the cooks next door

A visitor from New Orleans stopped by the other day and asked me some questions about my cooking references. He was preceded by a neighbor who also had questions about when I learned to like working in the kitchen.

Msr. Danno had these questions for me:

Number of Cookbooks I've owned: I can count 123 on the shelves in the common room and I have several by the bed. But that doesn’t count several books that fell overboard the canoe on the trip across the lake.

Last book that I bought: La Varenne's The French Cook, Englished in 1653

Last (Food) book I read: The History of Food, Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat
Cookbooks: Paris Sweets, Dorie Greenspan

Five Cookbooks that mean a lot to me: La Cuisine, Raymond Olivier
Savoring the Past:the French Kitchen Table from 1300-1769, Barbara Ketcham-Wheaton
Nouvelle instruction pour les confitures, les liqueurs et les fruits. de Massialot
Varenne's The French Cook, Englished in 1653
La Techinque, Jacques Pepin

Previously Msr. Chefdoc had these questions for me.

What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own? When I was six, I got caught in the pantry eating chocolat tablets—ma mère taught me to bake biscuits that very day.

Who had the most influence on your cooking? Peering into the pots and pans of LaVarenne and Massialot via their livres de cuisine.

Do you have an old photo as "evidence" of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it? Yes, a very old picture of my cuisiniere.


my first cuisiniere

Mageiricophobia - do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat? With good instructions or a mentor, there is nothing I am afraid to try cooking.

What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest letdown? I couldn’t live without my mortar and pestle—such a wonderful food processor. My biggest letdown was a bundle of sticks tied and used to whip—it didn’t work well.

Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like - and probably no one else does! Bleu fromages and fruit.

Your favorite ice-cream... Citron Crème Glacé

You will probably never eat... Pork or shellfish

Your own signature dish... Paté de Campagne

Added by Chefdoc of A Perfect Pear... Any signs that this passion is going slightly over the edge and may need intervention? My husband thinks so at times, but I’m sure he’s mistaken!