Bringing Good Things to Life

The Christmas season seems to officially commence in Paris with the lighting of the trees along the Champs Elysees, followed by the lighting of other popular pedestrian areas around Paris. For the first time, all of the lights will be powered by electricity derived from renewable resources, which is kind of a nice acknowledgement of the drawbacks of conspicuous consumption. Nevertheless, a multinational corporate 'partenaire' is required.

Just across the street from chez moi, the bakery has finally taken down their Halloween decorations in favor of a very festively lit teddy bear. Part of the window display is a Christmas log cake, or buche-noel, with an invitation to guess its weight. On December 18th, she or he who makes the closest guess wins their own buche for six people, but I refrained from entering since I'm going back to the US the next day. I did not, however, refrain from buying a fresh multigrain baguette to have with jam and coffee this morning.

Happy Thanksgiving!

American Thanksgiving doesn't really enter into the French consciousness at all, but in the spirit of the holiday I did manage to give thanks for all the wonderful people in my life and to also overeat.

For my lab members, I made (for lack of a good pumpkin) Sweet Potato Pie, and for the love of all things nutty, Pecan Pie Bars.

The sweet potato pie was not a real winner with my labmates, but I'd never actually had it and I was amazed to find that it tasted pretty much like pumpkin pie. (Don't worry, it all got eaten) The pecan pie bars, on the other hand, went over really well and if you ask me nicely I might tell you which recipe I used from allrecipes.com.

For my real Thanksgiving meal (not that dessert can't ever be a meal to give thanks for), I went to a cozy restaurant called 'Les Ormes' which had a special menu created by the American chef who heads up the wine study group I go to a couple nights a month. I am used to rich Thanksgiving meals, but this one was really sumptuous. It had all the hearty American elements you'd expect, but in a much more refined way than you get at family dinners were the food comes in huge serving dishes and everything goes on the same plate. Meredith did a great job with the menu, and I'm definitely going back to Les Ormes on a regular night. The restaurant itself has a Michelin star, but its very warm and welcoming, with none of the pretension I had expected to come with the prestige. The host and hostess were kindly attentive and helped out with a nice wine selection of a premier cru nuit-st-georges from 1999.

Without further ado, the menu:
She-Crab Soup
Pumpkin Soufflé
Roast Turkey with Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, and Oyster Corbread Stuffing
Dessert Bites
Pecan Pie and Potimarron Ice Cream

"Study" Group

I had the fortune to be invited by Amy to join a Wine Study Group hosted by Meredith, a fantastic chef from Louisiana who bakes up delicious bite-size gougeres (cheesy puff pastries) like it was as easy as breathing. Meredith cooks in a lovely little restaurant where the owners are willing to let us take over the place on a couple Sunday nights per month. At the first meeting, there were just four of us to taste a few sparkling white wines, but our group expanded to 12 for the second meeting, which means we got to taste a greater number of wines(selected by each individual or couple), and therefore also made use of the crachoirs (spitoons in English, but doesn't the French word sound much more elegant?)

Wine Study No. 2: Pinot Noir of Burgundy





For the second of our wine studies, we tasted red pinot noir wines from Burgundy. Nearly all of them came from the the Cote d'Or, a wine growing region which runs south from Dijon to the area just south of Beaune. Many celebrated wines come from this region, the heart of wine-growing Burgundy. One of the defining characteristics of Burgundy is the small scale of the wine production, in which vineyards may be as small as one hectare (2.5 acres) and rarely over twenty five hectares (62 acres). The region is divided up into many small named areas, or vignobles, each with its own terroir.

There are four levels of burgundy wine: regional appellation, village appellation, premier cru and grand cru. In the Cote d'Or and Cote Chalonnaise just south of it, you have around 30 vignobles which qualify as grand cru, more than 300 which qualify as premier cru, and 25 or so villages which have their own appellation. Some village appellations are said to be better then others, but together with the premier and grand crus account for 35% of burgundies, with the remaining 65% being either a blend of wines from throughout the region or from a less prestigious village. As a result, the quality of the average wine depends alot on the individual producers. This also means that the Burgundy region has hundreds of small-scale producers and caves to visit!

On this virtual visit, we tried to travel roughly from north to south, so we started in the Cote-de-Nuits.

1. 2002 Domaine Thierry Richoux Irancy (Appellation Irancy Controlee) I couldn't find the producer's website, but here is the contact info: 73, rue Soufflot 89290 Irancy +(03)-86-42-21-60 (unverified by me, sorry). Irancy is the most recent to acquire an apellation controlee for the village wine. The youth of this wine showed in its pale color and crown, and it was a bit acidic and light on the palate.

2. 2004 Moillard-Grivot Bourgogne Pinot Noir (Appellation Bourgogne Controlee) The bottle indicated that the negociant-eleveur is in Nuits-St-Georges, but that doesn't necessarily indicate the source of the grapes in the wine. Nuits-St-Georges is the village which gives its name to the Cote-de-Nuits, and also produces wine bearing its village name as well as a premier cru.

Now, leaving the Cote-de-Nuits, we reach the Cote de Beaune, which makes up the southern half of the Cote-d'Or.

3. 2004 Pierre Andre Bourgogne Pinot Noir Reserve Vielles Vignes which indicates the Corton as its center of production. Vielles Vignes means 'old vines,' suggesting that it comes from vines which are less productive and therefore yield richer, more concentrated fruit. Corton is an area in the Cote de Beaune which has the largest acreage of grand cru of all the villages in Burgundy. Still, the regional appellation means that the grapes can come from anywhere in Burgundy. 2004 is supposed to have been a year of over-production, which usually leads to good prices. My notes say this wine was 'thick and gamy,' and more tannic that the first two.

4. 2001 Domaine Michel Julliot Bourgogne Pinot Noir (Appellation Bourgogne Controlee) from Mercurey, in the northern part of the Cote Chalonnais. The domaine, which is now run by the grandson of its namesake, makes wines of the village appellation and premier cru. They also manage vineyards in the Cote-de-Beaune, so it's possible that some of those are in this wine, since it only bears the regional appellation. In our tasting, I noted that this wine was the first one that I thought was distinctly not fruity. My notes just say, 'smooth and not acidic.'

Okay, we have to come back north to the Cote-de-Nuits just for the next one.

5. 2002 Moillard Chambolle-Musigny
The website is the same as for the earlier Moillard-Grivot. The village of Chambolle-Musigny has grand cru vineyards, but this bottle just indicates appellation controlee, so I'm not absolutely positive that it's grand cru. My notes indicate that this was slightly tannic but still delicate.

6. 2001 Domaine Bouchard Pere et Fils Beaune (Appellation Beaune Controlee)
As a city, Beaune was probably founded in 52 AD by Julius Ceasar, around several sacred springs, and its name actually comes from the patron god of those waters. Beaune is called the wine capital of Burgundy, and every year hosts a famous auction of wines donated by winemakers, the proceeds of which go to a hospital. The village wines of Beaune are not known for having any particular marked characteristics, but are drinkable in their youth but also able to be aged 10 years are more.

7. 2001 Domaine Contat-Grangé Saint Jean de Narosse Santenay (Appellation Santenay Controlee)
Santenay was well known for its spring waters, popularly sought at one time for therapeautic values, before becoming well known for its wine. The terroir of Santenay is known for producing firm, structured wines without too much finesse or complexite.
The winemakers of this village wine are actually a couple who moved to Burgundy from Annency in the Haute-Savoie, Yvon and Chantal Contat-Grange. Their operation is located to the west outside of the Cote-d'Or, in Dezize-les Maranges. They are also well known for the wines they produce bearing the name 'Maranges.'


Meredith snuck in two "curveballs" for fun, and that's definitely the kind of fun I like. The first was a wine from one of her preferred pinot noir producers, that is actually made from Gamay!

8. 2002 Domaine de la Vougeraie, En Bollery Terres d'en Face

The second was a 100% pinot noir from Alsace, just north of the Jura:
9. 2004 Wunsch et Mann Cuvee Rouge d'Alsace Pinot Noir 2004, Appellation Alsace Controlee

For the last wine, we headed back to the northern part of the Cote-de-Nuits one more time to a very reputable village. We tasted this wine last in order to have it decanted and given time to 'open up.'

10. 2002 Domaine Humbert Freres Gevrey-Chambertin (Appellation Gevrey-Chambertin Controlee)
There is no other village in Burgundy which counts as many grand crus as Gevrey Chambertin, and the grapes for this wine came from old vines, some of which are in vineyards adjacent to the grand cru vineyards. This wine was compact and very balanced, so that the overall taste was somewhat elegant. Some tasting notes online suggest smoky, forest-floor, and muscular qualities, but I didn't taste that.

Whew! That was great. Next time we'll be tasting white wines from the Cote d'Or.

I found much of the information I gave about the wines of Burgundy in a book called Burgundy - Touring in the Wine Country, by Hubrecht Duijker, which I borrowed (in its French translation) from the library. It is not the most recent book, so if some of the information is not quite up-to-date, that's the reason, and I definitely will correct it if someone leaves a comment about it.

L'Atelier Des Chefs

For my birthday, a friend of mine invited me to join her at L'Atelier des Chefs, a cooking classroom in a department store, for a night of "nouvelle cuisine." So, finally the date arrived (it's Paris, where it seems like everything nice has to be reserved way in advance) and it was really great! Well, I got there late because of a security issue on the Metro and my bad decision to try to take the bus during rush hour instead. It turns out I missed the chopping of vegetables and peeling of citrus, so in a way I don't feel too bad.

The teacher was a cheeky (in a cute way, of course) Japanese woman, difficult to catch on film but fun to try to follow. She really moved with lightning speed, it's not a trick of the camera.



So, the first dish was "Langoustines rôties aux courgettes, sauce maïs, agrumes et coriandre" which involved some butterflied langoustines sauteed in olive oil and served with a sauce made from blended fresh corn, grapefruit, and oranges, with some coriander and hot pepper thrown in there too. It was all spread over a bed of lightly sauteed zucchini.



The next dish involved cooking foie gras, however this time there was no need for olive oil because the liver renders a shocking amount of grease as it cooks. My French friends assured me that there was still plenty left in the foie gras.



The final plating involved a bed of diced beets, and half of which were cooked and half of which were raw, and some of which were mashed up in the blender. Over the beets we put a griddle cake of cornmeal and fresh corn that also contained sauteed onions and a little hot red pepper powder, and topped whole darn thing with a piece of foie gras.



The food was beautiful and tasty (you get to take home what you make) and the class was fun, so I'm hoping to be able to take another one, especially because it's not really the kind of food that I have experience with. I was kind of disappointed after the class, because I didn't think I would be able to ever really do those dishes myself. Those feelings disappeared right away because, after the class was over, my friends decided to try to replicate the dishes at home for a bunch of people that were coming over THAT NIGHT. It worked and it was great! I guess that's what I get for keeping company with chemical engineers. I am completely in awe of the amazing hostess skills of the woman who invited me. Alice, tu es incroyable. (Et vous aussi, Cécile et Laure!)

Visiting Reims

The highlight of my visit to Champagne was, of course, the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Reims. It is an overwhelmingly ornate gothic cathedral, highly influenced by Notre Dame de Paris, which was built just slightly earlier. I have decided that gothic cathedrals have to be some of the most difficult subjects to photograph. From the outside, it's difficult to capture the size of the building while retaining the details of the sculptures, all of which tell stories. On the inside, it's usually dark and the aspect ratios of the features are not camera-friendly. So, for the whole story, you really need to look at the website of the cathedral. If you read French, there is a ton of historical information, and if you don't, just click on Voir tous les albums photos at the bottom of the page.

One of the distinctive features of the cathedral is the set of tympani above the entrances. Usually, these are carved in stone, but in Reims they are stained glass. In my photo, you can see that the cleaning of part of the cathedral has just been finished. Like other gothic cathedrals, the stone was originally painted in vivid colors, to gild the lily.



Of course, thanks to fire and wars, most of the statues were severely damaged or lost, so the current statues are replicas, while the originals rest in the neighboring Museum of the Palais du Tau. The most recent destruction of the cathedral was during WWII, and this site was then chosen for the celebration of reconciliation between the French and the German governments, in 1962.

One of the sculptures, called the Ange au Sourire (Angle of the Smile) is considered a uniquely beautiful example of medieval art. I suppose the sculpture does have a fluid quality not usually seen in statues of saints posed like wooden soldiers. The parish's website even gives a prayer suggested for meditating while contemplating this angel:



My translation of the prayer originally by Jean-Marie Guerlin:
You, the Angel of the Smile, messenger of God, the stone-cutters knew quite well how to express on your face the very smile of God, to tell to all who contemplate it, how much God loves them, how much he is close to them! You, the Angel of the Smile, have braved all the destruction to be, among us, a sign of joyous hope and tenacity, of reconciliation among people.

Destruction of religious art seems to be a recurring theme as I visit the cities of France, and one cannot help but be sad when one imagines all the beauty that is lost to the world through violence. I guess it helps to put a hopeful spin on things, that they might change and we might not have to repeat the cycle ad infinitum.

There is a lot more history in Reims, because it was a pretty major Gallo-Roman city, and in fact the first cathedral on the site of Notre Dame de Reims dates back to the fifth century! Hopefully I'll get a chance to go back and see the museums, and drink more champagne!

For lunch, I do recommend the Brasserie du Boulingrin, 48 rue de Mars, +33(0)3 2640 9622. On that site(a bit off the tourist track) since 1925, they serve a broad variety classic French brasserie fare, including platters from their oyster/shellfish/lobster bar. My lunch menu was 17.50, for appetizer (warm lentil salad with sausage), main dish (cod brandade wrapped in crispy filo pastry), dessert (hazelnut cake), wine (red, white or rose), and coffee. The restaurant seemed very popular, and not only with travelers.

Tasting at G.H. Martel in Champagne

The CIJP organized a day trip to Champagne last weekend, which included a visit to the winecellars of a champagne producer, G.H. Martel, in Reims. Unfortunately, it's not where any of the processing goes on anymore, since they moved to accommodate increased production volume. There are lots of similar caves in Reims, a short distance from the city center.



The Champagne-Ardenne region is the most northerly wine-growing region of France, and one important role of the caves is indeed to maintain the humidity (90%!) and temperature of the wine. It feels quite chilly down there, even more than above ground, because of the damp air.



The Methode Champenoise process for making sparkling wine is very involved and costly , since no machinery is allowed in picking the grapes, the juice must be extracted very carefully to keep from tinting it with the skins of the pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes, the stored bottles must be turned (sometimes by hand) regularly and because the carbonation requires a second fermentation. Of course, for a long time, producers have tried to adapt technology for making the process more efficient. Now there are machines to turn the bottles and, even more bizarrely, the yeast is removed after the first fermentation by turning the bottle upside down to collect it in the neck of the bottle, freezing the neck, and opening the bottle to make the plug of solids pop out. This process is not done at the degustation site, but they show visitors a video of it. The older gadgets looked a little like torture machines at first glance.



The caves in Champagne are dug out of very chalky stone, so soft that a fine powder rubs off on your fingers if you touch it. This place where the stone was chipped away scarily made me think of the faces of the Nome king and his monsters that swim through stone in the movie Return to Oz.



After the tour, there was the tasting, of course! It may seem strange that we started with the Grand Cru, but it had a classic fine brut champagne flavor, while the following champagnes, a millesime (made with juice from only one year's harvest), a demi-sec (slightly more sugar), and a rose, were variations from what most people think of in champagne.



If you're interested in visiting, G.H. Martel has various locations listed on their website, including the cave we went to located at 17 rue des Créneaux, in Reims, and their telephone number is +33(0)3 2682 7067.

Nearby is the Basilique St. Remi, where the bishop who baptised the first Catholic king of France (on Christmas eve in 496) is entombed. Sorry, my picture turned out blurry and dark because of the dim lighting.

Day of the Dead: Pan de Muerto

A couple of Mexican friends of mine, Juan and Yeri, invited me to 'help' them make Pan de Muerto today, to celebrate the Dias des los Muertos. According to their recipe, this traditional bread is a sweet, slightly eggy yeast bread flavored with orange juice and orange flower water. The top of the bread is decorated with balls and a cross of lines of dough in imitation of a skull and crossbones. It's a type of bread that Mexican families place on temporary altars to be shared with the spirits of the ancestors.

Rather being an occasion of fright, this festival celebrates memories of those who have passed away and even involves making jokes and holding 'roasts' of people, teasing them about the vices that will eventually lead to their demise. Instead of trick-or-treating for candy, Mexican children ask for money from parents and relatives in order to buy a sugar skull that has their name written on it, which they consume at the end of the festival. Families get together and celebrate their loved ones, even with mariachis in the cemetery!

Anyway, in Mexico my friends always bought their pan de muerto at a store, so we weren't quite sure about the recipe and the desired texture of the dough during the process. Between the three of us, we managed to make a tasty bread and have fun doing it, even though it didn't manage to replicate the traditional bread we were trying to make. It didn't rise nearly enough, but topped with enough melted butter and sugar, we couldn't go too far wrong, and frankly I thought it was delicious. Yeri made a fantastic hot chocolate using traditional Mexican spiced chocolate tablets, brought from her hometown of Oaxaca, and Juan missed the fact that a less dense bread would have acted more like a sponge for dipping in the chocolate. What's the word in Spanish for gourmandise?

 

Hanging out by the oven and sipping hot chocolate was a perfect way to spend this Toussaint holiday, which seems to have thrown Paris headlong into the oncoming winter with blustery winds and chilly fingers, despite the sunny blue skies.