An.An is a famous Japanese fashion magazine like Marie-Claire or Elle. Two weeks ago they had an issue about “cool” apartments in Paris, New York & London…and guess who made it there!…Yes, my place in Bay Ridge!
All my thanks to Nichi, friend and owner one of the coolest clothing store in Manhattan Lower East Side Madame Killer.
If you want to read the article click on photo for the bigger picture.
The taxes, a cold and problems with my ISP server kept me from posting for almost 2 weeks. I am over and done with cold & taxes but I still have not yet solved all the problems with my IPS server and the WordPress learning curve is a bit challenging for me! Anyhow, thank you for your patience and you need to know that I am really determined on posting regularly.
My offering today is a drawing/painting part of a new series that I am working on titled: ManyBody. This particular piece is dedicated to François Bedin who passed away a few weeks ago. In my hometown of Luchon, François was mostly known as “Petit Pois” -Little Pea-! The story goes that when in boarding school –with my older brother Pierre– he ate such a big plate of “Petit Pois” that he was almost never called by his real name again! He was a great friend and a very a smart and funny character.
A higher resolution available at: https://www.nicolepeyrafitte.com/manybody/petitpois.jpg
I couldn’t resist the bright, but cool, sun on this late March Sunday. Forget about working on taxes, a much better idea is to pack a snack, water and jump on my bike. I have been very antsy to get to Coney Island from Bay Ridge. The 16 miles felt really easy. It is a much flatter ride than going up to Park Slope, but riding there twice a week sure keeps me in shape!
As you can see on the map below, the ride is mostly on Shore Promenade along the Belt Parkway and after that a good stretch on a deserted side walk.
Below the map do not miss the short slide show of pictures taken along the way. The sound track is my interpretation of a Robert Kelly poem translated into French by Charlotte Mandell. I hadn’t heard it in a long time & thought it was an interesting juxtaposition. It was recorded live by Kush in November 10th, 2001 @ Bard College on the occasion of: “A Day of Poetry to Celebrate Robert Kelly’s 40 Years at Bard College.”
The tastiest, simplest, fastest & best Mousse au Chocolat.
Yes, there is a valid concern about raw eggs and this is my feeling on the subject:
At my family restaurant-hotel, where I was born & raised in the French Pyrenees, the eggs would be delivered once a week in crates of 24 dz. They were stored in a cool, but non refrigerated room, called “le garde manger”. Roots vegetables, fruits, canned goods, condiments, spices, oils & eggs where also stored there. They were really fresh and then many recipes with raw eggs found their way on the menu: Mayonnaise, Steak Tartare, Mousse au Chocolat and even on the cocktail menu with Porto Flip (weird cocktail made with port, brandy and egg yolk, plus nutmeg). So today I still make recipes with raw eggs but I always make sure of their freshness and origin, I buy them at the farmers market and let know the farmer I will use them raw.
This recipe today, though very similar to the one we made at the “Hotel Poste & Golf”, was passed on to me by a woman I knew in Albany and she told me that it was a Pierre Franey’s recipe published in his “60 Minute Gourmet” column for the New York Times. I don’t have Franey’s New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet
Speaking of Pierre Franey I met him once in 1990 in San Diego where I lived for a few years. Several celebrity chefs came to town to cook a March of Dime charity dinner. Among them was my Gascon childhood friend Ariane Daguin owner of d’Artagnan, It went to give her a hand to prep & set up her dishes. Pierre Franey was there with his wife, both very kind people, I truly enjoyed the food conversations and he remind me a lot of my grand father chef Joseph Peyrafitte. I am glad this picture survived all my moves.
Moi (Nicole Peyrafitte), Pierre Franey (1921-1996), & Ariane Daguin
Back to the mousse:
Ingredients per person:
1 ounce of very good chocolate (60 to 75% dark great quality chocolate)
1 teaspoon of water
1 egg
And yes! only 3 ingredients.
Melt water + chocolate on the stove in a bowl on a double boiler.
Once the chocolate is melted,remove it from the heat & stir it well.
While it cools down I separate the eggs.
Egg whites in a clean & dry bowl, and the yokes on another one.
Mix the yokes in with the chocolate.
Add a very small inch of salt and beat the egg whites very firm.
Fold half of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate & egg mixture.
Then very gently fold in the second half.
I made it for 5. Pour in individual glass dishes & refrigerated for 4/5 hours minimum.
Can be made the day before.
Saturday night I was among the 20 performers celebrating the Nesenkeag Coop Farm & the New Framer Development Project in NY. With Mike Bisio on bass we performed the following program:
– Aqueros Montanhos
– Pasejade au Col de Pierefitte
– O Toulouse
– La Vie en Rose
– Mahicanituck
and the premiere of our lastest composition :
Duo for Crème Chantilly (whipped cream) and Double Bass.
You can have a virtual taste of the event with 2 videos below. Stay tuned for the family easter lunch full report!