Category: Food and Wine

It’s strawberry season in France – and it’s about time too. After the gray and cold of the French winter, strawberries mean real spring and almost summer have arrived. Yesterday, the local village market here in Provence was overflowing with the juicy red fruit. This vendor had dozens of barquettes of strawberries for sale. I…

Now that Easter season is past, it’s time to put away all those French chocolate eggs – and a good moment to focus on the real eggs that show up in so many great dishes in France. French eggs are fabulous in my opinion – large, flavorful and with deep golden, nearly orange yolks. You…

Those who have spent time out and about in France know that French food is not all super fancy. Some of the best eats in the country are rustic, home-cooked, traditional dishes – no artistic plate arrangements, mod foam concoctions or colorful sauce squiggles in sight. Every French region has its signature ‘comfort food’ such…

Move over les bûches de Noël (yule log cakes), it’s time for les galettes des rois (king’s cakes). In France, the holiday sweets keep coming even after Christmas with Epiphanie, also known as la Fête des rois (Three Kings Day, or Feast of the Epiphany), and its signature galette des rois. You can’t miss Epiphany…

You’ve probably heard that the food truck craze has hit France and Paris in particular. French-style burgers, dim sum, tex-mex, pizza (though great pizza trucks have been around in France for a long time!), sandwiches, ice cream, crêpes and more are on offer in these mobile meal machines and are getting rave reviews. Last year…

Sometimes you just have a French craving. For me in late May, it was French onion soup. Unfortunately my Paris lunch cantine (regular neighborhood restaurant), the Café Varenne in the Rue du Bac, had just taken it off their menu until the cold weather came around again. I suppose it was too hot and too filling for…

On the seasonal food calendar here in France, May and early June are un régal (delight) of fresh goodies. In Aix-en-Provence, I have been wandering the outdoor markets and come upon bunches of ciboulette (chives) with purple flowers intact, hefty bulbs of ail nouveau (new garlic), plump fèves (fava beans) direct from the vendor’s garden, bright green petits…

Now that spring is officially here and summer is on its way, it is once again possible to enjoy apéritifs outdoors at a French café or on a terrace at someone’s country home. Designating both the beverage and the social moment before lunch or dinner, the apéritif is a time-honored French ritual that encompasses people from all ages and…

What a difference a year makes. Just after I arrived in Paris last March for the annual French Affaires’ antiques trip, the French capital was blanketed with a thick layer of snow. Verrrry chilly temperatures accompanied us for days as we zipped around to the various Paris antiques fairs and flea markets. This year, the wintry…