Right now, I have a view of the Eiffel Tower out the window of a Parisian apartment we're renting for a week. Soon, the light show will begin, and it will continue every hour until the early morning. I must be a tourist; I've yet to tire of the show that most French consider an unnecessary spectacle.
We've been in Paris for four days, and all I've done is eat. Actually, that can't be true. I have pictures to prove that we've seen Versailles, the Louvre and more historical landmarks than I can count. However, what I really remember is the food.
The food in Paris is unlike anything I've ever seen. Of course, French cooking is divine. Most great chefs are rooted in French cuisine, but I'm not talking about cuisine. I'm talking about food; I'm talking about ingredients.
We've been writing this series of Amuse Bouche articles about farmers' markets. For me, farmers' markets are about two things: finding wonderfully fresh food and buying that food from the source. Though they aren't technically "farmers' markets" as Americans know them, French markets seem to satisfy both of my requirements. Nearly all of the goods are sold fresh from open-air markets, and they're sold by people who made and know their products. When you want cheese, you go to the local fromagerie. For meat, visit your neighborhood boucherie. And for bread—which is eaten at nearly every meal—a boulangerie will do the trick. ( According to French law, each neighborhood must have at least one boulangerie open every single day of the year. If one baker is on vacation, the other must be in the kitchen. )
We happen to be staying right off of Rue Cler, a street full of these open markets. Though we've dined at quite a few restaurants, we've also picked up hunks of camembert and baskets of grapes between meals. Today, one of the produce stands had pints of fraises—or strawberries—that I could smell from across the street. Since I knew that we were going to be forgoing dinner out for a low-key evening at our apartment, I decided to buy some. After all, Chicago's strawberry season ended over a month ago.
When we got home, I started rummaging through our refrigerator. I wanted to use the strawberries for a simple dessert dish, but my resources were limited. There was a box of sugar in the pantry and, being that we were in France, we had both champagne and fromage blanc ( a light French cheese similar to cream cheese or the Italian mascarpone ) on hand. I only had a few ingredients, but they were quality ingredients. The strawberries were freshly picked, and the cheese was made in-house at the fromagerie around the corner. When I put it all together, it made a dessert that was worthy of Paris. Although we weren't in our own kitchen or even our own country, I was able to find local foods and—like a proper French cook—I was able to turn them into something deceivingly simple and exceedingly delicious.
Champagne strawberries over fromage blanc
Four cups strawberries
Two cups champagne
¾ cup sugar
Two cups fromage blanc
Three tbsp. honey
pinch of salt
1. Rinse all of the strawberries and cut them in quarters. Set aside.
2. Pour the champagne, sugar and a pinch of salt into a pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
3. Once the sugar has melted into the champagne, add the strawberries to the pot. Simmer for one minute and then turn off and allow to cool completely.
4. Mix together the honey and the fromage blanc ( I've found this at both Whole Foods and Trader Joes ) .
5. Ladle some of the fromage blanc into a bowl. Use a slotted spoon to lift some strawberries from the champagne and put them over the fromage blanc.
6. If desired, top with some kind of butter cookie.
