Tortilla de patatas my way

Whether you call it tortilla, omelette or frittata, this egg-dish is ubiquitous across Mediterranean countries and is the staple food for snacks, get-togethers with friends either at home or in a bar. Some like it warm, other prefer to have it cold. I like it both ways. It is also delicious between two slices of baguette in a sandwich.

You can also prepare it with zucchini or mushrooms among many other ingredients. The version presented here is made with potatoes. You may also want to add chorizo or bacon as it will bring a smoky note that goes so well with eggs and potatoes. Since I had neither of them, I replaced chorizo by Pimenton de la Vera, the Spanish take on smoky paprika that gives its characteristic taste and flavor to chorizo.

You may have heard about the French's love for "baveuses" (slimy may be the closest translation) omelettes. However, the following recipe features a more "solid" texture that calls for a little bit more cooking time and eggs beaten slightly longer. I think "baveuse" texture is better suited to plain or cheese/ham omelettes. But ultimately, it's up to you and your taste buds.

This simple dish is the ideal companion of Sundays' brunches. Accompanied by a slice of ham (Prosciutto di San Daniele, Jamon Iberico de Bellota or local) and a glass of good red wine, life doesn't get any better than this.



Ingredients (serves 2-3):

7 large eggs
2 medium potatoes
1 shallot
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Pimenton
1/2 tsp Piment d'Espelette
4 pinches sea salt

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/2 inch dices.
2. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Cook the potatoes on medium heat until almost tender (cover them 5 minutes after starting the process. They should not become brown). Season with 2 pinches of salt. Add the shallots and cook until they are soft and the potatoes fully tender.
3. Crack the eggs open into a mixing bowl. Beat them. Add 2 pinches of salt and the piment d'Espelette.
4. Add the egg mixture to the potatoes and shallots. Cook on medium heat until there is almost no liquid remaining on top and the bottom boasts the nice color shown on the above pictures. During that process, make sure to lift the sides of the omelette with a plastic spatula so it does not stick to the pan. Flip it and cook for 5 more minutes or until done on the other side.
5. Serve with sea salt on top.

Brandade-stuffed pimientos with tomato-piquillo salsa

How ironic life can be! I spent the entire previous post praising Ducasse's Grand Livre de Cuisine "Mediterrannee" and the first recipe published on this blog is an adaptation of a dish from the Grand Livre de Cuisine "Bistrots, Brasseries et Restaurants de Tradition". Regardless of the source, the flavors of this dish remain definitely Mediterranean (pimientos rellenos are served in most tapas bars across Spain) although I must say there is a pronounced Basque touch to it (pimientos are grown in Navarre and espelette pepper, used in the salsa, is produced in the French Basque Country).

This is a dish I first made last year and that I found quite satisfying at the time. The contrast between the sweet peppers and the saltier brandade really worked wonders with the salsa. It reminded me so much of the days I had spent in San Sebastian a few years ago. But that night my wife was traveling in Boston or some place close I guess. And as a meal is not really what it should be when not shared with your significant other, I had told her I would cook that again. It took me more than a year to do so. However, when I stumbled upon glass jars of pimientos del piquillo in Whole Foods yesterday, it reminded me I had a promise to honor. As cod also looked extremely fresh at the fish stand, I knew this had to be THE night for stuffed pimientos.

It is obviously preferable to use fresh pimientos and roast them on the gas burner or under the broil until they are blackened and blistered. Then, you let them rest in a plastic bag for 10 minutes so you can peel them much more easily. Unfortunately, I have never found fresh pimientos in the US so I use those in jars. As they are preserved in olive olive oil, they act as a nice replacement. Just make sure you buy pimientos from Lodosa (otherwise they would not be real piquillos and obviously would not taste as such).

As for the brandade, a Nimes' specialty consisting of mashed potatoes mixed with cod, garlic parsley and olive oil, you should try to use salt cod (the famous Spanish bacalao or morue in French) as it really tastes better. But, once again, the fishmonger at Whole Foods has only "regular" cod, which still works fine, though. Note that the original recipe of brandade contains milk or cream. Feel free to add some if you want to obtain creamier taste and texture.

I also suggest you add a pinch of espelette pepper, that you can source here, to the salsa. Tastier than black pepper and milder than cayenne with a smoky touch. You won't regret it. Buen provecho!


Ingredients (for 12 stuffed pimientos):

2 jars of pimientos del piquillo (or 24 fresh pimientos roasted and peeled)

2 medium Yukon Gold Potatoes

0.4 lbs of cod

3 garlic cloves (crushed and finely chopped)

2 tbsp of parsley

1/4 cup Heavy cream

1.5 cup Tomato puree

Olive oil

Salt

Espelette pepper


1. Make sure you remove all the seeds from the 12 piquillos that will be stuffed.

2. Place the potatoes in a sauce pan. Cover with water. Take to a boil until cooked through. Do the same with the cod.

3. Crumble the cod and saute it in olive oil for 3-4 minutes with the minced garlic and the parsley.

4. Peel the potatoes and mashed them. Mix with the cod, garlic and parsley. Add olive oil and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth. Season with salt to taste. This is your brandade.

5. Put the brandade in a freezer bag. Cut the tip and use it as a pastry bag to stuff the piquillos.

6. Prepare the salsa by mixing with a blender together the cream, 6-7 coarsely chopped piquillos and heated tomato puree. Season with salt and Espelette pepper to taste.

7. Preheat the oven at 425 degrees F. Put the stuffed piquillos on a baking tray and sprinkle them with olive oil. Put into the oven for 5 minutes. Serve.

Le Grand Livre de Cuisine d'Alain Ducasse Mediterrannee: a new reference for Mediterranean cooks

Before becoming a successful businessman and acclaimed globe-trotter restaurateur, Alain Ducasse was first and foremost a brilliant interpret of haute Mediterranean cuisine. Although not raised under the sun of the French Riviera (he's originally from Southwestern France), he apprenticed under legendary chef Roger Verge at Le Moulin de Mougins where he fell in love with the flavors of provencale cuisine. He would soon achieve the status of master of this genre himself by getting the much coveted Michelin awards first at La Terrasse of the Juana Hotel in Juan-Les-Pins (2 stars in 1984) and then at Le Louis XV, the restaurant of the Hotel de Paris in Monaco (3 stars in 1990). He would obviously not stop there and the rest is history.

However, fifty years from now, Ducasse may well be remembered not only for the quality of his cuisine or his financial success but rather for his ability to pass his knowledge on to the next generation of chefs and appoint the brightest at the helm of his flagship 3-star restaurants. Franck Cerutti belongs to this category of former pupils that have grown into master chefs. Born and bred in Nice, trained not only with Ducasse but also with Maximin and at Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence before becoming chef de cuisine of Le Louis XV, he is a passionate, gifted and dedicated creator of haute Riviera cuisine that he has almost come to personify according to Ducasse.

Needless to say that a cookbook on Mediterranean cuisine directed by these two men is much more than a cookbook. "Mediterrannee" actually belongs to the "Grands Livres de Cuisine d'Alain Ducasse" series whose first three volumes were dealing with French haute cuisine, pastry and bistro / brasserie food, respectively. 1000 pages-plus thick, each of them looks more like an encyclopedia than your typical cookbook and contains elaborate recipes that require a good technical background, an extensive use of fond, jus, ... as well as time consuming prep work. They also give a unique insight into the work of other talented Ducasse's proteges such as Jean-Francois Piege, Didier Elena, Benoit Witz or Frederic Robert. In any event, they are an infinite source of knowledge for cooks of any level.

In keeping with its predecessors, "Mediterranee" is a tome. Ducasse's crew, helped by a team of historians, has gathered 500 recipes, some of them forgotten, spanning the whole western Mediterranean from France to Spain, Italy, Sicily, Malta, Morocco... And the book really succeeds in capturing the culinary unity of the region while also highlighting all the local specificities. Recipes are ranked by ingredient from A like Agneau to Y like Yaourt with a whole section dedicated to desserts and contributed by Olivier Berger, the pastry chef at Le Louis XV.

Each dish has been refined using classical technique and becomes a little jewel in the hand of Ducasse's band of artists as evidenced by this perfectly executed and beautifully plated ratatouille. Although demanding, recipes are well articulated and each process is carefully detailed (prep, cooking, finishing touches, plating, ...). Each recipe also comes with a header describing the history and origin of the dish as well as gorgeous pictures.

Above and beyond classics such as Salade Nicoise, Daube de boeuf, Caponata or Ajo Blanco, "Mediterranee" also includes recipes of dishes created by Cerutti and served at Le Louis XV. Cerutti revisits specialties like farcis a la nicoise or risotto a la truffe noire and turns them into masterpieces. Behind an apparent simplicity, each dish shows a flawless execution and the ever-present respect of the ingredients. This translates into "essential pleasures" as Cerutti likes to describe them.

The only weaknesses of "Mediterrannee"? Its price (120 EUR) and the absence of English translation for the time being. However, if you're lucky enough to afford it / receive it as a gift and speak a little French, I can promise it will become a favorite among your books. Like a bible, mine stays atop my bedside table and I keep coming back to it over and over again to find inspiration or simply peace of mind before sleeping.

Next on Aioli & Co

I have been slower than initially planned to update this blog with new posts. The main reason is that I have ordered a new digital camera that I still have not received. This should be solved, hopefully, by the end of this week and I should be able to upload mouth-watering (let's be modest) pictures in addition to plain text. But before that, if that can help, I just wanted to provide a sneak preview of what's to come:

-There will definitely be a post about my favorite book on Mediterranean cuisine with a sophisticated twist. A bible that I suggest everyone passionate about the subject should buy.

-Ratatouille should be the first recipe since the dish is still in season and remains so emblematic of the region this blog deals with.

-I will then provide a detailed account (as well as pictures) of my upcoming trip to Southern France and Riviera. It should also include stories / pictures of farmers' markets, food served in some of the best restaurants of the region and whatever surprise this trip will offer.

-As the first stop of this trip will be Paris, I may also take advantage of staying there to write about a couple of culinary experiences.

Why another food blog?

If you are reading this, we certainly belong to the same "tribe": the food lovers who cannot spend a single day without having their dose of food reading (in addition of good food itself), be it on the internet or elsewhere. And the world wide web indeed caters to every foodie category and particular interest: wine, recipes, restaurant reviews, regional foods, ... We all have our favorites sources to get our daily fix: as customary, some of mine are shown on the right sidebar of this page. I encourage you to visit those sites and enjoy the writing of incredibly talented individuals.

That being said, for a native of Southern France like me, options are much more limited when it comes to fully satisfy my passion for Provencale and Nicoise cuisines. There are obviously plenty of web sites containing plain recipes (often without the attractive pictures and proper background you could expect though) but nothing really more than that. And as far as blogs written in English are concerned, not much at all. Hence the "aioli" project.

I obviously do not claim to be THE expert on this topic (Elizabeth David, Richard Olney and Patricia Wells, among others, have done quite a good job, right?). I do not either pretend to fully address such a vast subject, which would be far too ambitious. My goal is simply to provide, above and beyond recipes, a personal insight on food, wine, cookbooks, restaurants and chefs of this region.

From time to time (and more often than not I must say), I might also venture into discussions on other Mediterranean cuisines since they all share, to a large extent, the same common heritage. I may also write about my culinary adventures in New York or wherever travel may take me. In a nutshell, I would like to share my passion for good food in general with a focus on Mediterranean in particular.