Paris Journal 2014 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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In yesterday’s post, I didn’t tell you how I met the couple from Bexley/New York. The scene happens over and over again, every day, out on the Champ de Mars. A couple decides to take a photo of one of them with the Eiffel Tower in the background. One takes the photo, the other is in the photo, unless, of course, they ask someone else to take the photo of the two of them. Or, in another variation, someone nearby offers to take the photo of the two of them. That is what I did after passing the couple by and hearing their American voices. I paused to look at a variegated red-twigged dogwood shrub, and glanced back to see the man about to photograph his wife with the Tower above and behind her. We were in the shady, tree-lined part of the Champ de Mars. I offered to photograph the two of them with the man’s iPhone. After the photo, we chatted for a while. We never did exchange names, but I’m fairly certain that I have met them before, many years ago, in Columbus. I knew many people there, after all. She spoke amazingly good French. In fact, she’d studied it in college and she taught French for a while. Their son, who is an M.D., owns a business in some medical field. He settled in France after meeting a woman named Cynthia. The man hopes that the son and his family will return to the U.S. because it would be better for the son’s business. I certainly can understand that; France is not the easiest place to run a business. I’ve heard many business people say that – even French people – so it probably is true. But for now, the Bexley/New York couple is enjoying retirement and the ability to visit their son and his family in Paris on a regular basis. Our “business” is really in New York, but we can do the work from anywhere – well, anywhere with a decent internet connection and some peace and quiet. The textbook business is alive and well, and with new work headed our way, we cheerfully shut the computers down at the end of the day, went out for an evening stroll, and finished with a celebratory dinner at l’Alchimie, an adorable and reliable small French restaurant. The building housing l’Alchimie looks like a little country cottage, but it is right off of the bustling rue du Commerce on the rue Letelier. The maître d’hotel/server is as nice and helpful as can be. He remembers what we like to drink, and that we’re here for the summer. He brought us some sparkling water and a mis en bouche of salmon rillettes right away (photo below). After our walk, this was a welcome and much needed refreshment.
The menu at l’Alchimie changes regularly, but it seems that the chef, Eric Rogoff, always has some unique and creative way of serving foie gras. Last year, it was chocolate-encrusted foie gras. This year, it is a starter course called a panacotta de foie gras, pommes carémilisées, pain d'èpice. I swear those carmelized apples really seemed to be peaches, but whatever, the result was delightful. This could be a dessert instead of a starter course: rich, sweet, and wonderful. Turbot de pêche rôti à l' ail et au thym, pont-neuf de manioc was my main course. Turbot is a stronger tasting fish than the sea basses and dorade I’ve been eating lately, so it was a nice change of pace. What looks like little potato logs stacked in a criss-cross fashion (pont neuf) as the accompaniment to this turbot is actually a tropical tuber called manioc in French, or cassava in English. (When dried to a powdery/pearly extract, cassava is tapioca.) This is a very drought-tolerant plant that is native to South America (northern Brazil?). While we may not often see it on our plates, cassava is the third most prevalent source of carbohydrates in the tropics, after rice and corn. In developing countries, it is an extremely important food source. The largest producer of cassava is Nigeria. As popular as it is, cassava must be properly prepared, because it contains toxins such as cyanide. L’Alchimie’s chef’s mother was from Vietnam, and I think it is quite possible that she taught him how to properly prepare cassava. She did encourage him to become a chef. Tom’s starter course was a big plate of excellent beef carpaccio, so for his main course, he ordered the yummy homemade tagliatelle pasta with sun-dried tomatoes. He finally broke his lamb streak! Good for him. Tom’s dessert was a Macaron amande, coeur au beurre salé, tartare de fruits. The « fruits » turned out to be diced mangos. I was not able to help him with that delicious dessert; in fact, after my rich starter course, I could only eat a third of my manioc (cassava). After dinner, the evening was so beautiful that I put my laptop computer out on the balcony with me to check my email. Then I read on my Kindle for a while – the latest book is The Paris Lawyer by Sylvie Granotier. Its plot includes a woman from Gabon who is accused of poisoning her French husband with cyanide. I wonder if it was really the cassava? On va voir.
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Thursday, July 31, 2014
The
Eiffel Tower as seen from beneath the trees on the Champ de Mars.
Panacotta foie gras with
spice bread toasts, and beef carpaccio at l’Alchimie on rue Letelier.
Turbot
and cassava.
Homemade
tagliatelle pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and superb parmesan.
Meringue
with almond filling and diced mangos, with caramel sauce. |
