2 lectures Gourmandes de Vacances et 7 choses sur moi /2 Gourmet Holiday reading and 7 things you did not know about me !

Copyright : FoodieFroggy

I have been tagged by the talented Warda from “64sq ft kitchen” who wanted to know 7 things about me. As I have already answered that “meme” some months ago, I have decided to post it again today. So, if you are a recent reader of my blog, you will know a bit more about me.
But that’s not all, folks ! I also wanted to share with you my latest finds in terms of food-related books. They are both available in English as their authors are British. I bought them in an amazing gourmet bookshop located rue Paul Bert in the 11^th arrondissement of Paris. They have tons of cookbooks, which seems quite normal, but also a wide selection of novels dealing with food (and some beautiful home-made aprons, kitchen towels and sweet delicacies). Rue Paul Bert, by the way, is a very interesting street for Foodies, as it is “home” of 3 very good restaurants (“Bistrot Paul Bert”, “Le Temps au Temps”, and the argentine “l’Unico”), a very professional wine shop (Crus et Découvertes) and the bookshop I mentioned earlier, les Cocottes. I will write a post about this street at the end of March, as I will have tested 2 of its restaurants by then.

J’ai été taguée par la talentueuses Warda de 64ft kitchen qui souhaitait connaître 7 choses inattendues sur moi . J’avais déjà répondu à ce meme il y a quelques mois, je le re-publie donc aujourd’hui. Comme cela, si vous êtes un(e) lecteur(trice) récent(e) de ce blog, vous pourrez mieux me connaître. Après « mes 6 manies », je sais, cela fait beaucoup de révélations, mais ce n’est pas de ma faute, ce sont les tags qui sont indiscrets !
J’en profite également pour partager avec vous 2 de mes lectures de vacances, achetées aux «Cocottes » rue Paul Bert, dans le 11^ème  arrondissement, une librairie spécialisée dans les livres de cuisine et les fictions ayant un lien avec la « bonne chère ». Je publierai d’ailleurs fin mars un billet sur cette rue qui est à mon avis l’une des plus gourmandes de Paris : une librairie spécialisée « food » (les Cocottes, donc), 3 restaurants délicieux (j’en aurai testé deux d’ici là) et un bar à vin super pro.
 
Five quarters of the orange, by Joanne Harris
Les 5 quartiers de l’Orange, de Joanne Harris

The narrator, an old lady, takes us back to World War II, when she was a child living in a tiny village near Angers, France. We find out, how, because of a stupid challenge between kids, a German officer dies and 11 inhabitants of the village are executed as reprisals. What does it have to do with food, you may ask? Simply because the old lady, Framboise, remembers all those events thanks to a recipes file given to her by her mother as an heirloom. Between each recipe, some lines are written in an unknown coded language, and once the language decrypted, Framboise discovers some of her mother’s unmentionable secrets. Maybe some of them have a link with the tragic death of the villagers? Who knows? Well, you will, if you read this very well-written book from a British authoress. The comings and goings from recipes to the narration of the increasingly tragic events are quite flustering, but in a good way. I loved that book and I highly recommend it

La narratrice assez âgée, nous entraîne, par de nombreux flash-backs, dans le petit village de son enfance, près d’Angers, pendant la seconde guerre mondiale. On découvre, comment un simple défi d’enfant a mené à la mort accidentelle d’un jeune officier allemand et à l’exécution, en représailles, de onze des villageois. Quel rapport avec la gastronomie, me direz-vous ? Et bien, en fait, la vieille dame vit ses flash-backs par le biais du classeur de recettes de sa mère, qu’elle a reçu en héritage. Les recettes sont ponctuées d’anecdotes et de souvenirs écrits dans un langage inconnu. Une fois le mystérieux langage décrypté, la vieille dame (Framboise de son prénom. D’ailleurs tous les personnages de cette famille ont des prénoms de fruits : Mirabelle, Cassis, Reine-Claude, Pistache, Noisette,…) découvre les secrets inavouables de sa mère, qui sont peut-être, qui sait, la clé de ces années sombres. L’auteure est une anglaise d’origine française et le va-et-vient constant entre les recettes (à tomber) et l’escalade tragique des événements est assez troublant, mais maintient le lecteur dans un suspense intense. Vous avez compris que j’ai adoré ce livre et que je vous le recommande.

Edward Trencom’s Nose, by Giles Milton
Le Nez d’Edward Trencom, de Giles Milton

That one, I have not read yet. I will when I am on vacation in a few days. It has been strongly recommended by Andrea, the owner of “Les Cocottes”, the bookshop I mentioned above. She told me the book was « to roll on the floor laughing »! This is a summary of the 4^th page cover : “From the XVIIth century, the Trencoms, cheese-makers in London, appear to have a very specific nose, endowed with extraordinary olfactory capacities. But, unfortunately, at each generation, one male member of the family disappears under very strange circumstances. In 1969, Edward Trencom decides not to be the next victim and to penetrate this mystery. I have been told that the description of the cheeses is incredible, a true ode to both senses of Taste and Smell.

17 march update : I have read it now ! ROFL from the beginning to the end !!

Celui-ci, je ne l’ai pas encore lu, je me le réserve pour dans quelques jours, lorsque je serai à l’étranger. Il m’a été fortement recommandé par Andrea, la jeune gérante des « Cocottes », qui m’a dit qu’il était « à mourir de rire ».
Voici ce que dit la 4ème de couverture (enfin, en version raccourcie) : « Depuis le XVIIème siècle, les Trencom, maîtres fromagers Londoniens, présentent une étrange particularité : un nez extraordinaire, doué de capacités olfactives hors normes. Mais à chaque génération, un Trencom mâle disparaît dans des circonstances étranges. En 1969, Edward Trencom, décide de percer ce mystère et part en Grèce. » Il paraît que l’on bave littéralement sur les pages qui évoquent les différents fromages, une véritable ode au goût et à l’odorat.
Update du 17 mars 2008 : Ca y est, je l'ai lu : un grand fou rire du début à la fin !

7 things you did not know about me (first posted in June 2007)

1- I have a twin brother. Some of you already know it. As kids, we were very close and as we were in the same class, I was crying everytime the teacher was mad after him. He often had problems with the teachers because his handwriting was awful (and it still is, lol).So my parents decided to  separate us at school and actually we both enjoyed it. Now he lives thousands of miles from me, in Los Angeles. But we see each other at least 3 times per year.
J'ai un frère jumeau. Il vit aux Etats-Unis depuis environ 20 ans.

2- When I was a student in Business, from the age of 19 to 22, I used to work as a stewardess for Air France every summer. I can tell you it was the best summer-job ever ! Well-paid, great hotels, fun destinations. I had the opportunity to visit almost all the capitales in Europe, as well as many countries in South America, the West Indies and great Cities in the USA. I think one day I will write a book for my daughters (to be read after I die) about all the weird stories that happened to me as a stewardess !!
J'ai été hotesse long-courrier chez Air France, de 19 à 22 ans, en job d'été.

3- I lived a whole year in 2 foreign countries. I was 19, still living with my parents, and my business school had an exchange program with foreign students. This is how I happened to live 6 months in London and 6 months in Madrid, Spain. Not sure this is where I improved my skills in both English and Spanish as I was sharing apartments with fellow French students. But one thing is sure, this is when I discovered how much I enjoyed cooking for others ! Anyway I had no choice, it was that or starvation!!
L'année de mes 20 ans, j'ai vécu 6 mois à Londres et 6 mois à Madrid.

4- When in London, I worked as a trainee for a journalist at “The Sunday Times”, Carole Leonard. She was a very clever and funny woman. I learnt many things about journalism thanks to her and I wanted to thank her for that. I bought flowers to be delivered to her at the office. I bought them at Harrods and spent my week salary for that !! She was a single at that time (1989) and it was so funny to see how excited she was when she saw the gorgeous bunch of flowers and then how disappointed when she realized that I was the person behind the flowers !!! Sorry Carole !
A Londres, j'ai été stagiaire au Sunday Times et au Times et j'ai offert des fleurs à ma "marraine de stage" en remerciement. La pauvre, elle était célibataire, et elle a été trop déçue de voir que les fleurs ne venaient pas d'un admirateur inconnu.

5- My husband and I are both Parisian born and raised but we met in a foreign country!!! And it took us 9 months to realize that our feelings were more than friendship. Given my slowness for many things, I think "turtle" would have been a more appropriate nickname for me (instead of froggy).
Mon mari et moi, bien qu'étant tous les deux parisiens, nous sommes rencontrés dans un pays étranger. Israël, en l'occurence.

6- I give cooking classes in English in my apartment in Paris. I do that very occasionally because I want to keep it fun and intimate. This is why I don’t even have a website and never mentioned it on my blog. We met wonderful people whom we are still in touch with. I had once a very nice young man from NYC, working in Fashion and he was so pleased with the class that he sent me an enormous parcel with a dozen clothes from his collection . And they all fit me !!
A l'occasion, je donne des cours de cuisine en anglais à mon domicile.

7- And last but not least, Nicolas Sarkozy (our new President) married me in 1995 !!... haha, gotcha ! No, I am not Mrs Sarkozy, I just meant that he performed our wedding ceremony, lol !! He was the mayor of Neuilly Sur Seine, the city where we got married and as a mayor he could perform some weddings from time to time. So I am the proud owner of several pictures featuring Sarko, Hubby and me !
C'est Sarko qui nous a mariés, en 1995, bien avant qu'il ne devienne président...

Comments

[Celine's Cuisine]

What a life!!! Les "cocottes" tout le monde en parle... ELLE a table entre autre...( si je dis a ma soeur d'y aller elle va me dire c'est BOBO - comme pour Rose Bakery... elle deteste!!!) c'est exactement l'endroit que je ne trouve pas ici... et meme dans les grandes villes USA...j'suis pas sure que cela existe..bon si tu viens voir ton frere prochainement on se verra peut etre? a bientot

[Babeth]

Bonnes vacances :-)

[FoodieFroggy]

Les,
Il semblerait que nous ayons de nombreux points communs, y compris notre année de naissance, non ?
Taggée,je ne connais pas la vraie traduction, mais en fait je souhaitais que tu nous fasses part (sur ton blog) de tes 6 manies et ensuite, tu peux demander aux bloggeurs de ton choix de faire de même.

[GourmetorGourman]

Anne,
I lived in Madrid too! For a year.
I want to take your cooking class next time I'm in Paris. I'll let you know when that is. It sounds fun.
Hey, c'est quoi "tagged" ???? I am lost.

Lesley

[My Melange]

Anne~ Can't wait to hear your restaurant reviews. Both Bistrot Paul Bert and Le Temp au Temps were on our list to eat last visit...though we never made it there. There is always next time!!