Freedom Fries and Cafe Creme. Jocelyne Rapinac

people.

       Basic dough:

      80g butter, cut into pieces, plus extra for greasing pinch of salt

      1 cup (120g) plain flour, plus extra for dusting

      4 eggs

      ½ cup (60g) grated Emmental cheese (or other hard cheese)

      ground black pepper

      1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Heat ¾ cup (200ml) water in a saucepan with the butter and salt. Once it has come to the boil, remove from the heat and add the flour all at once. Beat well with a wooden spoon until the flour is completely incorporated. Return the saucepan to a moderate heat and cook, stirring, until the dough is smooth, thick and glossy. Remove from the heat and add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Stir in the grated cheese (or your chosen flavouring from the list of variations, below) and two pinches of pepper.

      2. Grease a baking sheet and lightly dust with flour. Using a tablespoon, place individual spoonfuls of the dough on the baking sheet, or spread into a large single round. Bake for 30 mins for the small pastries or 40 mins for a large one, until well risen, crisp and golden. Serve hot as an amuse-bouche or as a main dish with a green salad.

      Jessica’s Variations of Gougères

       Ham: Add 1 cup (120g) cooked or smoked ham, cut into tiny cubes and, if desired, 2 sautéed finely chopped spring onions, at the same time as the cheese.

       Blue cheese (any kind): Omit the grated cheese and instead add ½ cup (100g) crumbled blue cheese mixed with 2 tbsp cream.

       Goat’s cheese and aubergine: Omit the grated cheese. Instead sauté one small finely chopped aubergine and 1 small finely chopped onion in olive oil until softened. Add to the dough with ½ cup (120g) crumbled fresh goat’s cheese.

       Clams: Omit the grated cheese. Instead add 1 tin (184g) of clams, drained and chopped and mixed with 2 tbsp cream and a handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley.

       Tapenade and sundried tomatoes: Omit the grated cheese. Instead add ½ cup (100g) tapenade, ½ cup (100g) chopped sundried tomatoes and 1 tsp dried herbes de Provence or dried oregano.

       Anne-Sophie’s Version of Pain d’Épices (Gingerbread)

      Pain d’épices is another speciality of Burgundy – of Dijon, to be exact. This recipe makes two loaves of approximately 800g each. Jessica likes to freeze one and eat the other straight away.

      6 cups (700g) plain flour

      1½ cups (340ml) honey

      ¾ cup (150g) sugar (caster, soft brown or half and half), plus 2 tbsp brown sugar for topping

      ½ cup (125g) ginger preserve

      180g softened butter, plus extra for greasing and 2 tbsp for topping

      2 eggs, at room temperature

      ½ cup (125ml) milk

      2 tsp baking powder

      2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

      ½ cup (100g) candied peel

      2–3 tsp anise seeds

      ¼ cup (60ml) orange-flower water or milk

      ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

      1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. In a large bowl, beat together the flour, honey, sugar, ginger preserve, butter, eggs, milk, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

      2. Grease and line two 9 x 5 in (23 x 12.5cm) loaf tins. Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 30 mins. Spread 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp brown sugar over each cake, then return to the oven for 15 mins. Use a skewer to test that the loaves are cooked through. Turn off the oven but leave the cakes in for 5 mins, then remove from the oven and cool in the tins before turning out. The pain d’épices will keep for 10 days in an airtight tin, or can be frozen.

       March

       Did You Say ‘Fromage’?

      ‘A dinner without cheese is like a beautiful woman without an eye.’

      Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, 1755–1826,

       French lawyer, politician, epicure and gastronome

      Another weeknight like any other. Paul had just come home from work. Adam was preparing some delight in the kitchen while listening to Paris Combo, the group they were into at the moment. Even Pastis, the cat, seemed to be enjoying the jazzy music, as he lay with his usual poise on his beloved red sofa in the little kitchen alcove, facing the entrance. He didn’t take much notice of the newcomer.

      ‘Hi, Paul. How are you?’ Adam asked, cheerfully as usual.

      No answer.

      ‘How was your day?’

      Still no answer.

      ‘Come on, Paul, what’s up?’

      ‘Oh, don’t ask.’

      ‘All right. Hey, I’m cooking that special cheese dish for dinner.’

      Paul looked at Adam vacantly.

      ‘Come on, make a bit of an effort!’

      ‘Yeah, sure …’ mumbled Paul. He gave a big sigh and mooched off to his room.

      Well, you don’t seem very enthusiastic at all, Adam thought, a little apprehensively. But he decided to say nothing just then. Let Paul have his shower, then drink a beer in front of the TV while he watched the news and petted Pastis – should the cat feel inclined to leave his sofa and go and sit with his master in the media room. Paul ought to be a bit more relaxed after that.

      Hoping Paul would soon be in a better mood, Adam returned to preparing dinner while sipping his preferred aperitif: a glass of pastis from Marseilles. Hearing his phone, he donned his hands-free headset so he could talk to Rita, Paul’s mother. She needed some advice about a recipe she was following for Spanish garlic soup.

      Rita had been taking cookery classes for more than three years, and had entered wholeheartedly into the joy of it. Handling the food, holding the ingredients to her nose, and observing the chemistry of their combination – all had been complete revelations to her.

      ‘It’s like magic! And it brings me so close to Mother Nature!’ she would say.

      She was now trying to make cooking a mandatory course, starting from ninth grade, in every high school in New England because she believed that everyone should have the same wonderful experience as her. Besides, people would be healthier. More than twenty schools in the region were already seriously considering her proposal. She was also supporting the schools’ cooks in their efforts to continue serving healthy lunches to students, often having to argue with parents who didn’t care very much about their children’s eating habits as long as they ate things they liked and therefore didn’t complain, which on the whole meant fries and pizzas.

      Paul liked to make fun of his mother’s new interest. ‘You could say she has a lot on her plate!’ he laughed, but he knew that she was right to try to give young teenagers some insight into cooking, as some of their parents were a lost cause on that front. He just wished Rita had thought of it earlier; he would have been much better fed when he was growing up.

      Rita asked Adam if she could talk to her son, but he told her how morose