Archive for October, 2009


Dining Out and About (Paris): To eat, perchance to dream

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Do you dream about dessert? Evidently, pâtissier Philippe Conticini does. The French media has been raving about his new shop, La Pâtisserie des rêves, so I skipped over there last weekend for a little look-see-taste. Oh, it’s a tough life, let me tell you.
The first thing I noticed were the glass domes. Or, as Sylvia […]

Château de Versailles, by night

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Last week, I felt honored to be included in a special, private tour of Versailles by night. I’ve been interested in the 17th-century palace since I read this biography of Marie Antoinette, and saw Sophia Coppola’s film, but seeing its grandeur bathed in nocturnal shadows was both spooky and poignant. What did I see?

News about my novel

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Bonjour, mes amis, and please forgive me for today’s shameless self promotion! But I’m so thrilled to share this new blurb for my novel, Kitchen Chinese, from Franco-American culinary doyenne, former restaurant critic for the International Herald Tribune, and cookbook author, Patricia Wells:
“Ann Mah’s richly detailed Kitchen Chinese is humorous enough to make you laugh […]

Salon du Choco-love

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Have you ever had chocolate for breakfast? I did on Friday when my friend, Anna, and I visited Paris’s annual Salon du Chocolat. What is it?

Just like grandma used to make

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Bonjour, mes amis, and welcome to another edition of Q&A. Today we are thrilled to welcome Patricia Tanumihardja, author of The Asian Grandmother’s Cookbook. Pat interviewed dozens of grannies for the book, writing down their recipes and cooking tips in an effort to honor these “culinary flame-keepers.” The result is a book that collects more than 130 […]

A year in a French market: Cèpe-tacular

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

When it comes to French vocabulary, there are two areas that I don’t think I’ll ever master: 1) fish and/or seafood names, and 2) mushrooms.
French fish names remain exceedingly slippery, especially if one (ahem, me) is not that familiar with fish terms in English. For example:
Cod is cabillaud, except when it’s salted, when it’s morue.
Sea […]

RIP, Gourmet magazine

Monday, October 5th, 2009

I just heard the news. According to this New York Times report, after 68 years, Gourmet magazine will cease publication in November. I can scarcely type for shock. No more impractical-but-sumptuous menus. No more messily gorgeous food photography — the most beautiful in the business. No more eye-opening travel pieces.
Writing for Gourmet was always my dream, […]

A year in a French market: Across the cour

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

In my Paris apartment building, there are the neighbors who I greet in the hallway, and then there are those who I’ve never met, but who I know a lot about. I’m talking about the guy who lives across the cour, or courtyard. His kitchen window faces my kitchen window, and we often prepare dinner […]