Ousmalieh

Ousmalieh, also spelt as Usmalieh is a scrumptious milk based dessert typical to Lebanon. By definition, it is a milk custard with rich, butter-toasted kataifi (shredded) pastry and drizzled with rose-flavoured syrup. Like all middle-eastern desserts it's topped with a whole lot of chopped pistachios.

We enjoyed it as much as we did the Baklava. I would love to find a store in Atlanta that sold it....Costco you think ? :-)

Restaurant Traiteur

On our second night in Paris we ate at a Lebanese restaurant. You could see it was a family owed and operated business by the way the mai-tre d' informally mingled with the guests, had his sons double up as servers and of course spoke aloud to the head chef each time he made an appearance. It was great! Authentic for sure.

Many restaurants have a fixed dinner menu where for about 25 Euros you get your drink, appetizer, entree and dessert. We noticed this in a couple of different places. I had a drink called Kir which apparently was supposed to be a traditional blackcurrant wine and SK chose the Arak, another middle-eastern speciality with vodka and aniseed. The flavors were too pungent and the drinks a little too heady. The appetizer turned out to be a sampler of 6 different items from hummus to Lebanese kebob and baba ghanoush (image above). For the entree I had the lamb chops and SK the chicken (but naturally!). Dessert was of course Baklava (no Mediterranean meal is complete without it) and a Lebanese speciality called Ousmalieh. I will save the details of this very sinful dessert for my next post.

French Breads

Marie Antoinette may have asked her people to eat cake if they couldn't find bread but I can tell you one thing for sure; contrary to what she said, there was whole alotta bread in France. Every nook, corner, square and alley has a little bakery shop or boulangerie. The most popular variety seemed to be the baguettes. I think more than sliced bread, the French prefer baguettes where they can cut their own chunks.

My favorite however was the pain au chocolat; a French speciality than G jn had been raving about for the longest time. It's a little croissant stuffed with pieces of chocolate. Another popular kind is the brioche, sweet bread, usually with raisins, caramel or powdered sugar. On our last day, we went to the cutest little cafe on Champs Elysees called Brioche Doree. The picture above will probably do a better job of describing the delectable little croissants we ate. Of course, if you're in Paris and really don't know what kind of bread to choose, there's always French toast! Nothing like eating French toast in France :-)

Q

We had to sample the local fast-food, for one meal at least. Q - Quick is the equivalent of Mc Donalds in France - fast, cheap and a mouthful! The only difference - the French use a whole lot of mayo instead of ketchup. Mayo and french fries ..... try the combination, once at least.

Crème Brûlée

Our Crème Brûlée; spooned into from both sides......

38 Eiffel

Paris is full of little bistros, cafes and brassieres. A cafe primarily serves hot beverages and confectioneries. A brassiere on the other hand is a cafe with a more relaxed ambience serving whole meals; from the appetrizers to the dessert. A bistro is a restaurant, very informal, usually with outdoor seating and modestly priced dishes. They may not even have printed menus; mere chalk boards with the 'Plat du Jour' may suffice. This of course, to me, only serves to enhance the whimsical Parisien experience!

38 Eiffel was a lilttle bistro; a stone's throw away from the Eiffel Tower. We wined and dined here on our first night in Paris. It was a little too chilly to sit outside though I must say that the cane furniture and chequered table cloths were very inviting. The inside was warm and cosy. We were one of the last few patrons and had the priviledge of having the waiter's undivided but non-intrusive service. I don't remeber what red wine we ordered but I do remember it being very heady. Our main course consisted of grilled salmon (for me) and baked chicken (SK). While both dishes bordered on bland, I had the satisfaction of knowing that the food was authentic French cuisine. Both entrees were accompanied with a host of mildly spiced vegetables and of course French fries!

For dessert, we had a fantastic creme brulee.

Crepes

Crepes are perhaps the most ubiquitous street food in Paris. They are like American pancakes, only thinner and sweeter. Like New York city that has a pizza parlor around every street corner, Paris has a crepe stand on every block and every rue. So what makes them so popular? I think it's the toppings. I saw an assortment of toppings; whipped cream, chocolate, nutella, raisins, bananas, other fresh fruit, powdered sugar and jam. A crepe without a topping would be like a hotdog without the mustard, ketchup and relish - Boring! While I sampled the one with Nutella, SK tried one with banana and chocolate. They were yummmmmmy. Alongside are some pictures we took while the crepes were being made. Once done, they are folded twice, wrapped in wax paper and are ready to be eaten. Add a cup of steaming hot coffee and you're set to beat the winter chill.

Bienvenue

Bienvenue.... A Big Welcome Back to me and my blog. Why the French? Well I'm still getting over my Paris -hangover and while the memories are still fresh and the food is still steaming, I'd like to begin Chapter 2 of my blog with a brief stopover in France. Paris was wonderful, beautiful and delicious. In fact, we didn't sightsee a whole lot but we made sure we sampled a lil' bit of everything - from local fares to fine cuisine! So the next couple of posts are dedicated to France, our honey-moon and SK. Cheers to you.