Archive for 'French'

Fourth Growth – Quatrième Crus

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Château Beychevelle besh/vehl Saint-Julien sa~ zhew/lya~ 

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What do you know about champagne, other than its bubbly, expensive and signals glamour and good times, and possibly, for those who do not know their limits, bad behaviour and a hangover…? Doesn’t everyone know what champagne is? The short answer is ‘no’, and the long answer is ‘noo’. I have heard otherwise perfectly well-educated people say the stupidest things about champagne. It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people suspect you ...

Let me start right off the bat by saying a macaron and a macaroon are not one and they same thing, and I’ll take on a debate with anyone, anytime, if they wish disagree with me. The difference between macarons and macaroons starts with pronunciation (and you will find audio on all relevant words at the end of this article) and extends to history, ingredients, technique, appearance, exclusivity, and price, and most importantly, taste and texture. I don’t ...

I tend to spend more time answering queries and adding words to the database than dealing with the blog, so forgive my neglect here. I get a tons of queries in my mail, which I appreciate because it’s the best way to make sure the database is useful, but it’s hugely time-consuming, and lest we forget, there is but one of me.

Don’t let that deter you from sending in queries – you can either email me, ...

How much would you pay for a bottle of sweet white wine? Tell you what, I certainly would not pay £75 000.00 (close to $118 000)! But I’m guessing that if you are ridiculously solvent, an Extreme Wine Connoisseur, and love the idea of drinking not only the most exclusive dessert wine in the world, but one which is a time capsule from another century, you wouldn’t bat an eyelid. Someone fitting that description handed over precisely that amount, ...

*The links in this recipe will take you to detailed explanations and audio files of the correct pronunciation of the French words

‘Sauce Hollandaise‘ is the simplest of the ‘butter sauces’, or ‘sauces au beurre‘ – a category of the so-called ‘Mother Sauces’ (Sauces Mères) of Classic French Cuisine. This simple sauce is a warm emulsion of ...

Champagne is undoubtably the drink of the elite, and the very word conjures images of wealth, luxury and glamour. This prestigious drink is not for everyday consumption by the masses – the hefty price tag ensures it maintains its exclusivity. What makes it so expensive, and what’s so special about champagne anyway?

The famous experiment

When uberchef Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck set up a stall in ...