Strawberries with basil and balsamic vinegar, aka strawberry carpaccio, appeared relatively recently on Paris bistro menus. The combination makes a refreshing dessert on warm summer evenings — light, tangy and sophisticated. And the real magic is that it takes about five minutes to prepare. You can also vary the ingredients, adding a few raspberries or replacing the basil with mint. Don’t tell your guests about the balsamic — let them guess.
Fraises au basilic et vinaigre balsamique / Strawberries with basil and balsamic
When thinking about this dish, I got to wondering about the name carpaccio. It is obviously borrowed from the Italian dish of thinly sliced raw beef, sprinkled with olive oil and lemon juice and often topped with arugula or basil. But how did that dish get its name? I did a little research, and the answer made me nostalgic for a romantic trip to Venice I enjoyed many years ago in the company of an Argentinian friend.
During our visit — a few days before Carnival, when Venetians stroll around in masks and vapor rises spookily from the canals — we went for cocktails one afternoon to a historic venue, Harry’s Bar. Hemingway used to hang out there, as did Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles. It turns out that the owner, Giuseppe Cipriani, created the beef dish in 1950 for a countess who had been told by her doctor to eat raw meat. As the dish was red, he named it after the Renaissance painter Vittore Carpaccio, who used a lot of red in his paintings.
Okay, that’s the lore. In fact that dish already existed, in the Piedmont region on the other side of northern Italy, where it was known as carne cruda all’Albese — raw meat in the style of Alba, a Piedmont town south of Asti, famous for Asti Spumante, the Italian sparkling wine. The Alba region itself in fact produces some great wines, among them Barolo and Barbera. But we’re getting off subject here.
As food lovers will know, the term carpaccio has since been broadened to include practically anything raw and thinly sliced, from salmon, tuna or sea scallops to mushrooms, fresh figs and, yes, strawberries. Given the origin of the term, I like the fact that strawberry carpaccio includes a touch of Italy with the balsamic. Whoever first dreamed up the idea, and this I didn’t discover, it’s a great invention. Give it a try.
Oh, and one more thing. Nearly forgot to mention that The Everyday French Chef has been named one of the 12 best blogs about France. Very delighted about this! Also on the list is one of my favorite food blogs, Chez Loulou, by an American who set out to taste as many French cheeses as she could. Her list now stands at 223 cheeses — worth checking out.
Happy cooking!
It is surprising, in our globalized world, that we can still travel only a short distance and find ourselves in a whole new foodosphere. I recently had the pleasure of visiting Naples. The first night, at a joint straight out of a Mastroianni-Loren movie, I was served pizza with sausage and friarielli, aka broccoli rabe, which is virtually unfindable in Paris. The last day, I encountered a simple but scrumptious dish of pasta, mussels and pecorino.
I first encountered this dish a couple of years ago at 
The mimosa tree, its fluffy yellow blossoms a harbinger of spring, has loaned its name not only to a Champagne cocktail but also to the French version of deviled eggs. The eggs are stuffed and topped with of tiny pieces of yolk meant to resemble mimosa flowers. The filling includes parsley or other herbs. It’s a great dish to serve at this time of year — cheery, light and bright. And by the way, it’s also a great way to recycle Easter eggs.
If you’d like to kick off festivities with 
Tomorrow is April Fool’s Day, an event marked in France by pranks known as poissons d’avril, or ‘April fish’. So this seemed an appropriate time to post a fish recipe, all the more so as spring has now sprung with a vengeance in Paris, with warm-weather dishes sprouting on bistro menus like precocious darling buds of May. Salmon tartare is one such dish — light and fresh, its flavor enhanced with avocado, fresh herbs and lime juice.
You may say po-TAY-to, I may say po-TAH-to, but the French say “apples of the earth” (pommes de terre), perhaps an indication of their esteem for the humble spud. And French potato salad, simple and earthy, has a taste all its own. Unlike American potato salad, it has no mayonnaise. Unlike the German version, it leaves out the bacon. No, the French bathe potatoes in a vinaigrette while still warm, add chopped shallots and herbs — et voilà.
The wonderful French phrase l’heure de l’apéro means you’re done working and it’s time to kick off your shoes and settle in to a drink as a prelude to a pleasant evening. It’s like cocktail hour, but with a nuance of difference. The drinks are generally not cocktails but variations on wine, and on festive occasions — or even ordinary occasions — amuse-bouches are served with the drinks. For example, lacy chips baked from grated parmesan.
When is a lamb chop not a lamb chop? It may seem a minor distinction, but here in France a carré d’agneau (rack of lamb) is considered a different dish altogether than côtelettes d’agneau (lamb chops), the difference being that the meat is tender on all sides when the rack is sliced. The elegance makes it a dish for special occasions. Served with a sophisticated purée, for example of parsnips and cumin, it will add a touch of class to your table.
A little lore was passed along to me by Robin from the butcher counter at 
The humble cauliflower takes on elegance and class when transformed into crème de chou-fleur, a magnificent winter soup that is both light and packed with vitamins. It is essentially a purée of cauliflower with a spoonful of cream. Ground coriander seeds, lemon and dill enhance the flavor, while trout roe adds a bright touch — and more flavor. It makes a satisfying lunch dish and sparkles as a first course at dinnertime. Try it and see.
Some days you just need comfort food — so why not make an apple strudel? This delightfully flaky dessert has been popular in France since it was introduced at Versailles by Marie-Antoinette, who came here from her native Austria after marrying the future Louis XVI. It is exceptionally easy to make these days thanks to the availability of filo dough, which eliminates the painstaking step of stretching out kneaded dough until it is paper thin.
