Sweet Journey of Inspiration

Welcome back home Banana Cake!

2012-02-24T23:23:00.018+01:00

Bonjour!

This is the first post I write this year. I do not want to give excuses, but I will do since its a good one. Lately I have been very busy cooking and baking at home and at work. After working almost the entire 2011 in different pastry kitchens in Paris, which was not an easy task, my career turned around at the end of the year and I got into the food styling industry. A profession I did not looked into it, but that luckily knocked at my door. For those not familiar with this profession, I am responsible for preparing meals that are then photographed and published in cookbooks and culinary magazines. Today I am a full time food stylist assistant and even got a food stylist monthly gig at an agency. This is a new challenge in my professional life. I have a lot to learn, but I like it a lot so far. I finally found a profession that in a way allows me to connect my past professional experiences in marketing and advertising with my new life in the kitchen.

So, life is busy lately, but not today. I am actually writing this post from Puerto Rico. I came to visit my family and friends after being away for one year and a half. It feels so good to be here surrounded by my loved ones. I am also super happy to be eating our delicious local dishes... specially our fruits. So many options I do not find back home in Paris, or if I find them they are super expensive. So you can imagine how much I am eating and thinking about new recipes I would like make.

The temptation was so much that a few days ago I took a break from the beach ;-) and turned on the oven to bake a cake. I baked a banana cake! We have so many bananas at home that as soon as I got here my mom almost forced me to eat them every day. I solved the problem using a bunch of them for my banana cake recipe. I used the little bananas we called "guineos niños ". They are called in English "baby bananas or lady fingers" for its delicate shell and form. Its size varies from 9 inches to 12.5 inches long. These are tiny bananas that are a little sweeter and creamier than normal bananas we are used to eat.

These bananas acquires a deep yellow color. It is at this time when they are sweeter and delicious to eat alone, fry, desserts or salads. A true delight of Puerto Rican cuisine.

They are delicious!!! If you live in a big city you will most likely get them in supermarkets in Chinese neighborhoods. At least there I get them when in Paris and NYC.

I decorated the cake with caramelized bananas. Very simple to make. Slice the bananas and cook them with honey, limon juice and brown sugar. Just until it turns a little bit brown.

Try out this recipe. It is simple and delicious!!!
Prep time: 20 minutes. Cook time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients: Mashed Bananas - 2.5 cups, Lemon juice - 4 teaspoon, Flour - 3 cups, Baking Soda - 1.5 teaspoon, Salt - 1/4 teaspoon, Butter Softened - 3/4 cup,Brown sugar - 2 cups, Eggs - 3, Vanille - 4 teaspoons, Cinnamon - 2 teaspoons, Milk - 1.5 cups, Honey - 2 spoons, Walnuts - 2 cups,

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a two 9" layer cake pans.
2. Cream butter, sugar and eggs. Add the salt and baking soda to the shifted flour.
3. To the creamed butter mixture, add the milk and flour.
4. Add vanilla, cinnamon and mashed bananas to this mixture.
5. Bake 40 minutes approx.

A french Christmas dinner!

2011-12-30T14:28:00.009+01:00

This is my second year celebrating Christmas in France. While is true that I miss my family, friends, and the way we celebrate this season in Puerto Rico, it is also true that France has welcomed me with love and that so far I have spent a very nice Christmas holidays in this country.

I have to highlight that one of things I miss the most from my country during christmas holidays is the food. If I was asked to describe a typical Puerto Rican Christmas dinner, I would undoubtedly say roast pork, rice, pigeon peas, “pastels”, potatoes, plantains, blood sausages, salads. As dessert we serve different sweets made of coconut and to drink we serve rum, local beers and our famous Christmas drink “coquito”.

In France, however, it’s way different. I’ve spent Christmas with French families and the one constant has been foie gras on sliced brioche and smoked salmon on blinis with champagne for the apéritif. Then there’s usually a cold and hot starter. The first starter could be fresh oysters, a pleasant seafood terrine or just some good quality smoked salmon. The oysters are traditionally served with rye bread and butter and lemon juice or shallot vinegar. Shallot vinegar is simply vinegar mixed with chopped shallots.

The second starter is often coquilles St Jacques grilled or baked, served in their shells with a delicious creamy sauce. But of course the main dish could vary from sea food to poultry, duck, goose or capon.

Cheese is, of course, an important part of any French Christmas celebration. It’s usually served between the main and dessert.

The dessert is a rather predictable bûche de Noël. Traditionally this is like a Swiss roll cake filled and covered with butter icing, decorated with various Christmas figurines. But nowadays people get creative and come up with different versions for this traditional cake. This year I was in charge of the bûche de Noël. I prepared a cheesecake mousse with clementines (fruit in season) and tosted almonds on top. Delicious!!!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas dinner. And if you have some stories to share about it I would love to hear them.

Sweet kisses,

Jesiel

Wrapping Christmas Gifts

2011-12-22T10:39:00.003+01:00

This week I spent hours in my kitchen baking french macarons and cookies for the holidays ahead. If you still have some friends on your gift list here is an idea.

Bake your friends favorite dessert, buy a very nice box, paper and ribbon.... Voila!

Special thanks to a great photographer, Alina Princet, for having taken these photos. Merci!

Sweet Holidays!

Jesiel

Surprised! Delicious Aumonieres aux Pommes

2011-11-29T09:16:00.008+01:00

Who doesn’t like surprises? Why not surprise our guests at the table? The holidays are upon us and family reunions at home multiply. Suddenly we are faced with the task of preparing dinner and sometimes overlook the importance of creating a memorable dessert. Big mistake! Generally, people expect dessert as much as dinner. Well, this claim hasn’t been proven; it is completely an assumption, but it is a nice claim to believe.

Seriously, who doesn’t get happy when the word dessert is mentioned at the table? Savoring something sweet is the finishing touch to a perfect dining experience. You must do your part to make a sweet-lasting impression on your dinner guests. My advice is to impress your guests with desserts that are creative and don’t take too much time to prepare. Be practical. Since preparing an entire meal can be difficult and require the bulk of your attention, don’t make your dessert consume too much of your preparation time.

I recently started to highlight the degree of difficulty involved in preparing the recipes I share on my blog. My readers will have some expectations on the level of difficulty before the adventure in the kitchen begins. It is true that the difficulty is relative to the skills of the person, so I am trying to be as objective as possible when applying the degree of difficulty to the baking process. I am doing this because my objective is to share delicious recipes, and have the desserts be adaptable in a home kitchen. I like presenting different recipes that can be made in different kitchens for bakers at different skills levels.

Back to the word SURPRISE!... I recently had some guests at home and wanted to surprise them with a different dessert. Something not too difficult or time consuming since the dinner was taking place on a weekday. I wanted to do something with apples since they were in every food market at the moment. With the word surprise in mind and apples as my main ingredient I decided to try Aumonieres aux Pommes for the first time. These are little wraps made of filo pastry sheets and filled with apples. My little wraps were filled with a delicious apple compote that included dry fruits, nuts, coconut and salty caramel on the inside.

They were delicious!

Recipe

(Pomme compote enough for 16 Aumonieres)

1 pack of Filo pastry sheets. This is usually used for Arabian and Mediterranean desserts.

Apple compote ingredients: 3 apples, 15 g butter, 3 spoons of dry fruits and nuts, 3 spoons of coconut noix, 1 vanilla bean, 15 g brown sugar.

Technique: Simple. Prep time: About 45 minutes. Prepare the compote of apples. Peel the apples, remove seeds and cut into small dice. Sauté apples in butter and sprinkle with sugar to caramelize. Cut the vanilla bean in half and add with the tip of a knife the vanilla seeds. Add the coconut and dry fruits. Cook for about 10 minutes covered. Keep warm. Prepare a caramel with sugar and a little water. When the caramel starts to blonde and add the cream. To prepare your wraps – Place un spoon of the apple mixture in the center of your dough and add a spoon of caramel in the center. Close the dough brushing the corners with water. You can use a half of vanilla bean split to tide the corners. Place your wraps on a baking plate and baked at 150 degrees until the edges of the crepe are golden. Serve it with vanilla ice cream. Spread some caramel sauce around.

Sweet kisses!

Jesiel

Anise Tea Cookies

2011-11-10T23:23:00.010+01:00

This story begins with a memory that takes place in the kitchen of my grandmother Beatrize. A memory triggered by a taste. A unique flavor that still today every time I try it takes me to my grandmother’s kitchen. This flavor is Anise.

When I was little I used to spend Saturdays at my grandmother’s house. She used to hide in one of the kitchen cabinets a full container of anise bonbons. This was a secret known by all the grandchildren, so we used to demand our daily bonbon when spending the day over there. I still remember the rich and creamy flavor of those bonbons; they used to dissolve gently in my mouth. I used to love them! The best of it... they were the most inexpensive bonbons I have never known about. They were sold in a little store near the house for just for one cent each. Sometimes my Grandma will give us one dollar to spend it all in Anise bonbons. Could you imagine? Being a child and go into a store to ask for 100 bonbons, not 10, 20 or 30, but 100. It was an amazing sense of joy!

When visiting India last year I remember eating anise seeds mixed with little bits of sugar in every restaurant I went. It is a practice in India to bring a little plate of anis seeds along with the check. This little seeds clean your palate leaving a nice flavor in your mouth. India was a special trip, so here again the Anise flavor is associated with a special moment in my life.

Last week a friend shared a story about her recent shopping spree at an Indian grocery store here in Paris. One of the things she bought was a bag full of anise seeds mixed with bright colored sugar bits. As soon as I saw this mix I knew I wanted to bake something with it. It is not only beautiful mix of colors, but also a delicious mix of flavors!

This is the story of how I came up with these beautiful anise tea cookies. Made out of a delicious sweet and salty cookie dough flavored with pastys, an anise-flavored liqueur very popular as an aperitif in France. These cookies were decorated with a beautiful Indian anise seed mix. I added white royal icing on some of them.

Sweet kisses!

Jesiel

My Super Profichocodelicious Cake

2011-11-01T10:33:00.006+01:00

Recently I had a special challenge at the kitchen. The task was to convert a dessert of a choice into a delicious birthday cake. The dessert: the famous Profiteroles.

I knew that the person I was making the cake for loves chocolate, so I started my challenge making a delicious Molleux au Chocolat. A traditional French recipe - a gooey melting in the middle chocolate pudding - that satisfies all chocolate lovers! This cake is also known as Lava cake. The best two things about the Molleux au chocolat is that it is damn good and pretty easy to prepare.

Once the cake was baked and cooled down, I covered it with a chocolate glaze that gave it a beautiful and really elegant, perfectly smooth finish.

The focus of this cake were the profiteroles that I was planning to place on top of the molleux au chocolate, so I needed to make sure of baking the perfect pate choux. I filled them with a delicious vanilla ice cream and garnished them with Chantilly cream. Once all my profiteroles were garnished I placed them onto the cake and drizzled with hot chocolate sauce.

Voila! This is how My Super Profichocodelicious Cake was born. I definitely took a risk on this one since I did all this the same day of the birthday party. It could have been a disaster, but in fact this birthday cake was a success ... it was delicious!

Here are the recipes in case you dare to amaze your friends with a delicious and different cake.

Recipes
(One cake with 12 profiteroles on top)

Moleux au chocolat Ingredient: 250g chocolate (I like 70% Valrhona’s Guanaja here), 5 butter, eggs, 210g sugar and 100g flour.
Technique: Simple. Prep time: About 15 minutes. Melt chocolate and butter in a bain marie. Mix your butter until smooth and creamy and then add the sugar. Make sure both are well mixed until reach room temperature. Add the eggs one by one until well mix. Add the flour. Make sure all ingredients are well incorporated before the last steps, which is to add the melted chocolate. Pour mixture into the ramekins about 3/4s full. . Bake in a preheated over to around 200c anywhere between 30 and 40 minutes. If you’re going for individual sized cakes bakes them at the same temperature, but only for 9 minutes. Remember always to insert a knife into the centre of the cake. It should come out slightly wet with batter, in opposite with the cake edges where the knife would come out clean.

Glacage noir ingredients: 10g gelatin, 100g water, 160g sugar, 75g dark cocoa powder, 90g of cream.
Technique: Moderate. Prep time: About 10 minutes. Place the gelatin sheets in cold water to soften and set aside. Mix water, sugar, cream and cacao powder in a casserole and bring to boil during one minute. Set aside and add the gelatin. Use it at 37c. You can save it in the fridge and re-heat in a bain marie. When ready to pour on the cake place the cake on a grill and pour the chocolate all over the top of the cake. Use a spatula very carefully to spread the glacage. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Pate Choux ingredients: 250g water, 5g salt, 5g sugar, 80g butter, 125g flour, 200g eggs.
Technique: Moderate. Prep time: About 30 minutes. Put the butter, water and salt into the casserole and gently bring the mixture to boil. Add the flour, folding it in with a wooden spoon. Beat the ingredients in the pan until they form a cream that comes away from the sides of the pan easily. The mixture will thickens and eventually forms a ball in the pan. Take off the heat and add the eggs one at a time until they are totally mixed. When all the eggs are mixed into the pan, let the pastry cool for ten minutes. Prepare a baking dish with a baking paper sheet on top. Pipe your pate a choux far enough apart to swell to double their size. Bake in a pre -heated oven at 220c until brown and firm (approx 10 minutes). Let your chox cool down before filling.
On this occasion I made a little hole in the bottom with my piping tip and filled them with vanilla ice cream. Then I put homemade whipped cream on top and garnished them with chocolate syrup.

Chantilly cream ingredients: 1 vanilla bean, 300 ml heavy cream, 1½ tablespoons confectioners’ sugar.
Technique: Simple. Prep time: About 5 minutes. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add the heavy cream, and confectioners’ sugar. Whisk together until soft peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Chocolate sauce ingredients: 60g water, 25g sugar or glucose, 100g liquid cream, 110g dark chocolate.
Technique: Simple. Prep time: About 8 minutes. Boil the water, sugar and cream and pour on the chocolate. Leave for a few minutes and mix well from the center to not incorporate air.

Assembling the Profiteroles
Transfer the ice cream to a large piping bag with a small plain tip. Pierce the base of the choux and pipe the cream. Slice the head of the choux and pipe some Chantilly cream onto the bottom half and place the choux cap on top. If not serving immediately refrigerate until ready to use. To serve, place the profiteroles onto the cake and drizzle with hot chocolate sauce.

Sweet kisses,

Jesiel

Muscat mini tarts

2011-10-24T20:12:00.014+02:00

If I had a vineyard I was producing wine at this moment, but since I am Patissiere I am making delicious Muscat-Grape tarts at home.

Muscat-Grapes, describe by many as small berries with big taste, are in season! They are all over every single food market in Paris tempting people to carry them back home. This beautiful selection of grapes ranges from white to almost black and have a very sweet aroma. They are harvested very late in the growing season, which gives them a very sweet taste.

Delicious juicy sweet taste + variety of beautiful colors =

a perfect ingredient to bring into my kitchen.

And so I did!

I have been thinking for weeks about preparing something delicious with Muscat grapes, and when I was invited last week to a diner party I immediately knew what to bring. Muscat Grapes mini tarts filled with a delicious almond bavarois cream. These little tarts were a hit!

I started preparing the sweet pastry tart dough. I usally prepare it one day in advance, but you can make it the same day and let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes at least.

I baked my tarts until a nice golden color. Always check the bottom of the tart to make sure it is ready to go out of the oven.

I filled the tarts with a delicious homemade almond bavarois cream.

Bavarois cream it is a delicate cream with a crème Anglaise base made from either milk, cream or a fruit puree and then mixed with whipped cream before being set in the refrigerator with gelatine. It may be a straight vanilla or combined with other flavor. For this recipe I decided to go for an Almond flavor.

I finished by garnishing with golden and black Muscat grapes.

I like tarts so much that I couldn’t hold myself from preparing a fresh figs mini tart as well, (fruit also in season). I used the same tart shell and almond bavarois cream. It came up as delicious as the Muscat tarts!

Recipes:

(10 mini tarts - ring size 8cm)

Sweet tart dough ingredients: 125g flour, 50g butter, 50g icing sugar, 1 pinch salt, 25g egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional.

Technique: Relatively easy. Time: About 15 minutes. Mix the butter and icing sugar with a wooden spoon until homogeneous. Add the egg and mix well. Add the flour, salt and vanilla extract. Mix and knead into a ball. Do not over work the dough or it will become too fragile. Let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes at least. I usually prepare the dough a day in advance.

Ingredients for Bavarois cream: 20 g Sugar, 45g cream (to cook), 60g cream (to whip), 12g butter, 35g eggs, 1.5 gelatine sheets, 1 vanilla bean, 4 g almond extract.

Technique: Moderate difficult. Time: About 20 minutes. Place the gelatine sheets in cold water to soften and set aside. Bring the cream with the vanilla pod. Place the yolks and sugar into a bowl and mix well until all sugar has dissolved. Temper the egg mixture by slowly adding half the hot cream to it while constantly stirring. Stir the tempered egg mixture into the remaining hot milk, and continue to cook over medium heat stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly, enough to coat the back of a spoon. If you over cook your cream you will end up with scramble eggs, so make sure you are on top of the temperatur of your cream while cooking. Remove from heat; add the flavor and the gelatine sheets previously squeezed. Stir until the gelatine is fully dissolved. Place the saucepan in an ice bath and cool the mixture until it just starts to set approx. 18ºC. Whip the cream to soft peaks and fold it into the gelatine mixture. Fill your tarts and chill well before serving.

Sweet kisses,
Jesiel

NEW SWEET CONTENT COMING SOON!!!

2011-10-11T22:16:00.002+02:00

An intensive year of school training in french pastries is over. Now let the real life begin! During the last month two sweet things happened - I got my first real job as a Pâtissiere in the city of Paris, and I got an amazing new oven at home. These two are the right ingredients for a great new sweet season of stories. Stay tune because I will be back soon with a bunch of recipes and experiences to share.

Sweet kisses,
Jesiel

Corsica - A real escape from reality

2011-09-05T09:31:00.010+02:00

My latest escape from reality was to visit Corsica, a French island in the Mediterranean.

Corsica is definitely one of the most beautiful places in France, and has one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen in my life. I think that what makes this island such a special place are its high mountain regions surrounded by beautiful beaches and breathtaking views. From beaches, sailing, diving, water sports, to camping, hiking, mountain sports, nightlife, culture and history - you will not get bored in Corsica, and the landscape will relax you as well.

On top of all this, you will also eat delicious. Their traditional cuisine is extensive, but if you happen to visit this beautiful place you just have to remember three words: Pastis, charcuterie and cheese. Those three will make you very happy, but hey, do not have too much since you could easily go back home with excessive personal overweight baggage :-)

I couldn’t say goodbye without getting to know some of their traditional sweets.

Baked salty pastry dough filled with cheese.

Beignets is a pastry made from deep-fried dough, much like a doughnut, and sprinkled with sugar. In Corsica they fill them with cheese. Delicious!

A very different version of the traditional chausson aux pommes.

Sweet kisses,

Jesiel

Ps. “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

5 sweet things to try In BCN

2011-08-18T10:22:00.010+02:00

Barcelona has never been a destination for those looking for sweets. This city is known more by something far from being sweet, his annual festival of the run of the bulls. However, you could be surprised if you decide for a sweet dose while walking through the streets of this beautiful city or after eating the tasty tapas that await you in every corner.

Following my latest story, “The Sweet side of Barcelona”, where I presented the super delicious bubó pastry shop, here is my list of 5 sweet things to try in BCN.

A trip to any foreign country should always include a morning walk through a local food market. There you will not only learn about the country gastronomic culture, but will also experience the essence of their society, while enjoying very affordable local dishes. Barcelona has many food markets, being the most popular La Boqueria. Be sure to drink one of their fresh and healthy fruit juices and have a bowl of delicious fresh fruits. Just what you need to start your day!

A typical breakfast or snack in Spain consists of their famous “Churros”, which is fried-dough pastry sprinkled with sugar. They are normally eaten dipped in hot chocolate or “café con leche”. A had delicious “churros” at the Churrería Granja Ruz - Princesa St. #4.

Have a cold and refreshing Horchata. In Spain this is a drink made of water, sugar and tigernut (chufas). Tigernut is a plant called cyperus esculentus, which have long been recognized for its health benefits, as they are high in fibre, proteins, and natural sugars. This is a perfect drink for vegetarians, vegans and people with nut alergies. A had a good one at Churrería Granja Ruz.

Bring back home a traditional “Turrón”. A confection, typically made of honey sugar, and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts. I got very good ones at Turrons Vicens - Carrer Petritxol #15.

If you feel like a giving yourself a little treat of luxury sweets, visit the famous Spanish Pastry Chef Oriol Balaguel - Plaza Sant Gregori Taumaturg #2 (a bit away from the city center).

Sweet kisses,
Jesiel

Ps. "Half the fun of the travel is the esthetic of lostness". ~Ray Bradbury

The Sweet Side of Barcelona...

2011-08-17T13:37:00.010+02:00

If you find me a little bit quiet this month it is because I have been away from the computer most of the time. I am in the same state of mind of almost all restaurants and locals in the city of Paris ... ON VACATION. I can not even perform my morning ritual of buying a baguette since all boulangeries near my house are closed for the month of August. Not to sound dramatic, but it's almost a tragedy. Suddenly, Paris, the city of love becomes the city of ghosts.

Therefore, I have no choice but to get carried away by the natural process of acculturation which corresponds to be living in a country for almost a year; which in this case means, “I have to go on vacation”. Since my vacations are almost mandatory (poor me), I decided to discover the sweet side of some near places.

Where to go? A place I can eat well (of course). Hummm… SPAIN, perhaps?

Not sure if it is because as a Puerto Rican I have some roots planted in this country, or because they are now my neighbors, or because they have become very strong in the culinary world, but lately the Spanish cuisine strikes me more than usual. Even more intrigued nowadays since recently was the Spanish team who took the world cup back home in the recent Pastry World Cup in Lyon, France. No matter the reasons, it was time to venture on the sweet side of the “Madre Patria” and Barcelona was the winner destination.

Last week while walking trough the beautiful streets of Barcelona, the things that took my eyes away from their spectacular architecture were the pastries I found on my way. The reality is that Spain has never been known by their pastries, but for sure it is a promising industry for them. I could tell you a long story about sweet places to go, but at the moment I want you to remember just one: bubó.

A place I have discovered by accident while walking through the trendy Borne neigborhood in the center of the city. The Chef Mampel presents us not only a creative collection that visually is amazing, but also an entire real delicacy for the palate.

This is the kind of work that really inspires me in this industry. Bravo! If you happen to be around Barcelona any time soon, I will recommend buying a box of their delicious “Chocofruts” - MACADAM flavor.

A delicious toasted macadamia chocolate truffle with white chocolate, Tahiti vanilla and flower salt. Just amazing!

If you are far from going to a bubó shop, I think at least its worth to give a look to their web page. http://www.bubo.es/

If you still need another dose of Spanish sugar, don’t miss my next post about 5 Sweet things to try in Barcelona.

Sweet kisses!
Jesiel

Ps. “Fish, to taste right, must swim three times -- in water, in butter and in wine”. Polish Proverb

Inspiration - Move, Eat & Learn

2011-08-07T18:08:00.003+02:00

A friend shared these videos and I thought they would be perfect to share with all of you.

Here is the story: 3 guys, 44days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousands miles, an exploting volcano, 2 camaras, and almost of terabyte of footage. All to turn a 3 ambitious linear concept based on movement, learning and food... into 3 beautiful short films.

This is just one of three: EAT

http://vimeo.com27243869

Sweet kisses,
Jesiel

Inspiration: Mast Chocolate Factory

2011-08-01T22:26:00.004+02:00

Photo: Gourmet Magazine

The Mast brothers - This is the story of two American Midwestern brothers that decided to turn their chocolate making hobby into their job. Their company “Mast Chocolate Factory” it’s located in Brooklyn, NYC. Check out this cool short clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DspDrgLcwds

Why I did not know about these guys while living in NYC? I just found out about them navigating through one of my favorite websites, The Selby. I love their chocolate making philosophy and production process. So bad I am so far away to give it a try, since I am sure this artisanal chocolate tastes just delicious.

Could any of my New Yorker’s friends give it a try and let me know how it is?

http://mastbrotherschocolate.com/

Sweet Kisses,
Jesiel Maxan

Ps. “The story of Mast Brothers Chocolate is one of family and one of craft”. New York Times

Inspiration

2011-07-28T22:50:00.005+02:00

Sweet Journey of Inspiration… "Journey" because it tells a story of a radical change of life. "Sweet" because the change entails making things I love in life. "Inspiration" because it’s something I constantly searches. The reality is that I never gave too much thought to the name of this blog as I did a minute ago while writing about it. But now I realized that it really makes sense to me. Especially it resonates with me the last term - “Inspiration”; a word defined as "The Power of Influence upon the stimulating intellect or emotions."

This blog tells the story of how people, places and situations inspire me. I am always looking for ways to stimulate my intellect and emotions since in that stage I feel creative, productive, and full of life – which makes me happier. I am a truly believer of the positive impact of being inspired by others, so I decided to start sharing inspiring stories related to the fascinating culinary world. To begin, here are some of the stories that have inspired me during the last months. Enjoy!

The Beauty of Creation

A few months ago a friend introduced me to the work of a creative team that just blows my mind every time I see their work. Their name is TIGER IN A JAR. Their work makes me think about my old life as a publicist when I used to spend hours working on TV productions, but it connects with me in such a different level since they like to tell stories of the beauty of food creation. I had become I huge follower of their work. BRAVO!

http://vimeo.com/24243147

http://tigerinajar.blogspot.com/

If you don’t know them yet you are missing big time. As they describe themselves, “It is a website that offers an insider’s view of creative individuals in their personal spaces with an artist's eye for detail”. A truly inspiration from big creative people! Just love it!

http://www.theselby.com/

Photisserie

While studying the art of French pastries here in Paris I met a german girl at school who became a good friend. Later I discovered she is an excellent Patissier and a very creative and talented Photographer. Katrine Koschitzki combines her passions in life, photography and patisserie, and shows it to the world through a beautiful blog named Photisserie.

http://photisserie.blogspot.com/

Sweet kisses,

Jesiel

Ps. Inspiration and genius--one and the same". Victor Hugo

Normandy, France

2011-07-14T15:27:00.018+02:00

And the travel adventure continues ... Nearly two years ago, 19 months to be exact, I started a new journey of life. I decided I wanted my life to be guided by the things I am really passionate about in life; travel, experience other cultures and culinary arts. With that in mind I left my NYC life behind in December 2009, travelled the world for 10 months and settled in the city of Paris, where I have studied the arts of French pastry. Currently, I am about to finish a 6 months internship in a luxury patisserie in the city of Paris.

Well, many of you who often read my blog know very well the story. Through my stories you guys have travelled with me to different corners of the world and have virtually eaten delicious meals. Recently I have shared stories of my adventures in France and my trips to different regions in this country. A country that definitely is one of the most beautiful places I have seen in my life. I live in Paris, a city that sometimes makes me feel like in a movie set of how beautiful it is. However, every time I get out of Paris I discover an even more beautiful place than the one before, which keeps my curiosity for discovering the country very alive.

First, I visited the Champagne region, then the Alps, Brittany, the Pays Basque and recently the region of Normandy. Oh, beautiful Normandy!!! A land of beautiful châteaux, amazing forest, beautiful blue sea, lots of history and very important, DELICIOUS food.

How was my agenda this time around???

Day 1 – The trip started at the village Lyon la Foret; A typical Norman village about two hours and half from Paris.

On my way there I enjoyed looking at the most beautiful châteaux in the area. Lyon la Foret is an enchanted city surrounded by an amazing huge forest. This village was the favorite hunting destination for the king of France during the 18th-century.

Day 2 – I started the day driving through many little towns on the way to the coast.

My favorite was Vueve la Rose. A village surrounded by roses and by the smallest river in France. It felt like the Venice of France. This village its a must to visit!

Day 3 – It was time to discover the Norman coasts, Etretat cliffs. It's a natural site with impressive chalk cliffs, and the little town itself is quite charming.

My first time in a beach of stones (instead of sand). Cool!

After it was time to have lunch at the old port town of Honfleur; with its well-preserved 18th-century waterfront houses, is also well worth a visit. Then I finished the weekend visiting the beach in Deauville.

Something I loved about this area is that Normandy is also a land of fishermen and farmers and is one of the finest gastronomic regions of France.

Exquisite butter, thick fresh cream and excellent cheeses, including the world-famous camembert, pont l’evêque and liverot, are all produced in Normandy. All this was music to my ears. Fish and seafood are of superior quality in Normandy, so I was so happy eating one of my favorite meals in the world. Turbot and oysters from the Cotentin Peninsula are major delicacies throughout France, and Normandy is the chief oyster-cultivating, scallop-exporting, and mussel-raising region.

If you visit the area, you must go to Chez Nou Noute in the town of Fecamp. The seafood is amazing and at an incredible good price. The owner, a very funny lady, entertains the guests with her funny comments around the tables.

At Honfleur I enjoyed the typical mussels and frites. "When in rome…"

Normandy is also noted for its pastries. It is the birthplace of brioches, which I didn’t know until there. It also turns out douillons (pears baked in pastry), craquelins, roulettes, fouaces, fallues, and sablés. A famous regional cake is the “Gateux Normandise”, a tart made with sugar, salted butter, almond powder and cinnamon. Just delicious!

Normandy... definitely a region to visit in France!

Sweet kisses,

Jesiel

Ps." The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page". ~St. Augustine

Macarons... A perfect french snack

2011-07-04T14:40:00.019+02:00

The French macaron is considered one of the icons of French pastry. Macarons are so popular in this country that you come across them every day when you walk through the streets of France. It feels like they are always around the corner tempting everyone for a simple bite full of flavors. Of course I always fall for them. But its not only me the one with this problem. Macarons have been so successful for the past 200 years that its popularity has crossed borders reaching the world's great cities. Especially are the favorites of Asians and Europeans, who are described as the "Perfect" elegant snack, gift and sweet "finger" food.

They can be really delicious! But above all, as a patissiere, I find very appealing their versatility when it comes to make them. The variety of flavors, shapes and colors allows you to be very creative in the kitchen and that's what I like the most about them. However, when I recently decided to prepare them at home I went for two simple but delicious flavors; Chocolate and lemon. They were baked for a special occasion, the birthday party of dear friend, so I decided to go for popular delicious flavors to make sure my friend and her guests were happy with the selection.

The good thing about making macarons (specially when a beginner on the subject), is that the source of information online is very vast. You will find thousands of recipes online, but even better, thousands of tips on how to bake the perfect macarons at home. Said that I rather go straight to two amazing recipes: Chocolate macaron and Lemon macaron . Here is how my perfect elegant macarons were done. Enjoy!

Tools needed to bake macarons

Chocolate ganache

Macaron

Recipes:

Chocolate Macaron

Ganache: Cream 165g, chocolate (66% cacao) 150g, chocolate cacao (100% cacao), 18g, butter 58g
Instructions: Boil the cream. Let cool down to 50-60°C. Pour the chocolate into de cream. Let soak 5 minutes, covered. Mix. Add the butter when the mix is at around 30°C and mix again. Cover with plastic and rest in the refrigerator.

Macaron: Sugar 130g, water 34g, egg whites 49g, almond powder 130g, icing sugar 130g, chocolat cacao 53g, egg whites 49g, red colorant 3g
Instructions: Prepare the "tant pour tant": mix together the almond powder and the icing sugar. Sift the mix. Put aside. Melt down the chocolate.
Italian meringue: In a pan, put water and sugar. Cook at 118°C (116°C for a small quantity). At 115°C, start to whisk the egg whites in a bowl until they are "mousseux". Pour the sugar at 118°C slowly on the egg whites, while continuing to mix slowly the whites. Then, increase speed to maximum for 3 minutes and then reduce speed to medium to slow until the meringue is a little bit warm. In a bowl, put the tant pour tant. Add the melted chocolate, still warm, and the second quantity of egg whites. Mix with a spatula incorporate step by step the meringue into this mix. Mix carefully until it is just sparkling. Form macarons on the trays. Let them dry at the surface before baking. Bake for about 14-15 minutes at around 160°C. Pour water between the tray and the baking paper in order to take out the macarons from the baking sheets without breaking.. Once they are cold, unstick the macarons from the paper and fill half of them with the ganache. Cover them with a second macaron. Keep one day in the fridge before eating.

Lemon Macaron
Ganache: Crème citron (like a custard cream): Limon juice 85g, limon zest 3g, butter 82g, eggs 114g, sugar 79g, cornstarch 3g.
Instructions: Warm the lemon juice in a pan with the zestes. In a bowl, mix the yolks and sugar. Add the or cornstarch. Pour the lemon juice into the bowl, mix and put back into the pan. Boil the mix like for a custard cream (boiling for about 1 minute). Put aside, covered at contact with a plastic film.

Macaron:

Ingredients: Almond powder 154g, icing sugar 154g, powdered sugar 124g, egg whites 124g, sugar 30g, limon zest 6g, crème de tartre 1g.

Instructions: A in bowl, sift the tant pour tant (almond powder and same quantity of sugar) with the other quantity of icing sugar. In a bowl, whisk the egg whites with the sugar, lemon zests and cream of tarter. When they are almost stiff, pour them in several steps into the first mix.
Form macarons on the tray - Bake them on a double tray for about 14-15 minutes at 150°C. A little bit less than for the chocolate macarons, unless the macarons will turn brown during the baking. Then, continue as for chocolate macarons.

Sweet Kisses,

Jesiel

Ps. "I feel the end approaching. Quick, bring me my dessert, coffee and liqueur" Brillat-Savarin's great aunt Pierette

My Happy Cake

2011-06-23T20:11:00.016+02:00

A happy cake for a happy birthday...

This week I celebrated my birthday. For the special occasion I baked my favorite cake, which is carrot cake. It was delicious!!! Check it out!

It was delicious, moist and full of flavor. If you want a piece of this cake, just follow this simple recipe.

Ingredients: Grated carrots 600 g, Brown sugar 220 g, Blond raisins 165g, Eggs 4, Granulated sugar 300g, Vegetable oil 235ml, Vanilla extract 10ml, all purpose flour 375g, Baking soda 7g, Salt 6g, Ground cinnamon 9g, Chopped walnuts 150g, Ground ginger ¼ teaspoon, Ground nutmeg ¼ teaspoon.

Preparation: This recipe is enough for 3 (9-inch) round cakepans. However, I decided to bake one (9) inches pan and a bunch of little cakes on the side. Line all your moldes with wax paper; lightly grease and flour wax paper. Stir together the carrots, walnuts, raising and brown sugar and put aside. Beat eggs and the white sugar until smooth. Add flour mixture little by little and the rest of the ingredients, besides the carrot mix. Fold in carrot mix gently. Pour batter into prepared cakepans. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. The cream frosting recipe is very simple. 225g of cream cheese mixed with 500g of icing sugar. Add some drops of lemon juice and vanilla.

Enjoy!!

Sweet kisses,

Jesiel

Ps. "For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake". Alfred Hitchcock

The Pays Basques in four days

2011-06-16T20:01:00.016+02:00

One region. Two countries. Two languages. Ten cities. Lots of beautiful beaches. Amazing mountains. Lots of sushine (some showers as well). One great wedding. Many friends. Lots of food… And much more. Sounds a lot for only four days, but it was just the right amount of time to have a perfect long weekend in one of the most beautiful regions of France.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit the Pays Basque in France and Spain. A region characterized by its mountains, beaches, great food and its many beautiful towns. The main purpose of the trip was to attend to a beautiful wedding in the town of Sare. However, I stayed a few more days to get to know the many towns around.

These were my favorites...

Walking around the streets of this picturesque village of St. Jean Pied de Porc I tried the traditional Gateux Basque. A delicious cake filled with pastry cream and black cherry jam. Special recipe of the Pays Basque region of France. Just delicious!

I also visited the beautiful city of Espelette. Famous for its red chillies.

Hondarribia, just bordering with Spain its a must. The center of town is full of traditional houses... super charming.

Bayonne, with its beautiful old arquitecture its just worth to visit.

Biarritz, St. Pee Sur Nivelle and Guéthary are also other towns worth to visit.

Being only 30 kilometers from Spain I could not hold myself from crossing the border to visit the spectacular city of San Sebastian. What a city!!! One of those places you wish to live at least for a little while - Nice city, beautiful beaches, friendly people and delicious food! What else could you ask for?

Tapas, tapas, tapas!!! I love those little dishes…and San Sebastian makes them just perfectly delicious. With the bigger concentration of Michelin stars restaurants per inhabitant than any other city, San Sebastian's reputation as a mecca for foodies is well deserved. If you're looking for real gastronomic quality then you're in the right place as San Sebastian has some of the finest restaurants in Spain.

The food is incredible good in every corner you go. However, even though I would have loved to, I avoided the Michelin-starred restaurants and still ate amazingly well on a budget. I just went for the delicious pintxos, the Basque equivalent of tapas. Around the old town you will find hundreds of bars flood of locals and tourists eating pintxos, drinking and having a nice time. It is just part of the culture, and they even have a name to it, “the txikiteo”.

As every trip I do, this one turned into a culinary adventure; well, this time it turned into a “txikiteo” adventure. With a camera on one hand and a map on the other highlighting the best tapas bars in town, I went hunting for the best tapas ever. Since my time in the city was very limited, I didn’t risk it and asked a local person for some recommendations on where to eat. Just like this my “txikiteo” night started at the old town of San Sebastian.

“The txikiteo” experience starts choosing what to eat with your eyes, since there is no menu in the bars, instead all the availabilty of tapas are placed on the bar and sometimes you can even serve yourself. In some places they offer hot tapas, so you can choose from a blackboard with house specialties written in Spanish and sometimes in Euskera (the language of the Basques.

My “txikiteo” started at SENTRA; a restaurant/tapas bar located at San Francisco St. #32. This is actually my favorite. Their hot cod fish tapa its just delicious.

And their cheese mousse with rasberries, walnuts and honey just want to make you cry.

Then, moved to TXONDORRA and had a marinated octupus. Yummy!!!

My second favorite of the night was the "brochetas de gambas" at Goiz Argi. This place is actually very popular in town because of this plate, and with a good reason since their gambas are just perfectly seasoned and cooked on a grill.

Fishised the night at "La Cuchara de San Telmo". It was sold to my last of the best places for tapas en the old time, and yes, it is. It is actually the fist tapas bar in town, so for a reason it has been there forever. The goat cheese risotto and the octopus are the best!

Crossing the border back to France, there is the beautiful town of Hondarribia; a perfect place to enjoy a delicious "paella de mariscos".

Unfortunately the weekend came to its end. I loved the Pays Basques. I place definetely worth to go. Culture, entertainment and good food, what else could you ask for ?

Sweet Kisses!

Jesiel

Ps. God gives every bird its food, but he does not throw it into the nest. J.G Holland

Something sweet and savory

2011-05-28T22:00:00.010+02:00

What do you think about this combination? Dates, fresh goat cheese and prosciutto. I love it , love it!

Last summer I visited my friend Sue Ellen in Tunisia for 6 weeks. The main purpose of my summer in Tunisia was to study French while spending the summer in a beautiful country with a good friend. My trip there was just right before moving to Paris, so learning French was my main focus at the time. However, speaking French was the least I did during my summer in Tunisia. Eat, drink and enjoy the company of good friends was really the day to day during my stay. My friend was in the mood of learning how to cook some recipes and I was so exciting about having a kitchen after so many months living in hotels that we spent a lot of time at the kitchen pretending to be Chefs.

One of our favorites little dishes were dates filled with goat cheese and wrapped with prosciutto. Tunisia is one of the main producers of dates in the world, so it was just right to buy them every day and try to be creative when eating them.

The combination of the three flavors: The sweetness of the dates, the creaminess of the cheese, and the savory of the ham, balance themselves perfectly. Choose a fresh soft cheese low in salt since the prosciutto is quite salty. If you're a vegetarian it is ok if put aside the ham since it tastes just as delicious. Add some nuts inside the dates and sprinkle sea salt.

I promise this recipe is just delicious, simple and very quick to prepare. Enjoy!

Sweet kisses,

Jesiel

Ps. "For every minute you are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness" Ralph Waldo Emerson

The perfect chocolate "log"

2011-05-21T12:55:00.012+02:00

One of the saddest things that can happen to a patissiere is not having an oven at home. It is precisely my case. I live in the cutest Parisian studio in town that although I love has the disadvantage of not having an oven. However, the situation doesn’t stop me from being in the kitchen; on the contrary it forces me to be more creative. That's exactly what happened last Saturday when I was trying to figure out something sweet to bring to a baby shower party I was invited.

Two weeks ago I was visiting a friend and at her kitchen there was a Greek friend preparing a chocolate dessert typical from his country called “log”. The dessert was not only delicious, but the best of it is that it does not require to be baked; it is prepared on the stove. I was already thinking about what to bring to my baby shower party the following week, so I thought that a chocolate “log” was just perfect. Something delicious, simple and doesn’t required to be baked. BINGO! It was a success at my party. Check this out!

You only need the following ingredients:

LU Biscuits 350g

Butter 250

Sugar 1 cup

Cocoa powder 50g

Eggs 2

Cognac 50g (optional)

A little bit of milk

The procedure is very simple. Crumble the cookies a bit and put them aside in a container. Melt butter in a saucepan and stirring constantly add the sugar, the cocoa powder and eggs. Cook for 3 minutes over low heat. Remember to not stop stirring until well mixed. Add biscuits and mix well with a spatula. You can add a little bit of milk if it helps you to mix better. Remove from stove and pour over parchment paper. This recipe will give you two big roulé. Once on parchment paper you can start forming the roulé form with your hands rolling and pressing the paper so it is well pressed together. Place in refrigerator for at least 24 hours before serving.

I love the rich chocolate flavor this desert has, so I thought that fresh raspberries were the perfect combination to accompany.

You can also add a little bit of icing sugar on top if you wish.

Enjoy!

Sweet kisses,

Jesiel

Ps. "When life gives you lemons make rasberries and let the whole world wonder how you did it." — Anonymous

Asperges blanches

2011-05-07T17:25:00.009+02:00

Oh Spring time!!! From asparagus, carrots and garlic to the delicious raspberries and strawberries, spring time brings a delicious variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Asparagus is one of the first fresh vegetables during spring time and many people love them. Believe it or not last weekend I had my first experience with fresh white asparagus. I like having green asparagus a lot, but last Sunday I went for the “asperges blanche” (white asparagus) when doing groceries in the farmer market. OMG… the taste is fabulous!

I found that the basic difference between the green and white asparagus is that the white ones taste more delicate and are less likely to be bitter. I really liked them; they are definitely a new spring dish on my table.

I cooked them following Kathrein’s instructions, a German friend from culinary school. She told me that Germans are crazy about white asparagus, which I totally understand. In fact, more white asparagus is eaten in Germany than anywhere else in the world, except Switzerland. They like to have them with potatoes on the side, which of course I did as well. A legend says that when the asparagus were introduced to Germany some 2,000 years ago by the Romans, they sold them as a delicacy, an aphrodisiac and even as a contraceptive. Smart guys, right!

When I decided to have my first experience cooking white asparagus I asked Kathrein for the recipe. It is so simply to cook that I didn’t even had to write it down.

First thing, peel them. White asparagus has a thicker outer layer that can be easily removed. Simply use a vegetable peeler to carefully remove the outer layers of each spear two-thirds the length of the spear towards the tip.

Second, snap or trim off any woody end.

Third, set in a pan with enough water to just reach the steamer bottom but not immerse the asparagus. Add 1 tablespoon of butter (I prefer salty butter), 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Steam for about 9 to 10 minutes, (time will vary depending on the thickness of the stalks). Test the stalks by stabbing them with a fork. Check periodically to be sure all the water hasn’t dried up. Add more hot water as needed.

Viola!!! They are ready!

One important note is that when making asparagus you should make what you need since they do not reheat well. Store the rest in the fridge for another meal. They last about 3days in a plastic bag.

Enjoy!

Sweet kisses,
Jesiel

Ps. "You know, when you get your first asparagus, or your first acorn squash, or your first really good tomate of the season, those are the moments that define the cook's year. I get more excited by that than anything else". Mario Batali

Every profession has its perks...

2011-04-30T09:59:00.007+02:00

Every profession has its perks and so does mine. As a Patissier I get to eat delicious pastries for free every day. However, the biggest benefit I enjoy is being surrounded by so many talented people in the gastronomic field. I not only learn a lot from them, but also get to try their delicious creations.

Nowadays I make pastries professionally, which I adore, but I have always enjoyed cooking and in my free time, that’s what I do - I cook, and I cook A LOT. I enjoy cooking so much that in 2010 I decided to travel the world searching for the best cooks, who were able to teach me their little secrets in the kitchen. That idea took me to far away places like India, Thailand, Perú, Japán, just to mention a few. The experience was wonderful and the stories and recipes are countless.

My curiosity in this field has increased since living in Paris, the gastronomic capital of the world. Hunting for new dishes is still part of my daily life, but the difference is I don’t have to fly far to find my teacher. They are everywhere around me – at school, at work, my neighbors, and even some of my new French friends. During the last few months I have been learning new dishes and I will start sharing some of those recipes with all of you. Today I will share one of my favorite dishes - the delicious ceviche!!!

When I visited Perú in January 2010, I was so excited about learning how to make ceviche. Almost as excited as I was about visiting Machu Pichu. I know it sounds a little bit extreme, but it is true. I really enjoyed Peruvian cuisine and ceviche is a staple in that country. While there I had a mission, I needed to try the best ceviche in town and I needed to learn how to make it. The mission was accomplished! I found the best ceviche in town in a local market and a friend that worked as a Chef in the city of Lima taught me how to make it.

Something I discovered is that this delicious dish is very easy and fast to prepare. It is basically marinated raw fish or seafood with lemon, as a main ingredient. Its different variants are also delicious - from shrimp, conch, octopus and even chicken.

Peru has struggled to name this dish as their own, although there are many other Latin countries such as Ecuador, Mexico or Chile, which claim it has theirs and incorporates it in their basic diet. I have always known about this dispute over the nationality of the ceviche, so when I met Javier at school in Paris, an Ecuadorian friend enrolled in the cuisine program, I asked him to teach his version of the ceviche. I’ll admit that I loved the Peruvian version so I had my doubts that I could find something better, or even different. But I was surprised! Ecuadorian ceviche is very delicious and still very easy to make.

After insisting to Javier for a few weeks, we were on our way to the nearest market to start our adventure. We bought fresh fish and gambas (fish is key for an ultimate flavor), and all the vegetables needed to prepare this succulent dish – (see recipe below).

While cooking with Javi, I was very curious about the difference between the Peruvian and the Ecuadorian ceviche, since both have pretty much the same ingredients. After trying both I think the main difference is in the way it the ceviche is served. The Ecuadorian version is served in a bowl as a cold soup and the sauce is a little bit more citrus. It incorporates fresh orange juice along side of the lemon juice.

The Peruvian is served over a plate and almost has no juice on it. Another difference I noticed is that Peruvians likes to eat the ceviche right after it is cooked. They actually don’t let it cook too long in the citrus marinade. On the other hand, Ecuadorians let it marinate for a longer period of time and even boil the shrimp.

For me both are DELICIOUS!

In both countries this plate is served with popcorn on top and tostones (fried green bananas) on the side. Try this recipe, your guests will love this and wonder when you became such a gourmet chef!

Sweet kisses,
Jesiel

Ps. "Coffee should be black as Hell, strong as death, and sweet as love" - Turkish Proverb

Javi's Ecuadorian Ceviche

Serves 4

Ingredients:
600g pounds of shrimp
500g of Sole fish
1 large red onion
3 medium tomatoes
3 cups of fresh orange juice
1 cup of fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons of ketchup
1 tablespoon of mustard
1 tablespoon of fresh chopped cilantro or parsley
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Cut the onion into long extremely thing strips -julienne style-. Place them in a bowl with water and 2 tablespoons of salt and vinegar and let it settle for 10 minutes. Then gently rinse with water. This will remove the bitter bite from the onion and make it sweeter. Cut the fish in small cubes and marinate in the lemon juice. Boil water salt, pepper and the lemon left over in a pan. After it boils, add shrimp. Let it boil for 2-3 minutes (or until shrimp becomes lightly red) and remove from heat. Pour out water and let shrimp cool. Don’t let them overcook! If they are overcooked, the shrimp will be a little chewy. Cut tomatoes into small squares. In a large bowl, mix the onion, tomatoes, orange juice, ketchup, mustard, cilantro (or parsley), oil, salt and pepper. Once the shrimp has cooled, add shrimp and mix.

Enjoy!!!

Delicious "saison de fraises"

2011-04-24T20:32:00.012+02:00

The saison de fraises (strawberry season) it’s in town, so be ready to make a wish. Here in France, they say the first strawberry you eat of the season you are to make a wish. Not sure if the wish really comes true, but for sure you will enjoy one of the most juicy and delicious sweet strawberry.

Everywhere you look at there they are, at the farmer markets, at the metro station, at the grocery stores, on the streets… strawberries are everywhere! But it doesn’t really bother at all to have them around since there’s nothing that says "Hello Summer" quite like eating a juicy vine-ripened strawberry that has been grown to perfection in the early summer sunshine. Even though nowadays strawberries are available almost all year around they really taste the best when in season.

The best part of it is that there's only about 50 calories in a whole cup! Strawberries are highly nutritious. Eight medium size fresh berries contain about 150% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C. They're also high in potassium and a good source of dietary fiber.

This weekend I had a mission; to find the most delicious strawberries in town and prepare something special with them. So, I wake up early today Sunday and went hunting for the best strawberries in the farmer’s market. I not only found a great delicious variety at a good price, but also learned a lot about how to select the most delicious ones. A very friendly vendor gave me three tips to make sure I was bringing home the best ones available in his shop.

First, when buying strawberries you should choose those with a bright red color and fresh green caps. The caps should be bright green, fresh looking and fully attached.

Second, do not buy berries that are partly white and unripe since they do not continue to mature after they've been picked.

Third, he kept saying, “Choose with your nose… Shop with your noise – Pick the plumpest and most fragrant berries”.

With a full basket of strawberries I returned home ready to prepare something delicious. But, what to make? Fresh strawberries have a delicious naturally sweet taste that makes is a perfect ingredient for deserts, so you can imagine the amount of delicious recipes available.

One of my favorite deserts made with strawberries is the “Fraiser”; a cake made out of Bavarian cream and fresh strawberries. It is delicious!!!. However, since I make around (10) of them every week at work I really wanted to try something different at home.

I wanted to make something delicious but extremely easy, so with that in mind I decided to do a Balsamic Strawberry Jam recipe.

You only need four ingredients to make it: 2 cups of chopped strawberries, 1 cup of sugar, ½ tbs salted butter, and 2 tbs. of balsamic vinegar. Then it’s super easy to prepare: Cut strawberries in small cubes and mix with the sugar, butter, and balsamic vinegar in a medium pan.

Cook on med heat for about 20 minutes stirring occasionally. The thickness of the sauce will tell you when it is done. When the jam mixture has reduced to the consistency of thick honey (or around 220 degrees F) you can remove from heat and allow cooling.

Ladle the jam into clean jars to 1/4" from the top. Wipe the rims. Cover the jars with the caps, and then screw on the bands. Place the jars in a canner with just enough water to cover jars. Keep in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Sweet kisses,

Jesiel

Ps. “Happiness is.....finding two olives in your martini when you're hungry.” Johnny Carson, ‘Happiness is a Dry Martini’

My West Side Story

2011-04-11T22:39:00.020+02:00

Spring time is in the air and the vibe of the city of Paris is changing for good. The bars have opened up their doors and their outside tables are packed. Ice cream cones are hanging around on people’s hands and picnics dates are the latest entertainment around town. Ironically, when the city is becoming most beautiful than ever, locals plan their weekend getaways. Action that reminds me of New Yorkers. In Manhattan, when summer arrives, the city is abandoned every weekend when locals exile to the nearest beaches.

Just as the locals, last weekend I spent my first Spring/Summer weekend away from the city. I visited Nantes, a city in Western France, which is situated between the Loire River and the Atlantic Ocean. This is not just another French city; it is the 6th largest city in France and it has been proclaimed by TIME Magazine as “the most livable city in Europe”.

While visiting, I also had a chance to go to some of the most beautiful beach towns in the Atlantic Coast, just an hour away from Nantes.

La Baule - A highly touristy destination where you find a little bit of everything - beautiful villas, Casino, luxury hotels and an original mix of old Breton and exclusive seaside culture boasting a 12 kilometer-long sand beach (the longest in Europe). This is the home to French high society's seaside residences, so for years has been the place to be seen for a lot of people. I have to say that the Breton style houses are worth to see.

Quimiac - This is a beautiful little beach town mostly visited by French tourists looking for a more relax holiday, however is not much of a tourist spot. Travelers visiting this area of France tend to stick to more popular destinations such as Nantes and Angers missing beautiful places as Quimiac. .

Piriac - My favorite of all the beach towns visited over the weekend. This little town enchanted me with its small streets that took me around the hood. Very cute place!

Guérande - A beautiful mediaval town. The fortified wall around the old time is one of the best preserved and complete in France. A place to see!

Even though there was a lot to see and not enough time to spare, I made sure I experienced the local cuisine. I stayed with local friends whom enthusiastically showed me around the city and explained to me what the Nantais’s life and their cuisine is all about.

Nantes's cuisine is the perfect blend of fresh water, salt water and "terroir" or the land: which translates into fish, oysters and mussels, sea scallops, perch, pike and eel, lobster, crabs and clams, etc. Locals like to complement fish with the traditional beurre blanc sauce. This light sauce is made with salted butter, shallots, white wine and citron. It is absolutely delicious and very easy to prepare, making it ideal for emergencies.

While there, I made sure I learned how to prepare this sauce. To test my culinary abilities, I prepared this sauce under a serious supervision of a local who makes it perfect and it came up great! We accompanied it with a fresh “Bar” (fish)... sooo delicious!. (See sauce recipe below).

Nothing, not one dish is complete without salt or their beurre salé, salted butter. It is so good. Even I have gotten addicted to eating their amazing salted butter on a baguette. But, what makes this salt so popular in the area? Nantes is knee deep in salt marshes and is famous for the local fleur de sel. This has influenced their cuisine greatly because they add this flavor basically to everything, including their sweets.

What about the sweet side of Nantes? That was one of my first questions to my Nantais’s friends. I quickly learned that Nantes is home of the world-famous LU cookies. These are the chocolate-topped cookies that have Le Petit Ecolier (The Little Schoolboy) imprinted.

In addition there is a small but delicious array of local desserts. The popular caramel au beurre salé flavour is hard to miss. You will taste it either as candy, chocolate, ice creams, crepes, etc. Also very popular are the “sablé nantais”, cookies made with salted butter.

And the famous Gâteau Nantais. This is a delicious cake that blends rum, a subtle hint of almond and South Seas perfume. It is delicately finished with white icing on top.

Like every time I am on the road, I visited every single patisserie I found on my way while walking through the streets. There are many local patisserie/boulangerie and they all sell a great selection of traditional French pastries.

I have to say that I was very impressed with a local Patissier, chocolatier named Vincent Guerlais. If you ever visit Nantes, you have to stop in this place. The sweets are incredibly beautiful and half the price of what you would pay in Paris. The Chef also has a lab where he teaches his technique of making chocolate, pastries and even the delicious macarons. Check out his website: http://www.vincentguerlais.com/

It was a perfect getaway – perfect company, great weather and delicious food. If you come to France and want to get out of Paris, you should definitely include the West coast of France.

Sweet kisses!

Jesiel

Ps. Recipe: Beurre Blanc Sauce

About the wine: Good wines for the reduction ("nearly dry") include Chablis, Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay, but any drinkable dry white will do. For a deliciously luxurious beurre blanc, try making it with leftover Champagne.

Ingredients: 1 cup dry white wine, 1 limon juice, 1 Tbsp finely chopped shallot, 1 lb salted butter, cold Kosher salt, to taste

Preparation: -Heat wine, liom juice, and shallots in a saucepan until the liquid boils, then lower the heat a bit and continue simmering until the liquid has reduced down to about 2 tablespoons. This should take about 10 minutes. -While the liquid reduces you can cut the butter into medium (½-inch) cubes, but either leave this until the reduction is nearly finished or return the butter cubes to the refrigerator to keep them cold while the liquid finishes reducing. Once the wine has reduced to 2 tablespoons, reduce the heat to low and add the cubes of butter, one or two at a time, and whisk rapidly with a wire whisk. -As the butter melts and incorporates, add more butter and keep whisking. Continue until you only have 2-3 cubes remaining. Remove from heat while whisking in the last few cubes, and whisk for a moment or two more. The finished sauce should be thick and smooth. -Season to taste with Kosher salt. Traditionally the shallots would be strained out before serving, but doing so is optional. Serve right away.Makes 2 cups of beurre blanc sauce.

Enjoy!

My new life as intern Patissiere

2011-04-04T21:28:00.004+02:00

As many of you already know, I have been working as an intern in a French pastry shop in Paris for the last two months. Recently some of my friends have asked me how I feel about my new life. The question comes because this internship actually represents the beginning of my new professional life as a Patissiere. I use to work in the advertising industry in NYC, so you can imagine how different my professional life is now. The old days filled with meetings are replaced with days filled with chocolates and cakes. Stressful client presentations are now replaced with producing the perfect chocolate ganache. A regular 9am office schedule is now a day where most mornings start as early as 5am, and so on and so on… It is so different in many ways, but very satisfying as well. I use to enjoy the advertising world a lot. Truthfully, I didn’t leave because I hated it. I just made a decision, sometime ago, that I wanted to really feel passionate about what I did as a profession, and culinary art is definitely on top of that list. So here I am and it is been a sweet ride so far.

But, what has been happening lately? What is my new life as a Patissiere really like? I wake up every day at 5am. I work Monday through Friday from 6:30am to 3pm. I feel very lucky to have this schedule since I have heard stories of 12-14 hour days and schedules with no weekends off.

Every morning I take the first metro at 5:34am and it takes me 45 minutes to get to work. I know it sounds like a long trip for being so early in the morning, but it is actually not that bad. Between my French language books, the sleepy workers and the laughing of drunk kids returning home on the first metro, there is enough entertainment to make those 45 minutes fly by. Once I get to my stop I have to walk for 10 minutes.

The work experience has been very good. Today, two months later, I feel I have learned a lot, but have to say that it has not been easy. Like any job, the first weeks were a little bit awkward. I felt lost in the kitchen, I didn’t know where the tools and ingredients were located, I couldn’t remember people’s names, I was stressed out about doing things right, and my biggest issue - I had to deal with the huge language barrier since in the kitchen they only speak French. Yes, this was a big issue for me since despite what a lot of people may think I am still not fluent in French and do not understand 100% what people say. I have learned a lot and I can actually work in French, but I can’t not really express myself as I would like to since my French is just VERY basic. Every day I understand a little more, but I still have a lot to learn.

The biggest issue about the language barrier is that the lack of confidence keeps me a quiet most of the day. The long period of silence makes me crazy, but the good side of it is that I can concentrate 100% on learning techniques that they are teaching me.

What have I learned so far? The kitchen where I work is pretty nice and the configuration is very professional. They have the kitchens separated by: chocolates, pastries (entremets), oven, viennoisorie, etc. My first seven weeks I was in the little chocolate factory. I call it “little” since it is actually a small kitchen where only two people work, the Chef and myself. In there I spent my first seven weeks with my hands full of delicious chocolate learning some techniques in this interesting world – From how to temper and crystallized chocolate, to how to prepare delicious ganache for bonbons and truffles, and different decorations techniques. I actually learned how to do some of these same techniques in school, but at work it is just at a very professional level. The pastry shop I work for is also very creative so the things that are done in that kitchen are very cool.

Last week, week number 8, I was transferred to the pastry kitchen. There are six Patissiers in the kitchen, including the Chef and two apprentices. In this kitchen we make everything from scratch and any pastry that doesn’t require baking, all the creams, mousses, ganaches, glacages, hot chocolate drink, and the final decoration of every single pastry that is sold at the pastry shop. I just started in this kitchen, so I will provide an update in a few weeks.

When my day is over I feel very lucky to be doing what I do. I love the fact that I actually don’t feel like I am working. I am doing something I love. I say this because last week I met a friend for drinks and she discussed changing careers like I did. I listened to her talking about her plans, dreams and things she likes and it made me think about myself a year ago when I had the same thoughts. Her eyes had a spark and she was full of good emotions that I understood very well. But she is also going through a difficult decision that takes time.

After all, most of our time is spent at work. The decision to change careers represents a huge change in life; a change that can be full of uncertainties and fears. But if it is well planned and is really something you want to live with all your heart, life can become a sweet journey.

Sweet kisses,

Jesiel Maxan

Ps. “The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook”. ~Julia Child

French people... skinny biatches!

2011-03-14T22:50:00.003+01:00

The city of Paris is known by many as the capital of fashion, the city of love, the gastronomic capital, etc. There are many names for this beautiful city, but certainly the last one can not be ignored. Steak frites, baguettes,croissants, butter, pastries, wines, cheeses, delicious nutella crepes, etc… The city is full of temptations on every corner.

Last weekend a friend from Puerto Rico visited me in Paris. While indulging ourselves as only French people does we asked ourselves more than once how the hell the French stay so thin. We were so curios about the topic that over drinks with some local friends we asked them to tell us their little secrets to keep themselves in shape. While sipping our wines, we came up with a few ideas about how French people manage to stay thin while Americans on average get fatter and less healthy everyday.

1 - Better quality of daily consumptions – Processed food full f hormones antibiotics, pesticides or genetically modified ingredients is all over the world. But we all know that in the US this is a real issue. On the other hand, in France, even though the problem may exit as well, people really try to avoid processed food and consumes more organic products. Most of the food grown is real from farms, organic and natural and the absence of these harmful things helps the French stay thin.

2 – Small portions – While Americans love buffets style meals, French indulge themselves with a lot of things that may not look that health (things like cheese, croissants, meet and other) BUT the difference is that they consume them with moderation. It is really about controlling the proportions. They also generally stay away from snacking and try to eat their meals at the same time of the day everyday. The goal is to eat delicious, quality and rich food during their meals avoiding processed snacks and empty calories during the day.

3 – Walk – French people walk to the grocery store, to the salon, to work, etc. My French neighbor walks everywhere, including daily trips to the kid’s school and the bakery.

4 – Take your time to eat - Have you ever been on table having dinner with French people? They talk and talk and really take their time while having dinner. They eat slowly, which decrease the eating appetite as you feel full quickly. So, Talk. Talk. Talk.

5 – Smoke cigarettes– Even though I didn’t like to hear this one, someone said on the table, so I will mention it here. It is a fact that the French in general smoke quite a bit, and we can’t deny that nicotine is a strong appetite suppressant. But, again, avoid this one. I don’t think it is necessary to smoke to be skinny, since then you won’t be too healthy.

Writing about this topic reminded me to a story I wrote a while ago named “What to eat no not shape your ends”. This story compares Japanese diets against Americans. Check it out: http://sweetjourneyofinspiration.blogspot.com/2010/07/what-to-eat-to-not-shape-you-ends.html

Now that the secret is out there is no excuse to not being called a skinny biatch.

Sweet kisses!
Jesiel Maxan

Ps. "Your stomach shouldn't be a waist basket". ~Author Unknown

Life in Paris!

2011-03-06T02:59:00.002+01:00

A friend sent me a link to a promotional video that reflects my life in Paris. It describes very well the daily life of a foreigner who just arrived to live in the city of Paris.

The language, rainy days, new friends, the markets, delicious French food, the nightlife, the Eiffel Tower, the people, the amazing pastries and love that seems to be on every corner, etc.

Thanks Eddy. I loved it!

Here the link to the video. Hope you like it!

http://vimeo.com/18886355

Sweet kisses!
Jesiel

Lost in translation!

2011-02-24T19:36:00.005+01:00

Lost in translation!!! … this is how I had been feeling lately. Why? I am doing a great internship in a kitchen I like a lot. The people I am working with are very nice, full of energy, talented and willing to teach me all they know about the art of making good pastry. But there is a problem, they speak only French and my French is pretty bad. Also, lately I've been socializing a lot with local people, which has made me realize how hard I have to work to really grasp this language. It feels like an impossible mision, but I am working on it.

I've been living in Paris for the last six months, which could make you think that by now I would speak French, but that is not necessary the case. Well, my French is not THAT bad; I can actually hold simple conversations (mostly in bars – ha, ha), do my groceries, talk to the teller in the bank, order food in a restaurant, and defend myself in a French kitchen, etc. But when nervious, for example, during my first weeks at work, my little French disappears just like a French baguette spread with delicious salty butter;-)

But, how is this possible? It has been six months already!!! Well, the main factor is that for the last six months I have not been obligated to speak French. The classes in the culinary school I attended were mostly taught in English, almost all my friends over here are from all over the world ( so the common language is English). And, at least to me, French is one of the most complicated languages in the world.... so many rules and the pronunciation is so difficult. The only thing that gives me hope and that has kept me focused while learning this language is that I remember feeling as frustrated when learning English, my second language, and I know that the hard work pays off. Proof of this is that now I am keeping a journal of my adventures and it is all written in English. Well, my English is still not perfect, and still have a lot to improve, but I have overcome the fears of speaking it and I feel very comfortable with it. So hopefully this “lost in translation” stage will disappear soon.

In the meantime, I am doing all I can to improve my French skills. Everything people tell me I try – from private tutoring, watching lots of French movies, reading local newspapers, computer programs, even a French boyfriend… EVERYTHING!!! So if you have any other suggestions, please post your comment. All ideas are welcome. PLEASE!

But my language issues haven’t been the only thing that have kept me on the “lost of translation” state of mind during the last weeks. My first two weeks at work were stressful. I am starting in this industry, so I have a lot to learn. Even though I went to culinary school to be trained in French basic techniques, the reality is that when you get into a new kitchen you are pretty much learning from scratch. You have to forget about the way you used to do things and learn how to do them in that specific kitchen. You feel pretty lost the first week, but that is pretty much how it works at any new job. To that, I have to add my language barrier!!!! Sometimes it is just very funny to me when trying to figure out what someone is asking me to do. I am glad that I took French classes focused on the kitchen site, since that has helped me a lot to figure out what to do to not mess things up. So far I had been guessing right :-)

I have to admit it has been somewhat stressful but at the same time I am really enjoying this experience. I am a bit tired every day, since I have to wake up at 5am to go to work and then I'm done by three in the afternoon. But “c’ est pas grave” (it is not a big deal). I actually knew how the schedule was going to be like before I decided to change careers, it is just a matter of getting used to it.

So, if you are curious about what had been doing lately at work, here are some details. I was assigned to mainly work in the chocolate kitchen, but also to help out in the pastry kitchen. We are only two at the chocolate kitchen so I do a lot. In other words, my hands are pretty much ALL day long covered with chocolate, LITERALLY! Some of the things I do in a daily basis are - lots of chocolate tempering, chocolate ganache, bonbons, molding and unmolding chocolate decoration, decoration of pastries with chocolate decor, etc. I never though I was going to work at a chocolate kitchen and to be very honest I have zero experience in the field of making chocolate. I learned some basic techniques at school, but that's all. So as soon as I got the news I started to read a lot about the techniques of managing chocolate. There is a good book I recommend called “Encyclopédie du Chocolat”. If you want to get up close and personal with chocolate, this book is a must.

I am also working at a pastry kitchen. There, I do different pastry recipes (creams, ganaches, frocages, napage, etc), macaroon fillings and a lot of final decorations for pastries. Sometimes I do very tedious jobs as measure recipes or molding/unmolding pastries, but those are also part of the job.

There is so much to do and learn every day. I promise to share some of the chocolate techniques I am learning during the upcoming months.

I would like to finish this story with some pictures of a very appreciate recipe for the topic. It is a delicious small tart named “Conversation”. This pastry was created at the end of the 18th century, at the name comes from a popular book called, “Les Conversations d’Emelie (1774) de Madame d’Epinay. It is made out of puff pastry, filled with almond cream and glazed with royal glaze. Today, this pastry is commonly eaten at tea parties. I learned how to make it at school and it is delicious! Here are some pictures of the process of making it. If you are interested on the recipe, just let me know. My theory about it... When you can not have a conversation in France, just EAT it :-)

Rolling out the dough

Lining the tart rings under the dough

Tarts are filled with almond cream and covered with a secong dough sheet

Tarts are keep in the fridge until firm

Then the royal glaze is spread out

With the rest of the dough, make bands of 2mm wide x 8mm long. The rings are 22cm. Place the bands diamond shaped on the tart; press the ends to stick the bands to the sides.

Bake in medium oven 180-190 celcius. Voila!

Enjoy!!!

Sweet kisses!

Jesiel

Ps. "There’s more to life than chocolate, but not right now." - Anonymous

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T17:52:00.008+01:00

To all my friends... HAPPY VALENTINE"S DAY!!!

Below there is a nice quote I found in a book that my dear friend Lorena gave me as a Christmas gift :-) Here's to my dear family and friends...

:-)

"There are certain people in our lives who just make the world a better place. They give us hope and raise our spirits simply by being the kind of people they are. Some people stand up and champion a cause, or provide the spark, or defy the odds, or do the right thing simply because it's right. They don't really worry about fame or acclaim, they just think about being good friends, good neighbors, good people. We don't say it often though, but we are grateful to have these people in our midst. Thank you for being you".

Sweet Kisses,

Jesiel

New beginnings!!!

2011-02-10T00:32:00.013+01:00

Last week I started my six month internship as a Patissière. The place is called Café Pouchkine and is the “new kid on the block” when talking about luxury patisseries in Paris. The shop is cute and small and serves delicious French pastries and drinks.

The shop, which opened about 6 months ago, is inside the famous department store “Printemps” and is ran by the French Chef Emmanuel Ryon. For those of you NOT in the French pastry world, Ryon won the title of “Meilleur Ouvrier de France” (MOF) – which translates into “One of the Best Craftsmen of France” in 2000- This is like the Olympics for a French chef. The competition happens every four years. The winning candidates retain their title for life, with the indication of the specialty, the year following the one in which they obtain the title. This prestigious title is equally recognized by professionals and the greater public in France, particularly among artisan-merchants. Chef Ryon also won the title of “Champion du Monde de Patisserie” in 1999 and the title of Champion de France de Sculpture Sur glace in 1996. All of this meaning, he is THE Chef of Chefs! And the best part is that is not an absent Chef in the kitchen, meaning he is always IN the kitchen guiding this team.

Check out this link if you want to have a snap from the store…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eHQMpWQx1E

What Chef Ryon presents for Café Pouckine is absolutely beautiful, extremely creative, but most importantly is delicious. Sharing a kitchen with someone like him and his amazing team is an experience of a lifetime and so far I am having a blast learning all their little secrets in the kitchen.

But, how the heck did I get in there? A question I asked myself my first day at work while observing the on going action in the kitchen. Only two years ago I was sitting in an office in NYC without a clue of the drastic twist my life was about to experience. Living in Paris, learning French, working with the best chef in the world, making beautiful pastries, etc - none of these were apart of my reality. But as they say, life turns around… and here I am. Well, you may know my life story, so let’s talk about how I got in to Café Pouchkine.

I was supposed to do my internship in another patisserie in Paris named Hugo & Victor. After working for them during the Christmas holidays I realized that it was not the place for me. I was a little bit disappointed since I was very excited about the place before I started to work. But after working for the holiday I knew it was not the place for me right away, so I decided to look for another place to intern.

In January I started a serious hunt for a new place in town that would be a better fit. I was late in the process since I was supposed to have the internship set up by December. Not knowing where I would end up was stressing me out - so I decided to take a week and visit as many pastry shops as I could in the city. Every day I was visiting two or three places. The visits were pretty simple; they consisted of seeing the store concept, a sampling of pastries, and asking questions to the salesperson. I was pretty much asking questions about their kitchen (where the kitchen is located, how many people work at the kitchen, etc). The difficult part of the course was the sampling, but I sacrificed myself in order to make a good assessment. Such a difficult job ah, but someone always has to do the dirty job, right? Ha, ha.

I knew exactly in what type of place I wanted to work so my parameters were definitely making the selection even more difficult. I was looking for a place where they do contemporary French pastries in a non traditional way. I was also looking for an experienced Chef to guide me in my first job as a Patisserie; someone known and respected in the industry. I wanted to be in a small to midsize kitchen, so I could get to do more. When I was putting these parameters in place the options available were limited. The places that were meeting my demands were either taken already by other students or simply didn’t need an intern at the moment. I was running out of options, and my body was already feeling the thousands a calories-a-day, when I found Café Pouchkine.

It was love at first sight. I wanted to work there right after I saw their pastries, they were so beautiful!!! I could tell from seeing the pastries that it was a good group of Patissiers behind the creations and I wanted to be part of that group. After working with these people I was correct – they look for perfection in everything they do, creativity and good taste is just a fact at Café Pouchkine.

So you can understand why I liked it so much when I visited the store, here are some pictures of what I saw…

I went to visit the store with my friend Nicole from school and we had the following:

Fleur Elle - A delicious chocolate cake with chocolate cream and a praline biscuit inside.

We also had the Gateux the Marron. This is full of marron flavor and quite high in alcohol. The Crème légère is delicious and the biscuit below it is just perfect.

We finished with a mini éclair caramel. The flavours in this mouth bite éclair is just incontrollable.

I have to say that the prices are a little bit high, but considering the handcraft work done in each piece, the product quality and the delicious flavors, it is just worth to try.

Going back to the story of how I got here...

Next, I called the chef at my school and told him the news. “Chef, I finally found something I like. Please help me get in there” and he did. As part of my school pastry program, the school helps you to coordinate the internship, so they make the first calls to the place you would like to schedule an interview. I guess I was lucky since two days after I went to see Café Pouchkine I had an interview with the chef and started to work a week after I was interviewed.

How is my experience so far? I work from Monday through Friday from 6:30am to 3pm. My first week I was assigned to the Chocolate “poste” (kitchen). In there I helped make all the chocolate decorations needed for the pastries, I have done hundreds of chocolate bonbons and chocolate ganache. I also helped the pastry team with the finishing of pastries. So far this week I had spend a lot of time in the pastry kitchen helping them with different stuff, but always go back to the chocolate kitchen to work with this precious and delicious ingredient. For example yesterday I learned how to make about 5 different types of ganache for the chocolate bonbons.

Let’s give a close look of some of the things I have done so far…

Check out the white chocolate box that covers the cake on the photo below. Yesterday I made 12 of those. It takes about 5 hours to make them. First, I have to mold white chocolate in a cylinder shape. Then very gently I cut the holes around. This is when the box can easly breaks so I have to be very gently, but work fast. Then I have to decorate with white chocolate ganage; this is to pretty much make hundreds of dots around the box. The last step is to spray with white chocolate.

Check out the two cakes in the folowing photo. Yesterday I spent some time making the chocolate ribbons on top of the cake located on the back of the photo. First. I make the chocolate form using transfer paper and then decorated the cake. This was fun and easy to make, but again very delicate. Last week I spent some time decorating the cake on the front. This cake has glazed dry fruits and a vanilla bean on top.

The finishing of the pastries usually happens at first time in the morning when everyone is rushing to have all the pastries that need to be delivered to the store that day. So every day as soon as I get to the kitchen at 6:30am I have to run and help all the team with the final decoration of the pastries. For me this is one of the best moments of the day :-)

These are the chocolate bonbons. In the chocolate kitchen we make then from start to finish. For example, yesterday I was making the creams that goes inside the bonbons (ganache). But last week I spent a lot of time filling molds, unmolding, covering with cocoa powder, etc.

Sometimes I get to do things that may not be that exciting, but that are part of the work. Like unmolding hundred of little cakes, or packaging the little guys on the photo below. The macarons are placed in plastic boxes in order to be delivered to the store. Same thing with the chocolate bonbons.

I am learning so much and the best part is I am a part of a great team that is willing to teach me everything they know. I will keep you guys posted with my new job as a patissiere.

Sweet kisses!!!
Jesiel

ps. " Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending".
Maria Robinson

Officially a "Pâtissière"

2011-01-31T20:32:00.003+01:00

Last week I graduated from Gregoire Ferrandi Culinary school in Paris. It is official... I am a "Pâtissière". I had a graduation ceremony at school and received my diploma. A new phase in the process is about to start. Tomorrow Tuesday will be my first day as an intern in a luxury pastry boutique here in Paris. I will be there
for a period of six months. Can't wait!!!

Receiving my diploma from Chef Jamard and the school Director

Here with some of my classmates

The 2010-2011 anglo group - Cuisine and Pastry

Graduation reception

NOW??? A lot to learn, a lot to experience and a lot to share with all of you. Stay tune!!!

Sweet kisses,

Jesiel

ps. "Shipping is a terrible thing to do to vegetables. They probably get jet-lagged, just like people". ~Elizabeth Berry

EVIAN

2011-01-27T23:14:00.022+01:00

EVIAN - Whenever you hear this word you probably think about water... right? I guess so, since Evian is one of the most popular water brands in the word. At least in the US, Evian is portrayed as a luxury and expensive bottled water, making it popular among Hollywood celebrities.

But, as many of you may know, Evian is actually a region located in the in the northern part of the Haute-Savoie in the Rhone-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It lies on the shores of Lake Geneva, opposite Lausanne, Switzerland. And there I was last week on a three days school trip.

Evian has a spectacular natural setting between Lake Léman and the foothills of the Chablais Alps, making it a wonderfully tourist destination in France, especially during winter time when people visit the area to ski. The purpose of our visit was quite different though. Our trip had a culinary purpose. Meaning, lots of food, wine, visit to hotels facilities, farms, etc… all accompanied by a freezing weather, snow, lot of jokes and uncountable laughs. It was great!

Our welcome lunch at the beautiful Hotel Ermitage!

"Marble de pleurotes et froie gras de canard"

Veg plate:-)

"Dos de cabillaud roti, beurre blanc, épeautre de sault et pousses d'espinard"

Veg plate :-)

For desert - "Mille fuielle praliné avec créme vanilla"

The hotel facilities are very nice...Especially the spa.

We went to see a very old Chateau where as part of the facilities tour we had some wine, cheese, charcuterie, and bread.

Our first night we had a traditional cheese fondue for dinner.

The next morning we visted the town called Abondance,where we learned about how to make cheese.

Then we went to a foie gras farm to learn how this french delicatessen is made.

Of couse we had some tasting... It was delicious!

For lunch!

We also visited the beautiful town of Chablais.

Dinner time...

During our third and last day, we started our day visiting a gold factory. They produce the type of gold used in pastry shops for decoration purposes. This is actually the only factory in France and they kindly show us the process from beginning to end.

For lunch!!!

Avoir!!!

Sweet kisses,

Jesiel

Ps. "Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie". ~Jim Davis

"Tortilla española"

2011-01-25T18:10:00.011+01:00

Since my recent visit to Spain I had been craving “tapas” everyday. They are so delicious, full of flavors, and easy to prepare. These are perfect “Amuse-boushes” for when having people over. And here is the best part: “tapas” taste delicious at room temperature, which is how they’re served in Spain, so you don’t have to worry about serving them right after cooked. Actually a lot of “tapas” taste better when prepare in advance, you can prepare them one or two days in advance and the flavors will be even better. If you like to entertain people at home, as I like to do a lot, you may understand how convenience is to serve foods that can be prepare in advance and that can be serve at room temperature . Imagine—when your guests arrive, you can kick back, relax and actually enjoy your own party!

So, today I ran to the grocery store and got the ingredients to make a “tortilla Española”. I learned how to make this simple but delicious dish while spending last summer in Tunisia. While in this beautiful country, I met Roberto and Eva, a Spanish couple from Barcelona living in Tunisia. Right after I met them I realized that we have at least two things in common, our passion for travelling (at that time they had just finished an around the world trip) and our love for Spanish food. So you can imagine that right away I asked them to teach me how to make the best “tortilla española”. Luckily for me they kindly accepted and invited me to their lovely apartment in Tunis. And this is how I found myself again in a kitchen of a “stranger”, now friends, in a remote corner of Africa learning how to make a delicious dish.

There are different ways to prepare a delicious “tortilla española”. This is the way I do it, thanks to Eva, and I like it a lot. Follow this recipe and you will have a nice dish to share with your friends.

GRACIAS EVA!!!

Recipe serves – Two big tortillas.
Ingredients: 8 potatoes, 3 onions, 5 eggs, ¼ cup of milk, salt to taste.

Step #1 – Peel and cut the potatoes like this…

Add salt now. Eva likes to add the salt and pepper to the potatoes at this point instead of after.

2 - In a suitable sized frying pan heat enough oil to cover the potatoes over medium-low heat. When hot, add peeled and cubed potatoes. You may have to do it in batches and it could take about 3 rounds. Set aside in a bowl.

3 – In the meantime, cut the onions in julienne (long thin strips). Once you finish frying the potatoes, - Pour off the oil from the frying pan and wipe with a kitchen towel, but keep a little bit of oil to cook the onions. Cook, stirring occasionally to soften, about 5 minutes; do not brown. Set aside together with the potatoes.

4 – Add the milk and beaten eggs to the potatoes. Stir to mix well, you can use your hands to mix it well if you want :-)

5 - Heat the pan over medium-low heat. Gently gease the potato-egg mixture into the frying pan. Flatten out with a wooden spatula to create an evenly round omelette. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes or until well set. Loosen the edges with a wooden spatula and shake the pan to loosen.

6 - Place a large plate upside down onto the frying pan and turn over. The omelette should now be on the plate. Gently slide the omelette back into the pan, cooked-side up. Tuck in any edges using a wooden spatula and continue to cook for 1 minute. Transfer to a plate, cut into wedges and serve hot or cold.

Serve with your favorite red wine and enjoy with friends!

Sweet Kisses,
Jesiel

ps. “The way to a man's heart is through his stomach”. Fanny Fern (1811-1872)

“Tapeando” in the land of “Olé”…

2011-01-22T17:10:00.016+01:00

One of the best things about living in Europe is the easy access to so many countries. Although the countries are close to each other, each is different with cultures, languages, food, music etc. - which makes it a real adventure to travel around.

I am living in France, a great point to travel around Europe – I can get anywhere very fast either by train or by a short flight. The best thing about it is, it’s very inexpensive to travel. So my plan is to escape once in a while from my busy schedule here in the city and get to see all the amazing countries around France. I already have a list of places I want to visit and I promise to keep you all up-to speed with the details of my adventures.

Having said that… recently I took an unexpected trip to Madrid with some friends. The mission was to find the best tapas restaurant in town; a very unrealistic mission considering the countless amounts of “tapas” bars in Madrid. But establishing such a mission was just the right mind set to excuse our uncontrollable indulgence during the entire weekend. I feel like we ate at every single place that crossed our path. We eat SO MUCH and it was SO GOOD that writing about it makes my mouth water.

Have you ever been in Spain? I visited this beautiful country for the first time in 2002. It was actually my first time in Europe. I have some memories about going around the country enjoying their beautiful architecture. But something I always remember from that trip and in details is my first encounter with authentic “tapas españolas”. Nine years after that memorable trip I went back looking for those amazing little bites that make my life happier.

“When Rome do as Romans do”; a popular quote that means act appropriately for the place where you are. And sure I did. As Spaniards love to do, during my stay in Madrid everyday I went “bar/tapas hopping”. In Spain people have a tradition to go "bar hopping" and eat tapas in the time between finishing work and having dinner, which is between around 6pm to 9pm. Or even as a means of socializing before a proper lunch at home. However, I forgot about the Spanish rules and pretty much ate tapas all day long.

But… wait a minute, before I keep going with this story… Are you familiar with Spanish “tapas”? I am sure the majority of my friends reading this blog have a good idea of what I am talking about. But since my blog’s readers increases everyday and they are from all over the world, I will provide a brief description… just short since all the pictures below talk by themselves.

“Tapas” are a delicious variety of small plates or appetizers in Spanish cuisine. In traditional Spanish bar people would be standing while drinking and eating tapas. I was curious about this tradition, so I did a quick consultation online and found the following…

“The word "tapas" is derived from the Spanish verb tapar, "to cover". According to legend the tapas tradition began when King Alfonso X of Castile recovered from an illness by drinking wine with small dishes between meals. After regaining his health, the king ordered that taverns would not be allowed to serve wine to customers unless it was accompanied by a small snack or "tapa”.” There are other theories about the origin of these delicious small plates, but I will keep it short as far as history.

It is very common for a bar or a small local restaurant to around 10 different kinds of “tapas” in warming trays with glass partitions covering the food. They are often very strongly flavored with garlic, chilies or paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, saffron and sometimes in plentiful amounts of olive oil. Often one or more of the choices is seafood (including anchovies, sardines, shrimp, octopus, and squid), cooked in olive oil, garlic and very often with a tomato based sauce. However, jam, chorizo, cheeses and olives are a staple will never be missed in a “tapas” bar.

In certain areas of Spain, including Madrid, when you go to a bar and order a drink you will get a “tapa” for free. For example, in the hotel bar where I was staying, every drink was accompanied by some pieces of sushi, cheese and popcorn… for free. I just LOVED it!!!

Another think I learned is that “tapas” can be ordered in bigger portions, equivalent to half a dish or a whole one. Since this concept of tapas is meant to be shared, when ordered by more than one person, resembles the traditional meals from other cultures, such as the Chinese dim sum, the Korean banchan or the Middle Eastern mezze.

Here is a list of places I visited during my short weekend trip… things I ate and loved. Make sure you add them to your list of places to visit while in the amazing city of Madrid.

Juanalaloca - Plaza Puerta de Moros, 4

On the top of the list since it was by favorite “Tapas” restaurant in the city. I found this place thanks to my Spanish friend Fernando, and he was so right recommending it. This is just a little piece of heaven in Spanish land! It is a small place that serves creative “tapas”, which is a bit more fancy looking plates if you compared to a traditional “tapas” bar, but super delicious and at a very good price.

This is the best "tortilla española"I have ever tried in my life. Mmm...

I was also very surprised with their delicious desserts.

Mercado San Miguel – Located near the Plaza Mayor

This is a local indoor food market where food and various goods can be purchased. It is the place to mingle with the locals and some tourist while having a drink and some “tapas” standing around the place.

But it is also the place to learn about Spain's gastronomic diversity. You can find a little bit of everything and on a very good quality.

It was a nice place to be, so we went there twice to eat the delicious variety of "tapas".

Mesón del Champiñon – Cava de San Miguel, 17

I discovered this place with my friends while walking around the streets near Plaza Mayor. It caught our attention the delicious the hundred of mushroom being cooked on a grill. It was love at first sight, it looked so delicious and the smell was so awesome that we needed to stop and order a couple of plates. These famous mushrooms are grilled, stuffed with fresh chorizo, and served on toothpicks. Simply AMAZING!

El Lando Restaurant – Plaza Gabriel Miró, 8

El Landó Restaurant, frequented by celebrities from all over the world, this is the most prestigious restaurant in the Las Vistillas area. This restaurant is not a “tapas” bar, but it is still worth to try is you are looking for authentic Spanish cuisine. This is a sitting place where international Castilian cuisine is predominant. I liked that they welcome you with a delicious Iberian ham on bread with tomato and great Manchego cheese… from there you order their delicious starters and so forth.

Cervecería Bar Postas – Calle de Postas (Near Plaza Mayor)

This is the complete opposite concept to El Lando Restaurant. This is a very typical Spanish bar located right next to Plaza Mayor that serves traditional “tapas” and beers. We stopped by and had delicious Paella for breakfast… YES! for breakfast. It was just inevitable to refuse such a delicious plate.

Guau – C/Principe, 26

Just a nice bar recommended by local friends… nice space, nice music, nice people. Will definitely go back the next time.

Casa Mira – Carrera de San Jerónimo, 30

I found this place while searching online for good pastry shops in Madrid. It was identified as the place to get the best homemade nougat in the city. It is actually the best nougat I have ever tried, so if you are around, it is worth the trip to this very traditional place that was actually established in 1855.

The Glass Bar Oyster and Cocktail Bar (in the Urban Hotel) - Carrera de San Jerónimo, 34

Such a nice environment to go for a drink. This bar is located in the lobby of the beautiful Urban hotel – a hotel to see if you are in into interior design since its ethnic contemporary décor it’s just beautiful.

Hope you enjoyed my virtual Spanish cuisine tour.

Sweet kisses!

Jesiel

Ps. About "Olé" - "An old Spanish expression used to cheer and applaud as part of flamenco music and in sporting events, especially bullfighting" - Babylon dictionary.

The end of “Traiteur”

2011-01-17T22:39:00.008+01:00

My last weeks at school weren’t only about sweets. We finished our “Traiteur” (catering) class with a nice production of “amuse-bouches”. For those of you lost in translation, this term is French, and it literally translated to "mouth amuser" or happy mouth.

I did some research online to find the better way of explaining what it means and here is what I found. “An amuse-bouche is a single, bite-sized hors d’oeuvre. These are different from appetizers in that they are not ordered from a menu, but, when served, are done so according to the chef's selection alone. These, often accompanied by a complementing wine to prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse into the chef's approach to cooking.”.

The famous chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten describes them as: "The amuse-bouche is the best way for a great chef to express his big ideas in small bites". I totally agree with him. When I am cooking at home I always try to include hors d’oeuvre as part of my menu just to impress my guests a little bit :-).

Here are more pics of the "amuse-bouches" we prepared our last day of “traiteur” class. This is the amazing job we did as a team . It came up delicious!!!

Sweet Kisses!

Jesiel

Ps. "A desire presupposes the possibility of action to achieve it; action presupposes a goal which is worth achieving." - Quote by - Ayn Rand

THE final test

2011-01-16T19:00:00.010+01:00

I finished school this week; which is the first phase of the one year pastry program I am doing in Paris. The program consists on 660 hours (about 5 months) of classes and a 6 months internship in a local pastry shop.

During the last two weeks I had been working on final projects and finally on Thursday I took my FINAL pastry test at the kitchen. For those of you curious about how a final pastry test looks like, here is the exam schedule.

FINAL PASTRY EXAM:

8am – Pate Choux

8:40 – Crème Anglaise

9:15 - Crème Patissiere

9:40 – Pithiviers

10:00 – Chaussons aux pommes

10:20 – Foncage tarte aux pommes

10:50 - Garniture tarte aux pommes

11 :15 – Montage Moka

11 :40 - Finition Moka

12 :00 – Garniture Pate a Choux

12 :20 – Mold an ice cream

12 :30 – 13 :30 – Lunch

13 :30 - Glacage pate Choux

14 :30 - Nappage Tarte aux Pommes

14 :45 - Demold an ice cream

15 :30 - Roses Pate d’amande

16 :00 – Presentation

My final score was very good. I am very happy with the work I have done during the last 5 months and I feel ready to start my new adventure working in a real kitchen. I can’t wait to start working on my new job as a pastry intern.

Sweet Kisses!
Jesiel

Ps. “The kitchen is a country in which there are always discoveries to be made.” Grimod de la Reynière (1758-1838)

Chocolate Sculpture - THE final project

2011-01-12T00:08:00.006+01:00

Classes are almost over, so these days I had been working on finals projects and exams. Last week I spent three days working on my final Chocolate project, which was a Chocolate sculpture designed by myself during my drawing classes at school. The main theme and specs were provided by the professor:

- Theme – Christmas
- Design – The sculpture needed to have a box of 15 chocolates attached to it
- Size – A chocolate base of 30mm x 30mm

.
With those specs on mind I started to think about my design. Everyone in the class did the same; we all had unique and very different designs.

We spent one class making the molds with cardboards and paper.

Here my Chefs trying to figure out my difficult design.

The second day we cristilized the chocolate and filled up our molds.

The third and last day we assembled the sculpture... and voilá!!!

Sweet kisses!
Jesiel

ps."Biochemically, love is just like eating large amounts of chocolate." John Milton, The Devil's Advocate

I GOT A JOB!!!

2011-01-02T19:30:00.006+01:00

Let’s start the New Year with GOOD NEWS!!! Most of you don’t know it yet, but YES, I got my first job in the Pastry world. The place is called Hugo & Victor, and it is THE most recent luxury Patisserie Chocolatier in the city of Paris.

I have spent all my Christmas holidays working in the kitchen almost everyday. My days are long - I have to be at the kitchen ready to start my day at 6:30am and usually finish around 4:30pm, 5:30pm, or later. Definitely it has been intense and tiring, but once again I have confirmed that I am on the right track as far as my professional life. It also feels awesome to be back in the workforce practicing all I have learned during an amazing year of travels learning about cuisine and pastries around the world.

But, who is Hugo & Victor? This is a new Patisserie Chocolatier in town founded by the affable Pastry Chef Hughes Pouget; a young Pastry chef that had gained his credibility in the industry through admirable career, including being the Executive Pastry Chef for the exclusive 3 stars MICHELIN restaurant Guy Savoy.

Why is his concept different? While there is a few pastry shops already in the city that assembles a jewelry shop, Mr. Pouget has taken the idea about as far as it's ever gone. The place really looks like a high end jewelry shop, but instead of picking up diamonds, you can enjoy a delicious pastry or chocolate. I took a friend the other day to see the place and he told me that the selection of sweets look so perfectly beautiful that he felt guilty of eating it.

So, this is what I am up to at this moment. I am sure this is just the beginning of a lot of adventures in my new life as a Patissier, so I invite you all to stay tune because I promise to keep you all posted with the details.

Sweet kisses!
Jesiel

Ps. "Trust that still, small voice that says, "This might work and I'll try it"" - Diane Mariechild

2011.. HERE WE COME!!!

2010-12-31T12:06:00.007+01:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! This is one of my favorite celebrations during the year. It's a time to forgive and forget and to make those all important resolutions; most importantly, it's a time for new bigginings - to start fresh.

I love everything that involves this celebration... family reunions, the food, the idea of a new beginnings, and specially the traditions and superstitions around it. Those who know me well know how superstitious I am. I will never walk under a ladder, or put my purse on the floor, or always cheers looking at the eyes, etc, etc. So, during New Year’s Eve celebration is not an exception. I usually spend it at my mom’s place in Puerto Rico, so we all like to do different ritual to make sure we have good luck the year to come. Sometimes it is just a way of adding more fun to the night, but deep inside I have faith on those traditions :-)

One year I carrying a suitcase around the house after midnight, since it supposed to bring lots of travels the year to come… and it worked for me! I always make sure eating twelve grapes, one for every time the clock chimes for midnight, a good luck tradition Puerto Ricans adopted from Spain. And of course I make the list of resolutions of the New Year.

With New Year's in a few hours, I researched a little bit about some of the good luck rituals from around the world that are believed to bring good fortune and prosperity in the coming year. I had fun going through this so I hope you enjoy it. Read through find your country and let me know if this is still a tradition going on in your country. If you have something else to add, I would like to know about it.

PUERTO RICO
People from my beautiful island traditionally greet the New Year by throwing a bucket full of water out into the street. This way they get rid of everything bad and prepare for the good things to come in the coming year.

UNITED STATES
The kiss shared at the stroke of midnight in the United States is derived from masked balls that have been common throughout history. As tradition has it, the masks symbolize evil spirits from the old year and the kiss is the purification into the New Year. Also, in the southern United States, it is believed eating black eyed peas on New Year's eve will bring luck for the coming year.

FRANCE

The whole Europe likes to make tons of noise on the New Year’s night. However, French honor this tradition most carefully. This tradition is based on an old belief that noise will chase bad spirits away, which are most active on the New Year’s Eve when the coming year replaces the previous one. So, French cities are extremely noisy on New Year’s night. The French believe that the first person to enter the house on the first day of the New Year symbolizes what that year will be like for the owners of the house. The midnight guest must be male in the first place, since he will bring fortune.

SPAIN

When the clock strikes midnight they eat 12 grapes one with every toll to bring good luck for the next 12 months of the New Year. Sometimes the grapes are washed down with wine.

VENEZUELA
If a Venezuelan wants to travel a lot in the coming year, then he or she will be carrying a suitcase around the house for the whole December 31 day. Also, New Year has to be met wearing yellow underwear, as it is believed to bring good luck. Venezuelan’s write down all their wishes and dreams before the New Year night. When midnight is close they gather their wish-notes and burn them.

BRAZIL

In Brazil the lentil is believed to signify wealth, so on the first day of the New Year they serve lentil soup or lentils and rice. In Brazil on New Year's Eve priestesses of the local macumba voodoo cult dress in blue skirts and white blouses for a ceremony dedicated to the goddess of water, Yemanja. A sacrificial boat laden with flowers, candles and jewelery is pushed out to sea from Brazil's famous Ipenama beach in Rio de Janeiro.

PERU
The Peruvian New Year's custom is a spin on the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes at the turn of the year. But in Peru, a 13th grape must be eaten to assure good luck.

DENMARK
In Denmark it is a good sign to find your door heaped with a pile of broken dishes at New Years. Old dishes are saved year around to throw them at the homes where their friends live on New Years Eve. Many broken dishes were a symbol that you have many friends. New Year's Eve is framed by two important items broadcast on television and radio, respectively the monarch's New Year Speech at 6pm and the striking of midnight by the Town Hall Clock in Copenhagen, which marks the start of the new year.

ENGLAND
The British place their fortunes for the coming year in the hands of their first guest. They believe the first visitor of each year should be male and bearing gifts. Traditional gifts are coal for the fire, a loaf for the table and a drink for the master. For good luck, the guest should enter through the front door and leave through the back. Guests who are empty-handed or unwanted are not allowed to enter first.

GERMAN
In Germany people would drop molten lead into cold water and try to tell the future from the shape it made. A heart or ring shape meant a wedding, a ship a journey, and a pig plenty of food in the year ahead. People also would leave a bit of every food eaten on New Year's Eve on their plate until after Midnight as a way of ensuring a well-stocked larder. Carp was included as it was thought to bring wealth.

WALES
At the first toll of midnight, the back door is opened and then shut to release the old year and lock out all of its bad luck. Then at the twelfth stroke of the clock, the front door is opened and the New Year is welcomed with all of its luck.

SICILY
An old Sicilian tradition says good luck will come to those who eat lasagna on New Year's Day, but woe if you dine on macaroni, for any other noodle will bring bad luck.

GREECE
January 1st is an important date in Greece because it is not only the first day of the New Year but it is also St. Basil's Day. St Basil was one the forefathers of the Greek Orthodox Church. He is remembered for his kindness and generosity to the poor. He is thought to have died on this date so this is how they honor him. A special New Year's bread is baked with a coin buried in the dough. The first slice is for the Christ child; the second for the father of the household and the third slice is for the house. If the third slice holds the coin, spring will come early that year.

PORTUGAL
The Portuguese pick and eat twelve grapes from a bunch as the clock strikes twelve on New Year's Eve. This is done to ensure twelve happy months in the coming year. In Northern Portugal children go caroling from home to home and are given treats and coins. They sing old songs or Janeiro's which is said to bring good luck.

ROME
Romans prepare for the New Year festival which is known as January Kalends by decorating their houses with lights and greenery. The festival lasts for three days, during this time they hold feasts and exchange gifts which were carefully chosen for their luck-bringing properties these include such things as sweets or honey to ensure sweetness and peace as well as Gold, Silver or money for prosperity. Lamps for a year filled with light.

POLAND
In Poland New Year's Eve is known as St Sylvester's Eve. This name according to legends arose from Pope Sylvester I who was supposed to have imprisoned a dragon called Leviathan who was supposedly able to escape on the first day of the year 1000, devour the land and the people, and was suppose to have set fire to the heavens. On New Year's Day, when the world did not come to an end, there was great rejoicing and from then on this day was called St Sylvester's Eve.

NORWAY
Norwegians make rice pudding at New Year's and hide one whole almond within. Guaranteed wealth goes to the person whose serving holds the lucky almond.

AUSTRIA
The suckling pig is the symbol for good luck for the New Year. It's served on a table decorated with tiny edible pigs. Dessert often consists of green peppermint ice cream in the shape of a four-leaf clover.

BELGIUM
In Belgium New Year's Eve is called Sint Sylvester Vooranvond or Saint Sylvester Eve. The réveillon or New Year's Eve family parties are thrown. At midnight everyone kisses, exchanges good luck greetings, and drinks toasts to absent relatives and friends. The cities, cafés, and restaurants are crowded with people who bid farewell to the Old Year. New Year's Day is called Nieuwjaarsdag at this time of the year the children save money to buy decorated paper for writing holiday greetings to parents and god parents.

BURMA
The Burmese New Year, which is based on the Fixed Zodiac system, falls on or around April 16. In Burma there is a three day New Year festival called Maha Thingyan, which is celebrated with prayers, fasting and fun. During the festivities, buildings and temples are washed, and people throw water over each other. This is partly to welcome the heavy rains of the coming monsoon season. The Burmese New Year festival is held to celebrate the New Year, by performing meritorious deeds and spraying one another with Thingyan water.

CAMBODIA
The people of Cambodia use the Indian Calendar to calculate the start of the New Year festival. The festival starts on the 12, 13 or 14 April according to the Gregorian calendar and lasts for three days. Cambodian New Year's Eve is the day before whichever date it is and it lasts three days. It is called Chaul Chnam Thmey, which means entering the New Year.

CHINA

The Chinese New Year "Yuan Tan" takes place between January 21 and February 20. The exact date is fixed by the lunar calendar, in which a new moon marks the beginning of each new month. For the Chinese New Year, every front door is adorned with a fresh coat of red paint, red being a symbol of good luck and happiness. Although the whole family prepares a feast for the New Year, all knives are put away for 24 hours to keep anyone from cutting themselves, which is thought to cut the family's good luck for the next year.

EGYPT
In Egypt the New Year is a public holiday and has a very festive atmosphere. Although they know in advance when the New Year begins they still observe the custom of the new crescent moon must be seen before the official announcement is made. The sighting is carried out at the Muhammad Ali mosque which is at the top of the hill in Cairo. The message is then passed on to the religious leader known as the Grand Mufti and he proclaims the New Year. The men who have been waiting outside the mosque wish each other a happy New Year by saying "Kol Sana We Enta Tayeb!"

VIETNAM
The more popular name for the Vietnamese New Year is Tet, where as the formal name is Nguyen-dan. Tet is a very important festival because it provides one of the few breaks in the agricultural year, as it falls between the harvesting of the crops and the sowing of the new crops. The Vietnamese prepare well in advance for the New Year by cleaning their houses, polishing their copper and silverware and paying off all their debts.

HAITI
In Haiti, New Year's Day is a sign of the year to come. Haitians wear new clothing and exchange gifts in the hope that it will bode well for the New Year.

ISLAM
The Muslims have their own calendar which is based on the cycles of the moon. The calendar consists of twelve months but, only has 354 days unlike other calendars such as the Gregorian or Jewish calendar etc. For this reason the Islamic New Year moves eleven days backwards through the seasons each year. Muharram is the first month of the Muslim year its first day is celebrated as New Year's Day. The Islamic New Year throughout the world is held quietly, without the festive atmosphere of other New Year celebrations.

KOREA
The first day of the lunar New Year is called Sol-nal. This is for families to renew ties and prepare for the New Year. New Year's Eve: People place straw scoopers, rakes or sieves on their doors and walls to protect their families from evil spirit sin the New Year. Everyone dresses in new clothes, the following morning, symbolizing a fresh beginning, and gathers at the home of the eldest male family member. Ancestral memorial rites are held, then the younger generation bows to elders in the family. They wish them good health and prosperity in the coming year.

JAPAN
The Japanese New Year Oshogatsu is an important time for family celebrations, when all the shops, factories and offices are closed. The Japanese decorate their homes in tribute to lucky gods. One tradition, kadomatsu, consists of a pine branch symbolizing longevity, a bamboo stalk symbolizing prosperity, and a plum blossom showing nobility.

SOUTH AFRICA
In South Africa they ring in the New Year with church bells ringing and gunshots being fired. For those in the Cape Province New Year's Day and Second New Year's Day are full of a carnival atmosphere as there are carnivals where people dress in colorful costumes and dance in streets to the sound of drums.

THAILAND

Celebrating 2010 New Years in Thailand with some new friends

The Thai New Year festival is called Songkran and lasts for three days from 13 to 15 April according the Gregorian calendar. The customs are many such as people throw water over one another, under the guise of that it will bring good rains in the coming year and all the Buddha statues or images are washed. They visit the monastery to pray and offer gifts of rice, fruit, sweets and other foods for the monks.

PAKISTAN
New Year in Pakistan is known as Nowrooz or New Day. This day begins in March and traditionally represents the rebirth of nature after the long winter. The New Year begins the instant the sun is no longer in the astrological sign of Pisces and enters Aries. It is celebrated as a time of renewal. One of the customs of Nawrooz is the practice of burning piles of wood. The bonfires are a symbol to destroy any remaining evil from the previous year.

Hope you liked my virtual tour around the world of New Year's celebration.

Sweet Kisses and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Jesiel

ps. Wish you all a year full of health, blessing and new beginnings.

The nicest Christmas day I could have away from home…

2010-12-29T14:19:00.010+01:00

Just when I thought I was going to have a lonely white Christmas day in Paris, the sun came out and I received an invitation to my neighbor’s house for a family dinner. My neighbors are a Moroccan family living in Paris for about 20 years; a couple in their fifties with two teenage kids. I met them when I moved in to my apartment. They serve as the “Guardians” of the residential area I live. Since moving in I’ve knocked on their door almost every week to bring them desserts from school. You can imagine how much they like to see me, and how welcome I am in their home :-)

Knowing that I am alone for the holidays they asked me to join their family’s traditional Christmas Day lunch.

The funny part of our relationship is that they only speak French and Arabic, so when I am around them I have to really make an effort with my (terrible) French in order to have a conversation. Sometimes communicating is difficult, but we always manage to understand each other and have a good time.

This time around the language pressure was at its peak since there were some relatives visiting for lunch as well. But the language didn’t stop us from having a fun and happy Christmas’s Day celebration. They made me feel at home with their cheerful celebration, good music and great food.

Fátima, the Mom, dancing Morrocan music.

The music was great and I learned some awesome Moroccan dance moves. The table was FULL of food, a nice fusion of Moroccan and French food. The lunch was three hours of non-stop eating and even though their religion and culture doesn’t allow them to drink alcohol, a bottle of Champagne was on the table for cheer to celebrate the occasion.

French traditional plate of chesses prior to dessert.

But it wasn’t only about drinking, eating, and laughing, what makes this occasion special was to hear them talking about their culture. It was interesting to hear them talking about the difference between Muslim and the Arabs and how they are being stereotyped as belonging to each other’s group. Many believe, to this date, that Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are Muslims. However, this is not always the case. LIke this we talked about different topic related to their culture and traditions.

After this perfect lunch I spent the evening at my place with some friends that came to visit me. It was a nice evening with one friend originally from Hong Kong, a sweet friend and classmate from San Diego and her boyfriend originally from Taiwan. We drank wine, champagne and of course sampled some dessert. We shared

a "Buche de Noel" cake, a classic French dessert normally served at Christmas celebrations. The finished Buche de Noel resemble a log, and may be sprinkled with powdered sugar to imitate the look of snow.

Traditional buche I made at school

But for Christmas Day at home I served an unique "Buche de Noel" created by the Pastry Chef Hugues Pouget for his Patisserie shop Hugo & Victor. It was delicious!!!

THANK YOU to all these friends for making my first Parisian Christmas Day perfect.

Days like this make me appreciate people, culture and traditions very much. The day gave me the opportunity to exchange ideas and traditions at a level that is just priceless. It also helped me understand and appreciate our world a little bit better. These are the moments that reminds me why I love to travel so much, and it definitely gives me the energy to keep going with this nomad lifestyle I’ve decided to live away from my loved ones.

I hope all of you also had a very happy Christmas day and Happy 2011!

Sweet kisses!
Jesiel

ps. "Rastafari not a clture, it's a reality", Bob Marley

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!

2010-12-24T21:41:00.007+01:00

I am spending Christmas in Paris. After a year full of travels I really didn’t feel like traveling during the busiest time of the year. Instead, I decided to stay home and enjoy a white Christmas in one of the most beautiful cities in the world... Paris!

I do have to say that I miss a lot my family and friends back home. Everyone knows that a Latino Christmas celebration is full of cheer and delight, good music, delicious foods and drinks, so it is very difficult to be away from my country during this time of the year.

Being so far away during Christmas makes me miss even more our food, our sweets and our delicious “Coquito”; which is a traditional punch served at Christmas and New Years celebrations. The drink is similar to eggnog, but with rum and coconut. If you would like to surprise your guests with a delicious drink you should try my recipe. This is actually my mom's secret recipe and today I am giving it away to my friends as a nice Christmas gift. See recipe below.

So here I am missing my people, culture and traditions, but I should not complain since I am actually in a nice place as well. Paris looks amazing during this season!!! The streets were lighted up a few weeks ago...

...the stores have the most beautiful window displays, there are Christmas markets all over the city and the Christmas spirit is everywhere you go.

Printemps store...

I hope everyone will have a Happy Christmas... and I would like to wish you all lots of love, joy and happiness during this season.

Sweet kisses and “Feliz Navidad”,

Jesiel

Ps. "There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions". -Bill McKibben

"Coquito" Recipe

32 oz Evaporated milk
32 oz of Condensated milk
6 egg yolks
18 oz of coconut milk
White Run Bacardi to taste
4 spoons of Vanilla
½ cup of Brandi
4 teaspoons of Cinnamon

Mix the egg yolks with the liquor and the spices. Add the milk little by little. Once all the ingredients are well mixed, refrigerate at least a day before serve it. Enjoy!

Antwerp, Belgium

2010-12-22T13:36:00.012+01:00

Last weekend I visited the city of Antwerp in Belgium. I went there searching for high quality chocolates, but I encountered myself with much more than just chocolates.

To be honest I didn’t know too much about this beautiful city. I didn’t research too much prior to the visit since I wanted to go there without any expectations and discover the city on the go. I didn’t spend too much time there in order to provide an opinion of the city as I usually do with some of the countries I have visited this year, so I will just going to mention 10 things I learned and liked about Antwerp.

1 – It is not a myth, it is a fact, Belgian chocolates are DELICIOUS. I tried from different stores and brand and they were all great.

2 – But it is not all just about Chocolates, their waffles are terrific. In two days I had six waffles (3 per day). DELICIOUS!!! If you ever visit the city, you have to try the waffles at “Desiré de Lille”.

3 –I loved the multiple restaurant, cute coffee and tea shops all over the city center. This is a place to enjoy delicious traditional and multicultural cuisine. I didn’t spend too much time in order to recommend places, but I do have to mention a cute little shop called "Salon de thé Claude".

4 - If you're a beer lover, add this place on your list of European places to visit. In Belgium there are numerous breweries and larger and smaller brands and kinds of beer. The centre of Antwerp is packed with bars and restaurants, so you will have plenty option from where to choose. I wasn’t able to do a beer tasting, since I was sick, but my friend Nicole, who joined my on this trip, did it and I gave me all the details. Apparently the most popular been in town is De Koninck, commonly called by the locals by "Bolleke", which I learned that the word translate to English as “candy”. It was funny to hear them all screaming for “candies”.

5 – It is a shopping / fashionista's dream destination. Stores of world-renowned designers are located there, but also many local small boutiques with beautiful options. The shoe shop selection is awesome. The Meir is the main shopping street where most popular brands are available.

5 – Loved the beautiful architecture.

Train station

6 – I learned that in Antwerpen there are more nationalities living than in Paris. Could you believe that? It is a very multicultural city. I liked the fact that this is a city with a small town vibe.

7 – I was surprised to hear that Antwerp is known for being the “capital of diamonds”. I did some research when I got back and in fact it the main port of diamonds in the world. More than 70% of all diamonds are traded in Antwerp. It feels like this is the right place for any woman – They have the best chocolates, an amazing selection of shoes and diamonds… lol!

8 – Something curious – The famous Antwerp hands. This is a little biscuits or chocolates in the shape of a hand. They are everywhere you go. I found out later that it was invented by a Jewish baker in 1932.

9 – Are French fries really come from Belgium? In Belgium “pomme frites” are considered a national treasure, they are still prepared from fresh potatoes and sold on the streets from numerous french-fry shacks, known as a fritures or frietkoets. They claim these fritter are originally from their country. Of course, French claim the same as well. Maybe not that important, but just something I didn’t know and just learned during the trip.

10 – This is a city to meet very friendly people. I liked the fact that they speak English very well, which makes it a very tourist friendly destination. As described by locals, people from Antwerp are well educated, speak two or tree languages fluently, enjoy good food and good living, are hard workers, and are just very proud of being from Antwerp.

After Antwerp I did a quick stop in Brussels city.

I just spent a few hours visiting the city center. First impression from the city - This is a very touristy destination that feels like “Chocoland” surrounded by a breathtaking architecture.

Sweet kisses!!!

Jesiel

Ps. "What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent van Gogh

THE final baking test!

2010-12-16T21:13:00.004+01:00

I am on my last week at school before the Holiday break and the days have been long and full of final exams. I still have one more day to go, but I wanted to stop by quickly for an update on my final boulangerie exam.

The final test consisted on making...

Baguette Tradition and pettit pain

Croissant and pain du chocolat

Brioche

Special pain of your choice - I made the pain complet

It was a stressful day for everyone since we are a group of Patissiers, not Boulangers, but we ended up doing very well. The Chef said that our products could be sold in a store :-).

Sweet kisses!!!

Jesiel

Ps.“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.” --Robert Browning

Oh lá lá…Chocolats!

2010-12-10T23:45:00.013+01:00

Oh lá, láaaa…. A famous French expression with many meaning that can be used in several circumstances. French people use it when they are surprised, disappointed, upset, when they are witnessing something dangerous, etc. There really are a lot of circumstances in which this expression is used; therefore you hear it over and over during daily life in France.

For example, I hear the expression all the time from the Chef at school. He usually says it a lot when someone is doing something wrong or is simply doing something very well - “Oh lá, lá, Jesiel que est-ce tu fait?”, “Oh lá lá Jesiel, Cést trés jolie”.

I love hearing this expression so much that it has even become an inside joke with some classmates. Every time we hear a French person using the expression we feel the need to laugh about it.

Over the last two weeks we have been working with chocolate in the kitchen. CHOCOLATES! a word that can evoke a lot of delicious “mmms…” when hearing it, but in a kitchen it just calls for a lot of “oh lá lá”, especially from the Chef.

Working with chocolate is not easy. It is definitely an art that requires a lot of patience and love. The other day the Chef told me as a joke, “You will see that you either love chocolate or it will love A LOT – It will be all over you.” He was totally right. Working with chocolate for the first time can get very messy, it will only be mere seconds until you have it all over you - tables, floor, uniform, shoes, hands, face – everywhere! It is a process that can be a little frustrating but once you master the techniques it becomes exciting.

The most difficult and messy technique to learn when you’re a beginner is how to temper the chocolate. I won’t explain the entire process because I would need to get too technical, but the idea of tempering chocolate is the process of heating and cooling that gives chocolate the proper gloss, hardness, and texture, and is the key to the success of your product.

Once you learn how to temper chocolate properly then the fun starts. Last week we started to learn the basics of making a chocolate sculpture. We did a few exercises, but we will keep working on this. Our final school project in January is to make a chocolate sculpture. I will post the pictures by then :-)

I also learned how to make chocolate bonbons... and I did a lot of them.

Garrigue - Basil, lemon, dark and milk chocolate

Aladin - Almond, pistachio and Kirsch.

Dry Oranges covered bychocolate

Palerme - Hazelnut and milk chocolate

Palets Or - Dark chocolate, fresh cream, instant coffee, praline and Champange

Baiser Volé - Apricot , passion fruit, and dark chocolate

Anis cannelle - Milk and dark chocolate, cinnamon and anise

Filled of apple and rum

The last two weeks of working with chocolate were great! I learned and ate a lot. And what more appropriate way could I celebrate chocolate than by visiting Belgium, the chocolate capital of the world. I will spend the weekend in the city of Antwerp. Stay tuned for my next story about this “delicious” city!

Sweet kisses... And bonne weeken!

Jesiel

Ps. "Nine out of ten people like chocolate. The tenth person always lies." - John Q. Tullius

Champagne in Champagne!

2010-12-03T22:19:00.010+01:00

This story is for those that love drinking Champagne, but really have no clue of what Champagne is about.

This is exactly how I felt before I arrived in Paris. I was clueless about Champagne; I only knew that I love it. But I wasn’t able to hold a conversation about it or choose a good bottle of champagne when in a winery shop.

Thanks to my oenology class at school now I can buy a nice bottle of Champagne without asking the sales person for a recommendation. I am way far from being an expert on the topic, but I am learning little by little and would like to share some of the information with you.

Actually, the timing of this story is perfect since I just came from visiting the Champagne area in France. A nice day trip organized as part of my culinary studies at Ecole Gregoire Ferrandi in Paris.

We visited the famous Taittinger, one of the greatest names in Champagne founded in 1734.

Two thirds of its production is exported to more than 100 countries around the world, so you probably have drink or at least heard about it.

Looking around their list of international distributors...

A found Puerto Rico :-)

So, if you are clueless about Champagne here three key things you should know as a beginner in the topic.

Lesson # 1 – What is Champagne?

A sparkling wine that can be truly called Champagne is made only from grapes of the Champagne region of France. Actually, French law dictates that all sparkling wines made in that area must be made by a special process called the traditional or champagne method. Only then, should it be called Champagne. Sparkling wines produced in other parts of the world; even if they are created by the traditional method can not be called Champagne.

Lesson #2 – How is Champagne made?

This delicious beverage is made from a blend of three grape varieties; Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier. Each grape lends a special character that blend unique flavors.
The process is quite long to explain, so I will just mention it in a nutshell so you have an idea.
First, the wine base is created – Here is when the juice from the individual grape varieties are fermented and set aside for either aging or blending.

Second, after the first fermentation, the winemaker will take the fermented juice from the three different grape varieties mentioned above to make a base wine.

Then, the wine is ready for the second fermentation. Now is when the sparkling wine gets its bubbles. After the base wine has been blended, more yeast and sugar is added. Then the wine is sealed off based on the method of bottling. As the yeast consumes the sugars, alcohol and carbon dioxide are produced. Since the carbon dioxide cannot escape, it absorbs into the wine until it can be liberated by some lucky fellow in the form of tiny, streaming bubbles.

Finally, more sugar is added to balance out the high acidity of the sparkling wine, a strong cork is inserted and the bottles are ready for further aging or selling.

Lesson #3 - When Buying a Sparkling Wine…

You can choose your sparkiling wine based in its sweetness, which ranges as follow:

Extra Brut (Brut Sauvage) - Totally dry
Brut - Dry
Extra Dry - Medium dry
Sec - Slightly sweet
Demi - Sec: Fairly sweet
Doux - Sweet

When buying Champagne, you may have the option of buying Vintage champagne, which is made only from grapes harvested during a specific year. The vintage Champagne is only made during years where the grapes had exceptional growing seasons and it is aged longer than non-vintage Champagne.

For a special occasion you could get a Premium vintage Champagne, which is made using only the best grapes from top vineyards for that year and the Pinot Meunier variety is often left out. These are more expensive.

But, my trip to Champagne wasn’t just about drinking Champagne. We had a chance to visit the city center from Reims, which is located about 90 km from Paris, and considered the center of the Champagne industry.

It is actually a nice walkable city. There are many pedestrian streets and due the Christmas Holiday season the street are full of cute markets selling all related to the season.

We also visited the Notre Dame Cathedral (13th-14th cent.), I was reading other there that the The Cathedral it’s a monument of French Gothic architecture. During World War I, heavy bombing, which nearly leveled the city, destroyed the interior, but later years was restored and was reopened in 1938. It is beautiful!!! This is a must to visit while in the area.

Ok, have to go for a glass of Champagne. :-)

Bonne weeken!

Sweet Kisses,

Jesiel

Ps. "One holds a bottle of red wine by the neck, a woman by the waist, and a bottle of Champagne by the derriere." (Mark Twain)

Parisian food markets

2010-11-27T20:02:00.017+01:00

This week I had my second school day trip. This time I visited the famous wholesale food market Rungis; which is located in the southern suburbs of Paris (about 45 minutes from the city). I am not talking about a simple street food market; this is the largest and best food market in the world. A market that sells over €7bn worth of food every year in a space that covers 232 hectares. Fish, meat, fruits, vegetables, cheese and even fresh flowers are sold here every day in; it is impressive!

In this market you find the best fresh produce in France in such large quantities that an entire train station, highway exit, hospital, police station and all facilities needed were built to serve about 35,000 people that come to facilities in a daily basis.

So last Wednesday, I visited this amazing place with my classmates from Ferrandi Culinary School. Our early journey started at 4a.m. (well, I woke up at 3am to be at school ready for departure at 4a.m.).

Rungis serves many Parisian restaurants looking high quality and freshest product available, so it was nice to be in the place where a lot of French restaurants purchase their delicious products.

After a four hours tour around the facilities, at 9am we were ready for lunch; a huge plate of delicious salty ribs with french fries :-)

Unfortunately, Rungis do not sell to individuals. This is a wholesale market. However, if you are in Paris and would like to try fresh and delicious products, you can always go to the small food markets located all over the city especially on the weekends.

Here is where I actually do my groceries, since besides getting the freshest fruit and vegetables in town, I also have the chance to experience the real Parisian interacting in their day-to-day, which is very interesting.

Here is a list of some of the markets I frequent on the weekends:

Richard Lenoir Market:

In this market is not only about fresh fruits, is also about performers singing and playing music among the hub-bub. There are several vendors here that offer Middle Eastern cuisines, and there is also a vendor that makes delicious paella. You’ll also find leather goods (wallets, purses, belts) along with lingerie, shoes and textiles.

Market Days: Thursday and Sunday

Metro: Bastille, Line 8, 1, 5

Boulevard Raspail Market:

This market in Saint Germain de Pres is situated in one of Paris’ most scenic and upscale neighborhoods, so the downside is that is one of the most expensive ones. A nice thing is that on Sundays the market is about organic products.

Market Days: Tuesday through Sunday. Sunday is organic market day.

Metro: Rennes, Line 12

Saxe-Breteuil:

This is the one I go the most since it is located just 15 minutes walk from home. This famous market is framed by views of the Eiffel Tower, just in case you forget you are indeed in Paris as you shop through the stands of produce, fish, flowers and cheese.

Market Days: Sundays

Metro: La Motte Picqute, Line 8

Sweet kisses!
Jesiel

Ps. "Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love" Turkish Proverb

“Working-out” so the Macarons don’t “bust my waist-line out”

2010-11-19T11:28:00.010+01:00

After 10 months, 11 countries, uncountable glasses of wines, cheeses, sweets, street food, dozens of macaroons, and everything along those lines, this week I went back to the gym. OMG, what a difficult first week, but I’m so excited to be back on track.

I really like to exercise since it makes me feel full of energy, healthy, and of course helps me keep toned and in shape. I especially like the fact that when you feel full of energy, your entire daily performance is reflected as a professional or as a student.

Sometimes it is not that easy to keep up with the work-out sessions – there are a lot of temptations around to make you fail – and when it happens it is difficult to get back on track. The last time I was in a gym was in December, 2009, right before I left NYC to begin my journey of traveling the world for 8 months. In NYC I would go to the gym at least three to five times a week to do cardio, free weights, Pilates, body pump, yoga, etc. I simply loved it since it was a relaxing escape from my hectic NYC life.

When planning my journey I included an agenda that would keep me living a healthy lifestyle. I put it in my head that my journey wasn’t a vacation; it was actually my new life for the moment, so I needed to do some adjustments and incorporate some life essentials as part of my daily routine. This is why I brought a complete DVD routine and some elastic bands all around the world. BUT it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. If I used the DVD’s more than two weeks, in eight months, that would be an overstatement. I think it was a combination of not being physically 100% well due to jetlag or colds acquired while moving from city to city, or sometimes it was a matter of not having the privacy. Other times I’ll admit it, there were simply too many distractions in my new life to really be able to focus on exercising. I was still active, since traveling requires a lot of walking and in some countries a lot of trekking, but I wasn’t consistent. No matter my reasons for not exercising, the reality is I didn’t exercise for a long time. I have lost all my conditioning and now I am to starting from zero.

NOW I am here in Paris eating pastries on every corner, loving French cheeses, breads, wines, etc... I need to do something fast!. Not necessarily because I am gaining weight, because luckily I am not, but my muscles are not toned and I am starting to feel a slump in energy. So, today was the day. I finally joined a gym near my house and I feel very excited and motivated to be back on track. It is only 10-15 minutes walk away from my place, which is not a problem to walk, but the issue is more with what I pass on the way. Every step is filled with temptations. Here is a visual tour from home to the gym so you can understand.

I start my walk to the gym at Rue Cler (street Cler), which is just in the coner of my house. This is a pedestrian shopping street full of restaurants, patisseries, chocolatiers, food markets, fromageries, etc. It is just full of temptations. Actually, is the same street Julia Child used to shop when she lived in Paris in the early 1950s.

Here I discovered an excellent fromagerie. Actually, a neighbor once told me that is one of the best ones in the city, and yes it is. I love it!

Right in front there is nice place to buy fresh fish.

In case I need to get proscuitto, here I come. But I really avoid to come inside this place :-)

On the same street there is a Jeff de Bruges Chocolatier... His chocolates are soooo delicious!

Other windows I see on my way and may for a little bit - furniture, clothes, etc...

Then, I walk on Avenue La Motte Picquet, where I pass in front of the Military School...

... and and the Eiffel Tower.

Finally, I arrive to the Gym, which is of course located next to a Häagen-Dazs store ...

And a delicious Chocolatier store.

Can you understand now why I say that every step is full of temptations??? :-)

But wait, why I am writing about this? Isn’t my blog supposed to be about delicious sweats full of calories? The answer is yes- but it’s also about inspiration. If you have been living the lazy life like I have been doing for a while, I would like to inspire you to do something about it TODAY.

Here is my philosophy about how to do it.

1 - BE REALISTIC - A goal? Forget about it. A lot of people recommend SMALL GOALS as a good way to start but I would rather recommend just thinking of working out as part of your new life. A life that is healthy, filled with energy, and keeps you looking good. This is not about loosing weight to wear your favorite jeans or to be the hottest looking person at your class reunion; this is about getting off your butt and sincerely embracing an active life -forever.

2 - FIND INSPIRATION – Once you decide you want to change your lifestyle, get around people that enjoy an active lifestyle as much as you do (or you will). They will keep you motivated. Keep your distance from the couch potatoes; they just bring calories to your life. Also, join a gym or practice sports around people that physically look better than you. Believe me that it helps. Once in a while review a Victoria Secret catalog, or if you are a guy, just get the latest Men’s Health Magazine. This works extremely well as a motivator booster.

3 – ENJOY THE RIDE - Know what you like, if you don’t know, discover it. Is it running, swimming, yoga, or boxing? Whatever it is, search until you find it. If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, you won’t keep it up. This is true for everything in life.

4 – MODERATION - Don’t burn yourself. Know your limits. Exercise as much as your body needs it, BUT be consistent.

5 – EAT WELL – Have the right diet for your type of body, so you can get the energy you need for your new active lifestyle. This is not about dieting, since I don’t even know what that means; it is just about eating right, with moderation and the right proportions. This is what works for me, but do the research!

I have a lot of friends that keep a very healthy and active lifestyle. If you are reading this story, please post your comments on my blog and leave me your best advice.

I’m back on track with healthier and balanced living.

Sweet (and healthy) Kisses!

Jesiel

Ps. "The greatest wealth is health" ~Virgil

I am getting Married!

2010-11-12T20:35:00.010+01:00

“I am getting married!” With those simple words said out loud, every couple starts searching for their traditional and delicious wedding cake.

Well, they say that weddings are all about traditions, right? So, every culture has their way to go…

While in Italy newlyweds hand out sugared almonds representing the bitter and the sweet in life; Korean weddings serve Kuk soo (noodles), which symbolize long life.

In medieval England, guests pile small cakes in the center of a table challenging the bride and groom to kiss over them. In the Ukraine, couples share korovai rather than a cake. Korovai is a sacred wedding bread decorated with symbolic motifs that represent eternity and the joining together of two families.

In China, they have a particular menu that consists of apples, seaweed and lotus-seed tea. This menu is chosen for their phonetic plays on words. For example, the Chinese word for apple is similar to the expression "go safely", Fat choy sounds like the expression "be prosperous", and Liem sun denotes the hope for many sons.

In Jamaica the traditional wedding cake is a dark fruitcake laced with rum.

In the Jewish tradition, a wedding meal is to be prepared Kosher style, which within the laws of the Torah, means no mixing of meat and dairy.

In Bermudan traditions the bride and groom have separate wedding cakes. The bride's wedding cake is a tiered fruitcake covered with silver leaf and has a small cedar sapling on top that is replanted after the ceremony to symbolize the growth of the couple's love. Gold leaf tops the groom's cake and represents prosperity. And so forth…

Well, long ago in France it was a tradition for villagers to throw buns into a pile in preparation for the wedding feast. A clever baker decided to take some bun-like pastries stuffed with cream and fastened them as a pyramid, like the mound of buns, creating a tall cone of caramel-coated cream puffs called croque-en-bouche ("crisp in the mouth"). The cone may be topped with caged doves, which are released to symbolize the newlyweds' departure from their families.

Another description of the Croque en bouche is… a Cake often served at weddings, baptisms, and first communions. It is a high cone shape made of choux filled with pastry cream sometimes dipped in caramel or chocolate, and usually decorated with threads of caramel, sugared almonds, chocolate, flowers, or ribbons.

This week at school I spent six hours making my first Croque en bouche. It was very time consuming, first, because it was my first time making this cake, but second because there are actually a lot of steps involved in process, for example:

1 – First, the making of the nougatine, which works as the cake based or stand, (Nougatine is caramelized almonds).

2 – Second, baking a minimum of (80) choux and then dipping each in caramel.

3 – Third, assembling the cake in a pyramid/cone form. Which is actually done using as “glue” melted toffee that not only holds the puffs together in their stunning pyramid shape, but also burn your finger while doing it :-(.

4 – Last, once the cake is assembled, the final step is to decorate it.

Voilá!!!

So, if you are French and you are getting married soon, just let me know since I feel ready to prepare my first professional Croque en bouche. I will probably need help from a professional, but I am totally up for the challange.

Sweet Kisses!

Jesiel

Ps. “Do not panic! I am not getting married. Ha, ha…” Jesiel Maxán

Moulins Bourgeois

2010-11-05T23:28:00.011+01:00

Today I had a school trip to the famous flour mill Moulins Bourgeois, located in Verdelot, around 60km outside Paris. The facilities are incredible, but the town where is located is magnificent. It was my first experience outside Paris city and I loved it.

I visited the Moulins Bourgeois facilities as part of my school program with the objective of learning all details about the process and technology of flour manufacturing.

One of the coolest things to see in this place is their traditional watermill structure originally builded in 1895. The watermill is the old process of flour production that uses a water wheel to drive a mechanical process.

However, nowadays, the manufacturing process at Mouling Bourgeois takes place in a very modern facility using impressive machineries in accordance to their massive production.

It was a nice day off from school and a beautiful city to visit.

Now I am saying goodbye with my mouth full of the delicious artesian bread I got today at the Mouling Bourgeois.

Sweet kisses!

Jesiel

Ps. "Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new" Ursula K. Leguin