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When Russ Parsons refers to something as "little slices of heaven", you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll pay attention. But in this case, he wasn't talking about dessert, he was talking about these little three-minute videos that vegetable god Alain Passard started putting online. Because Russ doesn't speak French, he hit the Google Translate button for the site, which resulted in some pretty hilarious prose. Those translate-bots have quite a knack for inadvertent poetry.

To wit:

"The trick? With a knife, begin by cutting your two small endives in half and, using a mandolin, make thin slices of apple. The most? Your disks should be almost transparent Apple, you see through, they must make less than a millimeter. The gesture? Carefully lift and spread your carefully endive leaves to slide a slice of apple between each. Do not hesitate to play the disc diameters taking sizes. It must be aesthetic."

Ha! I was reading this out loud to my mother and had to stop because we were both laughing too hard. Something about my American accent made the whole thing even funnier.

Anyway, all silliness aside, the video for endive-declaring-his-love-for-apple is right here and if you can manage to watch it and then not put this dish on the menu for your next meal, you are made of stronger metal than I. (It's so delicious.)

Elsewhere:

This interview left me deeply perplexed. (Via Lottie & Doof)

The Turkish grocer near me was selling a whole pound of the most delicious, fudgy dates for just €2.99 – and now I'm thinking I have to make this cake.

The "ultimate salty breakfast", yow!

I can't believe this luscious-looking chicken has ketchup (my love!) in the sauce.

I have so much rye flour that needs to be used up, I'll be making these very soon.

Music to my ears!

This chocolate cake made only with buckwheat and almond flour looks so good.

Polenta al forno.

Have a lovely weekend, folks!

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21 responses to “Saturday Morning Link Love”

  1. Jessica Avatar

    You should read some of the bento pages online! You’ll be astounded over what you can create with a radish.
    Your child will be dazzled 🙂

    Like

  2. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    That link to the Bon Appetit interview was one of the funniest things I have ever read! Who is that woman? It was almost like it was made up, like a SNL skit on healthy eating!

    Like

  3. Jennifer Jo Avatar

    That BA interview and spot-on comments cracked me up—just the laugh I needed this rainy morning.
    Happy weekend to you!

    Like

  4. Somia Aluwalia Avatar
    Somia Aluwalia

    Thanks for the BA article link – a reality check for me. When I get down on myself (like now) for not exercising enough or not making smart eating choices, I only have to remember this woman and thank my stars. She is the one with issues not me!

    Like

  5. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    That interview is nuts! What’s with the ‘sorrryyy’ thing at the end? So weird/sad.
    Thank you for the links to the Alain Ducasse videos (although when I clicked on it, it just took me to googld translate and I had to search for them on youtube). The endive/apple things look delicious! I’ll definitely be watching more of those clips.

    Like

  6. sarainamerica Avatar
    sarainamerica

    I am so glad to hear I wasn’t the only one perplexed by that interview. It was so…joyless. I wonder why Bon Appetit would print that.

    Like

  7. Denise | Chez Danisse Avatar

    Oh my, I really shouldn’t have hit these links while hungry. The ultimate salty breakfast followed by that chocolate cake would make me very happy right about now, and then when my appetite returned, the polenta al forno for a snack or dinner… Yes.

    Like

  8. Michele Hays @QuipsTravails Avatar

    In the endive video, does anyone know what the brown thing he’s grating over the finished dish is (before he grates the citron zest?) I have just enough cooking French to get through the whole thing, but I don’t think that is any kind of anise as we know it in the US.

    Like

  9. STH Avatar
    STH

    So why would a cooking magazine interview someone who apparently doesn’t eat? That was really odd.

    Like

  10. djknab@gmail.com Avatar
    djknab@gmail.com

    Luisa ~
    I am, unfortunately, late to “the wednesday chef” party; having only started to read your blog -after- your wonderful book.
    I adore your writing and look forward to new posts!
    Thank you for sharing your world with all of us. 🙂
    Take care!
    Dawn (in Dallas, Texas)

    Like

  11. Stephanie Avatar

    Luisa, that is the most lovely picture of vegetables in winter you have given us: I can practically see the watery winter sun lighting it up. And now I must go brush up my French skills — I want to watch both versions!
    By the way, we made your flammkuchen after a good cross-country ski last Sunday and it was just the right thing (with a good white wine, of course!). So wonderful, in fact, it’s on the menu for tomorrow night! Danke!

    Like

  12. Luisa Avatar

    It’s a licorice stick! The real thing, not candy 🙂

    Like

  13. Luisa Avatar

    Amanda – did you let the Google Translate page load entirely? It should show up…

    Like

  14. Angela Avatar
    Angela

    That BA article was the oddest thing to read in a food magazine. I thought I had mistakenly picked up “National Lampoon” or “The Onion”.

    Like

  15. kaktusfink Avatar
    kaktusfink

    Ha, translated into German it’s an equally poetic gem:
    Der Trick? Mit einem Messer, indem Sie Ihre zwei kleinen Chicorée halbieren und mit einem Mandoline beginnen, stellen dünne Apfelscheiben. Die am meisten? Ihre Festplatten sollten fast transparent Apple, Sie durch sehen, müssen sie weniger als einen Millimeter zu machen. Die Geste? Heben und verbreiten Ihre sorgfältig Endivienblätter ein Stück Apfel zwischen den einzelnen gleiten. Zögern Sie nicht, die Scheibendurchmesser unter Größen spielen. Es muss ästhetisch sein.
    Thanks for the link, will make this soon.

    Like

  16. Honeybee Avatar
    Honeybee

    That is possibly the weirdest interview I ever read. I especially love how she says that dinner is the one meal she sits down to enjoy… Understandable, seeing the rest of the “food” she has during the day is basically juice (with the decadent indulgence of a little beetroot :D)), water and plankton (??).

    Like

  17. Jota.n@gmx.de Avatar
    Jota.n@gmx.de

    Ohh have you seen this suffle from Alain Passard?
    Guess what it is made from?
    “A sieve to get the pulp lawyers. Using a very sharp knife, open your two lawyers in two very ripe without damaging the bark.” 😀
    http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lepoint.fr%2Finvites-du-point%2Falain-passard%2Fregardez-l-avocat-souffle-le-chaud-pour-la-vanille-26-01-2013-1620457_571.php
    Grüße ebenfalls aus Charlottenburg! 😉

    Like

  18. Mary Avatar

    Might I recommend the spinach salad with dates from the Jerusalem cookbook to use up some of those dates? It’s fantastic and I’m not usually a salad lover.

    Like

  19. june2 Avatar
    june2

    Google translated one of the Passard videos as, “The Lawyer for Blowing Hot Vanilla”…hmm. lol!
    Also, the spinach salad with dates recipe that Mary recommends sounds intriguing – would love the recipe!

    Like

  20. sigari Avatar
    sigari

    Favorite line translated? “Do not hesitate to turn your stove to distribute heat throughout the 25 minutes of cooking.” Fortunately the video clarifies.
    As for the BA interview? I agree with your readers: I thought she sounded like a character from Portlandia. Absolutely wincing, wretched.

    Like

  21. Michele Hays @QuipsTravails Avatar

    Thank you!!!
    I am teaching my son to cook, especially vegetables – now that we’ve gotten past basics, they can be a little boring. This recipe was perfect, it involved a new vegetable (he loved the endive) a little engineering, and a window into another culture – perfect!
    I adapted this recipe a bit – we sprinkled the endive/apples with a bit of parmesan before cooking (to get a kind of frico crust,) and sauced it with a blood orange vinaigrette. It was absolutely delicious.

    Like

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