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...

Our Versailles white night is whiter than yours

The days are getting shorter at an alarming pace and winter will soon knock at my door finding me bitterly crying over summer (yes, it's still me, the same crazy one who wasn't that happy with the Versailles summer only few weeks ago!... who can understand women, right?...)

In the lost paradise it used to get dark at around 11pm, the rain wasn't that stinging, the wind didn't invade just everything and things would have got done with infinite more alacrity knowing that the day light was there. But then, with a shorter night we couldn't have had the White Night!

The green gold of Versailles

Every once in a while the silence of my building complex is troubled by the annoying noise of what could be a jackhammer, jet engine or a giant bumblebee. Even though there's a military base in the Versailles district of Satory (I live in Montreuil), I am quickly forced to abandon the hypothesis of a jet flying right outside my home, the same for the one involving the gigantic bumblebee (they'd destroy the tree from my window and I can see it clearly, this very moment, from where I'm sitting...)

What's more, the impeccable streets were already repaired during the summer break so I have no idea what's going on. I'm fretting with frustration: I have a deadline, merde! There are people working around here, helloooo!?!... I can't react yet because I'm in the work fever, but I manage to see someone outside, from the corner of my eye, looking like the gold seekers that so amused me the last summer on a beach near Montpellier, carrying some complicated metal detector gear and totally focused on the task. The only problem left to solve is that the gold seekers I knew were extremely discreet and this one, exasperatingly, isn't!

Run, Versailles, run!

Let's start running, guys! How about 16km in 47 minutes and one second? We would start near The Eiffel Tower on the Quay Branly, then we would continue on the Seine banks to Issy Les Moulineaux (the city of the Microsoft French HQ), then to the Gardes hill in Meudon, to finally arrive at the feet of the Versailles castle, but only if we successfully resisted to the fairies charms in the Meudon enchanted woods, of course!

 

More pictures after the jump...



я русский in Versailles

A few days ago I received an invitation to the live preview of the new album of Philippe Jaroussky, "La voix des rêves" (The voice of dreams), at the Versailles Royal Opera House, a concerto where most of the tickets were already sold in private sales, I am kindly informed. The thing wasn't made public to the common of mortals but these last few days before the event (and we were only left with the cheapest tickets, if you please!)

Well, I wasn't too surprised, knowing that Philippe Jaroussky is the adored talented and spoiled child of the baroque music in Versailles. He's the most famous French countertenor, he sings like an angel, is native of Yvelines (was born in Maisons-Laffitte) and owes his last name to his grandfather and an impetuous French civil servant:

Time Travel to Versailles: September 1912

The Versailles Chronicle - September 1912

"Autumnal pleasures - Grape harvesting time - Paris and its grapevines

The harvesting time will soon begin pretty much in every single corner of France. Considering this, we found it curious and interesting to remind our readers that, before being what it is, Paris was an enormous vineyard and that it was on these various lands that our capital was built afterwards.

From the oldest times, Parisis wine, especially the one harvested in the location currently occupied by the capital, had been favorably regarded. A Roman knight, Catillus Severus, who leaved us the account of a visit he made to Lutetia, the 2nd before the May Ides in 305, tells the following story: "Ursus invited me to an innkeeper by the roadside, to take a jug full of an excellent wine. This is the richness of the country. Parisians curse the memory of the wicked Domitian, who forced them pull off all their vines and bless the good Probus who allowed its replanting these days"

Versailles' hidden treasures

Once a year Versailles organizes, along with the rest of France and some other cities in Europe, the European Heritage Days, the only time a year when public or private institutions, usually not accessible to the general public, open their doors to visitors. Crowds of French proud citizens, regardless of age, rank, or situation in life, sprint all day long to see the mayor's office, the National union of historic military vehicles collectors, or places where historical events took place.

 

And historical events there were in Versailles: wars, peace treaties, revolutions, treasons, utopias, ideals, kings and queens, simple people and rulers, megalomania and humility, all mixed together in a vibrant story, better than any fiction adventure book you'll ever read. The guides that animated the visits were so passionate and knowledgeable (in French only, sorry!) that it crossed my mind several times to ask if they would adopt me so I can have their storytelling every night before bed...

 

I obviously thought of you all, while I strolled on the streets of Versailles these two days, grateful of the privilege of being able to live on the very place where so much of French history took place, and brought you some pictures of hidden parts of my all-time Versailles favorite building, the Versailles Prefecture.

 

Pictures after the jump...

 

Newcomers to Versailles, beware!

When you move to Versailles and you know nobody in here, there will be no nice neighbors coming to wish you a warm welcome, carrying a bunch of freshly baked croissants, nor any invite to their apéro dinatoire (= drinks and nibbles informal sort of party, mostly an appetizer before the actual dinner) and there's even a smaller chance of someone insisting for you to come to their birthday party, even if you happen to share a wall and you are mutually acquainted with some private aspects of each other's lives.

All in all, you're on your own, my friend, and, unless you already are a superstar, you'll probably get royally ignored! You're gonna have to put in some effort (and frustration!) if you are eager to integrate, as the French are extremely family centered and they wouldn't risk their secure universe for anything in the world, not even for your overly smiling, nice self!

In these circumstances, two main solutions are presenting to you:

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 strike strikes back

The autumn not only comes with the joy of socializing again (essentially to brag about the defunct vacation) and the solemn resolution  (once more!) that this is the year when I'll read *more*. It also comes with the sweet whisper of the ineluctable autumn strike creeping up. Every year, the reason for that one big strike in September/October stays a little foggy (for me, at least! The last years' was in protest against moving up the limit age of retirement, if I remember right. Or was it against reducing the overall number of teachers?...). Anyhow, nothing could take away the feeling and the aura one gets after surviving one big French strike.