Tag: French

‘À La Mode’ Is a Lonely Survivor of a French Culinary Code

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE French to know what à la mode means. Even at the humble American diner, where Gallic influence is usually limited to French fries and French dips, desserts are tagged with the term. Pies, cakes, and even pancakes and waffles can come crowned with a scoop of ice cream: in other words, à la mode.

American menus were once replete with such wording. Meaning in the fashion in French, à la mode is a relic of a time when elite diners worldwide used coded terms from classical French cuisine. Today, that system of naming has all but vanished outside of France and French restaurant [ . . . ]

Continue at ATLAS OBSCURA: ‘À La Mode’ Is a Lonely Survivor of a French Culinary Code – Gastro Obscura

French electronic duo Her find immortality in their music

“We choose the way we’ll be remembered.” The first song Simon Carpentier and Victor Solf wrote as French electronic duo Her opens their self-titled debut album with those words. Both of them were afraid of the future at the time and needed to make a song about how they should be the ones to decide how they are remembered. No one else could decide.

“We Choose” was released after Carpentier’s death from cancer, aged 27, in August 2017. He and Solf had met over a decade ago at their school in the medieval town of Rennes, north France, forming Her in 2015 after their first band, electro-pop band The Popopopops, split two years earlier.

Knowing their time was limited, they mapped out how they wanted their debut album to sound, and how the entire project would be presented to the world. You’d be hard-pushed to find a record or another band to compare it to, and it’s not what you might expect from a French electronic act.

“Making this album was a very intense part of our life,” Solf says. He’s sat, in an orange roll-neck sweater and black trousers – handsome in a particularly French way, with a strong jaw and dark, close-cropped hair – at a venue in Paris where the first part of a documentary about Her will be shown, along with a live performance by him and his band members.

 

“It was really important for us to be able to produce our songs, to be really focused on the whole project,” he continues. “But it was also important to trust people and bring them in; we’d been working with our sound engineer for five years, even before Her, and he really helped us a lot on the production and the mixing.

“Sometimes you can’t see anymore what’s wrong with a song, so someone a little bit outside can help. It was the same with the musicians, Simon could play the guitar and the bass and I could play the keyboard and some drums, so we could have recorded it ourselves if we’d really wanted, but it’s not how we think about music. We started to work with three other musicians – without computers – in the studio, and it was really nice to have different opinions.” Continue reading “French electronic duo Her find immortality in their music” →

Asia Argento Calls Catherine Breillat a ‘Sadistic and Downright Evil’ Director

Early Friday morning, actor Asia Argento, who has become vocal within the #MeToo movement after detailing her own experience being assaulted by Harvey Weinstein in 1997, tweeted extensively about her her time working with the film director Catherine Breillat.[ . . . ]

Source: Asia Argento Calls Catherine Breillat a ‘Sadistic and Downright Evil’ Director

The Best Defense for French Wine Growers? Bats!

Wine, for when you want to party but still feel classy about it. Like all edible alcohol, wine comes from fermentation, and for millennia artisans have honed their craft at turning humble grapes into the drink of the gods. So suffice it to say growing good grapes is crucial to making good wine.

That’s why French wine growers have such a beef with moths. These thirsty bootleg butterfly bugs love swooping down and eating grapes right off the vine. They have the nerve to get between us and our wine! But fear not, a recent wine industry study revealed that in the War For Wine we have an animal kingdom ally in the fight against moths, an animal we’re already used to associating with superheroics. It turns out bats are the best natural defense wine can get.

It’s really just the food cycle wine growers should be thankful for. Of the 22 local Bordeaux bat species, researchers observed that 19 of them specifically love to feast on moths that target wine grapes. Droppings analysis confirmed that it was these harmful moths being preyed on. Other insects were spared.

With this knowledge, wine growers could use these bats to their advantage. They could act like organic pesticides, clearing the fields of insects while not introducing harmful chemicals into the ecosystem. It would take some effort though. The bats instinctively hunt in wilder regions, so they would have to be somehow funneled towards these domesticated vineyards [ . . . ]

Read morea at GREEK.com: The Best Defense for French Wine Growers? Bats! – Geek.com

The Best Paris Tips From Our Readers

Bonjour! This week we asked for your Paris tips. Here are some highlights from the 148 responses. If you learn just thing, let it be that Parisians like to say hello.

Say hello

If you think Parisians are rude, it might just be that you’re not saying hello. “It is considered the height of rudeness to not greet anyone-even when you get on a bus,” says Klee. “Anytime you walk into a store, you will be greeted and you must greet the shop-person back,” says Scout’s Honor. “I noticed that even when I was walking down an alley and another person crossed my path, they would say ‘Bonsoir,’” says ceedotkaydot. Add an Au revoir, bonne journee when you leave, says jseb.

And start your conversations in French, even when you know the other person speaks English. Readers all agreed that it’s rude to just start talking to Parisians in English. “The best phrase I know in French is Je suis désolé, je ne parle pas français, says JobiWan. “I’ve seen tourists (mostly American) be treated as annoying tourists because they are pushy and demanding, and yet when I approach the same vendors and tell them I don’t speak French (in French), they are much more polite and accommodating.

Even those that don’t speak English are very pleasant and try to work with you.”

You can push it further, says TheMonkeyKing: “We found ourselves to be instant hits in small neighborhood cafes where we badly mangled local French but in their laughter appreciated our efforts. One place poured us extra wine and another one gave use free desserts with our dinner. If you can sneak in a malaprop, you’ll become their darling.”

Walk if you can

While the metro is top-notch, Paris is best seen above ground. Sinisterblogger elaborates:

Walk everywhere and don’t be afraid to get lost. If you get lost, hop on the Metro (there’ll be a station nearby). It’s very, very easy. But make a point to get lost. Just wander. Find a cafe off the beaten path, away from the tourists, sit, drink wine, people watch.

Aimawayfromface3 agrees:

Plan less and wander more. Paris is filled with little micro-neighborhoods and interesting streets. Be sure to take at least one day to just wander about without any real plans or direction. I happened upon an old raised railway line (Promenade Plantee) that they turned into a park. (Similar to the High Line Park in Manhattan)

Papa Van Twee learned this the hard way, after his tour bus broke down. “The next day we skipped the bus, and just walked. It was a lot more fun that way. You can’t get to know a city until you’ve walked it, and Paris is a wonderful city to get to know.”

Avoid scams

“Ignore anyone approaching you with a clipboard asking if you speak English, or anyone with a poorly made friendship bracelet in their hand,” says Kevin Lee Drum.

“I do not feel that the city is generally unsafe, but keep an eye on your valuables, there are many pickpockets,” says Frederi. [ . . . ]

More at Source: LIFEHACKER The Best Paris Tips From Our Readers