Beautifully written book that gives you a taste of 1970 Provence and food culture. Amazing to see how French food culture got to the US, which had jusBeautifully written book that gives you a taste of 1970 Provence and food culture. Amazing to see how French food culture got to the US, which had just undergone a big wave of microwaves and packaged foods in the 1950s/60s....more
Fascinating book about the French resistance and WWII and how hard they struggled, constantly getting caught and then rebooting the network. Marie-MadFascinating book about the French resistance and WWII and how hard they struggled, constantly getting caught and then rebooting the network. Marie-Madeleine was an impressive woman - the number of times she had to show grit to keep the network alive when it seemed dead, not seeing her kids much at all for 4 years, losing her lover to the gestapo. Sounded hard for the Germans to control a country where almost everyone is willing to be a spy.
I got a real sense for the "two Frances" - the Vichy/Petain one, and the DeGaulle/resistance one. I liked this quote:
Fascinating history of how WWII affected the wineries of France, and vice versa. Helpful to understand some of the names of wineries that were popularFascinating history of how WWII affected the wineries of France, and vice versa. Helpful to understand some of the names of wineries that were popular back in the 30's and 40's too.
I hadn't fully appreciated that while the US and Allies were landing in Normandy, there was a parallel invasion at Nice that went north up the Rhone valley. The French that were part of that invasion made sure to direct all battles to be on "vineyards of inferior quality" and not on the high quality vineyards, which are largely west of the Rhone.
Apparently when the Allies finally cracked open Hitler's private house, his wine cellar had 500K wines from all over France, including many of the best wines from the best years. The national treasure of France...
A good capture of French food culture by a Canadian author who moved to France for a year and was forced to learn the hard way. Some of her learnings A good capture of French food culture by a Canadian author who moved to France for a year and was forced to learn the hard way. Some of her learnings didn't apply to me - eg I was shocked at how much snacking she had her kids doing in Vancouver - like 4-5 snacks per day - crazy! But some of her tips were very helpful, and are confirmed by my experiences in France so far (I've been here for 4 months).
There is a lot here, and I encourage people to check out my notes. But my top takeaways are:
1. A kid has to try a new food ~10 times before they will start to like it. So the goal is getting them to try a taste of new foods. To this end, don't serve the kids different food than adults get - don't cook them a special meal - they need to learn to eat what adults eat and to try everything. This is probably the biggest takeaway of the book (and is its title) - that you can get kids to eat everything by getting them to try new foods. You can also help this process be easier by introducing the new foods in easy to consume formats designed for this (eg leek soup to get used to leeks).
2. The French prioritize healthy eating. Buying food in a French market is a pleasure, whereas going to a grocery store in the US is a chore. In France you can ask vendors where stuff comes from and what is best and they always have an answer, that sometimes leads you to new discoveries. In the US, you can ask the teenager at the grocery store those questions, but you won't get the same experience. The government has strict rules around food that ensures this, and that is something that I wish the US could enact, but it won't for reasons that I won't go into.
3. The French have a culture of eating slowly and enjoying their food. Lunches and dinners are at the table, and eaten together, with plenty of time for conversation. They also make sure to have plenty of variety at the table. This makes food more enjoyable and is healthier for digestion. It's also very health for families! The fact that many stores in France are closed from noon to 2 or 3pm is super annoying, but this is part of the culture of food and family. This is at odds with the culture of fast food and multi-tasking while eating that we have in the US. In French schools, the cantine (dining hall) the kids are served food by teachers, who make sure the kids get some of everything, and educate the kids about what everything is - and there is only one menu!
4. The French only have 4 meals a day, and do not snack at all outside these. Breakfast (which is small and literally called petit dejeune or "small lunch"), lunch (often the largest meal of the day), goûter (afternoon snack at 3 or 4pm), and dinner. So there is a snack, but it's planned, and importantly, it's also done with fresh, health foods, not processed foods. As I learned in The Obesity Code, snacking and particular midnight snacking are particularly bad for you. A particularly important bit is to not allow snacking before a meal, because kids certainly won't eat something new if they aren't hungry. Also, water is a food group!
5. To enjoy food, enjoy local food. This means buying and cooking local products, something the French call Terrior. So the veggies and meats you find in France in a given season won't be the same as at home, but the key is to search out and find those fresh, local products and enjoy them. That is a the key to enjoying where you live, great food, and is a great bonding activity with family and friends.
A bit old, but a great overview and tour through French wines. Fascinating to see that even then the wines that tasted best were not the big names, buA bit old, but a great overview and tour through French wines. Fascinating to see that even then the wines that tasted best were not the big names, but the ones who were doing it "the old way" and not using huge modern technology that filtered the wine. But this of course doesn't scale so less and less of these are around.
One fascinating thing to me was how much Kermit railed against the big, bold, strong reds. Because those are my favorites!
But he points out time and time again that a good wine should pair with what it will be eaten with. And this means one can drink a wide variety of wines, depending on what is being eaten. This, along with many of the examples he gives has helped push my thinking a little about what wines to buy.
Another interesting bit was the examples he gave about how much shipping and storage matters. He would give examples of shipping wine via ordinary methods that arrived flat, and how it only tasted the same if shipping correctly.
Another bit I loved learning about was how much the terroir affects the taste of the grapes. Not just the soil either, but how much sunlight, and even things like nearby plants like sage, rosemary, lavender, thyme - he gave a great example of how one wine one year suddenly stopped tasting like blackberries, and he asked the vintner what happened, and learned that the wineries neighbor had removed some blackberry bushes that bordered their properties. Fascinating.
Wines it mentions to try: * Meursault: white and mineral * Domaine Tempier: best reds in Provence * Domaine de la Gautière: just outside the border of Côtes du Rhône but just as good * Northern Rhone: There are but a handful, including some of France’s noblest: Saint-Péray, Cornas, Saint-Joseph, Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage, Condrieu, Château Grillet, and Côte Rôtie * Cote Rotie: A Côte Rôtie is by no means light stuff; it is a substantial wine, but what is unusual is this saplike quality combined with a certain finesse, a certain delicacy. Top it off with that amazing perfume of Syrah fruit grown in this special terroir and you have a wine set apart from all others. Anyone can make a heavy, oaky wine. All you need is a new barrel and sugary (or sugared) grape juice. But a Côte Rôtie that tastes like Côte Rôtie can come only from the terroir of the roasted slope and from the traditional vinification developed over the centuries in the cellars of Ampuis. * Bergundy: Savigny or Pernand, a Mercurey or Rully. Volnay or Pommard, Chambolle or Nuits. * Today, from all the appellations of the northern Rhône that produce white wine, there is only one sure thing year in and year out, and that is the quality of the Chave Hermitage blanc
Magical descriptions and prose of the authors life in Provence, France. Full of humor, and tantalizing descriptions of French food, and French life. WMagical descriptions and prose of the authors life in Provence, France. Full of humor, and tantalizing descriptions of French food, and French life. Written in the 90's but still likely relevant (I'd be curious how much Provence has changed, but I'd bet this book still applies). Biggest takeaway was that the national sport of the Provencals, at least according to the book, is food.
I haven't read a fun mystery book in a while and not sure I've ever read Poirot. Was looking for a fun read set in France while I was on holiday thereI haven't read a fun mystery book in a while and not sure I've ever read Poirot. Was looking for a fun read set in France while I was on holiday there and this didn't disappoint! Fast paced and good mystery.
One that struck me was how similar Poirot is to Sherlock. They are both detectives, have a ex-military sidekick who is telling the story, and solve mysteries using their superior wit. Poirot seems like a French Sherlock. I'm curious if he was inspired by Sherlock....more
Fun, fast paced, and disturbing tale of murder. Great beach read while in France, which is where its set.
I enjoyed learning more about perfume and thFun, fast paced, and disturbing tale of murder. Great beach read while in France, which is where its set.
I enjoyed learning more about perfume and the power of scent - hearing the descriptions of how different kinds of scents are captured (distilled, oils, etc) was very interesting. I think in general we (certainly I) don't pay much attention to the power that scent holds over us in different situations. I will pay more attention now after reading this. Though I wish I had a stronger nose - curious if there are ways to cultivate that. My wife and I once bought a game at a wine store that had 30 different materials that they use in wine and you had to guess what they were. I think I got 3 out of 30 right :(
(view spoiler)[This was a dark and twisted book though be forewarned - I generally don't like reading first person accounts of murderers - but in this case it was gripping. And the climax (yes that was a pun) was so ridiculous and fun that it was worth it. (hide spoiler)]...more
A fun book that gives you a sense of living in Paris as an expat and what to appreciate about French culture. Narrated by the author so definitely recA fun book that gives you a sense of living in Paris as an expat and what to appreciate about French culture. Narrated by the author so definitely recommend listening. Great read while on vacation in France. I loved many of the annecdotes were hilarious - eg the one about how the gym had no plan for visiting every day they only had a once a week plan. Or the one comparing the French fax error codes to French culture. ...more
A great finish to the D'Artagnan series - definitely enjoyed it. Ending wasn't what I wanted though, you could tell he was just trying to permanently A great finish to the D'Artagnan series - definitely enjoyed it. Ending wasn't what I wanted though, you could tell he was just trying to permanently end the series. It could easily be having seen the movie made me want more drama....more
This is one of my favorites, and I just re-read it as I'm in France and we started listening to it on a family road trip to Brittany, where we visitedThis is one of my favorites, and I just re-read it as I'm in France and we started listening to it on a family road trip to Brittany, where we visited the Ile de Ré, where the siege of Rochelle happens in the book.
And I have to say, Mon dieu! It remains just as good as I remembered! I love the over brashness of the young garcon, D'Argtagnan, and the richness of the backgrounds of each of the four musketeers.
I loved the politics of the King vs the Cardinal too, I hadn't appreciated there was such division there before. And of course, the perspective that nations went to war for the love of a single woman.
I just (fall 2019) re-read this classic, which I hadn't read in ~ 15 years but was one of my favorites then and I'm glad to say, it still is. The artfI just (fall 2019) re-read this classic, which I hadn't read in ~ 15 years but was one of my favorites then and I'm glad to say, it still is. The artfulness of Monte Cristo's revenge is so slowly unveiled, after having been prepared by so many years by him, that it truly is impressive to read.
Also fascinating that this novel originally appeared as a series of articles in the newspaper in France. I also greatly enjoyed this as have lately spent a bunch of time in Marseille and the south of France.
This is the ultimate revenge story, and the count (not a big spoiler) gets his revenge. But it is also a story about happiness - does getting revenge on one's enemies make you happy or does it make you more miserable by pursuit of something dark? Do you need to have known suffering to know happiness or can you just be grateful for what you have? Personally, I don't think you need to know suffering first hand, but it is good to read books about it.
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