Food! Glorious Food!

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by paddoboy, Apr 8, 2020.

  1. exchemist Valued Senior Member

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    I still chuckle to recall a spoof recipe from "And Now All This" (the not terribly good sequel to "1066 And All That", by Sellars and Yeatman), which included the instruction:
    " Close oven door sharply with a soft bang".

    But I find Francoise Bernard avoids that sort of tiresome style. It is all very rationally laid out. She even includes little side notes called "Mon avis", which contain details of her experiences with the recipe and tips to try, or avoid, for a good result. (The one on cooking boudins blancs is very funny, as it complains about the tendency of this kind of sausage to burst, half-heartedly suggests pricking the skin with a fine needle, but then says they will probably burst anyway - and frankly cooking these damned things is barely worth it in the first place. Or words to that effect, in French. I do cook them - but they burst and I just put up with it.

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  3. parmalee peripatetic artisan Valued Senior Member

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    Could be simply insufficient exposure, but I often find French culinary techniques to be somewhat aggravating. Take roasting a pepper, or eggplant, for instance: French techniques call for particular apparatus and such, whereas, say, Mediterranean/Middle Eastern and Latin American techniques are quite versatile, requiring only heat/flame and iron--kinda "street," so to speak. Could just be my temperament, as Buber said, "The tradition of the camp fire faces that of the pyramid." I favor the former.
     
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  5. exchemist Valued Senior Member

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    Then get "Les Recettes Faciles" and see another way of doing French cooking. It is the handbook of bourgeois households and does not demand special kit or laborious techniques. I don't know if it exists in English translation, though. I do also use a lot of Med-inspired recipes (e.g. from River Cafe or Jamie Oliver or Polpo) which tend to be simple. I don't have the patience to muck about for ages. My wife used to say I favoured what she called the "brasserie" style of cooking, which I took to mean fairly quick and simple to produce.
     
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