Monday 31 March 2014

Book number 4 - Bitter


I made a promise to blog every week and of course I've already broken it. But, I do have a good excuse -  my book Bitter: A Taste of the World's Most Dangerous Flavor, with Recipes. I am in the last stage of the book's production, which means a lot of careful reading, looking for typos, missing words and mistakes of any kind.

Monday 17 March 2014

Friends in the Bayou


While the weather was warmer in Louisiana it was the warmth of the people that impressed me most - friendly and unfailingly polite. The importance of good manners is often overlooked today. From the culinary students to people in the street, there was an acknowledgment that you existed - a smile, and greeting often followed by a conversation. That's something I miss in Toronto. In Paris I will get a bonjour from strangers in the street and often find myself at the bus stop talking to someone I've just met. When I return to the Toronto, I have to adjust, my hellos to strangers in the street as they are usually met with a start and then discomfort.

Monday 10 March 2014

More from the Bayou


The word boudin for me conjures up images of the French sausages - boudin noir and boudin blanc. The first, is a blood sausage, and the second a more delicate, finely textured sausage made from pork and chicken, often embellished with black truffles. A boudin in Louisiana is different, it is still a sausage, but.....

Monday 3 March 2014

Warmth in the Bayou


Thanks to this man, chef John Folse, I escaped Toronto's relentless winter for a few days. I met John on his radio show - we talked about fat, then he invited me back and we talked odd bits. We hit it off and he asked me to come to Louisiana to teach a class and lecture about odd bits at his culinary college at Nicholls State University. I said yes without a moment's hesitation.