"On Rue Tatin", Paris

On Thursday September 6th, I took the train to Paris (on my own for the first time) for a cooking class. I was invited by a friend and fellow American-living-in-France, Tricia Boyer. Tricia is married to a lovely French man, Eric (pronounced, "Ereek") and they live in Louviers, not far from Rouen. Tricia works for Susan Herrmann Loomis, food expert and cookbook author who runs a French cooking school in Louviers. It turns out that in addition to week-long classes in Louviers, Susan also gives one-day classes in Paris. I was very thankful for the opportunity to learn about French cooking in an English-speaking class.

After a pleasant train ride, I had about three hours to spare before class began. I enjoyed a leisurely walk around Paris, a quiet visit to Notre Dame, and eventually a mad sprint down rue Jacob (it's a long story involving a talkative French sidewalk merchant). Finally I came to the the famous and beautiful yet functional Patricia Wells cooking studio, an efficacious place to create.

Susan started with a tasting and demonstration of different nut oils for our small group of students. In the course of the evening we also enjoyed a chocolate tasting (need I say more?) and a salt-tasting, learning the difference between Sel de Mer, Fleur de Sel, and... table salt. Throughout the evening, we tasted and mmmed and awwed our way through the preparation of a multi-course meal, and then enjoyed the fruits of our labors, from aperitif to dessert. Our ingredients were chosen from the market that morning, and we discussed the benefits of eating fresh, seasonal, local produce and products. In twos we sliced, diced, scored, blanched, steamed, minced, pinched, simmered, whisked, and otherwise prepared different courses of the meal. We followed the recipes and listened to Susan's different techniques, such as how to easily remove the skin of a peach, or the best possible way to cook a duck breast. I learned alot, hands-on, enjoyed the comfortable sound of English all evening, and relished the delicous meal that we had worked together to make. And I am happy to say that I have successfully made both the green bean entree and the duck (magret de canard) at home, with rave reviews from Daniel! I also came home with ideas on how to make our little kitchen more efficient. It was a wonderful experience--many thanks to Tricia and Susan!!

Green Beans with Peaches and Almonds
Duck Breast with Almonds, Garlic, Cumin
Cheeses
Salad With Honey Vinaigrette
Seasonal Fruit Tart

http://www.onruetatin.com/