katia and kyliemac get blogged

Tasting

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:14:57 +0100

Dining at the 3 Michelin starred restuarant of Régis & Jacques Marcon in Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid was an amazing experience, one I will never forget - the company, the setting, the amazing food all made it a wonderful moment in time.

As promised in k&k episode 290, here are a few photos from our evening... To say that "this was the salmon dish" or "this was seafood" seems like it's almost a blasphemy to the combination of 17,000 other flavours present in each dish. My iphone photos don't do this incredible meal justice, but check out my flickr stream to see for yourself...

Note that there is not a single mushroom present in any of my dishes. Although there were a few things in the shape of mushrooms... Can you spot them?

un café gourmand

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0100

un café gourmand was something i'd seen on a menu or two - i wasn't sure what it was, but assumed, using my stellar translation skills, that it was some kind of fancy coffee.

café = coffee
gourmand = gourmand

i was hopeful that it was something similar to an irish coffee.

it wasn't.

a café gourmand is the normal little espresso which is a typical way of finishing off a meal in France - but in addition to the coffee, you also get a small selection of mini desserts - generally three or four. so it's a perfect way to end a meal if you want just a bit of something sweet - and don't want to feel like a glutton.

this is one that vivi enjoyed on my recent visit to see her in champagne - complete with some sort of delicious chocolate browning with "crème anglaise", mini magnum (ice cream), mini macaroon, and mini-creme brulée.

maison à colombages

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:57:59 +0100

On my recent trip to the champagne region to visit the lovely vivi we spent part of the afternoon in Troyes wandering about this town that has existed since roman times.

This is one of the houses we saw -

These half-timbered houses are called 'maison à colombages' or 'maison à pans de bois' and you don't see many of these types of structures in Paris (although a few do remain) because eventually it was required that the buildings be plastered to protect against fire. They always make me think of Shakespearean England or Fantasyland at Disney.

the stash. courtesy of canuckflack.

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:16:17 +0100

one of the perks of doing the podcast is having the opportunity of meeting many of you guys when you come to Paris for a visit. and very often you bring us treasures.

here's the stash that canuckflack brought us on his recent trip to the City of Lights. you can listen to us eating these goodies in Episode 285 of Katia and Kyliemac V.O.

thanks, canuckflack!

warning: the katia and kyliemac empire strongly advise avoiding the dark pink bottlecaps, allegedly "cherry". the empire takes no responsibility for those listeners not heeding this recommendation. eat at your own risk.

Glimpses of Mulhouse

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:48:49 +0100

When I was in Mulhouse, Alsace, a couple of weeks ago, I really didn't have much of an opportunity to see the city or the surrounding countryside. But I did manage to catch a brief glimpse of the Place de la Réunion, the central square of the city, with it's typically Alsacian brightly coloured façades and fascinatingly faux Mairie.

To fully appreciate these terrible shots, you must try to imagine me running through the square at sunset in heels, on my way to a réception at the Mairie, and trying to grab a couple of pictures with my iphone, just for you all reading this blog. I'm so classy.

I don't think Mulhouse is quite as pretty as other cities in Alsace, like Colmar or Strasbourg, but central Mulhouse does have a certain charm!

Mairie : Town Hall

Vins et verres d'Alsace

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:27:49 +0100

Whilst in Alsace, a region that is quite rightly proud of its many varieties of white wine, I had the opportunity to taste quite a bit - Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Muscat... After all, when you're working hard, you can work up quite a thirst.

I brought home a few bottles - a Pinot Gris, a Gewürztraminer and a Gewürztraminer Vendange Tardive. The Vendange Tardive is a late harvest wine, where the almost over-ripe grapes are carefully picked one by one, and is really sweet and delicious, and is therefore quite a bit more expensive than the typical wine. But it's so worth it.

One of the many things that I love about Alsace is that oftentimes, white wine is served in a special type of glass which is unique to the region. These glasses have a green stem and base, and a quite atypical cup (you can spot one in the top left hand corner of the photo).

I think I need to get myself some, just for the Gewürztraminer Vendange Tardive.

I do give a fig

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:54:16 +0100

There is a stall in our local market that is always swarming with 3 times as many people as any of the other stalls. It's certainly not the cheapest stall, and the fruit and vegetables are not the prettiest, but it's the only stall that has locally sourced produce, with 100% of it from France.

Whilst eating locally is a trendy concept nowadays, it's hard for Parisians (or suburbanites like us) to access truly locally grown food. Where my in-laws live in the country, they have many more options - but for the Ile-de-France region, wiith so many people in such a small space, local produce can be really expensive, and it's cheaper for many people to simply go to the big supermarket chains and buy fruit and vegetables from other European countries, Africa or even as far as Asia or the Americas.

With our discovery of this single market stall - they only sell items that are in season and are grown from France - we've stopped buying fresh produce from anywhere else. Their stuff is so damn good that I don't mind paying more, and I feel like we can finally join the "trend" of moving towards a more sustainable planet... Hopefully more stall owners will follow the trend and fresh, locally grown produce will become more accessible to more people.

This morning, they had figs at the market... they were the best figs I've eaten in a really really really long time...

I've eaten 6 so far.

can YOU name the seven dwarfs? in french?

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:40:39 +0100

lately i can't help but notice that Disney's "Snow White" has been remastered and can now be purchased on blu-ray. this information has inspired the following question:

can you name the seven dwarfs?

you have one minute. go.
try not to cheat, k?

now, can you do it in french?

Doc: Prof
Grumpy: Grincheux
Sneezy: Atchoum
Sleepy: Dormeur
Happy: Joyeux
Bashful: Timide
Dopey: Simplet

We now present you with the awesomeness of the k&k coasters

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:19:56 +0100

Last week we caught up with Katiefornia, yet another k&k listener who is in Paris for a couple of weeks. She is terribly open and funny, and heaps of fun to hang around with. She is also very talented indeed, because she gave us these lovely coasters (which are now in pride of place in the k&k boudoir)!

As discussed in k&k episode 282.

Breakfast on the go

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:55:27 +0100

You've got to appreciate life's little pleasures where you can.

Today : a fresh pain au chocolat and a steaming, hot cup of coffee.

Sure, it's at my desk (where I'm spending much of my life at the moment), but I make sure I take the time to enjoy it.

There is nothing better for breakfast than the gooeyness of still-warm chocolate in my pain au chocolat.

parisian postcards

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:59:18 +0100

as some of you heard on the show a week or two ago, we are doing another postcard exchange! there are twenty postcards waiting to be sent to twenty of you!

those of you who are in the right time zone to watch us record live got the jump on everybody else, but we just may have a few left...

so if YOU want to get a postcard from US - send an email with your postcard request and your address to katiaandkyliemac[at]gmail[dot]com and get the ball rolling. we'll pop your postcard in the mail after we receive yours, and don't forget to let us know when you have received it!

we are looking forward to plastering the walls of the Not-Coffee-Table-Studio (TM) with your postcards.

A nice, quiet Sunday

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:08:54 +0100

The deliciousness of red wine, home made beef bourguignon and ice-creamy tiramisu put us into a food coma this afternoon.

But once we had dosed ourselves up with coffee, Muffin Man and I taught everyone how to play Carcassone.

Unsurprisingly, it got nasty, as insults flew around the room and we got very defensive over our "tiny men".

But boy is it FUN.

For once, she wasn't walking on the mixer...

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:34:39 +0100

Symphony and Kylie, doing pre-production before the shows yesterday.

I love that Symphony is using the desk as a chin-rest.

thank you gifts

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:50:55 +0100

recently our good friend dani was in town and crashed at my place for a night before heading off to her rental apt for the rest of her stay.

as a thank you for crashing chez moi, she gave me this thank you gift, which i think is one of the coolest magnets ever.

and you can get your very own by clicking here.

i'm not sure if i should be concerned that a coroner's office has swag.

although it's giving me some ideas...

A welcome home fit for stars

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:54:17 +0100

The best "welcome home" banner I've ever seen. Click to embiggen and see the excited expression on Alexis' face.

As discussed in episode 275.

Obviously, this is just before the Muffin Man and I ran through it.