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paris detox
One of my favorite things about coming back from a foreign city is how ungrounded I feel in the days that follow, and how hard I work to cling to it, kind of the way I try to will sleep back to me when I wake up at 7:30 AM on a weekend or try to not eat anything for a long time after an excellent piece of chocolate.
When my ears tune in on two people walking down the street, I perk up when I hear English, until remembering that yes, we speak that here. Feet look different: heels are high and stiletto-ed, colors are more muted, few Velcro strapped trainers. Nobody carries two baguettes wrapped in a small square of brown paper, speaks on the phone in the subway, girls’ nails are polished, their faces more made up. Everything is bigger here: the height of the buildings, the size of our portions and cars, the heaviness in which extras are piled on; everything is better packaged for your ease – but the brightness in flavor of mesclun, butter, eggs, milk, tomatoes all suffer for it. Stores are noisier, employees less warm, buildings look boxy and artless, and everyone walks down the street eating and drinking instead of ducking into a café to sit down with a bottle of sparkling Evian and a tiny, mighty coffee.
As the days pass, I become increasingly convinced that I’ve been placed in the wrong country at the wrong time and I only want to go back, until I rejoice that the scaffolding is finally off the Flatiron Building, pass a line at a coffee cart and smile, or the otherworldly smell of street meat slips into my consciousness, and I become certain again I couldn’t live anywhere else. You know, unless you asked nicely.
***
Last time we returned from Paris, all I wanted was French food, tiny tarts, crusty bread, lightly dressed salad greens, endless Côtes du Rhône. This time, my tastes have shifted to Italy: Tuesday night, Ang and her big dog came over and I made a fresh pizza crust (yes, again) topped with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and paper-thin slices of red onion. Yep, just got hungry again.
Wednesday night, I made one of our favorite dishes on earth, loosely adapted from here, but I highly suggest you forego most of their unnecessary steps and just roast the largest cherry tomatoes you can find and peeled cippolini onions with olive oil and sea salt until they’re drippy and dark (about an hour), toss them with canned beans (I used butter beans, usually I use cannelloni), slivers of basil, and eat it with 
some crusty, garlic-rubbed bread, salad, white wine, and that Sopranos episode you missed in Paris. Make sure not to miss a lick of those drippings that collect in the bottom of the roasting pan: they will permanently alter the way you perceive tomatoes. We enjoyed this dish so much, I broke my “ew, god, I can’t stand eating the same thing two days in a row” rant to do exactly that last night. There are no leftovers.
***
Finally, the story I promised about the crazy dessert Julie insisted via email that we order at L’Enoteca restaurant in the 4th arrondizement: the Corleone. I’m not going to beat around the bush here: it’s made of eggplant. I think Julie assumed our French wasn’t proficient enough to translate “l’aubergines,” but sadly for both of us, we were. Had we not been able to, we might have ordered this baked vegetable, saturated with amaretto and honey (my best guess), covered with shaved chocolate, and accompanied by two triangles of ricotta ice-cream decked with bits of candied citrus rinds without inhibition. But we were terrified. With help from the liberating effects of wine, we cut through the black skin (still intact!), loaded our forks with nervous smidgens, braced ourselves for something wrong in every sense of the word, but found ourselves intrigued. Then appetized. Then nearly finished.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time since we’ve returned Googling “dessert + eggplant” and come up with astonishingly limited information. I’ve learned that eggplant desserts are not unheard of in Lebanon, Tunisia, and Morocco, however, they have different-sounding flavors. Reference to similar-sounding recipes in both of these cookbooks. In fact, the only thing I found that sounds almost precisely like what we ate is in this review for a restaurant named Azalea that just happens to be in midtown. Dare we seek it out? I’ll keep you posted.
comments (18)
Deb, So you have totally made me *NEED* to go to Paris. How is Paris for two folks who don't speak a lick of French? I know you and Alex know a bit but would it be ok for me to go and not know any?? Also what books "travely guides" do you recommend so I can study up on where I need to visit while I am there? Please fill me in!
1 | Hillary | March 24, 2006 02:00 PM
You make me hungry every time I read your words about food! Do you have your recipe posted for your pizza dough?
2 | Jen | March 24, 2006 06:36 PM
There is actually an episode of Iron Chef America where the secret ingredient was eggplant. The desserts looked odd.
3 | Kelly | March 25, 2006 05:28 AM
This has nothing to do with anything, but...Have you read "Aphrodite" by Isabel Allende? Its pretty much the Kama Sutra of food porn.
4 | Laura | March 26, 2006 08:42 AM
Your blog makes me sad because I know just how you feel...I just got back from Berlin. In my case it's not the food or the warm people (Berlin kind of lacks both) that I miss...just the techno, the edginess, the hedonism, the underground vibe, and the utter lack of plastic-ness. Ah, down 'n' dirty Berlin. I love Paris too though. It's like Berlin's pretty, rich older cousin. Looks like you and Alex had a great little trip. Maybe once President Frist starts Civil War II we'll both have an excuse to peace out to our favorite Euro-destinations permanently.
5 | Hurricane Marge | March 26, 2006 05:52 PM
I just wanted to write to say I love your blog. You are a great writer and take beautiful photo's (I love the egg yolk one!). It took me a week, but I am all caught up on your life. Keep writing!
6 | EBS | March 27, 2006 09:04 AM
And now I am officially starving!!! The only way to get through Paris is to eat your way through with crepes from vendors and little restaurants.... it's the best! I am glad that you got to reminise about your engagement. How fun!
7 | clearlykels | March 27, 2006 12:48 PM
Hey Deb I wanted to say that I have officially read all of your blogs as of now and between you and thisfish.com sometimes its the only reason I wanna get out of bed in the morning :) I dont know you but a friend once told me that friendship is like peeing your pants, everyone can see it but only you can feel it and I just wanted to say thanks for being the pee in my pants! Your blog truly lights up my day :)
8 | messa | March 28, 2006 11:27 AM
Deb, I want to make the yummy tomato/cannellini dish tonight. If I'm using canned beans, how many cups???
Always enjoy reading about your adventures. Love the photos and your writing.
9 | Diana | March 28, 2006 11:38 AM
Hillary - Alex picked up Frommers Paris Walking Tours before we left; it was the only book we brought. I can't remember the walking tours we used last time (they were part of maybe a Lonely Planet guide) but I liked them a little more. Then again, we never followed them precisely.
Diana - I really ignore the recipe, so my proportions are all over the place. I might use one can with a dozen or so tiny onions for 1-2 small containers of cherry tomatoes. But, I usually buy two (15oz) cans of beans in case I need more.
10 | deb | March 28, 2006 12:07 PM
Jen - I make the pizza dough recipe from Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything, the cookbook everyone should buy if they only want one. I don't have it here, but I know it by heart:
3 c flour
2 t salt
1 t yeast (less than a packet)
1 c water, + 1-2 T if needed
1 T olive oil
Pulse everything but the liquids in the food processor on the dough setting for 30 seconds, then add the liquids and turn it back on. It forms a dough very quickly. (I sometimes add dried herbs or garlic.)
Knead it for a few minutes on a floured surface, let it rise in a oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap for an hour (or more, up to 2).
After the hour, knead it lightly again on a floured surface, forming it into a slightly-flattened ball. (I make two discs - I like mine thinner. If you leave it whole, it's more bready.)
Once it has puffed a little again (20 minutes), roll it out. I bake it on a pizza stone, with some cornmeal to keep it from sticking, at my oven's top temperature for about 10 minutes.
And that's all!
11 | deb | March 28, 2006 12:17 PM
well, ur post made me go down to starbucks and have a cofee cake(that's the closest to a bakery i have here) did u see that u and alex are on the homepage of ivillage today under 'Love and S**'...cool...way to go :)
12 | Floridagal | March 28, 2006 12:23 PM
Yay, thank you! I will be making it this weekend with roasted tomatos and sauteed onions. :)
13 | Jen | March 28, 2006 06:00 PM
Deb, made the tomatoes/onions/beans tonight and hubby loved it as did I! I wanted to take a picture but by the time I got dinner on, we were starving and it looked too good to wait! Maybe next time! Thanks!
My hubby asked where I got the recipe and I told him from one of my favorite bloggers. He was like, "What?" I told him I read you for the "recipes" (but, let's admit it, you know I love the other stuff too, especially since I'm a very newly wed as of last Dec. 18th!)
I have a snobby sister-in-law who will NOT shop at Wal-Mart. She's so into "labels" thus she drives her BWM, shops Ann Taylor, etc. I love that even YOU have discovered the joys of Wal-Mart. It gives me hope for her!
14 | Diana | March 28, 2006 10:38 PM
Deb, Thanks for sharing the highlights from your trip! For a few weeks after I return from Europe I like to keep my travel alarm clock set nine hours ahead. I tuck it in the medicine cabinet and as I am grabbing my toothbrush in the morning before I head out into the rush of everyday life, I get to remember my journey, if even for a brief moment. It's a great way to "decompress" slowly. Welcome home!
15 | Rochelle | March 29, 2006 07:20 PM
Oh no. Uou've let out the chocolate eggplant secret.
16 | Allison | April 1, 2006 09:03 AM
I was in NYC last week and had the chocolate eggplant dessert at Azalea, and it was out of this world!
Go try it, you won't regret it! I've been searching online for a recipe and haven't found one yet, but I will!
17 | Cassandra | April 25, 2006 01:07 AM
Oh! I am planning to go visit Paris this holiday! I hope I will get there in spite of all the little problems that I am sure will come up! I have a friend leaving there, He is chef and he’s selling sears parts in the same time… so I will have a good guide in Paris when it will come about restaurants. :P
18 | Ada | June 26, 2008 10:50 PM