After 3 weeks of intense struggle in Guadeloupe —one of the French overseas “departments” in the Caribbean—during which one activist was shot dead and several others wounded, the LKP (Liyannaj Kont’ Pwofitasyon, or Collective Against Outrageous Exploitation) seems to have gotten the upper hand in their hard-fought battle. The most talked about point was the demand for an immediate 200 euros salary raise, but the complete list had 120 demands. Among them one complaint that can be levelled across the board at the French Parisian centralized regime concerns the need for essential consideration of Guadeloupe’s culture and language in the media. In fact, all regional cultures in France suffer from this neglect: my fellows Occitan activists know this all too well.
Anyhow, our sisters and brothers in Guadeloupe (and let’s not forget the people of Martinique, Reunion and Guyana who are also fighting to end profitation) have been a serious inspiration.
In only a few weeks the people of Guadeloupe have managed to rally over 40 organizations, from various “greens” to several Trade Unions, to consumer rights activists & many others (including even a few right wingers!) under the LKP umbrella. Their leader is Elie Domota (on the video above it is him speaking in his native tongue). He is clearly serving the common cause of the moment here, but he doesn’t hide his personal independantist leanings. I heard him give a very good interview on the radical French radio show Las-Bas Si J’y Suis. If you are francophone I highly recommend this truly radical radio show (also available on France Inter, you can download it as a podcast ) . The French government has good reasons to be freaked out, the atmosphere in metropolitan France is already pretty volatile as little president Sarkozy has only around 35% approval.
In solidarity, nine intellectuals from the region (Ernest Breleur, Patrick Chamoiseau, Serge Domi, Gérard Delver, Edouard Glissant, Guillaume Pigeard de Gurbert, Olivier Portecop, Olivier Pulvar, Jean-Claude William) published a manifesto entitled “Manifeste pour les “produits” de haute nécessité”. This refreshing manifesto calls for human emancipation more than for revolution, and its concerns are sustainable change through responsibility and a desire to make a poetics prevail over the prosaic. It is a true 21st century manifesto and opens with a quote by Gilles Deleuze and another by Aimé Cesaire from a letter he wrote to Maurice Thorez. I haven’t yet found an English translation — if you know of one, please let me know. This text should be taught in schools.
The struggle and the suffering of the people of this region kept under yoke one way or another, has been intense for centuries (none of this is talked about in French high schools!). I immensely enjoyed getting more familiar with their beautiful language and especially with the word : PWOFITASYON, PROFITATION.
YEAH! INDEED LET’S END PROFITATION EVERYWHERE!
Probably the first performance ever addressing the live practice of literary theory & cooking. The show was premiered at Brown University for the conference DAC 2001.
Visit the website for description and more; it is really worth a detour -from the french expression : vaut le détour !)
Belle Gironda and I are now taking bookings for 2010. This is a very cost efficient performance as we also feed the audience…well that depends on how good the volunteers are!
Crêpes is the first dish my grand father taught me how to make. The word itself warms my heart. Crêpes are made year around but the very special day is February 2nd (I am a little late!), also known as, Candlemas, Imbolc and of course Groundhog day. Candlemas is the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of Jesus at the temple, which ritual goes back to the Hebrew tradition: Pidyon Haben “Consecrate to me every first born: man and beast the first issue of every womb is mine” [Exodus 13 1 2]. And the purification of the Virgin Mary because the purification was necessary before her and Joseph could redeem their first born. The romans were also celebrating a purification festival in February called the Lupercalia. The Lupercalias were dedicated to the god Pan (yesterday’s post as something to do with it) and were still celebrated until 492 AD when by pope Gelassius I abolished it. He replaced it by procession holding candles, to symbolize the light of the divine spirit. Also on February 2nd; Imbolc which in old Irish means “in the belly”, Imbolc celebrate the midwinter and the return of the sun. It is tradition for every candle or lamp in the house to be lit for a little while for welcoming the return of the Sun. Reverence of the snow is also a part of this celebration. The ancient Greeks were celebrating the Thesmophoria associated with the disappearance and reappearance of Persephone the daughter of Demeter Goddess of the harvest. So for all those good reasons we make Crêpes, a golden, sun shaped flour based dish to celebrate the earth and the sun.
View video to make a lump free batter:
RECIPES AND TECHNIQUES
Mix dry ingredients. In the center of a bowl make a “well”, push dry ingredients on the sides and place the eggs in the center. With a wooden spoon integrate the flour slowly. Work from the inside toward the outside. When the mixture is all smooth start adding milk slowly. It is important to let the crêpes batter rest for at least 1 hour ( 2 hours is even better) to let the flour absorb liquid very thoroughly and let ingredients really bind together. Sweet Crêpes Batter:
2 cups Flour
1/2 cup of Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt
4 Eggs
2 1/2 cups of Milk
2 tablespoons Vanilla Extract
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or Rum
Keep in mind that the delicacy of the crêpes is due to their extreme thinness.
1 Use a small (non stick) crêpes pan (10 inches).
2 Melt a stick of butter and pour it in a small bowl. Warm you pan. Brush a small amount of butter all round the pan (do not ever let butter become black). You will brush the pan before making each crêpe.
3 Hold the pan slightly tilted and with a small ladle pour about 4 tablespoons of batter on the high side. Quickly tilt the pan the other way you want the batter to coat the entire bottom of the pan before thickening. You will learn this wrist movement called “le tour de main”. The thinner the coating will be the better the crêpes. At this point if you feel that your batter is too thick you can add a little milk or a little water. Mix the batter gently frequently. The first two or three crêpes are never perfect, the pans, and you, need to get “in the mood”. So do not panic!
4 Cook the crêpes at medium heat for about 50 seconds (this time is very approximate, you will have to judge for yourself). Turn it over with a spatula (a thin wooden one or a plastic one, especially if you have non stick pan), or if you fill more accomplish bang the pan a few times and flip the crêpe. This side will cook faster. Stack your crêpes on a plate, over a double boiler if you want to keep them warm.
Crêpes Suzette
(Use sweet batter)
Sauce:
2 sticks sweet butter, softened
8 tablespoons sugar
Grated rind of two oranges or 4 tangerines
1 Orange or 2 Tangerine Juice
Armagnac and Grand Marnier
Mix sugar, butter, oranges or tangerines rind and juice and mix it until smooth. A food processor might do the tick faster.
At serving time, melt 4 to 6 tablespoons of the sauce in the skillet. When sizzling hot, place 4 to 6 crêpes folded in fourth in the sauce. When they are well bathed in the sauce and warmed up, pour 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of Armagnac and Grand Marnier on top, and light a match, stir the crêpes in the flaming sauce. Keep your head back, check for loose clothing, turn the vent off because flames could be sucked. Repeat the operation for each batch. Savory Crêpes Batter:
(For 4)
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
4 Eggs
2 ½ cups of Milk
2 tablespoons Cognac
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
½ teaspoon Salt
Fillings for savory crêpes: Crêpes stuffed with Roquefort, mushrooms and spinach with béchamel sauce.
3 tablespoons of butter
5 tablespoons of flour
2 cups of milk
Melt 3 tablespoons of butter over low heat in a heavy sauce pan. Add 5 tablespoons of flour, move away from heat and stir briskly until smooth. Add 2 cups of milk put back on the stove, stir continually with a wire whisk to prevent any lumps. At this point you have your basic sauce that you can use for many other recipes. Example:
If you added a little nutmeg, salt and pepper and pourred it over steamed cauliflower, topped it with cheese and broiled it until golden. You have: “choux fleur au gratin”.
Today we will be using the béchamel as the “binder” for the stuffing in the savory crêpes,
1 lb Mushrooms sliced
2 Bunches of Spinach
3 tablespoons of Roquefort cheese
1 crushed clove of garlic.
Salt, pepper, nutmeg to your taste.
Sauté the mushrooms until soft and until all their moisture as evaporated. Keep them aside.
Sauté the spinach until soft and all until all their moisture as evaporated, towards the end add the mushrooms and the garlic to it. Set in a bowl, add salt, pepper, nutmeg.
Add crumbled Roquefort into your béchamel, put it back on a medium heat burner to get the cheese to dissolve, stir constantly. Transfer into the bowl with mushroom and spinach mixture, fold gently all together, taste to adjust salt and pepper. Take your savory crêpes put some mixture in, and roll it gently set on a platter.
Crêpes à la Saucisse et aux Poivrons.
1 lb Sausage meat
2 thinly sliced Onions
1 Green, 1 Red Pepper thinly sliced.
Warm up a pan with some olive oil. Sauté the meat thoroughly , Set aside. Sauté the onions and the peppers until caramelized. Mix both mixture. Salt, freshly ground Pepper. Put some mixture into the savory crêpes roll and serve with a Duxelle de champignons.
Duxelle de Champignons 1/2 LB Mushrooms chopped very small.
2 Shallots chopped also very small
1 tablespoon of Butter
1/2 cup White wine
Melt gently the butter in sauté pan. Add mushrooms and shallots and sauté gently until all liquid has evaporated. Add 1/2 cup white wine and let evaporate again. Add some salt and pepper to your taste and basic Duxelle is ready. For your crêpes I would recommend to add some crème fraîche in the mixture, cook gently until the consistency is satisfactory and serve as the sauce of your sausage and green and red pepper crêpes.
To learn all the secrets of crêpes making book an entertaining Crepes Party at Voilà Nicole!
Finally back on the blog. It took me several weeks to move website and blog to a new web hosting company. I could not have done it without the help of WordPress guru: Jeff Houdyschell at www.wordpressmax.com. Meanwhile I have been cooking several fun recipes, I will report about them later but today I will share yesterday ‘s Valentine Day entree that I recommend for any festive occasion:
Braised Duck with Blood Orange Sauce served with Chinese Greens & Crêpes Vanel
Ingredients
For the Duck:
1 d’Artagnan Pekin Duck (at the Park Slope Food Coop 5.29lb $17.46). 2 big onions roughly chopped
4 carrots roughly chopped
1/2 bottle white wine
1 bouquet garni with parsley, a piece of freshginger, and a laurel leave
3 organic blood oranges
6 tablespoons of sugar
1 Tbsp of rice vinegar
Crêpes Vanel
(Recipe coming soon. It will be the subject of separate blog)
Chinese Greens
1 lb – of what I identified as– green stem Pak Choy.
2 cloves of garlic (slivered)
Coat the pan with olive oil under high medium heat. Quicky fry slivered garlic, add the greens & toss them in. Add 1/2 cup of water & cover tightly, lower the heat & cook until just tender.
Duck recipe:
On top of the stove preheat a roasting pan coated with duck fat or olive oil. When the pan is warm enough golden the duck (previously salted & peppered) on both sides. Remove it from the pan and in that same pan sauté the onions and carrots until translucent. Pour 1/2 bottle of white wine and add the bouquet garni, return the duck on top of the pan.
I have a very small oven, so in my case I cooked the duck for 1 hour at 400º (preheated oven). I really don’t like overcooked duck, this one was thoroughly cooked but on the pink side. It was incredibly moist and juicy.
Meanwhile: I zested 3 oranges, blanched the zests briefly & saved them for later; then I squeezed the juice of 3 blood oranges, reserved it and started working on the gastrique. This is a classic and old cooking technique that gives certain sauce exquisite texture and taste.
Gastrique:
In a non reactive sauce pan put 6 tablespoons of sugar and melt over medium heat. Do not add any water, let the sugar dissolve and it will turn rapidly into caramel. Be very careful not to burn it, shake the pan to make sure it will melt evenly. Once the caramel is golden add the orange juice and 1 Tbsp of rice vinegar. The caramel will first harden, bring the pan back on a medium low flame it will melt again, reduce it by 1/2 or until the consistency is satisfactory, that is it coats a wooden spoon. Reserve.
Remove the duck from the pan, strain the juices. Try to take out as much of the fat as possible (one of those separator that pour from the bottom might be helpful) and pour the juices into the gastrique. Salt and pepper to taste, let reduce to the same consistency described above.
Meanwhile carve your duck and arrange the pieces either in a warm plate or platter for family style serving. Finish up your sauce just before serving. Adjust salt & pepper to taste and “monter la sauce au beurre” that is to swirl in, until completely melted, a few small dollops of unsalted butter. That will give your sauce a velvety texture and a rich flavor. The only draw back is that once “monté au beurre” it might be difficult to reheat your sauce without having it separating. At the risk of being immodest I will say it was truly delicious and my date ( this is such a funny word especially after 20 years together!) loved it.
