Recipes

From our last recipe – Crepes From Brittany – to today’s recipe, a Corsican Caccavellu sweet bread. Yes, it’s quite a far stretch, with as many kilometers as there are cultural specificities that separate these two regions – which sit literally opposite on the French map. But on many levels, they are not so different, if you ask me. Both the Brittany and Corsican people are known to be proud, tremendously proud, of their origins, dialect and people. Both deeply attached to their roots and unique cultural heritage, these regions …

There are a few staples that every French home cook should master, and French crêpes are without any doubt in the top 3. For myself, being from Brittany, the birthplace of crepes, they are actually #1. And as a true Brittany native, I must start by emphasizing the fact that savory and sweet crepes are quite different in Brittany, and surely not meant to be mixed up. The difference starts right from the choice of flour … Crêpes de “blé noir”: Literally translated as “buckwheat flour crêpes” are meant to be garnished with …

here are no rules about French pâtés. Pork, chicken, rabbit or duck. Breast, cheek, belly or tripe. Squelched in a baguette sandwich with a few “cornichons”, baked “en croûte” in a flaky pastry crust or delicately seared and served atop a succulent filet mignon. In a ploughman’s lunch bag or on a Michelin star table. Sometimes rough, sometimes a delicacy, pâté has seduced, seduces and will seduce generations of French families for decades to come. And for how many ways there are to eat it, you can find a way …

he French are not usually fond of fried treats (unlike their Spanish or Portuguese neighbours). But these bite-size fritters are timeless goodies that have been feeding generations of French families.  French regions come up with their own twists on the recipe … made with choux pastry, yeast dough, potato flour (Savoy Region) or chestnut flour (Corsica)… fried in oil or lard … referred to as “nun’s farts” (Brittany Region), “beignets” (Paris) , and on and on. They are commonly served plain, with a light dusting of caster sugar, cinnamon or icing …

Just a simple, honest, rustic Peach Galette recipe, with fresh yellow peaches and a buttery crust. A perfect home-style summer dessert.  each season is in full swing here in Niagara. All the roadside farmers’ stands are overflowing with sweet and juicy tree-ripened peaches – a real feast for the eyes, and our stomachs!  And I just can’t wait for the Niagara Peach Festival Celebrations happening in two weeks. The whole town will gather to celebrate the Peach Harvest and the local growers – the kind of event right up my alley.  The …