all this rich calorie laden food you might think the French are all overweight.

Not so. French women are generally thinner than their European counterparts.

That said, over processed, sugar laden, garbage food is encroaching on the French waistline. Thanks a bunch USA for being the country everyone wants to copy. Many ideas that come to Europe from across the 'pond' are fantastic - your bad eating habits are not one of them!!!

Because of 'Le Hamburger' - France is seeing a shocking rise in obesity levels - going from a low point of only 11% per head to 24%. Still behind the Americans and the British - but even so - such a shame that a once healthy way of eating, is being transformed by a fixation toward fast food.

Eat slow. Stay slim. Eat fast. Get fat. It's as simple as that.

Now for the French dinning experience ----

Firstly -

The Amuse Bouche (pre dinner nibbles) - beats the hell out of some peanuts and a few soggy crisps.

amuse bouche

All you need to make enticing Amuse Bouches is chunk of imagination and a slice of creativity.

Here's three simple ideas to get you started -

#1 - Fill shot glasses with Gazpacho soup. Okay it's Spanish - but still looks good.

#2 - Cut a 2 inch piece of cucumber. Take out the soft seeds and fill with any soft cheese. Cream cheese mixed with chopped chives is scrummy. Add a bit of garnish and hey presto.

#3 - Thinly slice a pear and an apple. Fold the fruit over and place one slice on top of the other, secure with a wooden toothpick on to a square of blue cheese.

The following recipes are my own invention, and ones my family has enjoyed many times over the years.

Premier Cours (first course)

Roasted Red Pepper & Coconut soup....simple to make. Delicious to eat.

Ingredients:
2 red peppers.
1 medium onion.
1 tin of coconut milk.
bulb of garlic.
salt and pepper to taste.
spring of something green to garnish.

Method:
Cut the peppers in half. De-seed and roast with the onion and garlic. The garlic is best cooked with the skin on which is removed after cooking.

Let the pepper cool then peel off the outer skin. Put all the roasted vegetables in a pan together with the coconut milk - blend until smooth - add the seasoning to taste. That's it.

I usually put a bowl of salad on the table that can be enjoyed throughout the whole meal.

Plat Principal (Main Course)

Chicken Breast - cooked in a cream and paprika sauce.

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast per person.
Paprika. Approximately 1 teaspoon.
Chicken stock.
Carton of double cream.
1 medium onion.
Garlic.
4 oz of butter.

Method:

Trim off any white slimy fat from the breast. Gently heat 2 ounces of the butter until melted and no longer frothing. Add paprika, cook for a second then add chicken breasts. Once the breasts are golden brown, pour in chicken stock to cover, then simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Remove breasts from pan, and keep warm. Reduce the liquid down by half. Add the remaining 2 ounces of butter and the double cream, over a warm heat stir until thickened. Season to taste and pour the sauce over the warm chicken.

Serve with whatever vegetables you like. Saute' potatoes goes well with this dish.

Troisieme Cours (Third Course) cheese and fruit.

You have a lot of choice when it comes to cheese in France. There is somewhere between 350 and 450 French cheeses.

Cheese is eaten after the main course, and before dessert. The reason. Eating fruit and cheese before dessert is meant to cleanse the palette before you indulge in a rich dessert.

My favourite fruit to go with cheese is figs - I absolutely adore the combo of succulent figs and blue cheese. Ideally figs are best at room temperature - and grapes or any other fruit cold.

Quatrieme Cours (Forth Course) dessert.

Baked Cheese Cake....it's so easy to make. Delicious to eat. And low in carbs.

Ingredients:

5 eggs. Separated.
5 oz of full fat cream cheese.
5 oz of ground almonds.
5 oz of butter.
5 oz of sugar.
1 oz of flour.
1 tsp of vanilla essence or the juice and rind of a lemon.

Method:

Separate the eggs. Place the yolks in a large bowl. Soften the butter then add the other ingredients. For a lemon taste add the juice and rind of the lemon. If you prefer a vanilla flavour, omit the lemon and add the vanilla essence instead. Mix until smooth. Beat the egg whites until stiff and gently add to the cake mixture.

Place mixture in a greased cake tin and bake in the centre of the oven at 180 degrees for approximately 45 minutes. Leave to cool. If you want you can whip double cream until thick and spread over the cake. Decorate with grated lemon rind, and or dark chocolate swirls. Or fruit garnish you think looks decorative.