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Cook'n With Class, making macarons, Montmartre, Paris, France. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Paris Cooking Class – Mastering the Macaron

Spending two weeks in one of the world’s great gastronomic capitals and not doing a Paris cooking class would have been like going to Siem Reap and not clambering around Angkor Wat. Doing a French cooking course was a given, what kind was the question.

Visitors to Paris are going gaga over macarons right now. Americans in particular, and even the odd Parisian, are oohing, ahhing, and salivating over these sugary confections in the windows of Ladurée and every other good pâtisserie in the city.

So it made sense to find out what all the fuss was about by enrolling in a private pastry making course at the Cook’n With Class cooking school in our neighbourhood of Montmartre, organised through Viator. My goal? To learn how to master the art of making the macaron. And a few other bits and pieces.

Mastering the Macaron in a Paris Cooking Class

10:00am “You actually let people do this?” I ask Pastry Chef Pino, pointing to a laser digital thermometer pointed at a saucepan bubbling with scorching hot caramelized sugar – something not to be trifled with in a kitchen. “Well, not all the time,” Pino says, as I pour a little more sugar into the sauce that will eventually become the filling for the most blogged-about sweet treat in the world after the cupcake – the macaron.

My Paris cooking class is a combination of a pastry-making course, which normally includes ice-cream, biscuits, fresh pastry, and tarte tatin, and a macaron-making course. Though my mission today is mastering the macaron. The class is held at an intimate cooking school ran by Frenchman Eric Fraudeau.

Eric only started Cook’n With Class three years ago, yet it’s already one of Paris’ most popular English-language cooking schools. (It was actually the number one attraction in Paris on Trip Advisor when we are in town – above the Eiffel Tower!) Eric’s worked with the best – Joel Robuchon and Alain Ducasse – and fell into teaching by accident after his wife’s guests*, learning that he was a chef, started asking if he could teach them how to make crème brûlée.

Italian-born Pino Ficara, my instructor today, moved to France with his parents when he was young, but followed a woman to New York (who later became his wife) where he pursued his dream of becoming a chef, completing pastry school as well as chef’s training at the Institute of Culinary Education.

Ten years later, after working in restaurants and running a catering business, he returned to Paris, and he’s now preparing to take me through the first steps of the other desserts we’re making today: a classic tarte tartin (an upside-down apple tart) and some diet-demolishing chocolate ice-cream. It’s going to be a busy morning!

But, first, a confession… I love to cook (I guess that’s obvious from my Grantourismo content), but I don’t enjoy baking. I like the free-flowing nature of cooking hot stuff, and seasoning, touching, and testing. I like the rush of the last minute assembling of a dish. But timers, measurements down to the gram, begging yeast to perform, sifting, sifting, and more sifting, all those eggs, all that sugar… ugh…you get the picture.

10:17 Pino pours the cream over the caramelized sugar when it reaches the desired temperature – confirmed by the digital thermometer rather than a clumsy, messy sugar thermometer that most of us stick in the side of a pan. I’m already impressed by the precision required and the weights of the other ingredients he’s now measuring by the gram.

10:30 We start separating eggs to make the macaron mix. Pino tells me these are normally separated a few days in advance and kept in the fridge. What kind of voodoo is this?! While only the whites are used for macarons the egg yolks are never wasted in a pastry kitchen and are used to make ice cream. We separate them the fast way – with our fastidiously washed hands, I might add. The egg white mix for the macarons must be as ‘clean’ as possible, so we strain the mixture.

“Our classes are really hands-on,” Pino says, “Although occasionally some people don’t want to touch a fish or chicken or pork… some people freak out!” I’m freaked out that people have become so removed from the ingredients that make up the dishes that they love to eat. I’m also nervous about the eggs only just being separated. If these macarons don’t rise or if they crack (the two worst things that can happen), I’m going to be gutted.

11:08 My bragging about being in famous kitchens (mainly getting in the road of great chefs while researching stories and taking photographs) has led to me being given more work. I love it, as there’s nothing worse than just watching someone else cook while you stand around being useless. Well, unless you have a glass of wine but it’s still too early for that.

Cook'n With Class, making macarons, Montmartre, Paris, France. Paris Cooking Class. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

I’m now mixing together the whipped whites and the almond meal and sugar very vigorously. I’ve made meringue before but have never treated it like this; that’s because meringue is meant to be light and fluffy not beaten to within an inch of its life! I’m wondering if Pino has the wrong recipe… after all, he’s Italian! But then I recall that the word ‘macaron’ comes from the Italian word ‘maccherone’ but don’t tell the French that, they get awfully upset.

11:15 We go over to the food processor and Pino quickly mixes the butter and flour for the crust of the tarte tartin. I’m relieved that we’re not making puff pastry from scratch. You really don’t want to know how long that takes.

11:25 The longest process of the day starts – choosing the colours for the macarons. I’m not clear if it normally takes this long, or if it’s just because Lara’s here (taking notes and photos of course.) We finally decide on red, green and orange, although Pino warns that to achieve a vivid colour you need to use titanium dioxide to make the mixture whiter to make the colours stand out. We skip the E171 (titanium dioxide). It doesn’t sound very appetizing.

11:30 Colours mixed, Pino shows me some piping bag tricks. The tricks are brilliant but my piping is far less dazzling, even though Pino has placed a guide sheet beneath the parchment. Let’s just say the first few looked like those double-sized macarons you see in Paris bakeries…

11:40 Now I’ve got my groove. I’m mixing my own colours, putting together my own piping bags, and piping pretty consistently sized shapes. I’m actually enjoying baking.

Cook'n With Class, making macarons, Montmartre, Paris, France. Paris Cooking Class. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

11:50 Macaron shells made, we start peeling apples for the tart. Pino has three types of apples. I’m relieved that it’s the rustic tart where you chop the apples into quarters and not the one where you have to slice the apples thinly into a trillion pieces.

12:00 We’ve put some water and sugar into a pan on the stove that will become the tart case. Pino reveals that caramel is best just before it burns and warns that it should never be left alone on a kitchen stove.

12:10 We take a sneak peek in the oven to see how our first batch of macarons is doing. Pino has marked the time that each sheet was prepared so he knows when they should go in the oven. We start making the chocolate ice cream and Lara points out that there is something smoking on the stove. Caramel saved in the nick of time!

Cook'n With Class, making macarons, Montmartre, Paris, France. Paris Cooking Class. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

12:15 I’m feeding small pieces of butter to the Kitchen Aid. It appears to be enjoying them very much. I just wish I could remember which dish it was for!

12:20 It’s for the caramel filling for the macarons that are just coming out of the oven. They’re damn perfect! Now I’m excited! Except another piping bag has appeared…

12:30 I’m carefully scraping the macarons off the baking sheets. These things are sticky when they’re fresh out of the oven.

12:45 The apples have gone into the caramel mix for the tart. I’ve made the base of the ice cream. It’s decadent and has some fabulous vanilla-infused rum in it as well as the chocolate. Everyone is eyeing off the bowl. Pino laments the fact that the ice cream machine requires alcohol to work. I’m with the ice cream machine on this one.

12:55 Now Pino is bashing some pastry within an inch of its life. He says it makes the pastry roll out without cracking. I actually think it’s because he’s upset that I’m already taking full credit for the macarons.

13:00 We have half a dozen trays of macarons and I’m piping like I’m on a production line. Who is going to eat all these macarons? Perhaps I’ll go out on the street and listen for people with American accents and give them away. Lara suggests we take some to a dinner party at a Parisian’s home we’ve been invited to the next night. Good thinking! That gesture should impress.

13:20 I’m still piping. Think I’m getting a cramp. Pino upturns the tart. One corner doesn’t come out right. I start calling it ‘his’ tart.

13:30 I now have all the trays of macarons done. They look like the ones in the famous patisseries except without crazy foie gras fillings of the likes of Pierre Hermé. My work here is done.

13:40 So is the ice cream. Eric and his admin staff troop in to try some – surely they don’t do this every day? They’re slim too! The ice cream is not perfectly frozen (it needs another hour in the freezer) but at least we can finish our bowls in record time without brain freeze, because Lara and I have another appointment to get to (lunch), and Eric and Pino have another class to run…

13:40:15 We’re finished our ice cream.

Cook'n With Class, making macarons, Montmartre, Paris, France. Paris Cooking Class. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

The Verdict on our Paris Cooking Class

A Paris cooking class is a must if you’re a foodie in the French capital, and learning something as quintessentially Parisian as mastering the art of making macarons was pretty special.

Eric, Pino and the staff at Cook’n with Class were fantastic – very down-to-earth, friendly, and relaxed. They made the whole thing really fun and easy.

Most importantly for me, it was not ‘demonstration’ cooking – I actually felt I was working in the pastry department of a commercial kitchen. And I loved it!

I have a confession though: the next night at our Parisian friend’s place, I told her that I made the macarons by myself. Sorry, Pino…

*Eric’s wife also manages Paris holiday rental properties although we only discovered that at the end of our Paris cooking class – otherwise we would have stayed with them so Terence could perfect his crème brûlée!

P.S. If you love macarons (the new cupcake, non?) but the precision of pastry isn’t for you, see Lara’s tips on where to buy them in her Paris Take-Homes: Traiteur Treats.

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About Terence Carter

Terence Carter is an editorial food and travel photographer and infrequent travel writer with a love of photographing people, places and plates of food. After living in the Middle East for a dozen years, he settled in South-East Asia a dozen years ago with his wife, travel and food writer and sometime magazine editor Lara Dunston.

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Comments

  1. Katja says

    April 30, 2010 at 9:52 am

    I’ve never tried macarons – they’re so psychadelic that they scare me a little bit! I do love making pastry, though. I’m what most chefs would probably call ‘rustic’ in my approach (by which I mean I don’t hold much truck with precise measurements and making things look just so), but the proof is, as they say, in the fine-tasting pudding. ;) My mum claims it’s my permanently cold hands that do it. There are advantages to being half-lizard.

  2. Terence Carter says

    April 30, 2010 at 10:23 am

    Katja, I’m the same (err, but not half-lizard…), which is why I don’t bake! But the art of baking commercially is precise measurements, a few black magic tricks and experience from what I’ve experienced. I worked in a cafe/restaurant with a chef friend of mine who trained as a baker and he used to put 8 baguettes in the oven an hour before dinner service. They were always perfect even though he looked like he was ‘winging it’. I guess that’s where you are with the pudding!
    BTW, we went past the one of the famous patisseries where you can see into the baking room and a pastry chef was piping a mixture for baking into individual moulds. But he was doing it on a set of electronic scales and making sure each amount he was piping was exact! If it’s good enough for a pastry chef in Paris, I’m changing my tune!
    Thanks for your comment!
    PS: While piping the green macaron mixture I was thinking ‘this is so wrong!’

  3. Lisa Bergren says

    April 30, 2010 at 1:10 pm

    I feel like a cultural dunce. Had no idea that these were a French phenomenon when we saw them in the bakeries–we were so mesmerized by the croissants and other pastries, we couldn’t be bothered with the crazily colored thingies. Will simply have to return to try now…

  4. Jen Laceda says

    May 2, 2010 at 10:02 am

    Remind me to take a cooking class when I go to Paris. I’d LOVE to master the macaron – I’m ashamed to say that’s my favourite dessert, along with a fluffy, well-made mille feuille!

  5. Terence Carter says

    May 2, 2010 at 11:40 am

    You don’t have to be ashamed! Sure I don’t understand the fuss, but I’m not a big dessert guy, even in Paris. Why? The cheese!
    Do contact these guys if you want to do that course, they are awesome, thoroughly recommended. I mean, look at those macarons?
    Perfect.
    T

  6. Gourmantic says

    May 3, 2010 at 3:54 am

    I really enjoyed reading the post and navigating through the photographs. It’s probably as close as I’ll ever come to making macarons. I simply don’t have the patience. But I volunteer to be the chief taster of your next batch, Terence! :)

  7. Terence Carter says

    May 3, 2010 at 4:02 am

    Thanks for you comment! Unfortunately, you’ll be waiting a while to see me make some macarons again! Probably not until next February @ our home away from home in Bendigo. Then I’ll send you some ;-)

  8. Rita says

    May 10, 2010 at 6:21 am

    OMG! These are the most beautiful macarons I have seen in my life. I want to go to France next year, and I am looking for a cooking class where I can combine my trip and explore the french cooking art.
    Please email about the class info.
    I would appreciate it!
    Thank you very much!

  9. Terence Carter says

    May 10, 2010 at 6:45 am

    Thanks for your comment Rita, the links are all in the story.

    Good luck with your classes if you take them, it’s a lot of fun.

    Cheers,

    T

  10. Kay says

    June 3, 2010 at 2:23 am

    Have just found your post, but I needed to say I’ve booked the Macaron class for October and reading this makes me wish it was tomorrow…

  11. Terence Carter says

    June 3, 2010 at 2:46 am

    Excellent, enjoy the class, it’s a lot of fun!

  12. Victoria says

    July 8, 2010 at 12:52 pm

    I’m currently spending a month in Tours (going to Paris for the weekend tomorrow, hence reading these entries!) and am happily surviving on macarons for lunch everyday. They’re the best!

  13. Lara Dunston says

    August 25, 2011 at 2:28 pm

    Thanks for your comment, Victoria. Sorry we missed this earlier. You would love this cooking class then!

  14. Jen Laceda says

    October 21, 2011 at 12:37 am

    Update:
    I just recently attended (and blogged about) a macaron-making class here in Toronto. The class really awakened a love of baking for me. I now like measuring, timing, converting, weighing, and I enjoy the “rush” of not knowing the end result (did I do everything right for my macarons to have “le pied”?). Oh, how things change in a year…In 2010, I was afraid to make macarons. In 2011, I love making macarons (even with a broken oven)! LOL!

  15. Liv says

    January 3, 2012 at 4:33 pm

    Yum! I love the photos too.

  16. Terence Carter says

    January 3, 2012 at 9:22 pm

    Thanks Liv!

  17. Anika says

    October 9, 2012 at 3:51 am

    Yummy! French patisserie and French food in general is easily the best thing about visiting France.

  18. Lara Dunston says

    October 9, 2012 at 7:02 pm

    You should definitely be doing this macaron making class then! :)

  19. Shikha (whywasteannualleave) says

    January 31, 2014 at 4:56 am

    So fabulous! I’ve done a couple of macaron making classes here in London but am still yet to have the confidence to have a go at home – somehow worried they’ll sink without the supervision of a professional!

  20. Terence Carter says

    January 31, 2014 at 10:00 am

    Yes, they can be tricky. Bu I managed to make a pavlova here in Siem Reap in a cheap mini-oven in a hot kitchen so I’m sure there’s hope for you in London!

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Lara and Terence are an Australian-born, Southeast Asia-based travel and food writers and photographers who have authored scores of guidebooks, produced countless travel and food stories, are currently developing cookbooks and guidebooks, and host culinary tours and writing and photography retreats in Southeast Asia.
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Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

#christmasgiftideas #ediblegifts ##christmasfoodgifts #foodgifts #giftideas #homemadegifts #christmasfood #ediblegiftideas #hotsauce #chillisauce #sriracha #pickles #homemadepickles #recipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood 
#blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #picoftheday 
#christmas #christmastree #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #cambodia #siemreap
This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

#recipe #recipes #vietnamesefood #cambodianfood #asianfood #southeastasianfood #ricenoodles #rice #noodlebowl #meatballs #igfood #igfoodie #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #writingacookbook #writingacambodiancookbook #patreon #patreoncreator #grantourismo
It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

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