Crossing the croissant chasm

There are two items that are the culinary symbols of France and I doubt they will be able to detach themselves from this ménage à trois any time sooner, they will surely have to live together happily ever after: the croissant and the baguette. Versailles too had two things to celebrate yesterday (the 400th anniversary of Le Nôtre and a new winter in spring with the assorted snow, traffic jams and paralyzed institutions) so I thought we should mark the moment properly with some freshly baked croissants, since I couldn't get out of the house.

Once you've tasted a croissant you've made with your own hands, your universe will radically change and you will think twice before buying one again, in case you can find it in your part of the world to begin with. It is quite complicated to get it right and have that crispiness that is absolutely mandatory in a good croissant, but I wrote you the recipe in small quantities so it doesn't feel that overwhelming and, more importantly, not to feel sorry if you have to throw everything in the bin (hopefully you won't). See how many precautions I take for those thingies? And they're not even invented by the French (but by a Viennese baker, that's why it's also called a viennoiserie)... Make sure you have enough butter and jam in da house for them, 'cause you will see that you will want to repeat the experience, and that asap!

Happy Chandeleur Day!

Today is the Chandeleur, aka the crêpes holiday, which means that I will be stuffing myself with sweet crêpes - and I invite you to do the same - all with the same excuse: La fête de la Chandeleur. The origins and the pagan (then Christian) meaning of this holiday are lost in the misty darkness of the past, but the name suggests candles so just take your beautiful darling, light some candles on the table and prepare for a gustatory bliss.

These thin, light and flavored pancakes, that only the French know how to make properly, are one of my favorite desserts ever and can be filled with whatever fancies the happy owner: the sweeter the better (I actually like them even better without filling, but don't listen to me, I'm weird!).

Here's the crêpe recipe:

Your only chance to be the king. Or the queen...

The French have the privilege to be kings and queens at least once a year so why wouldn't you do the same? It's true, you don't have a castle like the Versaillers, but you can bake the galette des rois (=French king cake) using this simple recipe - courtesy chef Simon - and be king for a day. And slave at the gym for the rest of the week, but that's another, less glamorous, story.

This family sweet pie is traditionally eaten at Epiphany (first Sunday of January), but I've seen it appearing in the stores right after Christmas and I know that some of my French friends make it or buy it and eat it during the whole month of January, so you'll have more than enough time to practice the kinghood, Your Highness!

The youngest child (or any child, after harsh, love-filled, brotherly negotiations) has the honor to hide under the table to tell the adult in charge with cutting the pie who's going to receive which part. A small token is hidden in the pie, la fève (at its origins it must have been a real bean) and the trick is that who's going to find it (if she doesn't choke, in the first place!) will be crowned the king or queen of the day. A factice golden crown is awarded to the lucky one, which is proudly carried on throughout the day and s/he will be able to choose him- herself a queen or a king and sometimes the whole court if the family has enough members.

Come on-a my house, I'm gonna give you candied marrons

It's never too soon to get ready for Christmas and the shops all around Versailles are already ready, teasing the consumers with Christmas decorations and food (with emphasis on food!). Even the Versailles municipality installed some Christmas lights on the streets (but not powered them yet as we try to be gentle with our planet and electricity budget) and I can already see twinkling lights in some of the shops' windows (or maybe they were already there from the last year...)

Anyway, I was asking myself what can I do to bring a little excitement in my kitchen and prepare for the upcoming holidays (the Christmas spirit and all) and while perusing my endless recipe list I found the perfect thing to do: les marrons glacés, candied chestnuts. This delicacy in particular costs an arm and a leg to buy ready-made (60+ Euros per kg, more than 1 Euro a piece, something like a macaroon, you know...) but sweet chestnuts in general are a must-have ingredient in all the French winter holidays cuisine: simply roasted or steamed as a side dish, in crème de marrons (a chestnut purée, often used to fill the traditional Christmas cake, la bûche de Noël), in dinde aux marrons (turkey with chestnuts, the traditional Christmas main course) or candied, individually wrapped, and served as it is as a much loved sweet.

I declare open the chestnuts craze of this year!

Attention, please! The recipe after the jump doesn't contain chocolate, hooray!

Macaroon night fever

Macaroons are *the thing* in here, they're considered the ultimate chic, sign of exquisite taste and sophistication. Serve macaroons to your French guests and your apéro party will be a smashing hit: everyone will melt with pleasure at the view of the delicate texture and fine flavor, and you can be sure that they'll love you forever! Then, after the love is gone, they'll start an endless debate about who makes the best macaroons and what are the characteristics of an exceptional one, debate that'll last the whole evening, giving you the opportunity to perfect your French language skills!

The really good macaroons are expensive, veeery expensive: ask monsieur Pierre Hermé, the best of the best, who sells his at the bargain price of more than 2Eur a piece. Chic and cher make the French dream, but then, hey, who can blame them? The best macaroon I ever tasted was a caramel&salted butter one from his fancy shop, an absolute dream!

So my quest to bake my own macaroons was launched the last week, after a few days busy with reading, watching and studying everything that was ever recorded about the subject, directly from the (more or less) stars of macaroon-makers on the Internet. But you can imagine they are not delivering all the secrets in their recipes and then there are different ideological schools of how it's best to do it. I had some choices to make: Italian meringue or French? egg whites at room temperature or directly from the fridge? oven temperature at 140°C or 180°C ?

After 5 pathetically failed attempts and a pair of deceased kitchen scale batteries, I can now heartily say that I finally have the right proportions to produce some decent easy to make (yes, I really said easy to make!) macaroons and I am more than happy to share the recipe with you:

Macaroon 5 - De Re Culinaria in Versailles

...or, more exactly, 1755 (MDCCLV), this is the year when this famous royal cookbook has seen the light so everyone who's anyone could potentially have the same food as the king and his court, if they could afford it, that is! And there weren't a lot of them from what I see from the recipes (truffles, salmons, cockscombs, sucking piglets, and I'll pass) that's probably why the book proudly carries the inscription "With the king's approval & privilege" - "Avec Approbation & Privilege du Roi".

We're in the full reign of Louis XV at the time, so one couldn't do many things without his royal approval, let alone writing a book! But Louis XV was also a great gourmand who distanced himself from the rigid dining etiquette imposed by his illustrious predecessor and used to invite his friends and mistresses to more informal dinner parties in his private apartments, where savory delicacies were served. Legend has it that sometimes he even prepared himself the hot chocolate that everyone was crazy about: cocoa was a scarce commodity so having it was a sign of distinction, not to mention the fact that it had a reputation of being an aphrodisiac! I was wondering who spread the word...

Macaroon recipe, from the old cookbook, after the jump...

Chocolate, mon amour!

Well, not quite mon amour, but I solemnly promise myself -and to the world- that this is the last recipe having chocolate in it, at least for this year! And the reason why I have tortured myself tasting the chocolate mixtures like a thousand times (and hey, cocoa is a mild drug, ask the many chocoholics out there!) is that the dessert I will present you today has the name of Versailles in it, it's a "Versaillais au chocolat". Logically it deserves the place of honor in my blog and therefore I was more than ready to sacrifice myself and my kitchen (now partially redecorated with real chocolate splashes) in the name of Versailles puritanism. See how brave am I?

No one really knows who created this rich dessert for the first time, but considering that cocoa was so rare and, by consequence, so fashionable at the Versailles court (introduced from Spain by Anne of Austria, the wife of Louis XIII, and then continuing to gain in fame until its biggest fan, Louis XV, who, btw, left us a hot chocolate recipe written by his own royal hand) it really was no surprise that one of the many chocolatiers that Versailles had came up with this invention, presented it at the court and won the posterity's heart. It's also called "Trianon au chocolat", "Royal au chocolat" or "Croustillant au chocolat" (chocolate crispy cake).

The French + Chocolate = LOVE!!!

Ah, le chocolat!!!... The long, lasting, passionate, immortal love story, shared by every single French person I've ever met... I mean I do actually know a French who hates cheese (although he might be the only one left, the shame of the nation!) but I've never ever seen anyone who openly declares that they don't love the dark concoction (and I don't have any hope to meet one, as I am told when researching for this post)

"The darker it is (=the higher the cocoa percentage it contains), the better!", this is how one of my ex-colleagues concluded the thoroughly explained chocolate theory (remember, any French can give a 3 hour speech on anything related to food. You've been warned!). So I officially became an oddity when declaring that I don't like chocolate: it happens that I have a bad childhood memory with something so bitter (like the communist era I was living in) that cut me forever the apetite to discover anything that looks like it. For me, quite the opposite works: the more it's mixed with milk and filled with anything other than cocoa, the happier I am! Ooops, I've just committed a cultural faux pas!

But, rest assured, the French nation has resolved to show me the light, because everywhere I turn to I will be chocolate-imagery-flooded. There are hundreds of chocolate bar types in supermarkets, in candy shops, in chocolateries (imagine entire stores dedicated to chocolate, with professionals having spent a couple of long years studying it in order to acquire the title of "maître chocolatier", chocolate master) and then I'm not even counting the books or the cooking shows presenting chocolate in every imaginable form and combination. Not to mention the all very popular chocolate fair held every autumn in Paris (and in the biggest cities all over France) "Le salon du Chocolat", where a "World Chocolate Masters" competition takes place and the "International Cocoa Awards" are granted...