Paris Journal 2012 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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When we dined at Oh! Duo with our friends Ron and Elisabeth, the chef, Joel Valéro, brought us a special treat at the end of the evening, before we left the restaurant. Guimauve is the name of this treat, Elisabeth told us. “It is something very special,” she said. How can I describe it? There was one piece for each of us, about a cubic inch in size. These were, indeed, a very pale mauve in color. If you can imagine a marshmallow, but far more heavenly,
ethereal, and a bit more mousse-like, but still a bit spongy like a
marshmallow, yet with a delicate, subtle, and splendid flavor -- that’s guimauve. Wikipedia says that guimauve and “marshmallow” are the same thing. I’m telling you, when Joel Valéro brings guimauve to your table, you will find that they are most certainly not the same thing. I agree with Wikipedia that marshmallow, as we Americans know it, is made with water, sugar, gelatin, and corn syrup. My taste buds say there is more to guimauve. Egg must be in there. And Joel’s guimauve had some delicate, subtle fruit flavor, too – a red fruit, I thought. But Wikipedia says it is rose water. Who knows? There is a marshmallow plant, the Alfaea officinalis, which was used for treating sore throats. Maybe some people still use it for that. Marshmallow has more of a history than I would have guessed – going back to ancient Egypt. You can read about it in Wikipedia, if you’re interested. This is France, the land of fine chocolate. As an American, how can I not think of guimauve and chocolate, without thinking of s’mores? And it turns out that the French have something far superior to graham crackers with which to make s’mores. It is a “biscuit” that we’d call a cookie, and it has a cinnamon, sugar, spice flavor – what the manufacturer, LU, calls a “Belgian” biscuit. LU began in 1850 when two French bakers fell in love and started their own bakery, naming it LU for their combined initials. In 1880, the LU company began hiring fine artists to create attractive posters for advertising their products. These are highly collectible today. Now, like so many successful French companies, LU is owned by a conglomerate, in this case, Kraft Foods (via Nabisco). You can view the beautiful posters from LU’s past on their web site at http://brands.nabisco.com/LuBuiscuits/. Just click on the “All About LU” menu, then select “Art of LU.” These are beautiful images. And oh so French. The symbolic image of France for many Americans is that of the Eiffel Tower. Tom’s son Dan and our granddaughters Olivia and Sarah went up to the top the Eiffel Tower yesterday and said it was a highlight of their lives. Earlier in the day, they’d explored Montmartre, and the night before, they went out to the amusement park at the Tuileries and rode the huge Ferris wheel. We had a fun dinner with them last night at our neighborhood brasserie, Le Commerce Café. Someday, when they have better table manners, we will be able to take them to a good French restaurant. But the brasseries will do nicely for now. They do love the food. I have never seen two humans enjoy strawberries and crème brulée as much as Olivia and Sarah did last night. More later . . . .
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Saturday, July 21, 2012
La
Tour.
The
Fat Tire bicycle tour group strolling through the Champ de Mars.
The
puppet show place in the Champ de Mars. |
