By Our French Chef en Residence, Claire Tuffereau
“I am a wife, a mother and a grandmother; I am a gardener, a watercolorist and a teacher, but cooking runs my life, brightens my days, cements my relationships, and heals me mentally and physically.
“It all started with my parents and how food was at the center of our family life. When I remember my father and mother, he is in his country garden, painstakingly weeding away, and she is standing in front of the stove, concocting something magical out of the fresh produce he brought home at the end of the week. With this, and without words, they taught me love, respect, and how to care for others. They gave me happiness. If I am an inveterate optimist, I owe it in part to food, its smells, its colors, and its ability to dig deep inside my brain for adventurous and fearless creativity.
“If one day my life needs a summary, this is it:
“She loved, therefore she cooked.”
—Claire Tuffereau
We are delighted to post one of Claire’s recipes each month for you to prepare and enjoy—bon appétit!
Jackdaw Journeys French Recipes
THE LATEST RECIPES FROM IN HOUSE CHEF CLAIRE TUFFEREAU
In Praise of Inventiveness: Three Kings Apple Pie Recipe
What do you do with a left-over of sweet pastry and almond paste, and three Macintosh apples which have been brooding in the lowest drawer of your refrigerator and are begging you for attention? You invent a new dessert! I call this dessert the “Three Kings Apple...
In Praise of Laziness: Coconut Curry Ginger Sauce
I know of at least three good reasons why you would pose at the entrance to the kitchen and ask yourself the following question: “Do I really have to cook today ?” (yes, you probably have to cook. It’s raining cats and dogs outside and the wind is howling. Not a good day to go out!):
In Praise of Colors: Dried tomatoes with yellow peppers, basil and mozzarella
The love of food has its beginning in our eyes. It is first how we see it that matters, and what activates our salivary glands.
In Praise of Tradition: Galette Recipe
The argument has been going on since before we were married, but notwithstanding my husband’s opinion that crêpes come from Normandy (where he was born), crêpes - and galettes - originate from Brittany (where I was born).
In Praise of Staples: Caramel Custard
I have a sweet tooth. It originates with my childhood (again!), when my mother sent us back to school after lunch with a plain slice of bread and two lumps of sugar in a brown paper bag. This was our snack.
