Category: Culture

What’s underfoot flavors great cheese

The French elegantly use the word “terroir” (ter-war) to describe the specific characteristics of an earthly location that’s usually applied to grape-growing areas. In his witty book “What the French?!” Olivier Magny says, “Terroir is somewhereness; it is the essence of a place, its signature. It is what’s unique, nonreproducible and singular about it.”That’s one of the best definitions I’ve heard for “terroir.” Along with wines and foods, the term can also be applied to beautiful rivers, stunning forests, rock formations and even cultural habits. It’s knowing where you are by seeing certain sights, or behaviors like the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. In Paris, it’s the Champs Elysees with the Arc de Triomphe or [ . . . ] More: What’s underfoot flavors great cheese | Home | calaverasenterprise.com

Review: Two Animated Orphans Make Their Way to Paris in ‘Leap!’

Nit-picking will get you nowhere with the target audience of “Leap!,” an animated movie for tweens — they’re unlikely to care about critical quibbles. As for the adults who’ll get dragged to the theater: You’ve seen it all before, though it’s pleasant enough to watch again.Beginning at a French orphanage sometime around the 1880s, this good-natured tale finds 11-year-old Félicie (voiced by Elle Fanning) and her friend Victor (Nat Wolff) ready to run away to Paris, where she hopes to become a ballerina and he an inventor. After this generic pair is chased by the orphanage overseer (Mel Brooks, criminally underused) they arrive in the big city [ . . . ] Read Complete NYTimes Review