u m a m i

It's effing cold here that's what it is

               

We're hovering at around 7 degrees C, and it's not nice at all. If I don't get up and do something every half hour or so my fingers get so cold they feel like they can snap off. Sometimes I clean the apartment with a Swiffer it's taken over the yoga mat as the exercise equipment of choice because all that to and fro movements warms up the muscles in the shoulder nicely. Sometimes I feel guilty about using Swiffer and swiffer-like products, because well, after it electrostatically attracts all that dust and dog hairs we have to throw it away, but then I justify to myself that at least I am not holding a cold wet cloth and faffing around with detergents and chemicals, and if I cut down on kitchen paper and loo paper usage it evens out somewhat. Perhaps so, maybe.

I am supposed to be revising, or at least reading, in this case a Margaret Fraser mediaeval thriller translated into French. A storybook contains thousands of ready made sentences with lots of conjugations and new words, at least that's how I rationalise it, instead of copying verbs. Or otherwise finish the bindings on a set of placemats before CNY, and if possible make some hairbands for C when we visit London next week (that'll have to wait until March, actually). Instead, I play wordgames and read blogs, and gawp at videos of ministers b*nking their 'personal' frieds and salacious pictures of Edison Chen and various starlets having s** - all I could think of was, gee when we first got our digital camera that's what we used to do too, husband and I, but paranoid him always made me delete them afterwards.

               

All this coldness too has been making me more peckish than ever. Up till last week the snack of choice was sugar-glazed nuts which we make ourselves since it's so difficult to find sweet roasted nuts in the supermarkets. Sugar and ground up green tea was a good combination, sugar and curry powder also worked, but sugar and lemon peel was not so great. Then we took a bus to the Chapelle / Montmartre area last Saturday and discovered lots of Indian groceries. Alamak, they have Baba's curry pastes, high grade basmati rice and a smacking selection of vacuum-sealed snacks such as the murukku above. The murukku was great, so much fresher than what I could get back home. Next up, bhel puri flavoured munchies, I can't wait.

In between, we are coping with the weather by eating lots of clementines. Mother nature knows the winters bring sniffles and colds and clementines are just the thing, especially the 'soucculent' ones from a little-bit-faraway Spain.

For dinners we have beefstews made with miso, kimchi soups, and lots of pureed soups of pumpkins, parsnips, topinambours and whatever root vegetables are cheapest and freshest. For the weekends, hotpots. Next week, for the first time in my life, we will have hotpot for CNY reunion dinner. We'll put a whole chicken into the stockpot to make a super soup and then we'll dunk in scallops and whatever yummy seafood and meat we will find in the market.

How to brighten up your boring old roasted vegetable salad?

Why, with lemon zest of course!

               

Quarter some peppers, cut some peeled carrots and parsnips, season and put into a roasting pan at medium heat. Peel sweet pototoes, cut into chunks and zap in microwave for 10 minutes, then let it join the party in the oven. While the vegetables roast, deseed cucumbers and slice. Also cut up some Italian bacon, which the vendor at the market says is called bacon, not any special Italian name, but it is very tasty and not fatty at all, just pure briny porky meat, throw that in too.

Toss everything gently with more of your favourite olive oil and good salt and a touch of balsamic vinegar if you like. Finally, grate the zest of one lemon on top, mix to let the heat soften the sour-bitter bite of the zest and there we have it, a beautiful and beautiful-tasting winter salad.

Thanks to my friend Sui Mai for the idea. She was raving about O & Co's lemon olive oil which has a bright irresistable flavour. I hesitated about buying but decided to adapt the idea for the salad and the result was astoundingly good. We should know because we eat roast vegetables ALL the freaking time yet this still amazed us that's how good it was.

Finally husband decided on Marrakech and not Istanbul for our planned winter getaway, but we've been procrastinating way too long. All the riads that we liked, and we shortlisted 10 including the names of their rooms (gingembre, coriandre, casablanca, safi etc etc) are completes i.e. full, for the weekends we wanted.

The friendly lady on the other side of the line was apologetic, their weekends are booked all the way till April. How about weekdays she enthusiastically suggested, we have rooms available any weekday in February. Nobody comes on weekdays, she said, her exasperation can be felt all the way in our apartment which has become cold again. I wish I could too.....

And do you know what else is new? Besides the headlines of Nicolas Sarkozy-Carla Bruni romance, collapse of the stock markets, Davos forum, bank frauds, tension in Kosovo, US elections?

The answer is PLUMBING PROBLEMS. Everyone it seems, is beset with it and it's what we talk about at dinner parties.

This time last year, when we moved into our apartment, we were visited by the manager of the hair salon which occupy the unit below ours. Water was dripping from our unit onto theirs, fortunately their German pumber could identify and solve the problem. Unfortunately that was not the only incidence, it's recurred two or three times with the latest only 2 weeks ago. Not to mention the growing-ever-bigger paintcrack on our bedroom walls because of water seeping in from the bath-tub next door. The plumbers, about 5 of them, have walked through and gave their various diagnosis and estimates, and one of them knocked down the casing and exposed the ugly tub inside last October. Yet the problem is still unresolved. There's also V's bathroom sink which fell off, yes, fell off its haphazard wooden frame; the plumber took three days to find a suitable GLUE which turned out to be sticky for only 2 months. I doubt there is a glue strong enough to resist gravity and the weight of a whole sink of water but what do I know I am not a plumber! The second plumber did something else but we're not holding out much hope of the sink staying put for long.

Still, it is not that bad. My French conversation teacher was hosting dinner for 12 of her husband's business associates when her daughter informed her that the kitchen was leaking water into the dining room. Her kitchen sink had collapsed, along with the pipes, and there was dirt and mess everywhere. Nightmare!

At my favourite noodle place, their ceiling sports a makeshift cover which could not quite control water dripping on the stairs and right in the middle of the restaurant too. And this morning I read about Beaulotus's water problems. Everyone, French and foreigners alike, are moaning about their leaking pipes. These old buildings just give in come midwinter, c'est la vie.

Cluck cluck come here my poulet

               

I have an uncle who once pronounced that it is a very bad idea to order chicken in Occidental restaurants, because, well, chicken comes with bones which is a pain to dissect with knife and fork. Taking his pronouncement to heart, chicken remained largely ignored when I eat out.

Until last year, sometime in midsummer, at La Table de Joël Robuchon, when I was looking at the options for their lunch menu and chicken suddenly seemed like a good idea. It was delicious, I cleaned my plate, but I can't remember any more details. A few weeks later, in their weekly supplement of 10 October 2007, Le Figaroscope published their table of what they think is the best poulet rôti (roast chicken) in town, from a shortlist of 20. I tore the page out and thumbtacked it to my corkboard but thought nothing of it until last week when I was out of idea of where to go for lunch with Sui Mai.

We met at one of the 3rd best in the list, which is shared between two restaurants. Atelier de Maître Albert was chosen over Relais Plaza because it is cheaper, though at 19.50 euros à la carte or as part of their 24 or 29 euro menu (for 2 and 3 courses respectively) it is not cheap cheap by any means. Located along 1, rue Maître Albert in the 5th arrondissement, the restaurant is housed in an elegant and modern room populated by business and ladies-who-lunch crowd. We ordered the same starter, underseasoned pastilla of pigeon served with oversalted salad and a half-hearted honeyed hazelnut sauce. Did the roast chicken save the day? Fortunately yes. I liked it very much. Very flavourful farm chicken meat, here I mean the breast because these days against all my previous inclinations I am leaning more towards this cut rather than the dark meats for its relatively 'purer' taste. The skin was not that crispy as it could be but the light savoury nappe of gravy smoothed this over nicely. Best of all was the accompanying pureed potato, served in a little cast iron casserole like the famous Joël Robuchon one, but this version is even better in our opinion- less cloying, lighter, more tasty, simply delicious- and we had to refrain ourselves from eating too much.

               

After husband saw the picture of my roast chicken lunch he suggested we try out another on the list. It was to be L'asssiette (Chez Lulu) which was in No 2 position and only serves this dish for Sunday lunch, and they use the famous Landes Label Rouge farm chicken. When I called up to make reservations and asked about the roast chicken, the man on the other side of the line asked me how many? I was stumped, did he mean how many chickens or how many portions, and had to pass the phone to husband to clarify. Even with pre-order, we had to wait quite a while before it was ready and well, it did not come up to any expectations at all. The skin was super crispy but was also very salty which didn't do it for me. The meat was quite dry and the overall result was not much better than what we could produce at home. It is obviously a favourite with the Figaro folks because in a related article on garlicky cuisine last week, this dish was recommended because it came with l'ail en chemise or roasted garlic cloves. Garlic potato mash just seemed so ten years ago honestly, and no amount of garlic can help the dense potatoes which was begging for a lot more gravy. And at 25 euro per portion we are never ever going back.

               

Actually last week I was eating chicken almost all the time. There was, at L'Epigramme (9, rue Eperon in the 6th), poulet au feu as a main dish in their very reasonable 28 euro dinner menu (3 courses), beautifully cooked and delicious to the last bite.

               

Husband too is having a renewed appreciation in this common meat. He suggested, and I am still thinking about it: how to cook a Bresse chicken which incidentally costs 14.95 euro per kg. In the meantime, I bought a more down-to-earth but still of a good size yellow farm chicken from the butcher to cook ginseng chicken. It was easy to do, because the other ingredients- 3 thumblet pieces of Korean ginseng, some red dates, glutinous rice and dried chestnuts- were all bundled in a ready-to-cook plastic bag which I bought for 7.50 euros at a Korean grocery in the 7th arrondissement. We supplemented that with some American ginseng and more chestnuts and stuffed everything in the cavity before sewing the openings up. Then it was put into a pot and covered with water, brought to the boil and left to simmer for a good 1.5 to 2 hours, as directed in the package.

               

The resulting soup was more chicken than ginseng flavoured, next time we'll probably buy the ingredients separately and put extra ginseng in the stock. The ginseng was quite fresh and sweet, the rice tender and well infused with chicken and ginseng flavours while the chicken was not much worse off from its two hour simmer. It was a hit with everybody and with a few more months until warm weather arrives, I can foresee this dish appearing on the dinner table often.

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Which galette?

We have been eating rather a lot of galette des rois, and I have even attended a galette des rois party organised by our French conversation instructresses, bringing the total to 6 galettes consumed within 2 weeks! Reminds me of the mooncake madness back home, since we missed all that excitement last year we have been overcompensating like mad once we discovered this quaint French tradition.

Here are the five that we have eaten at home, analyzed, loved/ hated, criticized and in a totally subjective manner, ranked in order of preference. They come from well known patisseries, prize-winning bakeries and neighbourhood shops and within a wide spectrum of prices too. All prices indicated are for a standard 4-person cake.

Two Saturdays ago Le Figaro published an article on how to choose a good galette. The colour should be a burnished brown, it advised, for it indicates that the pie is baked through the fillings inside and ensures a crispy, flaky crumb. It also advises to choose pies which do not have a peaked top which may indicate that the pastry has separated from the filling, i.e. gone a bit stale. There were more tips, but these two tips I carried with me when I went looking for galettes to buy.

The following pictures are not to scale. The fèves are definitely not bigger to the cake, they are usually no bigger than 2 cm in their widest/ longest section!

1. Patisserie Malitourne (12 euros)

The hands down favourite came from our neighbourhood bakery and chocolate maker on 30, Rue Chaillot VIIIth arrondissement. Very flakey and crispy pastry layers matching cohesively in a good ratio with filling which was moist, buttery and almondy. Fève was a "Dynastie Song" vase with surprisingly intricate details. At 12 euros it is definitely a good buy. They have 2 other outlets in the 16th arrondissement.

2. Ronde des Pains (we think)

This was, if you remember, brought by Sui Mai from her neighbourhood. She can't quite remember the name of the bakery but thinks that it is Ronde des Pains along rue Rambuteau, which I discovered is a chain of bakeries. We've placed it second because their galette is yummy, though a little sweet compared to Malitourne's. The fève is a cute, erm, doe-eyed Bambi.

3. Pain et Passion (14 euros)

The same Figaro article came with recommendation for what they think are the best galettes in Paris and a few other French cities. Top of the list is Pain et Passion which is a small bakery on 117 Avenue d'Italie in remote 12th arrondissement. Since I was meeting Sui Mai and we needed to divert ourselves with an activity rather than shopping at the soldes (sales) we decided, why not, to go look for this top galette. It's good to have a friend in Sui Mai, she doesn't find it strange at all to travel across town for a cake; she even half-suggested that we stop by another Figaro-recommended bakery along rue Monge and we really would have done so had we not missed the bus-stop.

Anyway, Pain et Passion looked promising. On their windows is the proud declaration and trophies from their being declared the best galette maker in 2005. Unfortunately after two years the standards must have slipped. It was a very flat eating experience in all senses- the pastry didn't do much except come off in layers, and the filling was too dense and uniform tasting, and very much lacking in creamy almondy pleasures. The fève though is adorable, so much so that my V was moved to giving him many enthusiastic kisses.

4. Maison du Chocolat (22 euros)

Maison du Chocolat sells two versions- a classic round version with frangipane, and a chocolate sandwiched version. The chocolate galette costs a whopping 44 euros, so I settled for the classic one and bought as well a mini chocolate version. A very good decision as it turned out, as their classic galette is the worst of the entire bunch. Flaccid pastry on top, tough on the bottom layer, and a thin nondescript layer of frangipane that absolutely did not taste like it was worth the exorbitant 22 euros, let alone the 10-12 euros that would more be the norm in neighbourhood bakeries. The whimsical fève of micro macarons redeemed things somewhat, and their crown is of a clever design, so some small consolations there.

             

The chocolate galette though, is most excellent, sandwiching a generous layer of very smooth, full bodied bittersweet chocolate. Just the thing to impress the in-laws I would say.

BONUS PRIZE though, goes to Sadaharu Aoki. which has a most unconventional galette des rois.

For one, it is in a square shape.

Two, it has delicate leafy pastries richly flavoured with high-umami matcha flavours, embedded generously with toasty white and black sesames.

Three, the fillings include whole azuki beans, azuki paste and a light frangipane layer that has just that right balance of almond perfume to balance with the red bean sweetness. Totally delicious.

Four, it comes in a very classy packaging, with gold cardboard base and a neat box whereas everyone else just gives you the cake in a flimsy paper bag. Still, the crown is as generic as the rest.

Five, the fève is gorgeous, a coloured glass heart pendant/ decoration that is coddled in its own protective paper wrapping.

Six, all this for 21 euros which does sound competitive against the Maison du Chocolat classic methinks.

         

These 'king cakes', as we call them at home, will continue to be available until month's end, and we intend to go on sampling more. In the meantime, enjoy looking at the beautiful layers of the Sadaharu Aoki masterpiece.

Le Clocher Pereire

                  

This year we hope to discover more of our preferred type of restaurants- small to medium sized places run by passionate chefs serving delicious food to excite and admire, serving meals that cost no more than 20 euros for lunch or 35 euros per person excluding wine. Bonus points for decor, ambience, service and view and well, X-factor. Ten days into the new year, we're happy to report that this is not such an impossible goal after all because we have found not one, not two, but three places that we like.

The first is Le3, a restaurant tucked in a Marais courtyard which we nearly walked past had I not been paying attention. The restaurant is divided into two spaces, an inner white-napkin section with downlights and arty photo prints, and an outer glass-housed section with potted plants that would be pretty when the sun is out. Lunch menus was running at 17 euros with a carafe of drinkable wine. The food was not too complicated but still competent- starters like salmon with poached egg, mains of grilled fish with orange braised fennel and the budget classic of hachis parmentier. Dinner menus run from 26 to 34 euros without wine.

The second is the well-known L'Oursine, a brightly lit bistro on 92 rue Broca in the 13th arrondissement (T: 01 44 07 13 65). The location is not very convenient but still customers are willing to make the journey which speaks volumes about the food, we had delayed trying it out earlier because of this reason. The dinner menu starts from 32 euros and their dishes are mostly classics with little tweaks to go with the times. A starter of velvety smoked Scottish salmon on a cool pillow of smooth vicchysoise was excellent, so was onglet of veal served with a little tub of creamy polenta so good the two polenta-sceptics in us fought for the last drop, and desserts didn't fail either. My 'epiphany' of galette des rois did indeed lived to its promise and made me sit up and notice this cake which I use to think of as an almond bomb. The room is bright, tables are very close together but not elbow-touching yet so this place is good for casual meals. One critiscm is their service which was rushed and inattentive especially at the beginning.

The third is our favourite. Like L'Oursine, Le Clocher Pereire (T: 01 44 40 04 15) on 42 Boulevard Pereire is not located too conveniently, and parking was just as hard to procure. But the food, ooh la la, is most definitely worth the trouble, and time, to get there. The first good sign was the seasonal menu of 29 euros, and at this price even dishes with foie gras and scallops did not call for the usual 'supplements'. Everything we tried was fabulous, this was the only place that had husband saying twice to the staff that it was 'très bien' and even shaking the manager's hand as he left. The amuse bouche, a little shot of soup of petit pois enriched with a bright green blob of  olive oil, had a light, sweet savoury finish that left me wanting more, priming the palate and appetite for the meal to follow. An appetiser of uni (or tongue of urchin as stated in French in the menu) with cauliflower mousse and a disc of deep fried bone marrow was sensational in appearance as well as taste. Main of roast pheasant had foie gras stuffed inside, very yummy, but even more yummy was tender roasted parsnips. Instead of dessert I munched on slices of creamy-salty Orrat Iraty cheese accompanied by a generous glass of Jurançon. A near perfect meal.

Husband enjoyed his scallop tartare appetiser but loved more his mains of roasted black cod with champagne glaze. He gave me 9 out of 10 points for selecting the restaurant, being especially pleased with the decor; for that price point he was not expecting a relatively spacious room, table cloths, large napkins and a stalk of fresh roses on each table. For me, I was not expecting 'avant dessert' or pre-dessert which may be more common in 200 euro-per-head establishments. The entire meal was super value for money and I would not be surprised if in six months time the price inches up another 3 or 4 euros. The only glitch was that the white Burgundy we ordered was served a little warm, otherwise it would have been a perfect meal but like he says, there's always room for improvement. My dear husband is already looking forward to a business lunch there next week.

Vegetarian Congee

                  

Yesterday I woke up really early and offered to send V to childcare. Husband was delighted, this meant he gets more time at his office. In the lift he observed that I was "full of beans". He may be right, I don't feel so lethargic anymore, the new formulation from my French endocrinologist must finally be working.

This morning the same thing happened, my eyes flew open at around 6.30 a.m. What would you like for breakfast, I badgered husband. Eggs, no, he has already consumed his weekly allowance. Oatmeal, no, I didn't think to soak some last night. Congee, hmm, sounds good.

I let Mimi out of the room, brushed my teeth and got dressed. It was just past 7 a.m. I looked in the pantry, there was plenty of vegetables but the meats were all frozen stiff so it would have to be a herbivorous version. I boiled water, scooped rice into saucepan, peeled and rinsed vegetables, prepared side dishes and garnishes, laid the table, boiled more water for a pot of tea, drew the curtains, ingested medication and did the dishes. At 7.45 a.m. I got GG and V out of bed. At 8.10 a.m. voila, a warming yet light breakfast was ready. I served it in a 70's covered crock found at a flea market and felt very Stepford wifey but the family loved it. The recipe is dead easy and could be adapted to whatever is in the larder, high energy housewife or not.

Vegetarian congee:

Rice, 1.5 cups for 3 adults.

Root vegetables: I used sweet potatoes, carrots, knob of ginger.

Green vegetables: I used napa cabbage, nai bai and defrosted green peas.

1. Wash the rice and bring to boil with about 5 times its volume of water. When the water boils, stir in a teaspoon of cooking oil. Leave on moderate boil and stir from time to time to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

2. Peel and cut root vegetables in small chunks and add to pot.

3. When rice softens and starts to break up, add hard stalks of cabbages. If congee is too thick, add more water, if too watery let more water boil off. Once desired consistency and thickness is reached, add leafy vegetables and peas and bring to a final boil.

4. Suggested condiments: pickles, chopped scallions, fried shallots, shredded seaweed, inari pre-soaked in hot water to remove excess oil and sugar, toasted sesame seeds, julienned ginger slices etc. Not all at once of course, just a selection. Taste would be enhanced with some soy sauce, sesame oil and of course, good old Marmite which would make it not vegetarian anymore but still very delicious.

                  

Did I send V to childcare again? Of course, and on the way back made a detour to the market for some groceries. Like they say, I was energetic enough to "ta lou fu", literally fight with tigers!

Sweet beginnings

                  

C brought along a magnificient pannetone for Christmas but we were too full to enjoy it so it stood forlornly on the cake stand until last weekend, when we invited Sui Mai and her very soon-to-be husband over for steamboat and mahjong. Sliced, toasted and then buttered is my favourite way of enjoying it, pairing comfortably with a cup of milky tea. The Italians eat it with a glass of sweet sparkling Asti which strikes me as a lovely idea too. 

                  

As for the French, there is always the tradition of La Galette des Rois, a round pie/cake of puff pastry with almondy frangipane filling. This pie is made and eaten in celebration of L'Épiphany, the feast day reliving how the three kings found baby Jesus. The kings took twelve nights to find the baby whom we all know was born in a lowly manger with presumably no address, hence the last day of Christmas is also known as Twelfth Night. Also the time to take down the decorations and put up some red and gold Chinese New Year trimmings.

Hidden in each galette is a little favour, in olden days it was a fève (pea) but these days anything goes, like in the galette brought over by Sui Mai, we found a tiny ceramic Bambi. The person who finds the fève gets to wear a golden crown and is treated like a king or queen. Rather fun, especially if the galette tastes good. It should have light flaky crust with a filling that is not too rich or sweet. All the versions I've tasted, well all two of it so far, were yummy.

Every baker is selling them until end of January, and chances are restaurants and dinner party hosts will also be featuring this festive cake in their menu. At Maison du Chocolat they even have a version split it in half horizontally and sandwiched with dark chocolate.