Spontaneous Cuisine: Parsnip Velouté with Aged Mimolette Cheese

Published by Thursday, December 15, 2011 Permalink 0

Itsy Bitsy History of the Parsnip

In the Middle Ages, Geneva was running over with parsnips, which they referred to as “white carrots”. It was almost always included in their “eternal pots” of soup, which consisted of seasonal vegetables that they just kept adding more vegetables to as needed, and a piece of meat once a week.

After World War II, many root vegetables went out of fashion in Europe, because people had had to survive on them and nothing else during the war, so farmers eventually stopped growing them. The same went for pumpkin. People in the north of France who had lived through the war and eaten pumpkin every day couldn’t bear the thought of eating pumpkin ever again.

In recent years, these old-fashioned vegetables, including parsnips, have again become available, and chefs are going crazy with new ideas on how to use them.

Parsnips are plentiful at the moment and there’s nothing better than soup to warm you up on a cold winter’s day. Eric Burkel, former financial analyst, entrepreneur and now president of his local food coop in Paris, got this recipe from one of the farmers who supplies vegetables to the coop.

Parsnip soup recipe

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Food News Daily: August 30, 2011

Published by Tuesday, August 30, 2011 Permalink 0

Mainstream Anglo Media and Press

Baked Trout With Arugula and Blueberries, Washington Post

Here’s Eating Lunch With You, Kid, New York Times

Cheers! It’s a real ale renaissance: Despite pub closures and a dwindling lager market, record number of microbreweries are opening, The Guardian

10 Best English Cheeses, The Independent

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Rosa’s Musings: Swiss Sausage Salad, An Unforgettable Food Experience

Published by Monday, August 22, 2011 Permalink 0

by Rosa Mayland

This year, unlike all preceding years, I decided that I’d serve a Swiss menu for our National Day as I believe there is no better way to feel close to your roots than by cooking the foods that are a part of your identity. I also had the urge to share a traditional and summery Swiss recipe with you.

The date marks the death of the first German Emperor from the house of the Hapsburgs, the independence of Switzerland from the Austrian rulers, the alliance of the rural communes Schwytz, Uri and Unterwalden (central Alps) with a view to protecting themselves from outside attackers or anyone attempting to subject them, and the creation of the Federal Charter of 1291, a pact which ensured free trade and peace on the important mountain merchant routes.

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French Food Quote: Daily Food Quote, August 22, 2011

Published by Monday, August 22, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Thus it is Gastronomy, to tell the truth, which motivates the farmers, fineyardists, fishermen, hunters, and the great family of cooks, no matter under what names or qualifications they may disguise their part in the preparation of foods.–Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)
The Physiology of Taste (1825)

 

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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, July 19, 2011

Published by Tuesday, July 19, 2011 Permalink 0

My favorite sayings are the ones that yoke together metaphorically sexual desire, or passionate love, with the act of eating. There is an earthiness about these expressions that to English ears sounds faintly embarrassing and possibly in bad taste.  You might say of a sexually appealing person, Esta como un queso: “He (or she) is like a cheese.” (It would have to be a ripe, oozingly delicious cheese)…–Paul Richardson, A Late Dinner: Discovering the Food of Spain

Good Reads is an English writer and author of 6 books. He lives in Spain. Good Reads says of him: “He traces the roots of Spanish cooking to the landscape, the people, and the history of this beautiful and complex country.”

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