Category: my french kitchen

The King of Cakes

Galette des Rois: There is something about religious tradition which gladdens the soul and in French culture, the festival of Epiphany when the Three Wise Kings, who visited the Christ Child, is celebrated with a special cake on January 7 each year. The cake is called  La Galette des Rois and it is celebrated in […]

Wednesday January 19th, 2011 in my french kitchen | No Comments »

A class act @ Le Cordon Bleu Paris

Voila ! Today unfolds as an extraordinary entree to France’s exotic cuisine culture as I watch Le Cordon Bleu chef Philippe Clergue  teach advanced students in Paris. I had to earn my place in his esteemed two and a half hour lecture by delivering my own small speech on the evolution of food culture in […]

Sunday September 12th, 2010 in my french kitchen | 2 Comments »

Boeuf en Daube a la Provencale from Christine Wilkinson of Lavande French restaurant

BOEUF-en-DAUBE A LA PROVENCALE: (cooked in a cast iron pot on top of stove.) Adapted from a recipe from DK Books publication Provence Cookery School by renowned French chef, Gui Gedda and Marie Pierre Moine of Le Lavandou, Baumes-les-Momosas. Don’t be put off by the four hour preparation and cooking time. It’s actually simple. INGREDIENTS: […]

Lavende: A rare French connection

When Callington restauranteur Christine Wilkinson was a young English girl  growing up in London, she did not feel English at all.  She knew her grandmother, Colette, was French and when she went to France for the first time as a teenager, she felt at  home. “Then when I went to France, I sang in a […]

Wednesday June 16th, 2010 in absolutely french, my french kitchen | No Comments »

Toque Blanche at Le Cordon Bleu

Quality more than quantity still rules the plate in France, despite societal change surrounding food, says eminent Parisian Cordon Bleu chef, Philippe Clergue, who was in Adelaide recently for Tasting Australia. And, whatever the future holds for French cuisine, his message is that seafood will always be a dominant ingredient on the menus of France. […]

Saturday May 22nd, 2010 in my french kitchen | 1 Comment »

Humble Roots to Haute Cuisine

A few years ago, I lost my mother’s recipe book  when I moved house and I still sorely miss it.  Her handwriting, the food spattered on the favourite pages and all those much loved recipes that evoked so many memories of family feasts.   My daughter promptly sent me a big blank book beseeching me to […]

Wednesday May 5th, 2010 in my french kitchen | 2 Comments »