French cooking

13 Stories

Scientists Urge French to Cut Down on Frog Legs

French taste for the delicacy was called out by 557 experts as overconsumption

(Newser) - Hundreds of concerned scientists are asking French President Emmanuel Macron to put the brakes on a very French custom: eating frog legs. The open letter , signed by 557 research, veterinary, and conservation professionals, notes that the European Union isn't exactly practicing what it preaches in how native frogs are...

Think France Has Great Food? Think Again
Think France Has Great
Food? Think Again
OPINION
Jul 23, 2014 1:23 PM CDT

Think France Has Great Food? Think Again

Mark Bittman says nation's famous cooking has gone downhill

(Newser) - Quick, name a country renowned for its cuisine. If France comes to mind, Mark Bittman has a revelation for you: That might have been true decades ago, but "today, when I write about Parisian restaurants I have to eat in three to recommend one, and that’s with expert...

Black Truffles May Be Going Way of the Dinosaur

French delicacy is rare and getting rarer, now $30 an ounce

(Newser) - Truffles have always been rare and expensive, prized in French cuisine for their earthy yet delicate flavor, whose richness, it is said, cannot be matched by another food. Yet destruction of the forests where the truffles grow (on oak roots), a scarcity of expert hunters, and a general decline in...

Now In Child's Old Kitchen, No Meat—or Butter!

Vegetarian occupants hope chef 'is not rolling over in her grave'

(Newser) - The sacrilege! Not only has the kitchen in Julia Child’s former Cambridge home—familiar to millions of devotees of her show—been renovated to within an inch of its life, the Boston Globe reports, its new owners have hung a picture of a cow with the caption: “Nobody...

Cafés Squeezed as France Turns to Le Sandwich

Thousands of small eateries shut, but McDonalds is booming

(Newser) - France used to be the home of the three-hour lunch, complete with wine, cheese, and maybe some spirits to push indolent workers through the rest of their day. But times have changed, and so have eating habits—these days, reports the Washington Post, the French are scarfing down sandwiches in...

French Workers Lose Appetite for Leisurely Lunch

Thousands of restaurants go pffft as French eat at their desks

(Newser) - Thousands of cafes and restaurants in Paris are closing as French workers change their eating and spending habits and dine at their desks just like Americans. French office workers are skipping traditional long lunches in favor of takeaway baguettes. Those who do opt for restaurant meals skip aperitifs, hors d'oeuvres,...

Why Do We Hate Ratatouille?
 Why Do We Hate Ratatouille? 
GLOSSIES
Aug 31, 2008 1:53 PM CDT

Why Do We Hate Ratatouille?

Eggplant may be to blame for our aversion to French dish

(Newser) - Ratatouille should be an American staple: It’s easy, tasty, and bursting with fresh veggies, Gourmet’s Laura Shapiro writes. Instead, the French dish is passed over by Americans—but why? Perhaps eggplant is the culprit: “Fat, purple and interminable, eggplant is one of the least-loved vegetables in the...

Le Burger Sizzles in Paris
 Le Burger Sizzles in Paris 
Jul 16, 2008 8:57 AM CDT

Le Burger Sizzles in Paris

French chefs make over the American standby

(Newser) - Parisian gourmands might still revile McDonald's, but the lowly hamburger has become a mainstay on some of the best menus in the City of Light. From cafés on the Left Bank to top tables showered with Michelin stars, the quintessential American dish has undergone a French transformation. "The...

New Food Blogs Take Devotion to a New Level

So-called 'cook-through' bloggers go through cookbooks recipe by recipe

(Newser) - Food blogs are usually simple things, fun and easy to create, writes Lee Gomes in the Wall Street Journal. And then there are the increasingly popular "cook-through" blogs, in which devoted chefs of all skill levels pick a book, say the French Laundry Cookbook or the Gourmet Cookbook, and...

France Finally Wins Bread Battle

World Cup of Baking pits

(Newser) - It's been a dozen years since France won the Baking World Cup, but the baguette's homeland took home the gold today, reports the Wall Street Journal. The drought was odd, because, as America’s coach says, “It's a French competition. And it's bread.” America has won two of...

Chefs Dish on Fave Cookbooks
Chefs Dish on Fave Cookbooks
Dec 14, 2007 7:42 PM CST

Chefs Dish on Fave Cookbooks

Go beyond the Joy of Cooking with Slate's recommendations

(Newser) - What to get the foodie or chef who already has all the classic cookbooks? Slate compiles offbeat favorites recommended by Mollie Katzen, James Oseland and other standout chefs, food editors, and more.
  1. Ethan Becker: Cookwise—Less a cookbook than a bible of general cooking knowledge.
  2. Dan Barber: The River Cottage
...

Best Restaurant in U.S. Closes
Best Restaurant in U.S. Closes
Jun 8, 2007 9:02 AM CDT

Best Restaurant in U.S. Closes

(Newser) - The restaurant that inspired some of America's leading chefs has closed. Located in the decidedly downscale Chicago suburb of Wheeling, Le Francais was once named the best restaurant in America by Bon Appetit magazine.

Chefs Sing Praises of Sous Vide
Chefs Sing Praises of Sous Vide
May 2, 2007 8:00 AM CDT

Chefs Sing Praises of Sous Vide

"Sous vide" vacuum cooking sweeps the Bay Area

(Newser) - "This is not your mother's boil-in-a-bag," write's Tara Duggan of the San Francisco Chronicle of "sous vide" cooking, a French cooking technique of immersing food in a vacuum-sealed bag. While they don't trumpet it on menus, Bay Area Chefs are smitten with the precision and flavor of...

13 Stories