French chefs are on a mission: to convince the United Nations to declare French cuisine a world treasure to be preserved. (Man, would I want to be on the deciding committee there…) This effort was announced by President Sarkozy himself in February, saying he wants France - a country with a long history of gastronomical pride - to be the first country in the world whose cuisine is recognized by UNESCO (other countries have been turned down for this honor). Traditionally, the World Heritage List is reserved for important world locations, such as Stonehenge and Machu Picchu. In recent years, however, the organization has taken to preserving more “intangibles,” such as events, rituals and festivals. Read more…
If it were me, I’d skip the biking…
According to CNN:
MONTLUCON, France (CNN) — Every year more than 200 professional cyclists set off on the epic Tour de France, some preparing for this brutal and astounding journey by embarking on various programs of extreme workouts, strict diet and intense focus. Plus huge quantities of drugs.
This year, I thought it might be fun to have a go myself, but rather than trying to score thigh-swelling pharmaceuticals from dingy backstreet bikeshops — or riskier still, trying to do some exercise — I decided I would train by ingesting a substance that, though largely untested in the field of sports science, is one I am all too familiar with: Cheese.
Frog legs, a typically French gourmet dish, were in fact served in Western Europe more than 5,000 years ago, according to new archaeological evidence.
The site of Kutná Hora-Denemark, a hill fort east of Prague, has revealed the remains of 893 frog bones, providing evidence that the Czechs ate frog legs as early as the Neolithic period.
“The discovery shows that still we don’t know everything about human diet in the past. Small bones of small vertebrates such as frogs can be missed in archaeological excavations,” René Kyselý, an archaeologist at the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of the Sciences of the Czech Republic, told Discovery News.
read more here.
In 2003, I flew with my then girlfriend, current wife, to Paris on November 22nd. We spent a week in the French capital and loved it. Incidentally, this was eight months - almost to the day - after America invaded Iraq and the French did not participate. While the mood in America was largely anti-French (Freedom fries anyone?), to someone visiting Paris for the first time, there was a very subtle but distinct American influence in many things, places and people: be it a street named after a former US President or an American flag in a storefront.
That is one of the memories I walked away from that trip. But another distinct memory were all of the “LE Nouveau Beajolais est arrivee,” as in, “the New Beaujolais has arrived.”
I did not get it then, but I do now:
As it happens, the third Thursday of November is the day that Beaujolais nouveau is released, and while Americans seem to have become largely indifferent to this rite of autumn, the French still take it seriously, filling bars and cafes to drink the first wine of the new vintage. Thus, it is entirely possible, for those so inclined, to arrive in Beaune on Thursday and maintain a very nice buzz straight through till Monday night. I wasn’t quite so ambitious, but I certainly didn’t leave Beaune hungry or thirsty. (OK, the vinous highlights of my weekend: the 1994 Raveneau Clos, the 1990 La Tâche, the 1999 Lafarge Clos des Chênes, and the 1988 Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux, the last a particularly cherished experience coming just two months after the legendary Jayer’s death.)
Read more.
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