Truly fabulous desserts are very much like German in their construction. You put small words together to make bigger better words, such as:
My 15 Minutes with Macaron Maestro Pierre Hermé
Suspense was the flavour on my tongue as I approached the London Hilton at Park Lane for a short interview with Pierre Hermé. I knew I would have to broach – and therefore answer to – the tongue-in-cheek blog post I’d composed in July as an open letter to the pastry legend.
During my visit by invitation to his London boutique I’d taken issue with his UK area manager dictating what I could and couldn’t photograph. My letter to Hermé concluded with a statement of acquiescence: all content for my website would henceforth be subject to his approval.
Had Hermé read the blog post? If so, had this rendezvous been arranged in response to it? All I knew was that Hermé had travelled to London from Paris for Valrhona Chocolate to help promote its new book, Cooking with Chocolate. Andre Dang, the ace food PR who’d arranged this brief meeting (but not the July visit to the boutique), had said nothing about the letter to me – nor had I, to him. [Read more...]
15 November 2011 By 4 Comments
Trio of chocolate pots de crème with matcha
Published in The Los Angeles Times – May 13, 2009
Pots de Crème takes its name from the petits pots in which the lightly set custard is baked and served. In my recipe the traditional French dessert is composed as a trio of three chocolates – white, milk, dark – each accessorized with the identical dusting of matcha. The counterpoint of custards allows for a comparative tasting of these chocolates and how their relative sweetness and bitterness interact with nuanced flavor of the green tea powder. [Read more...]
14 May 2009 By Leave a Comment
For chocolate, a matcha made in heaven
Published in The Los Angeles Times – May 13, 2009
At a glance, the cross-cultural dessert pairing of chocolate and matcha, the prized Japanese green tea powder, may not seem the sort of combination to elicit uncontrollable cravings. Among the many terms used to evoke matcha’s elusively complex character — grassy, spinachy, watercress-like, seaweedy, earthy, floral, herbaceous, aquatic, bitter — barely a single one screams dessert.
But still, it’s quite the rage in Paris and Tokyo, where the only really big question is: Which chocolate makes the best matcha match? Read full article
13 May 2009 By Leave a Comment
Crunchie semifreddo
‘Twas the night before Halloween and I was at the local Tesco Express, taking full advantage of a 2-for-70p offer on Crunchie bars. These were to be bestowed 24 hrs hence upon the local elves. True, my wife and I did not greet a single costumed trick-or-treater at the door of our Islington flat over the past three Halloweens. Still, we could not bear the thought of disappointing even one hungry child who might roam our way. And if perchance our Crunchies were left unclaimed we would put them to good use. This year’s inspiration was to chop up a few of the unclaimed bars and sprinkle the bits between the layers of a semifreddo. [Read more...]
3 November 2008 By 1 Comment
