French lessons, events & trips
FRENCH LESSONS EVENTS & GIFTS
Tiring of the (now) ubiquitous quarantini? Feel like expanding your cocktail répertoire* without expending too much effort? Enter the French 75, a classic cocktail français* invented by Harry MacElhone from Harry's New York Bar de Paris who named his creation after a 75mm French canon, a blast from which he believed produced a similar effect.
*list | *French
If you've found yourself doing more home cooking recently, it might be an idea to look to the French concept of food and wine matching for some classic guidelines.
Balance is very important to the French, in all areas of life. This fact, coupled with their passion for good food and wine makes it logical that they would make an art form of balancing what they eat and drink.
In French, matching food and wine is called assortir les vins au menu. For a subject that can seem overwhelming for the amateur, the good news is that the basic tenets are really quite logical. Voici* some useful rules of thumb.
If you’re interested in a bit more nuance, try to follow the following ideas:
A dry white wine is a good match for fresh seafood, a fuller-bodied white if the seafood is served hot, and a medium or even sweet white if the seafood is served with a sauce.
Try to match the intensity of the meal with the wine. That is, a rich steak marries well with a full-bodied red wine, whereas scallops would benefit a more delicate white.
Lastly, where possible, use wines from the same region as the dish. When all elements come from the same terroir,* the likelihood of a successful marriage is naturally higher.
Bon appétit!*
*Here are | *the unique combination of climate, soil and topography of a particular area | *Enjoy your meal!
As you may know, Deborah is on lockdown in France, and while we’ve been in regular contact and I can tell you her physical and mental health is in tact, her comportement* has undergone a radical change. Oui, tout le monde, Deborah cuisine*.
To be fair to Deborah, she did have a foray into cooking last year with the help of Hello Fresh, and quite possibly she has kept it up since her return to France, but this goes above and beyond the call of duty: baking madeleines.
These little French cakes have a literary link, as it was in dipping a buttery madeleine into tea that the adult writer Proust was able to unlock childhood memories, as he evoked in “À la recherche du temps perdu” (“In Search of Lost Time”). He must have had quite some memories to draw upon, as the work runs to 4 215 pages over seven volumes and weighs 3.9kgs. Et voilà*, some light confinement* reading ideas. Don’t say we don’t look after you.
If you’re after a more modest challenge, try translating the ingredients below, and then, if you’re feeling confident, keep going with the instructions. If you need a good dictionary, we recommend www.wordreference.com.
By the way, head chef Deborah didn’t have a madeleine moule* so she just used a muffin tin instead and she reports they were nonetheless délicieux.
Bonne cuisine*!
*behaviour | *Yes, everybody, Deborah is cooking | *isolation | *And there you go | *mould | *delicious | *Happy cooking!
Apart from the delicious taste, I suppose? Well, there is one tell-tale sign you may not know about: les alvéoles*. So what are these indicators of quality? Simply put, they are air cavities and can help you distinguish an artisanal bread from a mass-produced one. The air pockets are usually the result of a dough that has been treated with the respect it deserves, that is, with as little interference from le boulanger* as possible.
So what is is about theses trous* that makes for a special bread? Here below an explanation from the esteemed website, Pains et Tradition*:
"En effet, afin de créer des pains exceptionnels on essaye de manipuler la pâte le moins possible et on se contente de simplement découper au format voulu en laissant la fermentation naturelle produire son œuvre."
"In fact, in order to create exceptional breads, we try to touch the dough as little as possible and simply cut it into the shape we require and then let natural fermentation do its work."
Mais attendez*! There's more...
"Ainsi, certains pains peuvent présenter une superbe alvéole que l’on qualifie de trou mais qui, en réalité est un signe de grande tradition et de respect de la nature."
"Thus, certain breads have superb air cavities that may look like holes, but in fact are a sign of great tradition and a respect of nature."
So where to find the best baguettes in Brisbane? Please do let us know your favourite spot, but here are some of ours:
Christian Jaques, Kangaroo point (Christian flies his flour in from France. That is dedication.)
Danny's Bread, Teneriffe (worth a trip for the smell of the fresh bread alone)
Chouquette, New Farm (surely soon to be granted 'institution' status?)
Bon appétit!*
*a good baguette | *air cavities | *the baker | *Breads and Tradition | *But wait! | *Happy eating!