At Home With Patricia Wells

SIMPLY TRUFFLES
New cookbook
by Patricia Wells

click here for the
SIMPLY TRUFFLES Tour
November 2011 Schedule

To order SIMPLY TRUFFLES

PATRICIA'S STORE

Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron 15-1/2-Quart Oval French Oven, Red

In class and in casual conversations, I am constantly asked which tools I find essential in the kitchen. And so with Amazon’s help I have put together a list of equipment – from small silicone baking brushes to bigger items like ice cream machines, smokers, steamers, and pasta cooking pots – that I love to use every day as I test recipes or cook for friends.

There are favorite pantry items too, which must always include the intense oils from Leblanc, pasta from Rustichella d’Abruzzo, and other favorites that you’ll see as you go through the Patricia Wells Selections.

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BLACK TRUFFLE COOKING EXTRAVAGANZA
January 23 to 27, 2012 (Completed)
January 21 to 25, 2013 (Places available)

2012 PARIS COOKING CLASSES
April 2 to 6, 2012 (Full)
April 16 to 20, 2012 (Full)
April 30 to May 4, 2012 (Full)
May 9 to 12, 2012 (Special private class)

2013 PARIS COOKING CLASSES
February 25 to March 1, 2013 (Places available)
March 11 to 15, 2013 (Places available)
March 25 to 29, 2013 (Places available)

2012 PROVENCE COOKING CLASSES
June 3 to 8, 2012 (Full)
June 17 to 22, 2012 (Full)
July 1 to 6, 2012 (Full)
September 2 to 7, 2012 (Places available)
September 16 to 21, 2012 (Places available)
September 30 to October 5, 2012 (Places available)

2013 PROVENCE COOKING CLASSES
June 9 to 14, 2013   (Places available)
June 23 to 28, 2013 (Places available)
September 8 to 13, 2013   (Places available)
September 22 to 27, 2013   (Places available)

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Patricia Wells cooking class

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COOKING CLASSES

A personal highlight at the Friday lunch as we wrap up each week’s class – whether we’re in Paris or Provence -- is how our students respond when I ask, “What’s your best takeaway? What’s the best thing you got out of the week?”

It may be my simple method for cooking garlic without burning it, inspired by Joël Robuchon many years ago. Or my “new” trick for slicing onions. Students always part with newfound knowledge of knife care after Walter’s complete knife-sharpening class. And in Paris and Provence students are constantly surprised (and pleased) by the variety and simplicity of my repertoire of fruit and herb sorbets, while everyone’s wine knowledge soars as the week goes on.

At week’s end we also vote for Best Taste of the Week and I am always delighted to see a wide variety of faves. While lemon verbena sorbet wins hands down as the perennial favorite, votes go to everything from a humble poulet rôtie to last season’s winners of brine-cured steamed salmon, tomato tatins, and spicy eggplant.

But more often than not, the answer reflects the personal relationships that develop and evolve during the week. We bond with new friends, the bonds with long-time friends grow tighter.

Generosity, conviviality and lifestyle are the qualities we try to demonstrate as much as knife techniques or the essentials of searing. An open sharing is at the basis of French joie de vivre. It is also the aspect that matters most to me about the celebrated French art de vivre. We hope you’ll come, but even more, if you do come, we want you to be among the many who leave saying “This has been the best week of my life.” Nothing makes me happier.

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CAFE DES MUSEES

CAFE DES MUSEES PARMENTIER DE PINTADE FERMIERE 2 3 12 This fun and funky corner café in the center of the Marais is a perennial favorite. I’d go just for platters of their delicate, silken house-smoked salmon, served up with a tangle of greens and tangy dressing for dipping. Chef-owner Pierre Lecoutre is a master at the stove, and diners can watch him perform in his tiny, open kitchen, shifting copper pots, stirring and searing, offering up gorgeous, giant entrecôte (beef rib steak), frying up deliciously crisp and golden French fries, roasting Basque pork topped with the famed smoked garlic from Arleux in the north of France. On my last visit we adored the Parmentier de pintade fermière, a winning hachis parmenter of minced farm-raised guinea hen topped with soothing mashed potatoes (photo). Café des Musées also offers briny Brittany oysters from Paimpol in season. The wine list and “medicaments du jour” (daily medicine) measure up to the cuisine, with a crisp and tart Champagne Drappier Zéro Dosage (meaning no sweet wine is added before bottling), and a spicy, mineral-rich Chardonnay, the Viré Clessé Quintaine from Domaine de la Bongran 2004. A good place to know anytime, but especially when visiting the Picasso and Carnavalet museums nearby.

CAFÉ DES MUSÉES, 49 rue de Turenne, Paris 3. Tel: +33 1 42 72 96 17. Métro: Chemin Vert or Saint-Paul. Open daily. Breakfast 8am-noon (weekends 10:30 am-noon); lunch noon-3pm; dinner 7 pm-11 pm. Email cafe.des.musees@orange.com.
Lunch: 13€ menu. A la carte, 40€.
Dinner: 22€ menu. A la carte 40€

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WILLI'S: DON'T FORGET OLD FRIENDS

WILLI'S WINE BAR TERRINE AU CHOCOLAT 2 2 12 As diners, all too often we only look forward, to the newest address, the chef with biggest current hype, and we race to keep up with the flavor of the week. Rather, we should stop every now and then and reflect upon great places we seem to have forgotten in the rush. The solid and classic, dependable, old friends who will always be there once the hyped up spots have been forgotten or closed their doors. I confess it had been years since I visited Mark Williamson’s now landmark wine bar, established in 1980 and still going as strong as ever. My last meal was a revelation: food with character and history, a chef with a classic education at the stove, a wine list that’s hard to beat anywhere in the world, a staff that is clearly well-trained and seem to enjoy being there. I love their attention to detail, food that seems intent on satisfying the customer, a place that is what it is (fabulous!) and not trying overtly to prove anything. The food on that visit was superb: a beautiful plate of Roseval potatoes, warm, bathed in a light and tangy sauce, showered with the freshest grilled walnuts and bits of salty bacon; a flavorful, wintry bed of mixed wild mushrooms topped with a round of fresh pasta. The chef, Francois Yon, there since 1993, understands searing like no one.

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