Bonjour Avril!

~ For the past couple of weeks, I've been working at Bob's Kitchen, a vegetarian lunch restaurant and one of my favorite places to eat in Paris. I am there for just a short while, to give an extra hand as they provide the food sold during the Cinéma du Réel festival at Beaubourg.

It's been a fantastic experience all around: it's fascinating to me to see all that takes place behind the scenes for the restaurant to function; the team is a super friendly bunch and we laugh a lot in the kitchen; and last but not least, I get to eat lunch there every day while I work!

~ In other news, I wanted to point you to the online versions of two magazine articles I recently wrote: a snob-free Paris travel guide for Bon Appétit, and a selection of five Paris pâtisseries that revisit the greatest French classics, for Budget Travel.

~ This month I also took part in The Kitchn's Breakfast with a blogger series, and offered a recipe for apple bettelman, an Alsatian bread pudding.

And I gave a fun interview to the lovely Sasa, a Japanese/New Zealander food blogger (who, incidentally, started a new series of posts on Japanese food onomatopoeias that I hope she'll keep up).

Easter Treats

If you celebrate Easter (Easter Sunday is on April 24 this year) here are a few C&Z recipes for you to try:
~ Oeuf cocotte,
~ Braised lamb shoulder with flageolet beans,
~ Lamb and orange khoresh,
~ Hot cross buns with white chocolate, dates and pistachios,
~ Oeufs au lait (egg custard),
~ Sticky chocolate cake,
~ Chocolate and cacao nib cookies,
~ Ginger and almond chocolate clusters.

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Links you may enjoy

~ A father makes the coolest cake ever for his son's birthday (you have to watch the video).

~ Speaking of admirable cakes, I am in awe of the leprechaun trap cake that Megan created for Saint-Patrick's Day.

~ I am loving the work of Dietlind Wolf, a German designer and stylist.

~ When an engineering lab and a culinary school put their heads together, they create a 3D food printer.

~ My friend David "Wonka" Lebovitz takes you on a video tour of Patrick Roger's chocolate factory.

~ I very much adhere to Amanda Hesser's thoughts on Google's new recipe search feature.

April Desktop Calendar

At the beginning of every month, I am offering C&Z readers a new desktop calendar, i.e. a wallpaper to apply on the desktop of your computer, with a food-related picture and a calendar of the current month.

Come download the April edition!

Entry Digest

What have I been up to on Chocolate & Zucchini recently?

Butterless Apple Crumble
(March 29, 2011)

 It's only recently that I've realized that the crumble topping of a fruit crumble doesn't have to be made with butter to be crisp and delicious. Did you know? Am I the last person to find out? The epiphany came from my intensive granola-making activities: after all, isn't granola a second cousin to the crumble topping? And if I make granola with oil, not butter, why not try that in a crumble? And so, for the past few months -- since the begi...
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Blood, Bones & Butter
(March 22, 2011)

 I have an ambivalent relationship to food memoirs. On the one hand, a book that's entirely devoted to food and food experiences should have my name all over it. On the other hand, I deal with food so exclusively and so intensely all day and all week long that when I sit down to read at night or on weekends, I sort of want to read about other lives entirely. And this is one of the reasons why I so enjoyed Gabrielle Hamilton's memoir. Blood, B...
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Japan on My Mind
(March 15, 2011)

 Moss garden at Gio-ji temple in Arashiyama (Kyoto). I seldom invite world events to appear on Chocolate & Zucchini, because we live in an age of such hyperinformation that we don't need -- and often don't want -- to see the same topics on the news and on the food blogs we read. But in light of what has happened in Japan, what is still happening in Japan, and what I fear is going to happen next in Japan, I need a bit of time before we go back t...
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Hummus
(March 9, 2011)

 I realize the world has not been holding its breath waiting for me to share my recipe for hummus. But it does seem like the world, or at least a portion of its inhabitants, could use a friendly reminder about homemade hummus: how good it is, how easy, and how cheap, too. Just out of curiosity, I've calculated the approximate cost of my hummus, which I make from dried chickpeas, and with organic ingredients, and I've worked out that it costs m...
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Chicken in a Bread Crust
(March 2, 2011)

 I attended the Omnivore Food Festival in Deauville last week, a three-day event during which chefs from France and way beyond hop on stage and do live demos. This was the sixth edition and I've only missed one since it started, but this year was extra special for me because I'd been asked to host the pastry chefs' demos in the sucré auditorium. I had a blast meeting such talented individuals, from Bubo's Carles Mampel to Noma's Rosio Sanchez b...
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