What’s not to like about cheese fondue? Over here it evokes memories of ski vacations in the French Alps, where after a day on the slopes it is enjoyed in cozy chalets before a crackling wood fire. But of course fondue has emigrated far from its Alpine home and has been popular elsewhere for decades. It is a convivial dish, and if you happen to be celebrating Valentine’s Day, makes a friendly meal for two, accompanied by a crisp white wine.
Fondue savoyarde / Cheese fondue
A traditional cheese fondue is made with cheeses from the Savoie region of eastern France or neighboring areas. The exceptional flavor of these cheeses comes from the Alpine pastureland on which the cows graze. Beaufort, Abondance, Emmental, Gruyère, Reblochon and Raclette are made in Savoie, while Comté comes from nearby Franche-Comté and Appenzell and other similar cheeses from Switzerland.
These cheeses bear little relation to the bland Swiss cheese I consumed as a child in the States. They range from fruity (Comté) to slightly sweet (Abondance) to pungent (Beaufort), to name the three cheeses I used in the fondue pictured above. You can use a single variety, but making fondue with a combination of three is recommended as this yields a more complex and interesting flavor.
Another question is whether or not to add kirsch to the fondue. It is thought to enhance the flavor of the cheeses, but personally I find it’s not necessary. However, it’s essential to melt the cheese in white wine and flavor it with a little garlic some freshly grated nutmeg. Then all you have to do is to cut up some bread cubes, and voilà — the dish is ready.
Fondue is generally served with a selection of thinly sliced cured ham (proscuitto or speck), cured beef (bresaola or viande des grisons) and hard sausage (saucisson sec, rosette, etc.). In addition to the bread cubes, you can prepare little boiled potatoes for dipping in the cheese. And a green salad is de rigueur (essential) to lighten the meal. You can serve the fondue first, as a starter, or have everything on the table at once.
Happy cooking.
P.S. Followers of this site know that it mainly proposes recipes made the way the French cook at home — the easy way. However, there is a countertrend in Paris bistros now to serve fabulously creative dishes not made the easy way. Would you believe oysters with beet purée and pepper-flavored foam, or tarragon ice cream with a sesame cookie? Check out the latest restaurant review on site Paris Update to get a flavor of what else is cooking over here.
I first tasted this knock-your-socks-off red-bean-and-walnut salad in Moscow in 1984. Russia was still part of the Soviet Union, and young people from other parts of the empire still flocked to the capital to study or work. A friend introduced me to a Georgian woman who was studying particle physics. When she invited us over for dinner, I had no idea what to expect. Then she produced this fabulous dish. I’ve been making it ever since.
The French tend to rave about daube de boeuf, a flavorful beef stew from Provence, without it being clear exactly why. Like Proust’s madeleine, this dish must evoke memories of childhood. And indeed, daube harks back to a simpler time, when dishes simmered for hours in a pot set over an open fire, their aroma filling the house until the family was seated to enjoy a tender moment of togetherness. But after all, it’s only beef stew — right?
Hello and happy new year! After all the celebrating, this light but satisying dish of cauliflower in a velvety cheese sauce will hopefully help you get 2020 off to a good start. Don’t be put off by the fancy name — the Brits call it simply ‘cauliflower cheese’. But the French version is slightly different. Mornay sauce is a Béchamel, or cream sauce, enriched with an egg yolk as well as with Gruyère-style cheese. But who, you may ask, is Mornay?
One of the charming traditions of France is the annual gathering of friends and family in early January to share the cake known as galette des rois, or kings cake — frangipane-filled puff pastry with a dried bean or token hidden inside to designate who will be king or queen for the day. The tradition marks the Jan. 6 Christian holiday of Epiphany, celebrated to commemorate the visit of the magi — the three kings of Orient — to the newborn Jesus.
Lobster is a rare treat in Paris, largely because of the price. At my local farmers market the other day, they were selling small live lobsters for 30 euros a piece — far more than you would pay in other countries, or even parts of France where lobsters are grown, for example Brittany. But with the end-of-year festivities coming, I couldn’t resist offering you this elegantissimo recipe for lobster tails bathed in a buttery, vermouth-flavored sauce.
Lobster is often served in France as the star of a Christmas or New Year’s meal, preceded or accompanied by Champagne. If you decide to try it this year, you could start with an 
While the cheese and fruit are optional, a dessert is de rigueur — perhaps a 
With Thanksgiving and the holiday season around the corner, here’s a crisp, citrus-flavored apéritif from the Loire Valley to add sparkle to the festivities. Soupe angevine, literally soup from the Anjou region, combines sparking white wine with lemon juice, sugar syrup and Cointreau. It is traditionally mixed by pouring the bubbly into a large bowl and adding a soup ladle of each of the other ingredients — hence, perhaps, its name.
Tangy and delightfully crispy, the Mediterranean spinach-cheese pie known variously as spanakopita, borek or boureka is both fun and easy to make. In this version, cinnamon is added to the spinach-feta filling for a slightly exotic taste that seems to please. When I made this pie for lunch the other day, it disappeared in minutes. Although the dish can be found in Greek shops in Paris, it tends be bland. The best idea is thus to make it yourself.
I did a little research into the origins of this dish and, although it is often assumed to be Greek, or perhaps Turkish, it apparently reached the Mediterranean via the nomadic Turks of Central Asia, spreading west across the Balkans, north to Romania and Moldova and south to North Africa. In most versions, the pie is constructed using paper-thin filo dough — the name of which, I just learned, is Greek for feuille, or leaf.
Pretty as a picture. That’s what my daughter said when this tart of fresh figs set on vanilla-flavored cream came out of the oven the other day. She posted a photo on Instagram and got, like, a jillion likes (so she said). That evening I took the tart to a friend’s birthday dinner where it was speedily consumed with evident satisfaction — all the more so since this elegant dessert can only be made when figs are in season, a few months a year.
tart and pop it in the oven. When it comes out, you can add a sprinkle of powdered sugar if you like.
As cool, rainy weather set in the other day, I had a hankering for pot au feu. Ran out for the ingredients, came home to look up my recipe on this site — and was astounded to find it wasn’t there. So today I offer you this classic French dish of broth, beef and veggies. In past centuries, pot au feu (literally ‘pot on the fire’) was made in a cauldron, simmering for hours over a fire. Although the ingredients are humble, the result is regal.
I also make a simple version, although it’s a lengthy process. The beef is boiled for more than four hours, reaching a sublime tenderness and producing a deeply aromatic broth. The veggies are added at the end to retain maximum flavor. This is a healthy dish, as the fat is skimmed away during cooking. It is served in two stages — first the broth, then the meat and vegetables arranged on a platter, often with sea salt, Dijon mustard and sharp French cornichons (little pickles) alongside.
