Mushroom Kingdom

©thefrancofly

Over the vacation, one of my foodie dreams came true.  Foraging for mushrooms!  Nothing gets this city girl more excited than an outdoorsy hunt for something that draws the line between delectable and deadly.  So far so good, I have lived thus far to say so.

After our culinary adventures in Nice,  we spent the final leg of our vacances high in the mountains of La Cévennes in South Central France.  We were camped out at a friend’s grandmother’s home.  Luckily, I already have a sentiment for old, musty summer homes.  As a kid, I was first acquainted with mildew and shag carpeting at my grandparent’s groovy Michigan farmhouse.   But flash-forward to 2012, imagine a turn-of-the-century, 3-story roadside hotel. The stairs are laced with Grecian keys.  The walls are ripe with tropical fruits.  It was all a little too reminiscent of The Shining.  But who needs to sleep on vacation anyway, right?  Nevertheless, our days were spent seeking out swimming holes, ‘borrowing’ currents from the neighbors garden, and an intensive ping-pong tournament in site of Rio 2016.  Although outnumbered, I am happy to report that team America did just fine.

Although a rainstorm would usually put a damper on our summer fun, it promised a new crop of mushrooms!

©thefrancofly

A cork board in our host’s kitchen proudly collaged photos of cèpes, porcini mushrooms even bigger than portabellas.  Local gossip insisted that mushrooms were left and right, just waiting to hop into a sautee pan.  Flaunting my American optimism and my hankering for an amazing omelette, I insisted we take along two baskets just in case.

©thefrancofly

But after two afternoons of hunting, foraging, seeking, and/or destroying, the only thing in our baskets was a single pied de mouton, or hedgehog mushroom.  Like all things French, it was treated with egality.  It got chopped up into tiny bits and thrown into some fried fingerling potatoes.  Tant pis.

Many thanks to the frog behind thefrancofly, mon mari, for the delicious snapshots of the hunt.

P.S.  Thefrancofly is now on Pinterest!  Share your favorite foodie illustrations with all your friends, both virtual and real.

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Paris TO-DO List- The Cheap-Ass Summer Edition

© Jessie Kanelos

Things to get excited about this summer!

1.) Apricots!  They’re starting to show up at the market, but they are just a taste of what’s to come.  Cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums, mirabelles!  I cannot wait to turn all of these beautiful summertime fruits into beautiful cakes, cobblers, and clafouti(s).  Unfortunately, corn in France does not evoke the Midwestern summertime pastimes I think of.  It’s basically pig feed.  But it does not prevent me from being on a mission to find some proper sweet corn!  “Chéri, fire up the barbie!”

2.) Fête de la musique.  On June 21st, ringing in the summer solstice, France is bumping with free concerts, barbecues, block parties and dancing in the streets.  Why can’t all festivals be for the sake of music’s sake?

3.) Cinéma en Plein Air de la Villette.  When Paris transforms into a ghost town from July 25-August 26, the ‘left behind’ flock to free movie screenings every evening at dusk.  Round up the friends, pack up a picnic, and the lawn chairs.  I would recommend camping out early; the place fills up quickly.  And if the sun is still out, I like to follow in the very big footsteps of Yogi Bear and creepily cruise around to see what is in other people’s picnic baskets.  Anyway, «Métamorphoses» is this year’s theme.  Check out the excellent schedule here.

4.) Living in a new place.  Starting over and leaving the black mold behind.  I wish that were a metaphor!  Although our budget has been blown on the flat in favor of enjoying a proper vacation, we can still indulge in vacation pastimes such as bi-daily napping and stone fruit binges from the comfort of our new home.   I don’t need no Loire Valley, I will have the Chateau de Vincennes on the way to the Metro now.
What’s on your summer to-do list?

99 problems but a zucchini ain’t one

Just like any other day, aside from the crisper drawer full of Kodak, the fridge is barren, except for a well-rounded collection of condiments with nothing to put them on.  But regardless of what’s inside, there are always a few zucchini lurking about.  They are sturdy, reliable, adaptable, and have already outlasted Kodak.

I never cared much for zucchini in my previous life, pre-France.  Growing up in the Midwest, zucchini was yet another victim of the deep fryer.  And in the summertime, my mom always thought buying a 5-pounder from the farmer’s market would satiate our annual zucchini consumption.  But in reality, half went to a zucchini bread and the other half was lost to the fridge.  Just like avocado chocolate mousse and peanut butter & banana sandwiches, zucchini bread was another cultural over-share with mon mari qui fume.  But that’s ok.  In France, zucchini always seems to be in season and the price is always in reason. Mixed with a little creme fraiche and sprinkled with cheese, it bakes up into a beautiful gratin.  I usually slice it and sauté it over a medium heat in olive oil with a crushed garlic clove until it caramelizes on both sides.  

Mixed with anchovies and pasta or made into an omelette, this super-simple preparation heightens the nuttiness of the zucchini in less than 5 minutes.  Now, what to do with all those condiments?

Truite Rose en Papillote

One of the first things I have learned living in France is that non happens much more quickly than what you want to hear.  Similarly, customer service follows the same philosophy.  Every time I ask where to find something at the grocery store, I get a few shrugged shoulders and a je ne sais pas.  But luckily, I have found a place where useful information is generously rationed, at the biweekly, neighborhood market.  And wouldn’t you much rather take advice from an artisan?  Recently, I’ve been experimenting with smaller, inexpensive, more sustainable fish like mackerel and sardines.  Truite rose, or rainbow trout, a distant cousin of salmon, caught my eye.  I quickly inquired how my fishmonger would prepare it.  He suggested en papillote, or wrapped up and baked in parchment paper.  I brought the little beauty home, stuffed her with a few lemon slices, parsley, plopped on a nob of better, sea salt and sealed her in egg-brushed parchment.  Cooking the trout precisely for 15 minutes at 250 C or 480 F, we were left with a perfectly cooked fish for two.  Although the truite rose itself is not as tasty as its oilier predecessors like sardines and mackerel, this non-recipe recipe can be suited to any fish with any combination of herbs and aromatics.  Just ask your poissonnier!

Which aromatics would you add to your truite en papillote?

Fête des Mères

Strength, creativity, patience, and sacrifice.  All the things she has perfected; all the things I am just beginning to understand.

Happy mother’s day, mom!

All ‘chocked up!

Artichoke season is upon us.  I can’t help but pick them up these beauties from the farmer’s market. Partially because they still remain a mystery to me.  What’s one to do with that exoskeleton of tough scales?  I know, I’ll watercolor it!

I must admit, I am still mastering the art of artichoke carving and preparation.  But they will get my asparagus treatment, splitting them in half and baking them with a welcome smattering of garlic, lemon zest, parmesan and breadcrumbs.  I need your help, dear readers.  Please send me your favorite artichoke recipes!

Radishes & butter.

Terraces and cigarettes.  Rosé and the summertime.  Radishes and butter.  Radishes and butter?  Yes! As a Ranch-dipping American, this came as a bit of a surprise to me .  (How does one butter a radish?  Have the French found an excuse to dip things into butter now?  I admit to sneaking single-serving Country Crock packets under restaurant tables as a kid, but this is absurd!) In France, butter is the assigned spouse to radishes, with a sprinkle of extramarital sea salt just to keep things interesting.  Although everyone does it differently, according to mon mari qui fume, the butter to my radish, the radishes are cut into four parts which create the surface area for the butter.  The beauty of the pairing instantly makes itself clear; the smooth butter flatters the crisp, occasionally spicy radish.  Give it a try!  Anyone know where to get some Country Crock around here?

Even the kiwis are French!

I am a real foodie now!  I’ve started buying locally and seasonally.  Farewell, sweet bananas and pineapples from faraway.  See you sporadically!  However, I made a recent discovery.  Over Christmas vacation, we spent a few days at a friend’s cottage in the mountains near La Cévennes.  The only fruit in the house were tiny kiwis no bigger than my thumb.  And they were local, harvested just nearby.  I always assumed that kiwi’s acidity and zippy vitamin C meant their origins were more tropical than domestic.  But as winter fruit, they add a bit more variety to the apples, clementines, and grapefruits that fill the colder months.  But since Spring has sprung, I should scrap this watercolor.  It’s completely out of season!

Does this discovery come as a surprise to you, too?

Cafe Titon

Original illustration by Jessie Kanelos

Very few cafes have the same open charm and open arms as Cafe Titon on the corner of Rue Chanzy and Rue Titon.  On a no-frills corner in the 11e arrondisement, Cafe Titon opens up like a clamshell onto the street.  Maybe it is the ancient stone mosaic tiles geometrically breaking up the floor or the makeshift loveseat of beatup leather armchairs pushed together.  Photos are hung back-to-back to engage patrons and the passerby. The wraparound bar’s stocked shelves of Paulaner glasses and a currywurst special on the menu are a subtle wink to the fact that Cafe Titon is Paris’s Germanophile bar.  An overhead projector broadcasts football matches, riling up a rowdy crowd in the evenings.

It is one blueberry scone and chai latte away from being a coffee shop in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Wicker Park, Chicago, or anywhere but here.  But I will spare the comparisons and embrace the currywurst, the beer on tap, and maybe even football!

34 Rue Titon  75011 Paris 09 53 17 94 10