After being banned in the mountain country and many parts of the world for almost a century, absinthe, famously associated with bohemian fin-de-siècle artists, is making a comeback in the land of its birth, five years after being legalized by Swiss authorities.
via Swisster
It’s your lucky day, America! California has imported a French chocolatier who used to be high on the food chain (so to speak) at Lenôtre. Now he’s launched Nuubia Chocolat, his own line of gourmet French-style chocolates in the Bay Area. Nuubia Chocolat was voted one of the Top Ten Chocolatiers in North America, and named Chocolatier of the Year in 2011.
That’s all fine and dandy, but what really works for me is the eco aspect. The company uses NO palm oil or palm oil derivatives. (In case you didn’t know, palm oil is in about 50% of the packaged products we use, and it’s driving the orangutan to extinction.)
Nuubia Chocolat’s mission is to “produce exquisite chocolates and protect the planet”:
Because of our connection to the Earth, Nuubia Chocolat’s underlying mission is dedicated to help protect life on this planet and wildlife sanctuaries around the globe. Our Company is driven by “B” Corporation principles, using only GMO-free ingredients, FSC certified papers and packaging, and subscribing to standards that incorporate ethics and transparency into our daily business practices.
If you live in the area, you can visit their store in Pleasanton, where they even offer classes! If not, you can order online. Bon appétit !
Oh dear. They should have done their French homework!!
You see, bite is a slang word for penis… Petite bite can be literal, of course (in which case, I have my doubts about “big compliments” and “dazzle and delight”), but it can also mean “a nobody,” or “an insignificant person” (C’est une petite bite.).
Hope you’ve enjoyed today’s French lesson! Here’s a bonus: Nancy’s is running a contest for a free trip to Paris!
The perfect francophile stocking stuffer! Buy this rooster bottle stopper at the Francophilia Amazon store! Only about $8.50!
Some entertaining interactive games on this site. We failed miserably at the cheese game, (shot above), but had fun nonetheless!
During WWI, Léon Bel, creator of La Vache Qui Rit, saw the design above on trucks that transported fresh meat to the troops at the front. The troops named this cow the Wachkyrie, a play on the German word Walkyrie, to annoy their adversaries.
When the time came to design his packaging, Bel recalled having seen this design and decided to use it as a starting point. He asked Benjamin Rabier, the original Wachkyrie artist, to make him a friendly cow that would appeal to the public. Thus the Vache Qui Rit… And it was Léon Bel’s wife who asked them to give the cow earrings!
If you speak French, read the whole story and see some great vintage Vache packaging at Ma culture confiture and learn more about Benjamin Rabier’s role at ROCBO.
Diddy is a self-proclaimed Francophile: with an album titled “Last Train to Paris” and premium vodka Ciroc attached to his famous name, you’d think he’d be riding around in a striped shirt, by now, baguette in tow. But it’s precisely this French fascination that recently got the hip-hop mogul and his crew into trouble with customs at Nice’s Cote d’Azur airport last week.
Read the rest at The Boombox.
A high spot in the world of Swiss chocolate is the annual awards ceremony for the next generation of chocolatiers-confisseurs in canton Vaud, designed to promote the three-year apprenticeship programme. [...] The theme of this year’s contest was haute couture, and part of the ceremony was a fashion show with four dresses made from chocolate, including one worn by Miss Suisse Romande, who wore white chocolate.
Read the rest at GenevaLunch. See all the student creations on the official site of the Société Vaudoise et Romande des Patrons Pâtissiers-Confiseurs, Chocolatiers, Glaciers (click Images).
No discussion of French cuisine occurs without some reference to using seasonal produce. And it’s a lot more écolo to cook with seasonal produce too. Download a nice PDF showing which fruits and vegetables are in season in France during which months of the year. Great for expats who have no clue (like me, but hey, I’m from Southern California, I have an excuse). Could be useful and fun for the classroom!
via Cuisine Campagne
Jean-Pierre Amoreau, the owner of the estate in France that produces Château Le Puy wine, has experienced a huge boom in demand for his product after the Japanese manga series “The Drops of God” [Les Gouttes de Dieu / 神の雫] featured it as one of the world’s finest wines.
via Japan Probe
A look at the process by which French pastry chefs compete for the level of Meilleur Ouvrier de France, a designation that will distinguish them as the top artists in their field. The contest, held every four years in a grueling three-day event, turns out to be just as suspenseful and colorful as you might imagine—the Olympics of cakes and sweets.
via HeraldNet
The producers of Roquefort and Époisses de Bourgogne may view it as infernal rind but the world’s best cheese comes from England. Cornish Blue, made in Liskeard by Philip and Carol Stansfield, nosed ahead of 2,600 entries from 26 countries to win this year’s World Cheese Awards.
via The Independent
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