Cooking

 I made boeuf bourguignon today, and it's the best batch I have ever made.  I used the tried and true recipe that has never failed me. Technically it's beef stew and not bourguignon, because I use potatoes instead of pearl onions.  I don't like pear onions, whereas I have never met any potato that I didn't like.  My apartment smells divine. Paired with a crusty baguette, and a glass of red wine, the stew made a perfect dinner.  The only thing I can attribute the extra delicious-ness to is better ingredients.

But I did have a bit of a time finding some beef bouillion.  I could find plenty of chicken and vegetable varieties. Shopping and stocking my pantry has been an adventure in itself. How much to buy?  Will I leave it here when I return to the States?  How much do I want to spend on equipment, and on staples like flour, sugar, spices? They are NOT cheap.  I finally found some powdered cinnamon once I took the time to look up the French word for it.  But no bay leaves....maybe I need to look in a larger store.  And I needed about 2 tablespoons of flour--I bought potato flour instead.  Fortunately it was a very small box....

The little "supermarket" at Place Carnot

One of the things I love about marketing is that the stores?-- the manufacturers?--somebody--has figured out how to package things in SMALL quantities. Not everyone wants or needs to buy the giant, economy size. There's not much savings if there's so much excess that it spoils. I like spaghetti sauce in teeny little jars-two servings and there is no waste. I like being able to buy just a few slices of meat for an occasional picnic sandwich, as opposed to an entire pound of sliced chicken breast. I think it's because in the city there are a lot of single people or just couples. Families with children who can benefit from the giant economy sized packages tend to live and shop in the suburbs. Maybe city dwellers tend to have smaller households? 

Measurements are different and in some ways less exact. A spoon--A soup spoon?....a coffee spoon? And yet in other ways, ingredients are weighed very carefully.  I see lots of food scales for sale in the kitchen equipment section of stores.  This apartment isn't really equipped for serious baking. No baking pans, no pie plates (what about the 4 I have sitting back in Brookings?) or food scales.  Jason has thoughtfully provided a measuring pitcher, a salad spinner, a box grater, some basic cooking pots, and I think I saw a Pyrex baking dish.  Most people who stay here are short-term renters, not  interested in cooking and are certainly not going to bake their own pies! So a bare-bones kitchen is understandable. 

Besides, with so many patisseries around, why would anyone want to bake at home?  This way, I can have just enough of a treat to quiet my shrieking sweet tooth and not be tempted to eat an entire pie.   That's important in my quest to find the best tartelette au citron in France....