04/12/2014
Raspberry and matcha tart

Yes I know, it’s not really the raspberry season (at least in the North hemisphere!), even if we still find some French ones on the market cultivated in greenhouses, although you can possibly make it with frozen raspberries or other seasonal fruits such as cranberries (but that will require baking them). I made this dessert for an EatWith dinner and my guests really enjoyed this dessert. I started with a matcha custard but I didn’t like it, found it too “heavy” so I tried a whipped matcha cream, and as I always have trouble making whipped cream and I lacked time, I slipped a little gelatin in, and the case was settled! I love matcha green tea, I use it all the time… You can find this powder in Japanese grocery stores or online. In Japan, they have a real ceremony that can last several hours, tea is made using a bamboo whisk, and is often eaten with a small pastry.

The Ingredients

– 3 baskets of raspberries of approximately 250g

– 2 tablespoons of matcha powder

– 20 cl liquid cream

– 2 tablespoons of sugar

For the pastry, check the recipe here

The Recipe

Prepare your pastry, let it cool.
Mix the very cold cream and matcha so it becomes firm and whipped adding sugar gradually. You can add more sugar than in my recipe but personally I prefer it when it’s not too sweet!
If like me you have little time or have trouble raising your whipped cream, soak 3 gelatine leaves in water, wring it out after 10 minutes and add it to a little bit of cream that you heat. Add it to the matcha cream, pour it onto your pastry and add your raspberries.
Let it cool for 2 to 3 hours.

03/12/2014
Yummy Advent calendars

Yep, that’s it, we are already starting December…! To wait patiently until the 25th, you can already surprise yourself with a gift a day thanks to these beautiful Advent calendars:

1. For a candy, fruit paste, or chocolate, in this adorable box

Mazet (€ 19.70)

2. For sequin and glossy nails to shine like a diamond

Ciaté (49 €)

3. Everything you need to be pretty

Body Shop (€ 75)

4. To warm up every day with a different tea

Damman Frères (19 €)

5. For hiding anything you want in it

Selfridges (54 €)

6. This magnificent minimalist piece offers hand creams, ingredients, oils,…

Liberty (95 €)

And if you have the time and feel crafty, you can get inspired by those DIY and make those colorful and graphic calendars at home!

01/12/2014
Oliviers & Co Christmas contest!

Noël approche à grands pas, on sort les décorations, on se précipite dans les grands magasins, on cherche des recettes pour le grand jour… J’adore cette excitation, ces lumières, voir les villes se transformer, le monde fourmiller dans les rues, et même si Noël est un peu une fête commerciale, c’est surtout un moment de joie et de partage entre amis et famille, faits de bons repas et de cadeaux! Et qui dit cadeaux dit…concours! Oliviers and Co et moi-même vous faisons gagner ce sublime cadeau de fête, une huile d’olive vierge Frantoio Galantino du sud de l’Italie, éditée à seulement 3000 exemplaires, toute vêtue d’argent, et cette délicieuse sauce à l’olive et à la truffe d’été, parfait pour accompagner un bon plat de pâtes!

To win you have 2 choices:

FACEBOOK

1. You like the page Oliviers and Co

2. You like the page About Foood

3. You leave a comment on the photo on my Facebook page telling me what is your favorite Christmas meal!

INSTAGRAM

1. Follow my Instagram account about_foood

2. Repost the picture with the hashtag #ConcoursOliviersandCo by tagging @about_foood

You have until the 10th of December! The winner will be noticed on Facebook or Instagram.

the contest is for French residents only

30/11/2014
Eat With

I wanted to tell you about a project close to my heart. Two years ago, Andrea created Eat With, a site that allows people around the world to meet around a table and a good meal, as there is nothing more important to me in cooking than sharing! The concept started in Barcelona and quickly spreaded throughout the world, and Andrea asked me to join the family of food lovers in Paris. I therefore propose to travelers (and even local Frenchies of course) to come to my place and share a good meal! Guests like me fix their menu, their price, their dates (guests may also propose dates that suit them), you pay directly on their website, all the information you need are then sent to you, and then you spend a delightful time! I have already made several meals and I love the idea, it allows me to meet new people, to exchange, talk, laugh, taste, relax and have a good time! Besides, if you’re interested, I still have some seats available for this Friday, December 5th! I do not have a fixed menu because I love to improvise, but I obviously focus on seasonal products, and I bake French recipes (because it is often what tourists want to experience!), mixed with Japanese inspirations (because I love this cuisine and products) and Polish cuisine (for that is the kitchen of my grandmother). I guess you’ll wonder if the project is profitable. I clearly am not doing this for money as the time invested (2-3 days of preparation, shopping, market, household, cooking, …) is considerable, but I love this project because it allows me to travel meeting new people, and especially to test new recipes! The little money that I get to put aside, I’d like to invest in this blog, to allow me to make it grow bigger!

What do you think of this concept? Are you keen on trying it?

And here is a video of Ai and Matt in New York, to show you what an EatWith dinner may look like!

28/11/2014
Butternut and apple chutney

This chutney is delicious, perfumed with ginger and spices, perfect for meat and poultry, for the holiday season! I was inspired by an English recipe.
I even prepared labels that you can ♥ download here ♥ print at home and stick onto your jars with a cute masking tape!

The Ingredients

– 5 tbsp rapeseed, vegetable or sunflower oil
– 2 large onions, finely chopped
– 100g piece of ginger, peeled and thinly shredded
– 1 fat red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
– 15 cardamom pods, bashed open and crushed
– 4 tbsp ground cinnamon
– 3 tbsp black mustard seeds
– 5 tsp cumin seeds
– 1 tbsp dukkah (optional)
– 1 tbsp nigella seeds
– 1 tsp ground turmeric
– 5 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
– 1kg butternut squash, peeled and cut into sugar-cube size pieces
– 3 or 4 Bramley or Boskoop apples, peeled and cut into sugar-cube size pieces
– 500g light soft brown sugar
– 300ml cider vinegar

The Recipe

1.Sterilize your jars and lids, by putting them completely in a boiling casserole for 10 minutes. Let them dry well on a tea towel.
2.Heat the oil in a large preserving pan, then gently fry the onions, with all the spices for 5 to 10 minutes.
3.Stir the garlic, squash and apples into the onions, then cook for 15 mins more, until the onions and apples are soft.
4.Stir in the sugar and let it melt around the vegetables. Simmer for 5 mins – this process almost candies the chunks of pumpkin, so that it doesn’t entirely break down during the next step.
5.Pour in the vinegar, season with 2 tsp salt, then bring the chutney back to a simmer. Cook, stirring regularly, for about 30 mins or until the apple has cooked down to make a squishy base for the chutney, with chunks of tender pumpkin here and there, and a little syrupiness at the bottom of the pan – you don’t want the chutney to be too dry as it will thicken as it cools.
6.Spoon the hot chutney into the jars and turn them upside down. The chutney can be eaten straight away and kept in the fridge, or left to mellow in a dark place for up to 6 months.

25/11/2014
Food – Produire, Manger, Consommer

MuCEM, the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations which is located in Marseille, presents an exhibition entitled “Food – produce, eat, consume”, which questions our relationship with food. Various artists have brought their thinking about all that revolves around that theme, in terms of health (poisoning of agricultural products), economics (distribution) or culture (rituals around the table) in our contemporary society.

“In this exhibition, it is not only a question of quantity and doses. Making art is almost like preparing a good meal. This involves mixing, lubricating, fermentation and perhaps a little improvisation, as it happens to us in life. “Adelina von Fürstenberg, Chief Commissioner

D4 – Level 2
7 Promenade Robert Laffont
3002 Marseille

Open every day except Tuesday, December 25th and January 1st
until February 23, 2015
Full price: 15 € / Reduced price: € 8

Maralda et Dorothee, morceaux de pains colorés, 1968

Ernesto Neto, Variation on Color Seed Space Time Love, 2009

FOOD, bande annonce de l’exposition par lemucem