Paris -- Lebanese Steak Tartare

Kibbe nayeh (Lebanese steak tartare)

Last year, my  Parisian friend Tania, a wonderful Lebanese woman living in Paris, and I went to brasserie le Stella, where I had a perfect steak tartare. Knowing that I would be in Paris this week, without Joan, who can't eat beef, Tania invited me for a lesson and then meal of which the principal element was Lebanese steak tartare (kibbe nayeh). Getting there was fun, but not as much fun as the tasting portion of the evening, for this is an extraordinary dish, made with incredibly lean beef, fine bulgur wheat, onions, garlic and special spices.

Tania proudly displaying her handiwork

Of course, chez Tania one does not get a single dish. We had wonderful salad of olives and homemade pickled, turnips,

Marinated olives and home-pickled turnips

roasted cauliflower with tarator (tahini and lemon sauce)

Roasted cauliflower

 and a kind of mint covered hamburger made with some extra ground beef.

Mint-covered hamburger

Sophisticated Lebanese food, especially chez Tania, is really great: impeccable ingredients, pure flavors with lots of interesting spices (like Tania's own nine-spice blend) and varied textures.

And a night at Tania's is not just about the food: it's about sharing stories and food lore with this warm and intelligent lady.

Bobby Jay

Syrian Cooking Lesson

Phyllo spinach triangles

One of my great joys is learning about the different cuisines and related food cultures in this world. I do this reading lots of cookbooks and by taking lessons at good cooking schools in Paris and New York. I enjoy getting to know different cultures by studying (and eating and cooking) their amazingly varied cuisines.

Last week I went with my friend Cochonette to an excellent cooking lesson on Syrian cooking at ICE Institute for Culinary Education, now located way downtown just across the street from the Freedom Tower. The teacher was Jennifer Abadi, who introduced me to Persian cooking at a lesson four years ago and kind of got me started on Middle Eastern Food. Jennifer is of Syrian Jewish heritage, and has written a wonderful book, A Fistful of Lentils: Syrian-Jewish Recipes from Grandma Fritzie's Kitchen, and maintains a very interesting blog on related culinary matters, Too Good to Passover. I have used many recipes from both, and correspond with Jennifer from time to time.

The title of the lesson was "A Fistful of Lentils," and all the dishes we made were from recipes in the book. All were delicious and none was technically difficult, although we had to rush to make the many dishes covered by the lesson.

Jennifer started with an interesting explanation of Syrian (particularly Jewish) food culture and history, placing it into geographical context, and including the migration of Syrian Jews to America in the early 20th century. Then we cooked seven dishes, which I will describe in the order of a meal. We started with a series of maaze (small plates) (this and all references will use the Syrian spelling, although there are many variations in the region). First up was baba ganush:

Baba ganush

Next was im'warah b'sbanech (phyllo spinach triangles), made with no cheese or meat, and smaller and more delicate than the Turkish and Greek varieties. See picture above.

And cheeyar b'bandoorah sa'lata (chopped cucumber and tomato salad with dried mint) (no photo) that was pretty much what you'd find in a Turkish restaurant.

There followed two main courses. The first, kibbeh fil seeniyah b'lah'meh (meat-filled pie), is the cake-shaped version of kibbeh, balls of meat stuffed into a thin meat crust, that are ubiquitous in Middle Eastern cuisine. It has the bonus of being much much easier to prepare than kibbeh balls, which are notoriously difficult. (For a wonderful digression on the mystique surrounding great kibbeh, see Claudia Roden's encyclopedic The New Book of Middle Eastern Food.)

Meat-filled bulgur pie

The other main dish was kibbeh m'geraz (meatballs and sour cherries), which showcased the Syrians' love for tart and sweet, very different from the Italians' agrodolce or the sweet and sour cabbage cooked by the Eastern European Jews . . .

Meatballs and cherries - my photo doesn't do it justice

. . .  accompanied by m'jedrah (rice with lentils) with yogurt-mint dressing: simple but delicious.

Rice with lentils

Finally, the pièce de résistance: knaffeh (shredded phyllo-ricotta pie), a  light, heavenly rose water-infused filling in a two-crust pie made with kataifi, shredded phyllo and covered with rose water syrup and chopped pistachios. I can't wait to have people to dinner to share this fabulous dessert, which has the subtle sweetness of an Italian cheesecake with a taste straight out of the Arabian Nights. In the word(s) of a late friend, FA-BU-LOUS!

Shredded phyllo-ricotta- pie

Get A Fistful of Lentils and try Syrian Jewish cuisine. Now.

Bobby Jay

Paris -- Lebanese Cooking with Tania

Our Lebanese Feast

I spent two memorable days last week with my friends Mimi and JoJo and their friend Tania, a Lebanese woman who is a passionate expert on Middle Eastern food and a talented Lebanese chef.

The day before the meal, we made a couple of dishes and then shopped for the next day. We started with mehallabiyeh, a pudding perfumed with the divine scents of rose water and orange flower water.

The wonderful Tania making mehallabiyeh

Then we prepared hummus, like many other versions but with a trick: Tania adds a few ice cubes to the blender with the chickpeas and tahini for an extra smooth spread. I love getting this type of astuce, a small thing that can make a big difference.

Hummus

Next, we had coffee with some great loukoums (what we call Turkish delight) from Turkey . . .

Loukoums and coffee

. . . and started on our shopping expedition. More on that in a separate post.

The following day, we continued preparing for the feast, at which we were joined by Mimi and JoJo's great friend Miki and Nissan, the latter of whom grew up in what is now Israel before it was Israel, and as a child spoke Arabic and ate exactly the kind of food we prepared with Tania. Soul food for him!

In addition to the mehallabiyeh and hummus we made the day before, we added a bunch of exquisite dishes, an elaborate meal fit for royalty.

Moutabbal, also known as baba ghanouj, similar to Turkish but a little different.

Making moutabbal

Moutabbal -- the final product

Cucumber and yogurt salad, like raita but a little different.

Cucumber and yogurt salad with spices, mint, etc.

Tomato marinated in arak (anise flavored liquor similar to pastis) and served with shankish, a strong crumbly cheese.

Arak-marinated tomato with shankish

Kabab keraz, little lamb meatballs in a sour cherry sauce.

Making kabab keraz

Kabab keraz -- the final product

Meat pies (sorry, I don't have the Lebanese name) atop pancakes that closely resemble blinis, along with beef triangles that Tania had made earlier.

Meat pies

And my personal favorite, lamb araïss, pitas stuffed with a layer of spiced ground lamb and then grilled like panini (indeed, we used a panini maker).

Lamb araïss

As you can see, Lebanese food resembles that of other Middle Eastern countries, and, like them, traces its roots back to Turkey. But each cuisine is slightly different, and a lot of the fun lies in discovering the nuances.

Tania's food is pure and her presentations are magnificent. What a wonderful feast for the stomach, the eyes and the soul!

Bobby Jay

Paris -- Cooking Lesson: Le Siphon

I had a fun cooking lesson the other day, which focused on using the syphon, a device like a selzer maker that uses nitrogen dioxide instead of carbon dioxide to make foams and whipped creams.

Syphons

We made three things:

First, a cream of foie gras (not made in the syphon) with a spicy whipped cream on top and little apple bâtons for decoration and a hint of sweetness.

Foie gras cream with seasoned whipped cream and apple bâtons

Next, a good-tasting baby clam (cockle) risotto with a pretty unattractive cuttlefish ink emulsion.

Cockle risotto with cuttlefish ink emulsion

Finally, a vanilla poached pear with pear chantilly, salted caramel sauce and toasted brioche, delicious and attractive, I think.

Vanilla poached pear with caramel sauce, pear chantilly and brioche toast

Using a syphon is fun and something you can easily do at home. Just know that the contents must contain fat (cream, egg whites) or a gelling agent (gelatin or agar agar). I have had a syphon for several years and rarely use it, but hope to use it more often, at least for super light flavored whipped creams that have about double the volume of ones made in the traditional way.

Paris -- Cooking Lesson: Bistronomie Chic

Despite the pretentious name, I signed up for this course at the Atelier des Chefs in Paris. And what a nice course it was!

On the menu:

An incredibly simple Tarte Tatin aux tomates cerises et rouget au basilic (upside down caramelized cherry tomato tart with red mullet and basil sauce). While this is theoretically an appetizer, it would make a nice main course.

Cherry tomato Tartes Tatin just out of the oven

Cherry tomato Tarte Tatin with red mullet filets and basil sauce

Tournedos de volaille, beurre noisette au fenouil, pommes Anna traditionnelle (rolled chicken breasts with brown butter sauce and shaved fennel with Pommes Anna). Unfortunately the chicken breast, despite a cooking method guaranteed to keep them moist (i.e. browned briefly then baked at 160 for an hour), was dry. The Pommes Anna were great; with all that butter how could they not be?

Chicken breast "tournedos," Pommes Anna, brown butter sauce, shaved fennel

Sablé breton spéculoos, chantilly vanille et framboises (homemade speculoos cookie with raspberry whipped cream and fresh raspberries). A home run! Simple if you have a siphon, not so hard if you don't.

Speculoos cookie, raspberry whipped cream and fresh raspberries

All eminently repeatable recipes and a quite delicious morning.

Bobby Jay

Alain Passard, an Amazing Perfectionist

Recently Nadège, the most loyal follower of my blog, recommended that I watch some short cooking videos by Alain Passard. They are terrific, and more on them later.

Passard is the chef of the famed Arpège, in Paris, where the spectacular and spectacularly expensive food is mostly, but not exclusively, vegetarian. A number of years ago, J and I went to Arpège with our good friends H and O and had a wonderful meal, but . . . we really felt ripped off paying nearly 300 euros per person (it's more now, of course) for the meal and we also felt that the restaurant's staff made the experience about them, not us. Yet I have to admit that I can still remember the taste of his most famous creation, a dessert consisting of a tomato that is confited for the better part of a day.

I thought nothing more of this until I happened upon a bande dessiné (graphic, comic-like book), En Cuisine avec Alain Passard, written by a journalist who got to spend a lot of time with him.

Reading this book gave me a new respect for Chef Passard. He sources nearly all the vegetables he uses at one of two organic farms that he owns. One is more or less conventional, the other uses horse-drawn plows and ancient planting and harvesting techniques. He tries growing the produce at each farm and then chooses the one that give the best result for future production. And he is a workaholic, spending virtually all of his time at the restaurant, creating, sampling, creating, etc. He has decided not to expand like other chefs because he cannot imagine producing the level of cuisine that he produces at Arpège without personally supervising every step. The level of Chef Passard's attention to detail is pretty amazing.

Now I get it.

As to the videos, there are a large number accessible by searching "alain passard youtube"; the dozen or so that I have viewed so far (and I plan to see them all) are remarkable. The food is amazingly creative and beautiful. And the lessons are so well expressed that they seem doable by a mere mortal who knows how to cook. But the best part is the enthusiasm displayed by Chef Passard. The man is clearly excited by what he does, a point made clear in En Cusine, but in the videos the passion is infectious; I want to cook each thing that he illustrates, right then! Here's an example, in which Chef Passard shows how to make a roulade of autumn vegetables: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufQdIWM7PxM#t=15

There is one problem, which you may have suspected: the lessons are in French. The language used is not difficult, and the videos are so well illustrated that they are easily followed, but the fact remains that they are in French. Still, I encourage you to give them a try if you have even a little French and love to cook (or eat). Just looking at what he produces will be an inspiration.

Will I go back to Arpège knowing what I do now? I'm seriously thinking about it.

Bobby Jay

Vietnamese Cooking Lesson

I had a lovely Vietnamese cooking lesson today at New York's Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). We made eight dishes, the ones pictured below plus a wonderful bánh mì sandwich and shrimp and pork summer rolls.

Here are pictures of the final dishes:

Asparagus and crab soup - Sup Man Tay Cua

Cucumber and shrimp salad - Goi Dua Chuot

Catfish simmered in caramel sauce - Ca Kho

Chicken stir-fried with lemongrass and chile - Ga Xao Xa Ot

Shrimp simmered in caramel salt - Tom Kho

Banana, tapioca pearl and coconut sweet soup - Che Chuoi

All of the dishes were really good! They really captured the elegance and balance of well-prepared Vietnamese cuisine. I worked with a partner on the bánh mì and the catfish in caramel sauce.

Highly recommended.

Bobby Jay

Do try this at home: from a Paris class to my New York table

I don't often run home from Paris and cook one of the items I learned to cook at Atelier des Chefs, but I so enjoyed this dish that I did exactly that.

Mousse de chou-fleur, coeur de persil, gambas au piment d'Espelette (cauliflower mousse with parsley sauce and shrimp with Espelette pepper) has a great texture (it's really a foam dispensed from a siphon), taste and appearance, even better when I used Japanese ceramic cups rather than the cheap verrines provided at the school. The slightly bitter parsley ties together the very different tastes of the cauliflower and the shrimp, making for a nice little party in your mouth.

Mousse de chou-fleur, coeur de persil, gambas au piment d'Espelette

Bobby Jay 

Paris - Cooking Lesson: Classics

I had a fun cooking lesson at Ateliers des Chefs today where we made a three-course meal consisting of some classic French dishes.

First up: a Potage Saint-Germain (split pea soup) with sautéed foie gras, croutons and chervil. Really rich but velvety and delightful. The foie gras and the pea soup made a perfect mélange.

Potage Saint-Germain with sautéed foie gras

Next, Butter-basted roasted Saint Pierre (John Dory) with truffled Puy lentils. I love lentils but I would have preferred potatoes for this dish. The lentils were so assertive that they muddied the flavor of the fish a bit.

Butter-basted roasted Saint Pierre with Puy lentils

Finally, a traditional Grand Marnier soufflé, which was not gorgeous but had a perfect smooth texture with only a hint of the famed liqueur.

Sushi dinner tonight, fortunately; no more fat.

Bobby Jay

Lavender Orange Macarons

I believe the macaron is the ultimate expression of French pastry, which is saying a lot. Indeed, it's among my top five favorite things to eat. (Don't ask about the other four; they change from time to time and in any event are food for another post.)

Having learned to make them at Atelier des Chefs in Paris about ten years ago, I make macarons at least a couple of times a year. They are technically challenging, requiring numerous delicate processes and steps, and I have to admit that every time they come out well, I am thrilled beyond words for what in the end is a minor achievement (compared to say, solving global warming or peace in the Middle East). But there it is, there's something addictive about both making and eating these wondrous cookies.

Here is a plate of few my favorites, Lavender Orange Macarons with Orange Buttercream, from a recipe by the brilliant Aran Goyoaga and my tried and true Atelier method. They are currently sitting in the fridge for 24 hours getting ready for distribution and consumption tomorrow.

Lavender Orange Macarons with Orange Buttercream

I can hardly wait to try them - nineteen hours to go.

Bobby Jay

Paris - Cooking Lesson in Classic French Pastries

I took a cooking lesson at the Atelier des Chefs (Péclet branch in the 15th) on classics of French pastry. We made financiers with lemon and lemon zest, mango tartes tatins and, the pièce de résistance, a Gâteau Opéra.

The Opéra was created in 1955 by Dalloyau, one of the leading pâtisseries in Paris (and the world) since 1682. It has been a hit ever since and now all the good pâtisseries have their own versions. So I thought it would be fun to see how they are made, and indeed it was. And so very simple: all you need is a really well-equipped kitchen (with a stand mixer, a myriad of bowls and whisks, silicone baking sheet and square cake "ring"), time, patience and five techniques. Then just make biscuit joconde, ganache, sirop café, crème au beurre café and chocolate glaçage, assemble when everything is at just the right temperature, et voilà!

Pretty nice, n'est-ce pas?

Or, you can go to Dalloyau and buy a perfect one.

A really enjoyable class, but as for the famous Gâteau Opéra, my advice is: do not try this at home.

Bobby Jay

Fresh Pasta Lesson at Atelier des Chefs

When in Paris, I often take cooking lessons at Atelier des Chefs, which are fun and useful and, in my case, very conveniently located about a minute from our apartment.

Although the lessons I have had in the past where we made Italian food, especially risotto, were not great, I took a lesson in fresh pasta yesterday and think I may have found the elusive base recipe/method that I will be able to confidently call on again and again.

The pastas were all delicious, especially the squid ink and truffle oil spaghetti with a pepper cream and shards of pecorino. The strong tastes of squid ink and truffle oil balanced each other in a surprisingly subtle way.

Tomato tagliatelle with grilled pancetta and vegetables

Duck confit ravioli with summer savory and diced vegetables

Squid ink and truffle oil spaghetti with pepper cream and pecorino

Bobby Jay

Happy Nowruz! Persian Cooking Lesson

My friend Piglet and I recently took a lesson on Persian cooking at the Institute for Culinary Education (ICE). Our teacher was Jennifer Abadi, who teaches various types of Middle Eastern cooking and has written A Fistful of Lentils, on Syrian Jewish cuisine. (I have ordered a copy but haven't read it.)

I went specifically hoping to learn how to make Persian rice (chelo), which has a wonderful crispy crust and is one of the best dishes in the world. And so that's the dish I chose to make.

First, we washed and rinsed long grained rice (we used Basmati) about 5 times, until the water was absolutely clear. Then we boiled it in lots of salted water for about 7 minutes, and drained it thoroughly. Then we dried the pot and melted a lot of butter in it. Then we placed the rice on the butter, not stirring but poking steam holes in the rice.

We wrapped a towel around the cover and placed it over the pot, and simmered for about 20-25 minutes, until it pulled away from the side of the pot.

Rice pot with towel wrapped cover

Persian rice after simmering, pulling away from pot

Next, we cooked it over high heat for a minute to set the crust. Finally, we turned the pot upside down and there it was: the perfect chelo!

Perfect chelo

We added a sauce made of grated carrots, blanched orange zest, saffron and slice almonds, for a truly fantastic dish. (See picture below.)

Other dishes that the class made were a stupendous chicken soup with chickpea flour meatballs (Nimtaz Rafaelzadeh's Gondi), which Piglet made; red kidney bean dip with tomato paste, lime and angelica powder (Loobia Pokhteh); chopped cucumber salad with coriander, tarragon and mint leaves (Saladeh Serkeh Khlar); chicken stewed in walnuts and pomegranate juice (Fessenjan); cauliflower pie (Kuku-ye God-e Kalam) and pistachio cake with cardamom syrup.

Norwaz (Persian New Year's) feast (note sauced chelo at rear right)

A really fun lesson.

Bobby Jay