This blog has been created by yet another gluttonous and self-proclaimed foodie whose only qualification in identifying and writing about "good food" (in the category of "two legs or fewer" except, of course, "long pig"...which is foul, not fowl!), is a keen enthusiasm to share great moments of taste-aesthetic synchronicity.
For a sweet beginning, first up on the menu is L'Eclair de genie (or, Eclair Genius according to my monologuistic tongue and tastebuds); a sweet little eclair and chocolate outfit in La Marais, Paris.
(Whoops! seduced by appearances alone, I've failed to do a background check on my new love before formal introduction to the disciplined pollo-pescetarians at the table. Specifically, I haven't ruled out the chance that these tempting beauties might be gelatin carriers...proceed at own risk). Which brings me to disclosing my blurred dining boundaries. While I do consider cows, sheep, pigs, deer, hare and goats as four-legged meal invaders, I am rather partial to a pongy cheese board and a dairy-based dessert.
Back to L'Eclair de genie...below are the eclairs I have tried (so far). Okay, I've doubled up on the choccie (that's because I am a sharing, caring kinda girl...and when you're a foodie, its always good to keep a few friends close. Why? For proper optimisation of tapas, dim sum and high tea occasions, which require many mouths to make light work of tasting everything on the menu. So, I've kinda limited my spiel a tad - but here are the flavours tried and tested:
(From left to right) Chocolat grand cru, Caramel pop corn, Praline noisette, Rouge Framboise, (repeat No.1 ;-), and Caramel beurre sale.
Hmm, I suppose I'd better get this out the way now, too, so you can decide whether you'd like to continue our acquaintance. Not quite gastronomy alter call material, but...perhaps a taste sensitivity flaw worth confessing...(deep breath)...I am a die hard caramel fan. The aroma of freshly burnt butter, sugar, sea salt and cream is what I'm smelling. Oh yeah.
So, a bit about the eclairs and less about my caramel bias (although somewhat inescapable, given that 2 of the flavours I tried were of this persuasion). These eclairs, were probably, no, were, the best eclairs I have tasted in my 36 years.
Yeaaah...not such a young buck(ess) that I haven't been around the block and chowed my way through a number of classic gastronomical life stages:
1) Small town, healthy home cooking - weekday school lunches: banana and honey brown-bread sandwiches, with weekend naughties: fish and chips from the video hire cum chippy cum caravan park office.
2) Impoverished student cuisine - $5.00 Vietnamese set dinner consisting of frozen shrimp in yellow curry powder, BYO Thai, city work lunches (sushi handrolls, foccacias, pseudo-laksa, gourmet sammies);
3) First "real" job "nice dinners" with first real job friends - stone fired pizza, moroccan mezz platters - wine safely in the handbag until a non-halal thirsty oasis gathering later...and so on until
4)You hit your mid 20s' - early 30's where, after working on your career, you achieve economic independence and thus social - and gourmet- mobility...putting you at the same chic bar or table as another eligible foodie, who has waited his/her whole life to share a future with that special someone who has (equally) impeccable taste.
Sorry - the eclairs! Fine chewy pastry, solid custard or chocolate mousse fillings, citrus-spiked glazes to stop the whole confection being too cloying and heavy...Aaaah. Best thing for it - you can try them yourself next time you are in Paris.
The address/website is: http://www.leclairdegenie.com/eclairs.
J'aime et je recommande!
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