THE FRENCH LAUNDRY THAT HANGS IN LOURMARIN

Posted on April 21, 2012November 27, 2015 by Susan Manfull

This post coincides with David Scott Allen’s current Cocoa & Lavender post entitled “The Other French Laundry”French laundry conjures up all sorts of images. For my friend and fellow-blogger, David Scott Allen, visions of delectable meals from Thomas Keller’s famous restaurant surface…things like Creamy Maine Lobster Broth and English Pea Soup with White Truffle Oil and Parmesan Crisps. For my friend, Betsy Tabor with whom I have been exchanging gifts, poems, and postcards about l...

LONGING FOR BLACK TRUFFLES, CONSOLED BY FRAGRANT MEMORIES AND PATRICIA WELLS’ “SIMPLY TRUFFLES”

Posted on January 15, 2012January 3, 2016 by Susan Manfull

Today is the third Sunday in January, otherwise known as “The Mass for the Truffles” in Richerenches: the annual blessing, auction, and feast of the black truffle. We’ve been there, huddled among the masses in the tiny church to witness baskets of black diamonds offered up to be blessed, walked with the parade of people to the Hôtel de Ville where our successful bids put several truffles in our pockets, and relished in the glory of a lavish meal devoted to the beloved Tuber melanosporum. I wish...

THE SCENT OF A CRÊPE

Posted on April 10, 2011December 29, 2015 by Susan Manfull

I have been known to follow the scent of a crêpe into the depths of an unfamiliar Parisian neighborhood thereby compromising our timely arrival for dinner with friends; into the longest line in Saint-Malo—in August around the French holiday, Assomption—at one of Brittany’s oldest and clearly busiest crêperies; and into the intricate maze of the Tuesday market on a very blustery November day in Vaison-la-Romaine. I adore those thin French pancakes and when the scent of a crêpe wafts past my nose,...