Sunday, November 13, 2011

A French affair

It has been somewhat unruly since my last post - a writing assignment, the transition from a prophetic Yeats to an enigmatic Joyce in class, the depressingly gloomy Seattle weather and the usually moody me. It was also migraine fest since the past couple of days, adding to all the above mentioned drama. So out of impulse and habit, I inched towards what I do best in such confusing times. Baking.

Thus began my pondering in and out of the kitchen, trotting in and out of food websites. Remember my time and again allusions to France and my obsessive love for anything remotely French? Well, today I thought I should celebrate that and hence settled with the classic French dessert, clafoutis. Luckily, there were some handful of cherries lying abandoned in a corner of the freezer. And with their season gone, I did not have the heart to throw the pretty little things away.
So there I was, the temperamental baker, amid my favourite things - eggs and flour. And when it is French food, I better not look any farther than Julia Child. Having baked it once before, I find her cherry clafoutis to be non-fussy and quite honest as well. Just what I needed today. Other than its comforting warmth, my most favourite part is to watch all that beautiful puffing and preening magic that goes on inside the oven. There, I already was half-purged!
But before digging your spoon into this half-cake, half-custard awesomeness, one must dish out a perfect, cackly 'Bon Appétit' like Madame Child.


After being transported to the beautiful French countryside with my soul's fill of clafoutis, I wondered what else could be done to give this French love affair a classic end. It didn't take me long to figure it out - Amélie! I have lost count of how many times I have watched this endearing movie, yet every time it ends I know I'll come back to it again. I'm hooked, head over heels, to its quirky and quotidian soul, to its charming, vintage pockets of Montmartre and most of all to its dewy-eyed, wonderfully weird heroine.

And just like Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain, mine too perked up! It had to, with this clafoutis-like heart-melting smile.



12 comments:

  1. I'm off to the grocery store in a few minutes. Should I look for some out-of-season or frozen cherries? You know I'll be unhappy for the rest of the day if this impulse is thwarted. I don't know whether or not I should thank you!

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  2. Haha! I think frozen cherries would do just as fine. And in the meanwhile keep the impulse getting headier!

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  3. I agree. French food is the cure for many ills.

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  4. Bonjour Suman
    I really love the way you take pictures of food! I try sometimes but I think it’s very difficult.
    I like clafoutis. I have an easy recipe for this dessert. The cherry clafoutis is the traditional recipe but you can make it with apples or pears and so on.
    Bon appétit!
    A bientôt
    Céline

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  5. Cherry clafoutis a favourite annual treat, pears also do very well at other times. I love the movie Amelie, the music follows me for days after I watch it. Cheers.

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  6. Linda, absolutely!

    libererlesprit, :-)

    Sunny, thank you!

    Celine, bonjour!! Merci beaucoup! You are really kind. I would love to have your clafoutis recipe. Please email it to me if you don't mind. I promise I'll be your guide to Indian food if you ever need one. :-)
    And yes, a bientôt!

    P.K., I can't wait to try a pear clafoutis now! And couldn't agree more about 'Amelie'. Somethings in life just never grow old.

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  7. Suman, I am going to translate the recipe and make the conversion from grams to cups. And I’ll send you the recipe
    I love Indian cuisine! So thank you !

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  8. Celine, thank you so much! I'll wait for the recipe.

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  9. Done ! I've sent to you the recipe !

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