What is it with Parisians and Ouefs Durs Mayonnaise? A bistro classic so beloved that it has a society for its preservation? Yes, it is called Association de sauvegarde de l’ouef mayo (ASOM) and it selects the best egg mayo in Paris each year. Perhaps it is a Parisian particularity, one of those foods you yearn for from your childhood,
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En route to Paris last week, I read an article in the Eurostar magazine written by Clotilde Dusoulier (of the wonderful blog Chocolate and Zucchini) who described a street with recently opened shops where unusual varieties of fish and vegetables could be bought, the sorts of foods one might have eaten in a Paris restaurant. As luck would have it,
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So hot it has a fire bucket hanging outside its front door, Frenchie Bar a Vins is situated in a rather unprepossessing, steel-grated street filled with garbage cans. True, during daytime hours, the grates are open to reveal tiny shops where those in the know can purchase fruits, vegetables, fish and meat – the sorts of foods they may have
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The growing concern about horse meat in processed foods in the UK has got me thinking about differing cultural attitudes to which animals we are prepared to eat. In France, supermarkets have a section in the meat department specifically for horse meat and one can order horse steak tartar in some restaurants. Yet on this side of the channel, lasagnas
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If Proust had become a father I doubt his children would have shared his enthusiasm for the madeleine. As he dipped the dainty cake into his tea, his teenage sons (I imagine them as boys) would have raised an eyebrow to one another, a non verbal gesture that speaks volumes, conveying their mutual exasperation with a dad who was slightly
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January is a bleak month in the Northern hemisphere, a time when holiday brochures take on a fresh appeal. Perfect beaches in foreign climes offer relief as ‘winter sun’ destinations. Yet the year has just begun and a vacation is but a fantasy. Still, we can indulge in a few dreams and travel the globe with our taste buds. One
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My younger son has always wanted to visit Japan. I don’t know how he came to identify this country as suitable for his travel needs. His total exposure to the culture is a weekly visit to his Japanese piano teacher but that hardly explains his desire to spend a holiday exploring Tokyo. For his birthday treat he chose to lunch
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Over a four day jaunt to Edinburgh we ate our way from Michelin Star to Deep Fried Mars Bar via haggis, Cullen skink, shortbread and porridge. The more we ate, the more we discovered what else looked good for the next trip. Some of the bites we liked best were discovered while we were en route to some of the
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What is it about haggis that makes non-Scottish people wrinkle up their noses and pull faces of displeasure? After all, it’s not as if the rest of us are unaccustomed to eating unidentifiable meat products encased in a skin. Sausages we all know and love despite the innards being rather dubious in many cases. Yet haggis has a reputation of
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A finalist in the BBC Food and Farming award in 2012, this market nestles below Edinburgh Castle which towers above it on a volcanic outcrop. It is filled to the brim with local Scottish produce to keep you eating from breakfast to dinner. From Scottish porridge oats to shellfish, venison and buffalo, our shopping basket was heavy with a varied
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