Category Archives: 8. Vegetables

Asperges braisées

I think there’s something we can all agree on — the first taste of asparagus each year is one of the rites of spring. Not that spring has sprung in Paris quite yet, but the first green spears have just … Continue reading

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Julienne de champignons

This dish of sliced mushrooms in a creamy, cheesy sauce is something I discovered while living in Moscow in the 1980s. In Russia, where it is known as zhulien, it is often served during intermission at theaters in little individual … Continue reading

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Purée de potiron au parmesan

This is the longest and dreariest winter I can remember in my more than 30 years in Paris. Gray, gray, gray every day, and it keeps snowing at a time of year when the café tables have usually started to … Continue reading

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Purée d’amandes

When I was lunching at the Paris restaurant Spring last week, the main course — roast guinea fowl — was served with something hard to identify. It was satiny and pure white, and tasted ambrosial in a creamy, melt-in-your-mouth sort … Continue reading

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Courge butternut rôtie aux pignons

Butternut squash is a relative newcomer to Paris. When I moved here in the 1970s I encountered it rarely, if ever. But now it has acquired star power at some of the finest tables in town. I tasted it most … Continue reading

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Salade de carottes à la marocaine

Does North African cooking count as French cuisine? I had dinner a couple nights ago with friends who insist that it does. ‘After all,’ said Jack, ‘when the French are asked to name their favorite food, the dish that comes … Continue reading

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Potimarron farci

I first tasted this dish in the home of Valérie Lapierre, a superlative cook. She and another friend, an artist, had concocted a fabulous meal but refused to say what the main course would be. And then they arrived bearing … Continue reading

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Tartiflette

This is a cold-weather dish most commonly encountered in the Alpine ski resorts of eastern France: potatoes, onions, bacon and flavorful reblochon cheese baked together to make a mouth-watering one-dish meal. But tartiflette has become so popular that restaurants from … Continue reading

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Patates douces aux herbes

Every so often there comes a time for thanksgiving. Yesterday was one such occasion, never mind that it fell a couple of weeks before the American national holiday. In honor of events, I decided to make sweet potatoes. Not the … Continue reading

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Pommes de terre au romarin

Potatoes roasted with rosemary and olive oil — nothing so melt-in-the-mouth delicious could be as simple to make. Preparation time is five minutes or less, although you do need to be around for the next hour or so while your … Continue reading

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