September 2010
53 posts
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Mindful Eating: Farmers, the Land, and Local...
The Rambling Epicure
by Jonell Galloway
Many times, after I have finished a lecture on the decline of American farming and rural life, someone in the audience has asked, “What can city people do?” “Eat responsibly,” I have usually answered. Of course, I have tried to explain what I mean by that, but afterwards I have invariably felt there was more to be said than I had...
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Eco-friendly Bed & Breakfasts around Lausanne
Lavaux vineyards, growing down the hillside all the way to the edge of Lake Geneva. Photo courtesy of Once Upon A Time.
The Rambling Epicure
by Jonell Galloway
History, ecological tourism and regional food products all in one
The Lausanne tourist bureau is supporting the efforts of three wine estates around Lausanne to provide rooms on a B & B basis, meals, receptions, cocktail parties, ...
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“Get serious about what you put in your mouth!”
– Me, Jonell Galloway
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Foodie Elitism | Flavor Magazine: The only... →
Thanks to askbryan and link he found michaelpollan.com.
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What is Mindful Eating? →
Mindful Eating: Get serious about what you put in your mouth!
by Jonell Galloway
Mindful Eating means getting serious about what you put in your mouth.
Mindful Eating is sensual — in this case visual — as well as cerebral.
You don’t have to think with your taste buds every minute of your life, like I do, but eating takes on a new importance in your life, and is no longer just an...
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Food Photography: Japanese Photographer Keiko...
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
by Jonell Galloway
I admit. I’m always envious of great food photographers, because as hard as I try, my food photos are always mediocre if not bad.
What may look so simple never is. There’s the light, the reflections, the colors, the composition, just like in a painting. The difference is that the painter can create it all in the manner he or she likes with a...
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10 Things You Need to Know before You Start...
by Jonell Galloway
Cooking is just applied physics and chemistry, with a little creativity thrown in.
1. Heat and temperature
Heat and temperature are important at every stage in cooking.
When browning or grilling meat or fish, oil should be very hot before adding it. This seizes it, thus preserving all its natural juices, which are where the flavor resides.
Slow cooking at low temperatures is...
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French wine fact: What is the Difference between...
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
by Jonell Galloway
Photo courtesy of Ori2uru.
Mousseux is the generic term for a sparkling wine. It can come from anywhere in the world.
Crémant and Champagne are specific types of mousseux linked to specific regions and to a specific method of making wine. They render only a small amount of creamy froth. Crémant comes mainly from Bordeaux, Loire, Alsace or Burgundy,...
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Recipe: Quince (or Apple) and Ginger Soup
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
by Jonell Galloway
A recipe by Jack McNulty of LaughingLemon
This is an unusual soup and an unusual way of using quince.
Photo courtesy of Kotchtopf.
The soup may be too spicy for many, especially if you add extra fresh ginger.
The fruit and ginger flavors marry extremely well with the fresh vegetables, and the soup is cool and refreshing to the tongue. This makes...
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Cool Geneva Sunday Brunch Spots
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
by Jonell Galloway
Les 5 Portes
French cuisine.
Les 5 Portes, rue de Zürich 8, 1201 Geneva, tel. +41 022 731 84 38. Open Tues. through Fri. 09H00 to 02H00, Sat. 17H00 to 02H00, Sunday 11H00 to 20H00.
L’Alhambar
American-style Sunday brunch, with mimosas, Bloody Marys. Nice price.
L’Alhambar, rue de la Rôtisserie 10, 1204 Geneva, entrance through...
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How to Eat Gourmet on a College Student's Budget
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
by Jonell Galloway
When I was in college in the U.S. and France in the 70s and 80s, my kitchen was about the size of an American half-bath. I was already well on my way to gourmet snobbery, but since I couldn’t afford to eat in gourmet restaurants every night, I was forced to find novel ways to satisfy my taste buds.
Photo courtesy of Carlos Porto.
When I traveled, I was...
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Michelin Star Chef Philippe Chevrier’s Recipe for...
by Jonell Galloway
Originally published on GenevaLunch.com
Châteauvieux’s Recipe of the Month: Mixed Berry Crisp
Philippe Chevrier is head chef and owner of Domaine de Châteauvieux in Satigny, Switzerland, right in the middle of the vineyards just outside Geneva. His restaurant has two Michelin stars and a 19/20 rating in the GaultMillau restaurant guide. Geneva gourmets have had a soft spot...
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Swiss Food Fact: Fondue
The word “fondue” means literally “melted” in French. In Switzerland, fondue is made by melting cheese with white wine, pepper, garlic and kirsch (cherry schnapps).
Photo courtesy of Fribourg Tourist Bureau.
Different regions use different cheeses and have different recipes however. In the canton of Valais, no starch, butter, or eggs are added, while in many other...
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Fennel Recipe Ideas
by Jonell Galloway
Article originally published on GenevaLunch.com
The best way to cook meals full of flavor is to use ingredients that are in season where you live. We’re already starting to see fennel on the market in the Lake Geneva region, so here are some simple, tasty ideas for high-fiber, healthy meals.
Photo courtesy of Five Prime.
Fennel is a good way to add a bit of spice,...
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Fribourg-style Cuchaule: Saffron Bread to Eat with...
The Rambling Epicure
by Jonell Galloway
In my post Bénichon Mustard, A Fribourg Specialty to Welcome the Cows Coming Home a few days ago, I talked about the brioche-like saffron bread cuchaule which is traditionally eaten with Bénichon mustard during the Bénichon fall fair in Fribourg, Switzerland.
I translated this recipe from the Delimoon site from the French and adapted it.
For...
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French Food Fact: Cromesquis
Cromesquis are back in fashion as an hors d’oeuvre. They are made with a salpicon wrapped in pig’s caul or slices of salt pork, then dipped in batter and deep-fried to make a croquette.
Contemporary chefs like to make the salpicon a little runny so that when you bite into the croquette, the liquid squirts into your mouth. I first ate the contemporary version of cromesquis at Ferran...
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Switzerland gets its own AOCs!
by Jonell Galloway
Originally published on GenevaLunch.com.
When it comes to wine and food, a name is not just a name
Switzerland has had AOCs for a while now, but on 14 January 2010, the Swiss federal agriculture office, OFAG, published an official bulletin containing a list of approximately 800 appellations of origin and geographical indications, roughly the equivalent of the French...
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Gordon Ramsay's Recipe for Beef Wellington
Gordon Ramsay has shared his take on this ultra-classic British dish with BBC Good Food.
This is truly a dish I never tire of, and Ramsay’s recipe can be made ahead, which makes it perfect for that special dinner party or Christmas dinner.
Click here for recipe.
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French Food Fact: How to Cut Roquefort Cheese
The proper way to cut Roquefort cheese is from the center outwards toward the rind, because the middle of the cheese is considered the finest. If you cut crosswise across the middle, you’re taking all the best part for yourself and leaving the rind for the other people at the table. (Not good manners!)
Photo courtesy of Cheese Supply.
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The Swiss have a food pyramid too!
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
by Jonell Galloway
The Americans aren’t the only ones who have a Food Pyramid!
In our 9 May 2009 post A fun, interactive guide for teaching your children good eating habits, we referred only to the American food pyramid, because the US has a pyramid specifically aimed at children. But the Swiss have a food pyramid too!
Swiss food pyramid.
The Swiss food pyramid,...
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Bénichon Mustard, A Fribourg Specialty to Welcome...
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
By Jonell Galloway
Bénichon mustard is quintessentially Swiss. It is a specialty of Fribourg.
It is more like a spicy jam than a mustard, in the traditional sense of the word. Its ingredients give it a sweet and sour taste.
It is traditionally eaten with another Fribourg specialty, cuchaule, a light brioche-like sweet saffron bread, during an annual village fair to...
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Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Video Recipes from an...
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
by Jonell Galloway
When it comes to cooking, Sheila Kaufman has done it all. She has spent her life traveling around the country giving cooking lessons, and is an active member of Les Dames d’Escoffier. She knows just about all there is know about Jewish cooking, and is the obvious one to consult for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur recipes.
Click here to watch her...
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Rzulé, Better Known as Pear Rissole: a Geneva...
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
By Jonell Galloway
The age-old Geneva and Savoyard specialty called rzulé in the local dialect, better known today as rissole aux poires, was nearly extinct not so very long ago. The dish consists basically of pears braised until they caramelize, which are then used to fill a pastry. The result resembles a fried apple turnover or chausson, even though it is baked.
Very...
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Quince (or Apple) and Ginger Soup
A recipe by Jack McNulty of LaughingLemon
This is an unusual soup and an unusual way of using quince.
Photo courtesy of Kotchtopf.
The soup may be too spicy for many, especially if you add extra fresh ginger.
The fruit and ginger flavors marry extremely well with the fresh vegetables, and the soup is cool and refreshing to the tongue. This makes it perfect after a fatty fall meal!
You can...
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Eggplant and Tomato Confit Mille-feuilles with...
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
Translated from the French and adapted by Jonell Galloway
Any respectable pastry chef has to know how to make mille-feuilles. The name literally means “thousand sheets”, and consists of thin layers of flaky pastry, stacked one on top of the other, with layers of cream or some other filling in between.
This recipe is in fact a variation of the classic mille-feuilles, but it...
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Food and Wine How-to's: How To Open a Bottle of...
Please note that the video uses the classic sommelier’s corkscrew. There are just a few tricks: how you place your hands and fingers, and timing. Watch this video a few times, and you’ll quickly catch on.
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Moroccan Pastilla: A Celebration of the End of...
Recipe translated from the French and adapted by Jonell Galloway from Cuisine Pied Noir
Many Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan by eating pastilla (pronounced “bastiyya”; in Arabic: بسطيلة), and also transliterated bastilla, bisteeya, b’stilla or bstilla, according to the Wikipedia.
Photo courtesy of Arton24.
Pastilla is a Moroccan pigeon tart, made with almonds, eggs and...
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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Food...
Photo courtesy of Suzuki Q.
For years, I’ve been looking for a guide to tell me how to properly store food and just how long different foods keep. Well, here it is, in full detail, covering every food you could possibly imagine. It is provided by Food Saving, sponsored by Chef’s Kitchen.
The site also includes the USDA Complete Guide To Home Canning.
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French food fact: What does "déjeuner" really...
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
By Jonell Galloway
In most of France, déjeuner, meaning literally “to break the fast,” means lunch. In Switzerland, Belgium and Quebec, déjeuner means breakfast. In French-speaking countries other than France, most people refer to the déjeuner (breakfast), dîner (lunch) and the souper (dinner or sometimes supper). In Geneva, I am often invited to dîner à midi,...
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Great Flavor Combination: Apple and Ginger Sorbet →
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
By Jonell Galloway
Apple and ginger are one of my favorite flavor combinations, so this recipe by David Leite of Leite’s Culinaria is a sure winner. Apples are in season, and ginger warms you up on those chilly autumnal evenings.
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A Great Moment in the History of Gastronomy,... →
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
By Jonell Galloway
The perfect dish? It’s all academic.
Ferran Adria opens Harvard series on the molecular level
Jose Andres (left) and Ferran Adria. (Eliza Grinnell/Harvard School of Engineering And Applied Sciences)
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Bacteria Can Actually Be Good For You! →
THE RAMBLING EPICURE
By Jonell Galloway
These days, we tend to forget that certain bacteria, such as that involved in the fermentation for sourdough or yogurt, is actually really healthy.
“Anthropologists say the practice of alcoholic fermentation, involving yeast, is more than 8,000 years old, while lactofermentation is thought to have developed later, alongside agriculture and long...
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GaultMillau Founder André Gayot on Tony Blair's... →
So Bill Clinton was making an everyman image for himself when he went to McDonald’s, or so thinks Tony Blair. Hamburgers are indeed a mainstay in the American diet, but there are good ones and there are bad ones. Most great chefs say that if they have to eat a hamburger in a chain restaurant, it would be Wendy’s.
I’ll stick to the noted Monsieur Gayot’s and the...
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Frances Moore Lappé, Author of Diet for a Small... →
I’ve been following Frances Moore Lappé ever since I was 19 years old. Her revoluntionary book “Diet for a Small Planet” changed the way I viewed food and eating forever. To this day, she is my reference.
Her message has never changed: we can do what is necessary to feed the planet. This video is full of common sense and wisdom from a reference in this field.
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Daily Food Fact: The First French Meringues
French food fact: The first meringues in France were made for King Stanislas in Nancy, king of Poland in the 17th century, as well as Duke of Lorraine, where Nancy is located.
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El Bulli chef Adrià is starting a culinary social... →
Ferran Adrià to put recipes from El Bulli “research laboratory” on internet
Chef to develop “culinary social-networking site” with daily posts of results of food experiments from kitchens of El Bulli restaurant in Spain.
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The Secrets of Baked Apples, from a French...
The Petit Larousse Pâtissier explains how to make the perfect baked apples: a healthy and seasonal dessert (in French).
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Swiss food fact: Meringue
Photo courtesy of WorthTheWhisk.com.
Meringue is said to have been invented in 1720, by a Swiss pastry chef by the name of Gasparini. He worked in Mehrinyghen, a small town located in what was then Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
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“Get serious about what you put in your mouth!
Me, Jonell Galloway”
–
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With all the summer vegetables still around, you... →
Summertime is diet time: an approach to changing your eating habits
Summertime is the best time to start changing your eating habits. Fruits and vegetables are tastier and cheaper in summer, so your tastebuds are satisfied, but with fewer calories and more fiber. You can take advantage of this time to start a lifestyle change that will not only help you lose weight, but hopefully change...
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Essential Cooking Techniques: How to Deglaze a... →
In yesterday’s post, 10 Things You Need to Know Before You Start Gourmet Cooking, I explained the importance of deglazing. Tyler Florence, the celebrity chef of the Food Network in the U.S., gives an excellent video explanation of the technique here.
Deglazing is simple, and helps you reuse all the precious juices that have escaped into the pan. It is a way of adding some of the original...
