Les sept vies du pain : Pascal Auriat, boulanger à Laguiole

Published by Wednesday, May 4, 2011 Permalink 0

Dictionnaire Universel du Painpar Jean-Philippe de Tonnac

Click here for English version

On associe traditionnellement le nom de Laguiole, petit village des hauts plateaux de l’Aubrac aveyronnais, à celui d’un restaurateur émérite, autodidacte génial qui a décroché en 1999 sa troisième étoile ainsi que la considération des gourmets du monde entier : Michel Bras. Dans le monde de la haute cuisine, il est regardé comme un touche-à-tout surdoué qui, dans son laboratoire arrimé au Puech du Suquet, invente sans patron, sans modèle et fait de nombreux imitateurs. On peut imaginer combien ceux qui ont fait une halte dans ses cuisines ont été profondément marqués par la fréquentation d’un homme qui donne l’impression d’habiter un temps différent du vôtre. Peut-être a-t-il été moine cistercien dans une autre vie, cherchant à introduire dans ses compositions culinaires des formulations secrètes inspirées par le nombre d’or. Lorsqu’on demande à Michel Bras ce qui l’inspire le plus dans son cheminement créatif, il répond : « C’est la photographie et la course à pied ! ». Autrement dit, l’ascèse et la contemplation. Pascal Auriat, boulanger à Laguiole, en tous les cas, transpire encore de cette fréquentation avec le cuisinier ascète-esthète. Lorsqu’il parle de ses années passées chez Bras, il évoque une sorte de « conversion » à ce qui aujourd’hui le retient durablement : l’alchimie des fermentations.

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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, May 4, 2011

Published by Wednesday, May 4, 2011 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

It isn’t only fictional heroes to whom toast means home and comfort. It is related of the Duke of Wellington – I believe by Lord Ellesmere – that when he landed at Dover in 1814, after six years’ absence from England, the first order he gave at the Ship Inn was for an unlimited supply of buttered toast.–Elizabeth David, English Bread and Yeast Cookery (1977)

Elizabeth David was British food writer and author of eight cookbooks published during her lifetime, and five more published posthumously. She won the prestigious Glenfiddich award for her book English Bread and Yeast Cookery.  In the 1960s she was hailed as the person who transformed the eating habits of middle- class England.

Click here to listen to interview with Jill Norman, her publisher.

Click here to watch a scene from a documentary about her life.

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Food Art: Lavender Pistachio Cookies, food photography by Meeta Khurana Wolff

Published by Wednesday, May 4, 2011 Permalink 0

See more food photo compositions at Meeta K. Wolff or in our Food Art category.

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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, May 3, 2011

Published by Tuesday, May 3, 2011 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

When I’m old and gray, I want to have a house by the sea. And paint. With a lot of wonderful chums, good music and booze around. And a damn good kitchen to cook in.–Ava Gardner

Hollywood leading actress of from the 1950s through the 1970s. Married three times to actor Mickey Rooney; to jazz musician Artie Shaw; and lastly to singer and actor Frank Sinatra. She was also romantically involved with Howard Hughes and Spanish bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín.

At the end of her life she suffered from emphysema brought on by a lifetime of smoking. She died at the age of 67 from pneumonia after having had two strokes which left her bedridden.

Click here to listen to Ava  Gardner in the movie Show Boat singing Can’t Help Lovin´dat Man, which clearly she did.

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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, May 2, 2011

Published by Monday, May 2, 2011 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

I don’t like to say that my kitchen is a religious place, but I would say that if I were a voodoo priestess, I would conduct my rituals there.–Pearl Bailey, Pearl’s Kitchen

Pearl Bailey was an American Tony-award winning actress for her role in Hello Dolly! (1968). President Richard Nixon appointed her America’s “Ambassador of Love” in 1970, three years before she published Pearl’s Kitchen.

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Food Art: Black Bean Chili & Herb-Roasted Potatoes, by Meeta Khurana Wolff

Published by Monday, May 2, 2011 Permalink 0

See more food photo compositions at Meeta K. Wolff or in our Food Art category.

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