Category: Food & Wine

Vive Les Gourmands! How Six American Expats In Paris Changed How We Eat : The Salt : NPR

Julia Child
Julia Child

Mid-twentieth century Paris evokes images of Left Bank intellectuals earnestly discussing existentialism over demitasses of coffee. But the city was also home to a celebrated food scene that drew gastronomes from around the world. The Gourmands’ Way: Six Americans in Paris and the Birth of a New Gastronomy chronicles the Parisian adventures of beloved TV chef Julia Child, New Yorker writer A. J. Liebling, wine merchant and impresario Alexis Lichine, artist and cookbook writer Richard Olney, novelist M.F.K. Fisher, and companion and muse of Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas.This ragtag band of passionate epicureans dove headlong into French culinary culture, reveling in its sumptuous delicacies. They then brought back many of the recipes and ideas about cooking and eating to the U.S. Roast partridge, calf’s brains gratin, foie gras rissolettes (small patties), epic multi-course banquets washed down with sundry wines, spirits and liqueurs —The Gourmand’s Way bristles with the lavish fare of mid-twentieth century Paris [ . . . ] More: Vive Les Gourmands! How Six American Expats In Paris Changed How We Eat : The Salt : NPR

Why France’s First Female Master Of Wine Is Calling For More Transparency, Less Additives

A bottle of wine can include not only sulfites to kill off bacteria and yeasts, but also derivatives of dried fish bladders, livestock pancreases, egg white and milk. Master of Wine Isabelle Legeron has had enough. She’s calling for all ingredients to be listed on a wine bottle’s label.After growing up on a small family farm with a Cognac distillery in southwestern France, Legeron headed to London for college. But after a few years in corporate life [ . . . ] More at: Why France’s First Female Master Of Wine Is Calling For More Transparency, Less Additives

Let’s Talk Wine: Lovely Loire Valley reds

The Loire Valley, referred to as the Garden of France, is known for its magnificent chateaux and rich history, and runs at the heart of France with five distinct wine regions – Pays Nantais, Anjou, Saumur, Touraine, Centre-Loire – each with its own characteristics of grapes, appellations and styles. The wine-growing regions dotting the Loire’s banks feature about 4,000 wineries, 170,000 acres of vineyards and 61 appellations of origin, making the Loire Valley the third largest French wine-making region, producing [ . . . ]

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Consumers warned as French food waste hits 10m tonnes

France throws away 10 million tonnes of food every year, with each French person throwing out the equivalent of one entire meal per week, a new report has warned.Each French person wastes on average over €100-worth of food – and 29 kg – per year, according to data published in French newspaper Le Monde.This week celebrates the French National Day Against Food Waste (Journée nationale de lutte contre le gaspillage alimentaire), which aims to raise awareness of the scale of the problem.Le Monde’s report showed that if the entire food chain – from production to consumption – is taken into account, each consumer actually wastes as much as €240 and 155 kg-worth of food per year.In response, the French minister for agriculture has warned the public to make sure they do not needlessly throw food away, and to mind the difference between “use by” (known in French as the DLC (date limite de consommation)) and “best before” (DDM, date de durabilité minimale) dates [ . . . ]

Full Story: Consumers warned as French food waste hits 10m tonnes