March 2024 Newsletter

Lindsey’s Almond Tart, from Chez Panisse

I was away! (Which is why this newsletter is coming to you a few days after the 1st.) My goal has always been to send out a newsletter on the first of the month, but it was superseded by my goal for this year which is to get out and about a little more than I have been. While I’ve been hunkering down on some book projects, I have friends who are frequently traveling and wonder what it would be like to be one of them, especially the ones who spend a week or two at a tropical resort that serves cocktails on the beach.

Until I get there, I was happy to get to Tuscany for a few days with Romain. My friend Anne Block of Take My Mother Please tours had gone to Albergo Le Terme a few months ago, and when she told me it was a small town with a communal hot springs in the middle, I sent messages to friends Rolando Beramendi and Judy of

Simply Divina- My Tiny Tuscan Kitchen

, who live nearby, and confirmed that it is a great place to go. We’d originally figured we’d spend three days in the countryside and two days in Florence. But the more I thought about it, I didn’t want to spend a bunch of time returning rental cars, dealing with hotels, etc., so I made an executive decision to stay in the countryside, saving Florence for its own special trip. So that’s where we went.

In the end, we had a great time although the 1 hour, 40 minute flight home, that started yesterday, ended with us arriving home today at noon…18 hours later. Oof. After a week of cured meats and cheese, along with lots of excellent pasta and great wine, we had sushi for lunch in Paris, and on the way home, I picked up two big bags of vegetables and a baguette, which made me happy to be back. Although we’re already planning our next trip and I’ll share the places we went once I get caught up on my sleep.

Last month I had a craving for Lindsey’s Almond Tart, the classic Chez Panisse dessert, which is where it all started for me in terms of my baking career. I wrote about it nostalgically in posts about My Recipe Book. (Link for paid subscribers.)

The tart is a bit tricky to make, and newbies (myself included) who joined the pastry department at Chez Panisse suffered a bit of hazing (by a tart!) trying to get it right. It’s meant to be eaten with your hands, and most people who’ve had it agree that it’s practically the perfect dessert: nutty, buttery, caramelized, and it doesn’t need any adornment. It’s great on its own. It’s a little different than what is presented nowadays on social media, which has become a parade of chocolate chip cookie dough–stuffed croissants, aka: crookies, and towering burgers, which have hit Paris:

chinchin_mamieasiatique

A post shared by @chinchin_mamieasiatique

Don’t get me wrong. I love eating and don’t want to yuck on anyone’s yum, but I don’t get the point of all that stuff.

Sometimes I’ll post a picture of a jambon-beurre sandwich or a pastry and people will ask, “How do you eat all that?” It doesn’t seem like a lot to me, at least compared to those deep-fried cookie-stuffed croissants, or the plus gros burger in Paris. (And I’m no purist, but calling fried disks of puff pastry overflowing with chocolate cream filling a “stuffed croissant” is like calling a round of San Francisco sourdough a baguette. Is it still a baguette if you shape it into a circle and bake it?) Call me skeptical, but I doubt people eat all that stuff.* I remember watching a woman at an ice cream shop order a whole bunch of cups and cones of ice cream, take pictures of them with her pretending to take a bite…then throw them in the garbage.

But I guess I’m guilty of that too. Once we needed to take a picture of me eating ice cream on the sidewalk in Paris. I had to walk around with it, which is a bit challenging with fresh ice cream, so I made a batch of fake ice cream. When we were all done, I tossed it in the garbage, and an old man came up to me and admonished me for tossing away perfectly good ice cream. So I guess I’m guilty as charged. (And maybe he’s writing about me in his newsletter.) Although, I did tell him that it wasn’t real ice cream.

I want to enjoy my life, and a big part of my life is food. When I left the restaurant business, “things” started to expand, and I kept eating as if I were running a marathon, which in a way, I had been; working a shift in a busy restaurant is like taking three aerobics classes in a row.

On a recent doctor’s visit, my doctor poked my stomach (like a Pillsbury doughboy) and said, “Uh, Daveed…” and told me to watch it. We’ve known each other for twenty-five years so I didn’t take it the wrong way. And also, it’s France, where people can be quite frank. On the other hand, I turned sixty-five last year, and I want to eat steak-frites, éclairs, and terrines and have wine with dinner, because, also, it’s France, which I do (mostly) in moderation, rather than deprive myself.

Years ago, when I met Romain, we went to New York together. Back in those days, clothing stores would have models like these two standing in front of their shops. So, of course, I had to get a picture of Romain with them. They were very nice, and I was talking to one, who said, “Oh, man. I would kill to have just one French fry.”

I can no longer rock the Speedo like I used to. And I can’t resist les frites, once in a while. But being half-French, I’m going to continue to wear one until I’m old(er) and gray. But don’t expect any pictures.

-David

Links

The French Fondue is the way to fondue. (Taste)

I chatted with Oliver Gee on his Earful Tower podcast about my favorite market in Paris. (The Earful Tower)

Data breach affects 33,000,000 people, half the population of France. (Euro News)

Spend a week in Puglia with Adam Roberts, the one and only Amateur Gourmet! (Elizabeth Minchilli)

California woman who sues over “San Merican Tomatoes” was upset over the allegedly misleading label. (NYT/Unlocked)

Is kosher salt really better? (via

Nik Sharma

)

French farmers storm the annual agriculture fair in Paris to confront the president. (Reuters)

Stephen Colbert and his wife, Evie, have a cookbook of Lowcountry favorites in the pipeline. (Eater Carolinas)

I want to see this documentary, Menus Plaisirs, a whopping four hours of a behind-the-scenes look at Les Troisgros restaurant in France…

*Not to pick on other bakers because bakers are my very favorite people, and I know people want to be seen. And making specialty pastries are a lot of work and require a lot of talent. I just feel as if we’re reaching peak over-the-top-ness.

(In my defense, I was also roundly criticized when I said I didn’t like kimchi tacos. I love kimchi and I love tacos, but to me, ne’er the two shall meet…and I think they’ve become a thing of the past.)