Why you shouldn't cut your salad in France and more...

Scientists say that there is no limit to the amount of information the human brain can learn.  I haven’t had a science class since high school so I’m going to take their word for it.  My brain has been working overtime lately with a new language, monetary system, measurement system (America I think it is time we converted to metrics) not to mention all of the recipes and cooking techniques I have been learning.  In addition to all the important information I have been occupied with I have retained a few random pieces of knowledge that I thought you may find interesting:

·        In France cutting the lettuce in your salad goes against les protocols.  The French use their knives to help fold the greens onto the tines of their forks.  This tradition apparently dates back hundreds of years to a time when cutlery was made with metal that would leave a metallic taste when cutting through delicate salad greens.  Therefore, no one cuts lettuce with a knife (even though cutlery has since improved). 

Excusez-moi, je suis américaine and folding lettuce onto a fork is too hard for me!

·        The French also consider it rude, as well as pretentious, to cut the tip off a wedge of cheese.  To correctly serve yourself a piece of cheese you should cut along the side of the wedge.  Unless of course you are eating the whole wedge, then cut it however you like.

·        Many of you have probably heard of cream of tartar; it is a white powder that is often found in meringue recipes because it stabilizes egg whites.  What you may not know is that it is a byproduct of winemaking.  Also known as potassium bitartrate, it forms as crystals on the inside of wine barrels and is collected and purified to create what we know as cream of tartar.

·         If you burn yourself immediately pour vinegar on the burn.  Doing so will ease some of the pain and prevent a blister from forming.

·        Bacteria starts growing in whipping cream 20 minutes after it has been removed from the refrigerator.

·        Technically, “champagne” only comes from the Champagne region of France and everything else is “sparkling wine” (except for Prosecco which is an Italian sparkling wine and a whole other set of rules).  The French are very protective of their entitlement to this word and in 1891 it became illegal in the European Union to call sparkling wine “champagne” unless it came from the Champagne region.  France is so serious about their right to this term that they made sure the law was reiterated in the Treaty of Versailles; one of the documents that officially ended WWI.  As you history buffs know, the U.S. never ratified the Treaty of Versailles and as a result didn’t recognize France’s exclusive right to the use of “champagne” until 2006.  You can still buy champagne produced in the U.S. if the producer was calling their product “champagne” before 2006.  However, I’m sure if you ask a French person if they would like a glass of California champagne they would let you know that c'est du vin mousseux.

·        To correctly open a bottle of Champagne you should hold the cork and twist the bottle.  That’s what she said.  Sorry, I had to do it before someone beat me to the punch line.

·        Lager is the most commonly sold beer in the world.  It was invented in the Czech Republic when it was discovered if you let beer sit in barrels the particles will settle to the bottom and result in a lighter, semi-transparent beer as opposed to ale which is thicker and opaque.   

·        Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser is one of the most popular beers in the U.S., but it was not the first Budweiser in the world.  Budweiser, a lager-style beer, was first produced in the 18^th century in Bohemia (now Czech Republic).  After being inspired during a trip to Bohemia Adolphus Busch started producing a lager beer in the U.S. in 1876 that he called Budweiser.  The Czech Budweiser, now known as Budweiser Budvar, claimed that Mr. Busch stole their recipe and name.  I think they could have taken a few tips from the French when it comes to trade marking.  The companies fought legal battles for years and it was only in 2007 that they reached an agreement that said both companies could use the name Budweiser, but could not distribute their beer in the same countries under the same name.  As a result, you can find the Czech Budweiser in the U.S. but it is called Czechvar. 

 

A Budweiser Budvar label



A Czechvar label

I learned about Czech beer and the Budweiser conflict a few months ago during a beer tour in Prague.  It just so happens that I have also visited the Anheuser-Busch factory in St. Louis.  While I don't recall any mention of lawsuits during the St. Louis tour I did remember a beautiful factory complete with a Clydesdale stable.  Perhaps Mr. Busch did take too much inspiration from the Budweiser Budvar brand, but he sure did know how to market it!

I hope you pass the knowledge on and share these tips and anecdotes with your friends!

Bisou, bisou,

Maggie

P.S. For those of you interested in reading more about an expat's take on French culture check out some of my favorite books: 

The Sweet Life in Paris is written by a former American pastry chef.  Talk to the Snail and A Year in the Merde are written by a funny British man.   

 “Knowledge is the food of the soul.”

-Plato



Breaking the rules

When I left for Paris this past November my parents drove me to the airport.  As a chronic procrastinator I had had a stressful morning trying to pack everything I wanted for 9 months into only two suitcases.  It was a relief once I was finally sitting down in the car and on my way, and then to my delight my mom pulled out a bottle of champagne.  My parents wanted to have a toast to my new adventure (plus they were obviously devastated that their twenty-two year old daughter was moving out of their house and figured a drink might help with the pain).  But it’s illegal to have an open container in a car. Well, yes, we were aware of that.  I believe you should always know the rules.  If you’re going to break them it should be a conscious decision.  No one wants to find out they broke the law once the handcuffs are already on. 

When it comes to pâtisserie there are many rules.  For instance, if you want to get a nice shiny chocolate that has a little “snap” when you bite into it you need to heat it correctly.  The process is called tempering; you heat it to 45°C, let it cool to 27°C, and heat it again to 31°C so you can work with it.  If you are more than a couple degrees off in temperature your chocolate will not look appetizing.  It is important to learn proper cooking techniques because afterwards you can get creative with textures and flavors.  For the sake of good food I try to follow the rules of pastry to the best of my ability.  During my time at Le Cordon Bleu I have learned a few things that contradict guidelines I had previously been taught.



Me making cupcakes...and yes, I washed my hands first.

I can still remember the first time I was denied raw cookie dough as a child.  Traumatic, obviously.  I was sitting on the kitchen counter ready to dig into a bowl of freshly made chocolate chip dough when I was stopped mid-scoop and told I couldn’t eat that because it may have E. coli in it.  I will admit that over the years I have indulged in my share of cookie dough, but I always did so with feelings of guilt.  Luckily, LCB has cured my conscious.  C’est impossible to make a creamy chocolate mousse without raw eggs.  In general the French are very lax about eating raw things--beef tartar, oysters, and duck served very rare are all common, tasty dishes that I eat every chance I get.  I have no idea how many cases of E. coli have been caused by raw eggs or meat, but I do know that the E. coli bacterium is most commonly found in the lower-intestine of warm-blooded organisms.  So, before you worry about how well done your steak is please, remember the cardinal rule of cooking:  ALWAYS wash your hands first.

I have always been willing to listen to the advice of others, but at the end of the day I prefer to figure things out for myself.  As a result, I have done things such as actually pay money to see a Brendan Fraser movie, had street food in India (which was delicious on the way down), and put highlights in my hair.  When I am in a restaurant and a waiter warns me not to touch the hot plate my fingertips automatically flutter to the edge of my dish to see just how hot it is.  Despite my need to try things on my own I have always heeded the warnings of cooking show hosts and cookbook authors—I never touched boiling sugar.  It resembles molten lava and I had no desire to find out how hot it feels.  So as you can imagine, I was a little nervous the first day I stood above my pot of boiling sugar in the LCB kitchen.  I knew I was expected to touch it to see if it had reached the “softball stage” which happens to be 240°F.  I prepared a bowl of cold water to stick my fingers in before and after they go for a swim in the hot liquid.  Once I finally mustered up the courage to test the sugar I discovered that it doesn’t hurt at all!  It’s actually kind of fun and a slight adrenaline rush.  Cooking can be so dangerous.

Someone once said, “rules were meant to be broken.”  I by no means completely agree with this, but I do know that if I didn’t step over the line every once in awhile I would never have been able to enjoy so many delicious experiences.  Au revoir for now, I’m off to class to make a croquembouche and perhaps break some rules.


Bisou, bisou,


Maggie

P.S.  The following is a link to portraits by an artist named Mark Menjivar who traveled across the U.S. photographing the inside of people’s refrigerators.  It’s just a little “food for thought.”  The exhibit is titled You Are What You Eat.    http://markmenjivar.com/you-are-what-you-eat/statement/

"I've long believed that good food, good eating, is all about risk. Whether we're talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime 'associates,' food, for me, has always been an adventure."

-Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly