Comfort Food

I call myself a mutt!! What does a mutt eat for comfort?

Wahahahahaha. Ok! Let me explain myself.

I am Chinese decent; full 100% Chinese, but I can not read or write Chinese. I recognize maybe 10 words in Chinese. I was born and raised in Thailand, but educated in the American school system, English is my first language, and the majority of my friends all speak English. For the last 10 years, I lived in Los Angeles and English is my mother tongue. Oh, and I currently live in Paris and learning to speak French. So, when people ask me where I'm from? I give them this confused look and attempt to go on with explaining my life. Whew! That was long just blogging about it.

Anyways, what do I eat? What do I reach for when I'm sick? What do I want when it's cold? I'm Asain and I still prefer to eat Asian food on a daily basis; Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Taiwanese, and Indian. But, my comfort food is wholesome Chinese food. Not the take out you find at fast food joint around Paris.

When in Paris, I like to go to the 13th and grab noodles from Hoa Hoa; they are cheap and opened to 2 AM. The only problem is trying to find transportation back after a late rendez-vous. Hoa Hoa serves "tae chiew" style noodles, some Vietnamese fare, but majority is Cantonese style Chinese. According to my brother Bernard, this joint also serves up one of the best roast ducks he's had; and my cousin Erica think their noodle are better than the one in Los Angeles.

Whatever this place is doing, they are doing it right!!!

For late supper, come out to the 13th.

Le Relais Gascon

Dedicating this post to Pooja and Martin, who happened to stumble upon it one summer day in Paris. Le Relais Gascon, a little place up in the 18^th arrondisement, by Montmarte and Saceour, serves cuisine du sud-ouest (aks South-Western French fare).

The French do things differently, or is it the other way around? I'm biased, but who isn't? Because I'm from America and Thailand, I am biased to think that things should be done the "American or Thai" way. Well, the French way works for me too. So, my question is, How do you make salad more appetizing?....by adding a heap of garlic fried potatoes like they do at Le Relais Gascon.

Salads in Paris are not drenched with thick salad dressing and they often come with the addition of potatoes; fried or boiled, but I prefer the fried ones. At Le Relais Gascon, all their salads comes with fresh garlic fried potatoes and a cream-base dressing, but they are so light that you forget it’s made with cream, or that’s what I think. Another French addition I have come to enjoy is adding fried eggs, sunny-side-up, to the salads. There are nine choices of salads to choose from, with toppings ranging from cheese, tomatoes, olives, ham, tuna, chicken, salmon, foie gras, gizzards, etc. If you are not into salads like my dear friend Henry, or in need of some real dose of meat, other options are available too....

Onion Soup

• Onion Soup
• Poulet Roti (roast chicken)
• Confit de Canard (duck)
• Boeuf Bourguignon (beef stew)
• Cassoulet (Duck and sausage casserole)

Avocado and Prawns

So, when in Montmarte, for a healthy dose of greens, try to make it to Le Relais Gascon, you will not be disappointed. They are opened everyday, all day.

Until next time...

Caio

PS. Also dedicating this post to Jenny and Wan

Le Relais Gascon

6 rue des Abbesses, 75018

Tel: 01 42 58 58 22

Metro: Abbesses or Pigalle

13, rue Joseph de Maistre, 75018

Tel: 01 42 52 11 11

Metro: Abbesses or Blanche

Open everyday from 10 AM to 2 AM

Eiffel's 120th

Happy Birthday...

On November 6, 2009, the Eiffel Tower turned 120th. To commemorate, a special light show is being presented until December 31, 2009. Please stop by. This special light show is different from the regular light show that lights up every hour once the sun goes down.

I made the mistake of thinking the show would be viewable from Champs de Mars, but it was only shown on Trocadero side. Wouldn't it be great if it could be viewed from the lawns of Champs de Mars? I can ony dream. By the time my friends and I made our way across the lawn to the other side, the show was over. But, the light show is presented at 8 PM, 9 PM, 10 PM, and 11 PM every night. So we caught a later show. In my opinion and my friends, the best place to view the light show is from the building from Trocadero Metro station.

Enjoy the lights.

Until next time....

Qui Parle??

When in Paris, brunch like the Parisians....

I stumbled upon Le Cafe Qui Parle on my way to visit patiserie Arnaud Larher in the 18th (Montmatre); it was a Sunday and the restaurant had a long line of people. I am always really curious when a restaurant can draw a crowd and make people want to wait for a table. So, one sunny Sunday morning, me and Neha, a friend of a friend of a friend, had brunch there. On this given Sunday, we waited about 30 minutes for a table, but to avoid the crowds, please come early; around 11:30 AM or after 3 PM. Another trick I learned living in Paris is to come in small groups no more than 4, but even that doesn't work sometimes.

So, what do Parisians have for brunch? For starters, when it comes to food, the French go all out. A usual brunch fair will include:

- fruit juice

- coffee, tea, or hot chocolate

- all you can eat baguette with confisture (jam) and sometimes nutella

- croissant or pain chocolat (chocolate croissant)

- green salad

- cheese

- charcuterie (cold cuts)

- cured or smoke salmon

- eggs

- yoghurt, usually plain

- granola

Oh and the scrumptious full fat BUTTER!! Please refrain from asking for fake butter.

Pubic Anoucement....

"When in France, please enjoy the butter."

@ Cafe Le Qui Parle, you will be are greeted with a friendly staff and a glass of orange juice. For 17.50€ you will get All-You-Can-Eat Brunch; and salad with a variety of cheese, a variety of charcuterie, or a combination of cheese and charcuterie.

The perfect ending to your brunch should be a cup of steaming hot chocolate or tea. So, sit down, enjoy your meal and your company.

Caio.

Le Cafe Qui Parle

24, rue Caulaincourt

75018 Paris

J'adore les Crepes

I love crepes. Crepes to Paris is like roti to Bangkok or donuts to California; they're yummy, quick, and cheap; about 2.30 euro each. Crepe stands are every where in the city; some are good, others are better, and then there are the bad ones.

Just the other day, I grabbed a crepe on my way to my French lesson, and couple of weeks ago, I had one after class as my quick no fuss dinner option. There's one particular stand that I like; from Metro Montparnasse, on Boulevard Montparnasse, walking towards Metro Vavin, on the left hand side, there's a little crepe stand that make very good crepes. They use buckwheat for their savory crepe and fresh lemon juice for their sugar and lemon crepes; bad crepe stand use preserved lemon juice from a bottle. When I was still attending Le Cordon Bleu, the crepe stand right in front of Metro Vaugirard was the place to go.

Some vendors are cheap and lazy. They will pre-make the crepes a few hours before hand and reheat them as the day goes. Dude! You should stay away from those crepe stands. Those crepes taste like ****; they come out soft and soggy. Yuck! I prefer mine freshly made and bien cuit; crunchy on the edges. So, my advice on crepes stand is to check out the crepe stand and the ingredients they use, or just hang around until someone else orders a crepe.

If you fancy eating crepes at a restaurant, you should try Creperie Ty Breiz; it's cozy and inexpensive. The restaurant is very charming and nicely decorated; it feels like you're eating at your grandma's country kitchen. According to chowhound.com, Creperie Ty Breiz uses floment flour, finest low-protein soft wheat, for their desert crepes. For savory crepes, they use a mixture of of froment and sarrasin or buckwheat flour. So, one night, while Sandra was in town visiting from Chicago, we ventured there. I forgot what the she ordered, but it had cheese, bacon, and potatoes; and I had something similar, but without the bacon. All that was washed down with crafe de vin rouge, or their house red wine. Oh, they supposedly have really good apple cider too, but we did what the French did best, drink lots of wine and be merry. To end the meal, we had sweet crepe with nutella and crepe suzette.

Crepes are also readily available in the supermarket in the cold section; it's often sold next to the ready made tart dough. Just reheat with a little butter in a non-stick pan and fill it to your heart desires.

So, back to crepe stands. What's available you may ask?

Sweet Options:

- sugar

- butter and sugar

- sugar and lemon (my fav)

- sugar and cinnamon (my friend Sandra's fav)g

- sugar and honey

- chestnut spread (my friend Jill's fav)

- nutella

- nutella and banana

etc.

Savory Options:

- cheese

- cheese and ham

- cheese and sausage

- egg and cheese

- cheese, ham, and eggs

- cheese, sausage, and ham

- 4 cheeses

etc.

Okay...that's it for now.

Caio

Creperie Ty Breiz

52, boulevard de Vaugirard

75015 Paris

closed Sunday & Monday