Paris_ The Collected Traveler - Barrie Kerper [101]
When I saw a book called Food in the Louvre (Flammarion, 2009), I knew I had to have it. What a combination: color reproductions of artworks in the Louvre with a preface by Paul Bocuse and recipes by Yves Pinard, head chef at the Grand Louvre restaurant. The artworks featured are by Jean-Siméon Chardin, Francken the Younger, Louise Moillon, Jan Steen, Murillo, Eugène Delacroix, François Boucher, and others; images also include a Roman floor mosaic, Egyptian crockery, and a Greek red figure cup. Bocuse writes that “for a chef, turning the pages of this book is a singularly rewarding experience.” He observes that many of the works have a festive aspect that illustrates his idea of what cooking should be: “Seated around a table with friends, time no longer means anything. For eating is above all sharing in the pleasure of other people’s company and many is the time in my restaurant I have noticed how a great meal depends first and foremost on the diners and on the interaction between them. An alchemical process seems to take place whenever people sit round a dining table.”
Liquid Gold
SUSAN HERRMANN LOOMIS
OLIVE TREES IN France thrive in regions far south of Paris, but in nearby Burgundy, the Huilerie Artisanale J. Leblanc et Fils specializes in another culinary item of note: nut oils. Though I’ve not visited the mill, I’ve been regularly visiting the tiny Leblanc shop in Paris’s sixth arrondissement for many years (6 rue Jacob). In addition to a variety of nut oils (I always select my favorite, hazelnut), there are very good mustards and vinegars, and the service is always friendly and helpful.
SUSAN HERRMANN LOOMIS is the author of numerous books, including On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town (Broadway, 2001), Cooking at Home on Rue Tatin (William Morrow, 2005), and French Farmhouse Cookbook (Workman, 1996). Most recently, she published Nuts in the Kitchen: More than 100 Recipes for Every Taste and Occasion (Morrow, 2010), which is filled with creative, uncommon recipes from around the world. (I particularly like the Parmigiano-Reggiano Seed Sticks, Mushroom and Walnut Tarte Tatin, and the hazelnut financiers, based on the recipe she helped develop when she was working on The Food Lover’s Guide to Paris with Patricia Wells.) She includes an essay in her book devoted to the Leblanc family.
Loomis founded and runs the On Rue Tatin cooking school (see this page) at her home in Normandy, and for several weeks each year the school moves to Paris, where she offers “another dimension of my passion for France.” One-day classes are also offered in Paris, as well as French country lunches in Louviers. Loomis maintains a blog, Life Is Nuts (nutsin.wordpress.com), and is a partner in NoTakeOut.com, a nifty Web site that helps users plan, prep, and cook an entire meal with fresh, seasonal ingredients.
PLACED BEFORE YOU is that exquisitely simple French creation: a mélange of fresh, tender lettuce leaves dressed lightly in a tangy vinaigrette. The buttery aroma of hazelnuts wafts up from the crisp green salad, yet there isn’t a nut to be seen. Where oh where is that divine smell coming from?
Jean-Charles Leblanc, from the village of Iguerande in Burgundy, is the sorcerer behind this olfactory trick. Head of the family enterprise Huilerie Artisanale J. Leblanc et Fils, he supplies France and beyond with some of the world’s finest nut oils. Their products, which come from just about every nut in the world including