Cookbook Watch: 'Simply Truffles'

What with $100 truffle burgers and 18-course truffle dinners on the horizon, small wonder that some people are obsessing over the aromatic fungi. If you have that truffle craving and are not the recipient of a fat trust fund, you’re better off buying a truffle and cooking it yourself.

This is where France-based cookbook author, restaurant critic and cooking teacher Patricia Wells  comes to the rescue with her new book “Simply Truffles: Recipes and Stories That Capture the Essence of the Black Diamond.”  As restaurant critic for the International Herald Tribune, Wells has eaten more than her fair share of truffes. She’s also been cooking with truffles for 25 years in Paris and Provence, and should be an expert guide to the subject. 

I haven't had a chance to cook from this book yet, but I’ve certainly worked my way through many of her others. She's a meticulous recipe writer and her recipes are reliable as can be. That's why she's been such a powerhouse as a cooking teacher and cookbook author, with over a dozen cookbooks -- "Food Lover's Guide to Paris," "The Provence Cookbook," "The Paris Cookbook," "Simply French" (to name a few) -- under her belt.

Ever practical, she’s also made sure that most of the recipes in the book “can stand deliciously on their own, with or without truffles.”  The 224-page book, published by William Morrow Cookbooks, goes on sale Nov. 9.

Psst: she still has space in her “Black Truffle Cooking Extravaganza Class” Jan. 21 to 25 at her home in Provence. The class includes a truffle hunt, visits to truffle brokers, wine tastings, truffle dinner and classes.

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-- S. Irene Virbila
twitter.com/sirenevirbila

Photo: Cover of Simply Truffles. Credit: patriciawells.com

The Marling Menu-Master

My friend Luis just brought me a present from Paris: "The Marling Menu-Master for France: A comprehensive manual for translating the French menu into American English." A longtime interpreter for UNESCO who has lived in Paris for 37 years, he loves these little books and has them in every language they publish (French, German, Spanish and Italian).

Over a glass of rouge, he sat me down and explained how the French guide works. It's divided into sections -- hors d’oeuvres, potages, oeufs, poissons, entrées, légumes and desserts. At the back of the book is a fold-out “practice menu.”

It’s not that Luis doesn’t know the terms: He sometimes has trouble explaining what the word means in English. He looks up rillettes and reads “a cold paste made of diced pork meat and fat cooked gently in lard, and then pounded into a paste, cooled, and served in a small stone jar. The most famous rillettes come from Tours and Le Mans.” “Have you ever read such a clear definition?," he asks me.

This tiny book packs a lot into its 112 pages, but it doesn’t have everything. When I tried to look up religieuse (nun), Luis’ favorite pastry, I couldn’t find an entry. But then I got lost reading about nèfle, a wild European tart plum-like fruit, i.e. medlar, and pastèque (watermelon). Never knew the word for that. But I do know topinambour, Jerusalem artichoke.

Look up ris de veau (sweetbreads) and you’ll find 23 preparations listed by name and a good dozen for rognons (kidneys, normally veal).

Useful, and fun to rifle through the roster of classic French dishes, many of which aren’t much seen any more. The book by William E. and Clare F. Marling was first published in 1971 and has since been republished eight more times. My edition, which I’m assuming is the most recent, is dated 1996. 

A reminder: “Prices listed in the text and on the practice menu are not actual ones.” For one thing, they’re in francs, not euros.

The Marling Menu-Master (published by Altarinda Books, La Jolla), $11.95.

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-- S. Irene Virbila

Twitter.com/sirenevirbila

Photos: The Marling Menu-Master for France. Credit: S. Irene Virbila/Los Angeles Times.

4 Food Events You Should Know About: Good Food Festival Film Series; Crepe Night at La Cachette; Eat Real Festival; Farmer's Dinner at Patina

Harry's Berries at Patina: On Wednesday, Patina will host an exclusive five-course vegetarian Farmer’s Dinner. The dinner will showcase seasonal produce from Harry's Berries, a 40-acre family-owned farm in Oxnard. Executive chef Tony Esnault will use summer ingredients in dishes to be served at the event,  including a chilled yellow tomato soup, stuffed zucchini blossoms, a seasonal glazed vegetable mosaic, poached duck egg, wild mushrooms and a dessert created with Harry's Berries strawberries. 141 S. Grand Ave., L.A., (213) 972-3331, patinarestaurant.com.

Food on film: On July 13, the Santa Monica Farmer's Market and Slow Food Los Angeles present the next installment of the Good Food Festival Film Series. At Santa Monica's Aero Theatre, two screenings will focus on food waste prevention. Director Jeremy Seifert's "Dive!," an American documentary, looks at the issue at home, where more than 250 million pounds of food goes to waste every day, while French New Wave pioneer Agnès Varda's "The Gleaners & I" focuses on the tradition of gleaning used for centuries in France, following both rural and urban scavengers. For tickets, go to fandango.com. 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 260-1528, americancinemathequecalendar.com.

Crepes galore: Crepe night at La Cachette Bistro is every Wednesday. Prepared by crepe master Pierre-Lo, the menu changes from week to week but promises a selection of sweet and savory offerings. Get a classic Nutella and banana or go for the ham and cheese. 1733 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 434-9509, lacachettebistro.com.

Eat Real: In celebration of good food, the Eat Real Festival takes place July 16 and 17 at Helms Bakery in Culver City. Food skills, hands-on DIY demos and eats from popular food trucks and local restaurants are on the agenda at the two-day festival, which highlights local, sustainable ingredients. Activities include a cookbook swap July 17, a kimchi class with Lauryn Chun, an urban bee keeping demo, beer and wine gardens and a homemade goods competition. Entrance is free and all food at the festival costs $5 or less. 8800 Venice Blvd., L.A., eatrealfest.com.

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-- Caitlin Keller

Photo: Patinarestaurant.com

Paris by mouth: Any dining suggestions for our restaurant critic, S. Irene Virbila?

 
I’m going to Paris for a four days soon and (way too late) have just begun to think about where I want to eat. What can I say? I've been busy and the time just got away from me. I did manage to snag two reservations this afternoon. Which leaves me with the two most difficult: Sunday and Monday, when many restaurants are closed. I'm stumped.

To research what’s new and interesting, there’s no better site than the year-old Paris by Mouth, a group site and blog from a star-studded lineup of Paris-based food writers. It’s a great resource namely because the contributors really know what they’re talking about. They include journalist and editor Meg Zimbeck, Clotilde Dusoulier (the blogger behind Chocolate & Zucchini and author of what I think is the best guide to Paris eating, “Clotilde’s Edible Adventures in Paris”), Patricia Wells ("Food Lover’s Guide to Paris" and a slew of fine cookbooks) and Alexander Lobrano (former European correspondent for the much-missed Gourmet magazine) as well as cookbook author Dorie Greenspan, author most recently of “Around My French Table,” winner of this years IACP award for best cookbook.

Poke around the site and you’ll find Paris by Mouth’s guide to Paris restaurants divvied up by arrondissement (addresses would help, just a thought). Also Paris pastry shops, bakeries and wine bars, even ice cream shops, all organized by neighborhood. Print the list or lists out to carry with you or make PDFs and stick them in your smart phone.

Meanwhile, anybody have good ideas for places open on Sunday and Monday night? So far, I’ve got the wine bars Le Baron Rouge and the newly expanded Le Verre Volé. At this point I'm hoping I’ll get lucky and one of my friends will invite me to dinner so I won’t have to think about it.

Why can I never remember to avoid Sunday and Monday when planning a trip to Paris?

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—S. Irene Virbila

Photo credit: Paris, as seen from the foot of the Eiffel Tower. (Associated Press /Remy de la Mauviniere)

That's chevalier Thomas Keller to you

 
The garden at the French Laundry in Yountville was packed Thursday afternoon. A few, maybe, were there for the Champagne, cornets of salmon tartar, tiny rounds from breaded frog legs and even what one fan dubbed "quiche shooters."

But for almost everyone, it was an opportunity to pay tribute to chef-owner Thomas Keller, on the occasion of his being named a chevalier in the French Legion of Honor.

Keller had an East Coast celebration a couple of weeks ago at his Per Se restaurant. Thursday's party was his West Coast version and in addition to friends and family drew a wide range of Bay Area culinary notables, including Cecilia Chiang, the 92-year-old founder of San Francisco's Mandarin restaurant, and Chuck Williams, the 96-year-old founder of Williams-Sonoma. Of course there were chefs, Roland Passot of La Folie, Keller's protege Corey Lee of Benu, Gary Danko, David Kinch from Manresa and Michael Tusk from Quince and Cotogna.

And this was the Napa Valley, so of course there were lots of famous winery names -- Dan Duckhorn, Naoko Dalle Valle, Dick and Ann Grace, Bill and Deborah Harlan, Annette and Doug Shafer and Ann Colgin.

Various speakers extolled Keller and his contributions. Chez Panisse's Alice Waters spoke on the importance of the Legion of Honor. Bay Area legends Margrit Mondavi and Williams extolled him as a worthy inheritor. His mentor, master chef Roland Henin, talked about Keller as a young professional. And I made some comments about his friendship and the kind of example he sets for cooks and writers everywhere. A representative from U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson's office presented a congressional resolution in his honor.

Then it was time for more Champagne, a couple more bites, and then off to dinner.

--Russ Parsons

Briana Marie Photography

Robuchon, Ducasse, Gagnaire, Keller, Savoy, Serrano team up for Bocuse

OK, there are food festivals out the wazoo these days, and at every one of them there’s at least one big blow-out dinner. But the main event at this year’s Bon Appetit Vegas Uncork'd event surely takes the cake. At a celebration of the career of legendary French master Paul Bocuse, the meal will be prepared by a cast that includes Joël Robuchon, Alain Ducasse, Pierre Gagnaire, Hubert Keller, Guy Savoy and Julian Serrano. Those are just the ones who have signed up so far. It just would have been nice if they could have come up with a title better than “Toques Off to Paul Bocuse.”

The dinner is May 7 at the MGM Grand, and tickets are $395 per person, including food, wine, tax and tip.

-- Russ Parsons

(Photo by Robert Pratta/Reuters)

L'Epicerie teams up with chef Sébastien Archambault

Just when I thought I had a fix on L’Epicerie, the newish café/grocery/wine shop in Culver City from Thierry Perez (ex-Fraiche, Providence, etc.), he's making a new move. He's bringing in French chef Sébastien Archambault as chef and partner. Archambault, you might recall, earned three stars from the Times for his Southwest French cooking at RH at the Andaz Hotel on the Sunset Strip in September 2009. His last day at the hotel is Friday. He starts at L'Epicerie on Saturday and his new menu goes into effect Monday.

The whole setup at L’Epicerie is a far cry from the elegant open kitchen Archambault had at the Andaz,  with its miles of white marble counter and sleek appointments. Archambault was very hands-on there, though, making his own charcuterie and desserts. L'Epicerie is very different, a combination French grocery and café with bare-bones décor, a happy hour and wine shop where you can slip in to buy a Beaujolais or Madiran. Or even an oddball chocolate wine, which you have to taste to believe.

"I'm very lucky to have Archambault," Perez said. The two are planning to redo the nighttime menu at the cafe, focusing on the cooking of Southwest France and especially that from Périgord and the Basque country where Archambault and Perez grew up, respectively. That means, recounts Perez with real excitement, snails, foie gras, duck confit, magret de canard, crèpes with ceps and escargots -- each dish a siren call to those who love the cooking of Southwest France.  

The new menu will be divided into categories called From the Garden, From the Ranch and From the Sea. No tablecloths, but linen napkins instead of the paper ones the café had been using. They'll keep the tapas menu, too, at the bar and starting next week will be open for dinner (and tapas) from 4 to 10:30 p.m.

L’Epicerie, 9900 Culver Boulevard (at Duquesne), Culver City; (310) 815-1600. Open 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily starting next week. (The café currently closes at 9 p.m.)

-- S. Irene Virbila

Photo: Sebastien Archambault, right, directs action in the RH Andaz kitchen. Credit: Axel Koster / For The Times

Serious Eats blog concludes that foie gras is not unethical

A gauntlet was thrown down Thursday by food blog Serious Eats when writer J. Kenji Lopez-Alt wrote a lengthy dissertation on why -- after visiting a foie gras farm in the Hudson Valley -- foie gras is not unethical.

He tours the facility and takes pictures of the ducks in the giant sheds they live in. He isn't allowed, however, to take pictures inside the sheds where the ducks spend the final 25 days of their lives being fed by tubes that are forced down their throats in a practice known as gavage. He's told this is because they are using a new technology that they don't want their competitors to see, not because anything cruel is happening, and he's content with that answer. He remains so after watching the gavage, writing:

We walked down row after row of pens until we got to one where a worker was just about to start feeding. At La Belle, the ducks are fed three times a day for a total of up to 240 grams of their custom-designed feed. As we watched, the worker — a petit woman — climbed into the pen and sat on an overturned box. One at a time, she pulled a duck towards her and held it between her legs with its neck arched upwards. She gently squeezed the base of the duck's neck ("checking to make sure that he's finished all his food from the last feeding," says Bob), then eases a flexible plastic tube down the duck's throat. A machine whirls, a small bulge forms where the food is deposited, and the duck walks off, giving its head one shake, but otherwise seemingly unaffected.

As you might expect, the post has already generated 200 comments from people on both sides of the fence on the issue. If you read the comments it seems that -- despite appearances -- forcefully fattening a duck's liver for foie gras isn't really at the heart of the controversy. Instead, the controversy provides the perfect lens through which to examine one's feelings about meat in general, and how animals are treated while they are being raised.

If you have strong feelings about the subject, please feel free to leave a comment below.

-- Jessica Gelt

 Photo: Izzy Yanai, vice president and general manager of the farm Hudson Valley Foie Gras, at his facility in upstate New York, one of only three U.S. producers of the controversial gastronomic treat, known universally by its French name. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

3 food events you should know about: Joseph Mahon + David Haskell at Biergarten; 'James Bond, Foodie'; Cassoulet Night at Vertical

Big in Ktown:Joseph Mahon, until very recently the executive chef at Bastide, and sommelier David Haskell make a two-night guest appearance at Biergarten in Koreatown, on Monday and Tuesday. Mahon's five-course tasting menu includes: carrot curry pudding; coconut soup with mussels, tapioca and pistou; wild mushrooms, white soy and sesame rice paper; fried chicken with bacon, radish, arugula, celery and buttermilk dressing; confit pork cheeks with béarnaise mousse; and "waffle surprise." Haskell will offer wine, sake, soju and beer pairings. $56 per person (guests may choose two additional courses for $10); drink pairing is $54. 6 to 10:30 p.m. 

206 N. Western Ave., Los Angeles; for reservations, e-mail Neil Kwon at Neilskwon@gmail.com or call (323) 466-4860 after 4 p.m.   

The foods that Bond loved: The Culinary Historians of Southern California, the nonprofit organization that supports the culinary collections at the Los Angeles Public Library, presents food historian Linda Civitello's "Bond Appetit: James Bond, Foodie." Civitello's lecture is based on the James Bond books, movies and other writings of Bond creator Ian Fleming, along with period cookbooks, and focuses on the food that follows the famous "shaken, not stirred" martini. A reception with themed refreshments will follow the hour-long talk. Free. Saturday, 10:30 a.m. 

Los Angeles Public Library Mark Taper Auditorium, Downtown Central Library, 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles. For more information, go to chscsite.org or contact Susanna Erdos at (323) 663-5407 or serdos@aol.com.

The South of France, in Pasadena:Laurent Quenioux, who is chef at Bistro LQ and now also chef at Vertical Wine Bistro, is bringing back cassoulet for the winter. Sunday nights, starting Dec. 19 through February 2011, at Vertical Wine Bistro in Pasadena, Quenioux is serving cassoulet as part of a three-course dinner. Salad lardon frisée with warm sherry vinaigrette and soft-poached egg is followed by his cassoulet, the slow-cooked bean stew of southern France. His is made with pork, lamb shoulder, duck leg confit, saucisse de Toulouse, saucisson a l'ail and Tarbais beans. Dessert is crème brûlée or chocolate cake. $35 per person; additional $19 for wine pairing.

70 N. Raymond Ave. (upstairs), Pasadena; (626) 795-3999; www.verticalwinebistro.com.  

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Joseph Mahon at Bastide. Credit: Katie Falkenberg/For The Times

Chef Remi Lauvand revamps menu at Cafe Pierre in Manhattan Beach

Chef Remi Lauvand (Citrus at Social, Miró, Sevilla, Montrachet), who popped into Breadbar last month as part of the Hatchi Guest Chef series, recently overhauled the menu at Cafe Pierre. Longtime friends Lauvand and Guy Gabriele (Zazou), Cafe Pierre's founder and owner, have worked together before, most notably when Lauvand tweaked a few items on the menu for the restaurant's 30th anniversary.

This time around, Lauvand is executive chef, and he's made major changes. He's trimmed Cafe Pierre's long menu to retain only a handful of dishes and made several additions including house-made jars of foie parfait, duck rillette, pig trotters, head cheese and bavette cuts of beef tartare. The menu also features a nightly three-course, prixe fixe market-driven dinner for $35.

On the libations side, Gabriele has hired Tristan Price, who previously poured at Pastis, Milk & Honey and Balthazar in New York, to revamp the cocktail menu and serve as head bartender. Price's custom cocktails include the French Pearl (Plymouth gin, pernod, simple syrup, lime juice and fresh mint) and the Badminton Cup (Gordon's gin, lime juice, simple syrup, fresh mint and cucumber), among others.

Gabriele and Lauvand are already scouting locations for a joint restaurant, possibly in Pasadena but potentially anywhere in the greater L.A. area.

--Elina Shatkin

Photo: Remi Lauvand / Fran Collin