CONTEMPORARY FOOD & LIFESTYLE
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PARIS: LES ENFANTS PERDUS

August 12th, 2012 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Paris | Restaurant - (1 Comments)

Oh Hai. It’s me. Rip Van Winkle who has come to life a bit after thousands of years to give you two posts in a row.

I don’t have any better quality pictures than this but this is my favourite restaurant in Paris (maybe) (I think probably). If you are totes over Hotel du Nord, just cross the canal and come here.

I think this is something like goats cheese ravioli in beef broth and some kind of pate with brioche toast. Other memorable meals were a while ago so I can’t remember all the gorey details but I do remember the best dessert of my life, and Goon’s and I think probably Anthony’s as well.

ME: Grapefruit segments in syrup with lime sorbet and mint

ANTHONY: Three mini creme brulée – one vanilla, one hazelnut and one pistachio.
Hang on it is coming back to me – for a started he had asparagus wrapped in a fine fine layer of pastry and then we both had cod and leek for our main dish.

GOON: Le Pain Perdu with caramalised brioche, caramel sauce and marshmallow icecream.

Booyah.

Les Enfants Perdus9 rue des récollets 75010 Paris
Tel. 01 81 29 48 26

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LE SECRETS DU MACARON DEUX

April 7th, 2012 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Macaron | Paris - (0 Comments)

I have had a few questions lately about macarons and problem solving. It is time to call in the expert:

Hai, it’s me Hobart. Thanks for joining me.

Q. WHY HAVE MY MACARONS DISCOLOURED?

A1. If the problem is that they are going golden brown it is almost simple: your oven is too hot OR you have the shelf too high in the oven. 160 degrees centigrade maximum. Get an oven thermometer to check your oven’s true temperature on the shelf in the middle of the oven. Slow and steady wins the race.

A2. If the problem is that your macarons are changing colour from bright gorgeous lipstick pink to pale pink, it is just because they are drying out in the oven. When colouring macarons, use FOOD COLOURING PASTE not liquid because you need a lot of colouring for bright macarons and the liquid will make your mixture too wet. And always make the mixture brighter and gaudier than you think you should as they really pale out in the oven.

Q. WHY DO SOME MACARON RECIPES CALL FOR LEMON JUICE?

A1. To stabilise or set the egg whites while they are beating. Loads of pros use lemon but I don’t because it is another wet ingredient in the mix and use a pinch of cream of tartar instead.

In kind of Frenchfied related news, I went to the secret shop with Nika today and found this silk scarf for £5. Pink, yellow and burgundy together and twee pictures of good times in Paris. There was a patch in the corner where it looked like somebody had died but I found this post on how to clean vintage silk scarves. It worked! I also bought another vintage Hermes scarf covered in botanical prints of mushrooms. It is pretty wrecked (some else must have washed it and let the colours bleed) but some clever snipping and I am sure I can make a cushion over, lining or whatever. Picture of that later though.

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COCKTAILS & PIZZA

December 11th, 2011 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Paris | Restaurant - (0 Comments)

In Paris on the last night after ticking off the places we had on our list for a while, Anthony and I had no plan and no real clue what we wanted to do. We had though about Chez Omar on Rue de Bretagne which despite pretty ordinary reviews online is always chocka with a queue of people waiting for the tagines, chick peas and other Morrocan meals. Except every time we went, neither of us could be bothered queuing. So while we had been wandering around the past few nights, we had walked past a homemade looking cocktail bar place with a red lamp outside and a cocktail board with drinks containing cardamon pods, tarragon or lavendar.

And it was Happy Hour.

The place looked more it was in Brussels than Paris with old posters, retro furniture, weird things glued on the wall. The cocktails were all reasonably priced and most we had were great. Some were a bit shit. But it was major chill out vibes with some nice tits on the wall.

In my dream life, my place is halfway between Wildrick’s and Ladurée (well not actually Ladurée necessarily – more for the dining room vibes than the cake because I would always choose Patissure Pain du Sucre of Ladurée any day.)

Afterwards, we were a “bit peckish” and went local for some food.

At Al Taglio you buy the pizza by the kilo form the 8 or so different pizzas at the counter. They change constantly so my advice is dont stuff yourself the first time round. Its also good if you want to try a bit of all of them. Personal favourite is the potato and truffle cream.

Address: 27 rue de Saintonge, 75003
Hours: Open every day
Reservations: Reservations not accepted
Telephone: 09 50 48 84 06

or there is the main one

Address: 2 bis rue Neuve Popincourt, 75011
Hours: Open every day
Reservations: Reservations not accepted
Telephone: 01 43 38 12 00

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YUM ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ROAD

December 7th, 2011 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Paris - (0 Comments)

There is one little street in The Marais in Paris where I have to turn my head quickly each way to try and decide where I want to eat: Rue du Forez

Every time I go to Paris it make it my duty to visit Tartes Kluger – not just for the food I am going to eat, but also to check out if there is a new “zine” with nice recipes, interviews and illustrations or if Catherine Kluger as put out a new cook book. Also when I am there, I day dream about how the cafe is my ideal business model for the type of place I would like to have myself one day.

The menu is always the same: two or three types of savoury tartes, two or three types of sweet tartes, maybe some other kind of sweet dish like a fruit compote. And you can order a combination of one tart with a soup and salad or with dessert or not. All very straight forward. Then, what is presented to you on your plate is going to be the best “quiche” you ever had in your life.

These are a couple of pictures from a “historical visit” because my most recent visit I forgot to get the camera out until dessert…

This is Anthony’s Pear and Almond tart.

And this is my apple crumble tart.

I don’t think Anthony fully appreciated what I was on about when I said “We have to go to Tartes Kluger”. The pastry is perfect. The fillings are perfect. The only thing Anthony could say was “I would prefer individual tables rather than communal” – which I also agree on but at the same time, I don’t care.

I have three of the cookbooks now. Tartes salées et sucrées, Mini tartes sucrées et salées and the one I got this time, Millefeuilles which was all a bit too exciting for me. These books are all in French, which is a shame because the recipes are consistently fabulous and the basic pastry recipes really great, and I think if he could read them easily, Anthony would use to make me my own mini Tartes Klugers brunch every now and then.

Anyway if you want to get a nice brunchy lunch and want to eat something very French but don’t want to get conned into eating another greasy Croque Monsieur, I heartily recommend Tartes Kluger to you. Particularly as it is in such a mooch-worth area of Paris. A formula plate – Tarte, Soupe, Salad is €11.

Tartes Kluger
6 Rue du Forez  75003 Paris, France

And on the other side of the street, but actually the front door is on Rue Charlot is Nanashi. Which is a bit Japanesey, but Western, really fresh and clean tasting food.  You can have non-traditional Bento boxes with sort of Japanese meat, fish or tofu, with salad or rice or rice and quinoa. Deserts are also a bit French, a bit Japanese with things like Match tea cake or Chocolate and Yuzu fondant cake. I have been there three times now and the food is consistently good – and guaranteed Vegetarian for those who request it (and probably Vegan too upon request). Keep an eye out for the Demory Paris beer which is on sale and great for a French beer.

This was my Don de Boeuf – and under all that salad was rice and vegetables.

And this was Anthony’s Chirashi Saumon. He also had a massive block of tofu as a starter (a Hiyayakko) which I didn’t taste as I wanted to remember the bliss of the tofu I had at Verjus.

I was very into the radish on our plates that you can see in julienne with the black skin.

This was my green tea cake for dessert. The cake tin must has been greased, the sesame seeds lined the tin. There were also little raspberries hiding through the bottom layer of the cake and the top was sprinkled with dots of white chocolate. Heaven.

And the Chocolate and Yuzu fondant. I really like the flavour of yuzu – like a cross between an lemon and an orange but super tangy. I had a Yuza macaron while in Paris this time – it was definitely a new favourite.

Dinner here with two “cocktails du jour” which had pomegranite, raspberry and some kind of booze in them, and three courses cost €64. Without the cocktails, it would have been €50.

Nanashi

My preferred location: 57 rue Charlot – Paris 75003 T 01 44 61 45 49

Or the original one at : 31 rue de Paradis – Paris 75010 T 01 40 22 05 55

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VERJUS – BIRTHDAY DINNER

December 7th, 2011 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Paris | Restaurant - (0 Comments)

This year for my birthday, I wanted to go to Paris and have a really nice dinner somewhere incredible and scoff the lot. I was thrilled when I saw that The Hidden Kitchen was going to have an event on December 1st this year. So, on the basis of that, we emailed. And waited. And waited… Hobart lost some weight… We gave up refreshing our inbox…

So back to the drawing board.

The week before I went to Hong Kong, Anthony and I were flicking through food blogs looking for inspiration and found out all about what has been going on – The Hidden Kitchen is now Verjus, which is a restaurant and wine bar on rue Richelieu. Well the wine bar looks like it is in a different location, but the space is split level with a front door on either side of the little block. Anyway, while I was away, Anthony arranged it and we got a table on their “opening” night, my birthday all rolled into one. Yippee.

So through a fug of jet lag, I had an amazing tasting menu birthday dinner in a really beautiful little dining room (thought the alley from the Kitsune Shop) all light up with the Christmas lights from the theatre nearby:

Round 1: citrus tofu, wild rice, bone marrow, mussels, smoked curry. Forgot to take a picture and the first time I enjoyed tofu in my life.

Round 2: sea scallops, grapefruit, poppyseed, onion ash, chipotle, chive

Round 3: monkfish, red cabbage raviolis, seaweed, red pepper, seafood broth

Round 4: house smoked salmon, beets, quail egg, herbs, buttermilk

Round 5: buckwheat cracker, winter pickles, greens, pine nut butter, ricotta MY FAVOURITE!!

Round 6: duck breast, white miso labne, cauliflour, nori crumbs, micro basil, kimchi MY SECOND FAVOURITE

Round 7: pork belly, celery, chicharron, cilantro, heirloom carrots, ricotta

Round 8: chocolate ganache, pineapple habanero sorbet, chevre custard, graham crumbs

We could have had an additional wine menu to go along with the meal but opted just for one bottle of red. A pity you can’t even see the label.

Two thirds of the way through, the service got slow and you could see the girls trying to get into the swing of it all. The first few rounds were brought out of the kitchen by the chef Braden himself. That was really cool because the way he was describing each dish went into great detail and he had a moment to answer questions. Later on of course the place was jammed so not possible. But I bet that being able to talk with every diner is something the chef misses. Anyway the dinner was EXCEPTIONAL. Everything I could have dreamed of – except I got a little bit more… I almost don’t want to say because I dont want to spoil the dream when everything else was so perfect – There was  bit of cling film in the ganache. There is no excuse for that, opening night or not. I don’t even like ganache anyway so no tragedy. So lets concentrate on the fact that the pineapple habanero sorbet was out of this world!

Next time, I would like to go to the wine bar and sample the bar food menu and some of the great wines.

 

 

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REAL VINTAGE

September 6th, 2010 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Food - (1 Comments)

2006 Comté

Possibly one of the best moments of my life.

In the Fromagerie in Paris, a temperature perfect marble chamber in the 9th, Anthony and I were transported to another dimension when offered taste samples of the Comté from 2006 and (only) €43.75 per kilo.

Also, from Cheese Dimension, was the “Table of Chevre”. It looked like a mini pool table covered in more varieties of chevre than I could count. Covering that, was a perspex dome. With one flick of a switch, the dome rose and the eau de chevre was set released into the room.

In heaven. It smelled like heaven.

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THE JOHN DAVIDSON FANCLUB #39

June 10th, 2010 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Food | The John Davidson Fan Club - (0 Comments)

From: John Davidson [mailto:XXCENSOREDXX]
Sent: 08 June 2010 04:47
To: Emma Davidson
Subject: RE: More food from paris

yeah. But the frog/snail eating poofs DO eat well. What were the two black thing looking like beetroots after the strawbs and rasps?Mind you I certainly rember being put offg frog shiels who smoked ‘Gooloise’ Dark black pubic hair by the looks of it
What deal did you strike with yer ma about the Science Magazine. ? She’s back from Sydney but living with her Sister. Piotto.. It’s a lonely job getting through one’s dying days. It’s called the way of life! Fark.
How’s the Spanish furball, Ferret?Cheers mate. Paris always reminds me of playing my Harmonica up on the CAFES OVERLOOKING THE sIENNE, and collecting ten franc note. Then sleeping on thei paving stones under the Pont Du Nord. Cold and farkin hard. BUT I was young then- abot thirty years I think. Even out in the bush the villages were great. Cheers again you pair of Londo livers. Luv yer Dad, No OTHER BASTARD DOES,xxxxxx

From: John Davidson [mailto:XXCENSOREDXX]
Sent: 10 June 2010 04:26
To: Emma Davidson
Subject: RE: More food from paris

If you had to eat the shite they serve up here, you wouldn’t torture a poor AGED man with such delicious food from Pae=ris. even if they do smell a bit!. luv yer pa and the ferret.

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PARISED OUT

February 19th, 2010 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Paris - (0 Comments)

Today is a day I need to read the guide books again, check the bank balance and regroup before I step out into the lovely sunny morning it is here.

Yesterday I went to the Musée Dupuytren and saw all kinds of body parts in glass jars from the 1800′s. Looking at the babies and two headed unborn puppies wasnt so bad, because the babies DID look like Cabbage Patch Kids. The wax mould of vaginas with clitorises that were baby penisese NBD. What I found hard to stomach were the slices of heart, brain etc etc because it looked like some of the weird offaly food you see round Paris which makes me feel sick in the same way. But after that – I don’t feel so compulsed to see the museum of skin disease waxes which is probably more up my street.

The best thing I saw in Paris – and this was last time I was here – was the mineral museum at the whats-his-name and Marie Curié University.

Last night I was GUTTED to hear that I will miss the Fifi Chachnil shop opening in London on Saturday after Pippa sent me a text invitation. I will never forget the epic afternoon that Pippa and I spent looking for an elusive Fifi shop here in Paris and we were so fucking happy when we did. So thrilled in fact we bought A LOT.

Actually with that little dream over, I might check all my friends blogs to see what they are doing for a little inspiration.

xx Lektrogirl

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INCIDENTLY

February 18th, 2010 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Paris - (0 Comments)

Institubes – Paris from James Pearson-Howes on Vimeo.

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TODAY LONDON NEXT WEEK PARIS

February 9th, 2010 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Cooking | Macaron | Paris - (0 Comments)

a.k.a. My Love Affair With the Macaron

So how many people have I told the same story to over and over

I’M GOING TO PARIS TO LE CORDON BLEU TO LEARN “THE SECRET OF MACARONS”.

I was talking to Mum on the phone this morning asking her “What other kind of cake is hard and a bit fiddly that you have to practice loads to get perfect and even go to a class?” and she said “Profiteroles?” I told her I already made those and they were easy. Maybe not perfect, but successful enough on the first go to not feel challenged. Sponge cake – I have totally cracked it. I have struggled with cannellés and clafoutis – maybe that is the kind of thing – but nothing like a macaron. If you serve a macaron, people are amazed and always say “HOW DO YOU DO THIS? Is there a mould? Do you drop it into something hot? How do you get it so smooth?” etc etc etc. Anyway I have no clue as to what I will learn in Paris but I am getting HELLISHLY excited. And I feel a bit sick/nervous about it. The confirmation letter even tells you what you have to wear in the kitchen.

So – with this level of thrill in mind let me tell you first of all about Mrs K MEETING PIERRE HERME at the new Selfies consession where she had to photograph him for work. I had about 5 missed calls from her that day as she attempted to tell me “MOVE YOUR ASS HERE IMMEDIATELY” and as I said in my previous post about it [and apparently MISQUOTED and then got berated for it afterwards and I told her "Okay woah like fine but I will just blow it up all over the blog about how you yelled at me LOL brb gtg my nbff just logged on bye".

Oh Buddah where was I? Oh - about to eat this gift of personally selected macarons by Mrs K from Pierre Hermés own hand.

Here are a few views of the macarons at The Cardinals house. Please note the china. Also in bottom photo bottom left please note the sliver of marmite toast available for palate cleansing.

You may remember if you even care, these were the ones I had in Paris when I was there last from Pierre Hermé shortly after getting silly stringed by three pre teens on a skateboard outside the the Pierre and Marie Curé University mineral and gem museum.

So The Cardinal and I were in a gifted position to be able to truly assess the macarons in the privacy of her living room in front of an open fire, sipping Earl Grey Tea from china cups and a variety of cutlery to best perform the operations of peeling apart the layers.

Not the first time I have done this. Remember Nantes?

Sorry lost in a K-HOLE of macaron reminiscing and checking on the Danish cabbage in the kitchen.

Back to Pierre Hermé. There seems to be a whole divide between Pierre Hermé vs Ladurée and who's is better and whatever. I am going to say that on the whole, I prefer Ladurée. I like to know that what is labelled as Rose is going to taste like Rose. Admittedly I do admire the adventure of P.H.'s "collections" but I think the ratio there is too much filling to macaron and I am not a big fan of chocolate & fruit together at the best of times. I think they are both marvellous though. The only macarons I ever that that were awful were the ones in Nantes - the really tasted like lipstick, shampoo and shower gel.

With all this preamble, lets get ourselves to Sunday afternoon when I had a tea at The Crib with a selection of O.G.'s in attendance: Covvo, Alex T [the sub editor], Ella, Fi and the Cardinal. Hobart was also there but her presence was only felt when she scratched the Cardinal and singed her whiskers on a candle. For my guests I presented my take on cream cheese & radish and egg mayonaisse & quails egg sandwiches. Followed by a selection of macarons made in my own exclusive kitchen and two cakes. Oh and Champagne and tea.

These were Bailey’s and Hazelnut. Total fail in my opinion but Alex T was more than happy to take the ones we didn’t eat home with him at the end.

These were Campari and Blood orange on the left and Lavender on the right. Both lovely.

These were Basil, Pinenut & Honey with Lime. They totally cleaned up. Unfortunately they are a visual fail – see the brown bit? Slightly over done but did not affect taste.

The success of these makes me feel a bit less nervous about the class in Paris. I have to say, I had a very jolly afternoon after heinous weeks at work. The cookbook was planned. I will even be doing a chapter on Chinese food. It will be one page long.

“Don’t fuck with it and leave it to the Chinese.”

Although since then, I have been thinking about macaron recipes on that theme.

My lunch is ready now – braised fennel and Danish cabbage. I’m going to go eat it. You can be rest assured that I will be reporting back in detail from Paris all about how I go. PLUS I have been in touch with Goon already to discuss the restaurants we will be visiting! YERRRRRR.

xx Lektrogirl

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THE BOOYAH COOK IS BACK!!

July 9th, 2009 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Cooking | Paris | Recipe - (0 Comments)

So, to all my regulators out there: MOUNT UP!

I know it has been some time since I have given a full detailed report from my kitchen, but for those of you who follow my Flickr will have seen more developments in my kitchen in “my lost months”. But y’all know me, still the same O.G., but I been low key and hated on by most these niggaz wit no cheese, no deals and no G’s, no wheels and no keys, no boats no snowmobiles, and no ski’s & mad at me cause I can finally afford to provide my family wit groceries.

TODAY THE BOOYAH COOK PRESENTS: CLAFOUTIS! Which just happens to be the easiest of posh desserts that you can make yourself and look truly incredible.

And I mean like you wanna run around talking bout guns like I ain’t got none – what you think I sold ‘em all cause I stay well off? Now all I get is hate mail all day saying that I fell off. What cause I been in the lab wit a pen and a pad
trying to get this clafoutis off?

If you don’t trust my measurements which are still highly confidential and in levels of development stages depending on who’s kitchen I’m cooking in, I suggest you try this one here by Jill Dupliex who also created the recipe for Mini Egg and Bacon Pies.

To describe Clafoutis – it is like a giant cherry custard pancake and an old school French dish.

Cherry is the traditional but I even I saw some YouTube video of some New York Jewish Chef where he used Clementines. [Didn't like the look of it but he was into it.] You could use any fruit though – see my suggestions in the secret recipe below.

INGREDIENTS
500g fresh dark ripe cherries. Don’t take the stones out – they are better left in!
3 tablespoons of icing sugar
1/2 cup caster or icing sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
3 eggs
1/2 cup cows milk [not soya - sorry.]
6 drops Vanilla essence or extract
Pinch of salt

VARIATION ON A THEME
The recipe above is the basic. You could also:
Soak the cherries in kirsch, amaretto or rum for an hour before starting.
Use apricots and nougat cut into chunks
Try figs
Pear and chocolate
Basically – you see it can be a fruit freestyle.
Use as much of whatever to cover the bottom of the dish you are using.

METHOD
1] Turn on the oven to 175 degrees C.
2] Grease the dish you want to use with butter and then sprinkle a bit of your 3 tbs icing sugar over the buttered dish.
3] Put the cherries [pre-soaked in booze or not] in a bowl with the rest of the 3tbs sugar and roll them round til they are coated.
4] Cover the bottom of your dish with the cherries [or other fruit.]

5] Use a hand whisk if you have one and a big bowl and mix the eggs and sugar together. A spoon will do but you do look more OG with a whisk.
6] Add the milk, vanilla and salt and mix again.
7] Add the flour but don’t mix it too much. Over beating it will make the final thing come out doughy and not custardy. The mixture should be quite runny and not like a thick-shake. If it is, add a little bit more milk.
8] Tip the batter over the fruit.
9] Put it in the oven for 40 minutes. It should be all puffy and golden going a bit crisp right round the edges.
10] Leave it to sit for a little while and it will sink on itself a bit – but don’t leave it too long, it is better eaten warm!

This recipe is so Booyah I am considering this as the dessert for the next time I have a Lady Gang dinner at my house with the apricots and nougat.

If you make one, please send me a picture!

xx Lektrogirl

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VLOGS ARE WORTH IT

April 24th, 2009 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Paris - (0 Comments)

Only sometimes

Old – but I can’t stop thinking about how good this one is.

xx Lektrogirl

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TOP EUROPEAN BREAKFAST HOLE

April 1st, 2009 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Food | Paris | Restaurant - (0 Comments)

Okay so WHENEVER I AM IN PARIS which is not as often as it should be, I ALWAYS MAKE A DETERMINED EFFORT to visit L’Estaminet d’Arômes et Cépages for brunch on Sunday morning.This trip I had a fish brunch – smoked salmon, fig and cinnamon confiture, a home made crab paste, another oniony paste with green things that was so delicious, scrambled egg, a scone, natural yoghurt [with a bloody star anise seed if you please which I struggled around London not so long ago to search for!] fruit salad, salad, coffee, apple juice and fresh bread for €20.

You have to sit at this big shared farmhouse table and all the staff are women. I was lucky enough to sit next to some upper class Frenchies who spoke like the recorded voices on language CD’s and listen to them go on about food.

This one was in 2007, with a little Amuse Bouche – a tomato soup, charcuterie, and the jam didn’t come on the plate this time for some reason but it was confiture de chataigne.

So where is this incredible place? It is at the back of the Marché des Enfants Rouges on rue de Bretagne in the 3rd. The nearest Metro is Temple. The Marché is apparently a bit of a foodies market – there are loads of great wines and cheese, organic vegies and stuff and some well known Asian ‘restaurant’ there too. It isn’t very big though. In the market building in a shop selling vintage photographs and the owner has always been the rudest prick to me when I have been to the shop and I have never managed to have a proper look at anything however year after year I go back in the hope he will be nice and let me look around and buy something. The market is also pretty close to an APC store, another nice boutique called Shine that has nice jewellery in it even though all the clothes are stuff you can get here – Marc, See by Chloe blah blah.

There is also another store not far called ie which sells all kinds of baby and children’s wear from Indian and Japanese fabrics made by a husband and wife team I think. She’s Japanese and he is from India. You can also buy there fabric, toys, tiles, posters all from India. A bit like Brick Lane only cuter and not as smelly.

Anyway the phone is ringing. Who is it that cares if I live or die at this hour?

xx Lektrogirl

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PIERRE HERMÉ

April 1st, 2009 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Food | Macaron | Paris - (0 Comments)

“He is small and tubby with dark eyes, a goatee beard and a round face. To his army of female fans, he is the embodiment of the masculine ideal. Meet Pierre Hermé, France’s most famous cake-maker and the man with a highway to the heart of every Parisienne.”

Or I think it is better to take a look at this:

After getting silly stringed and tripping out in the mineral museum, I went to rue Vaugirad and bought some macaroons from Pierre Hermé’s ’boutique’ for cakes. I considered buying all kinds of presents and then decided I couldn’t be bothered and went for just the important stuff – a macaroon taste test.

I bought one of all that were available except for the coffee on cause that would be gross. Pierre Hermé macaroons do not come in nice boxes like Ladurée [Unbelievable! a bit like going to The Cake Hole and getting a Heinz Baked Beans mug instead of some nice vintage china!!!]

The flavours I left with were [clockwise] starting with the white one in the front: Satine [Cream Cheese, Orange & Passionfruit], Carrément Chocolat, Ispahan [Rose, Raspberry & Letchi], Cassis, Milk Chocolate & Passionfruit, Wasabi & Grapefruit, Olive Oil and Vanilla, Rose and the one in the middle is Salted Caramel.

So Wasabi & Grapefruit. It was as gross as it sounded. Sweet, bitter, no wasabi flavour that I could taste and bits of grapefruit peel in the filling.

Rose. Pretty good but I prefer Ladurée. Or maybe I just like that one better cause there is a Ladurée near work. Though this month I read that Pierre Hermé is thinking of opening a London store.

Olive oil and vanilla. BANGING!! So good. The best macaroon I had after the Spruengli cinnamon ones The Cardinal and I ate in bed watching MTV in Zurich until we wanted to die. The olive oil and vanilla was such a good combination – velvety and creamy and not sickly. So good.

I only ate three and couldn’t go on and left the others for Goon and Fanny. When they got back from where ever they were, Fanny continued the taste test with great interest and Goon helped clean up the pieces. The least popular was the Passionfruit and Chocolate. Blurgh. I told Fanny I preferred Ladurée and she said the difference is that the Pierre Hermé flavours were more about interesting mixtures. However, I think I want to know what I am getting when I buy a macaroon.

Visit the Pierre Herme website here and order your own. Let me know what you think.

xx Lektrogirl

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MUSEE DE MINERALOGIE

March 29th, 2009 | Posted by The Booyah Cook in Paris | Spiritual - (0 Comments)

I’m in Paris. Today I went to the Musée de Minéralogie at the Pierre & Marie Curie University. I have to say, it was a far more funny and interesting experience than visiting Colette yesterday. Cause 1) three young boys got me with silly string outside the building an raced off on their scooter which was the first time this ever happened to me and I loved it and 2) Although the mineral collection is not as big as the one at the Natural History Museum in London, the collection was much prettier and I liked how it is presented – in glass cases like the Crown Jewels 3) I was able to get the Metro directly to Pierre Hermé and buy some macaroons without queueing. (Taste test and pictures later.)
I am only sorry that I was not able to take some pictures of the beautiful specemins of Malachite that they had in the Musée de Minéralogie collection. There were no pieces of anything from Tasmania in the collection which was another bummer – there is one in the Natural history Museum but there were a quite a few cool Meteorites that were found in Australia on display. Oh – also a bit shit – you could hear the ticket man’s radio playing The Beatles etc as you walked around the collection. So not right. Moon Birds would have been better.

xx Lektrogirl

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