From muse to murderer: how France fell out of love with absinthe
The story of absinthe begins and ends with two Frenchmen in Switzerland. The first was a doctor who created a new spirit alcohol with an...
The story of absinthe begins ...
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Extreme French cooking: are you brave enough to try?
Calling fellow weakling Anglophones! Let's face it, when it comes to meat, we're basic. We like eating the standard farm animals, and only the meat...
Calling fellow weakling Anglo...
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You can’t guess France’s favourite cheese either
Think of French cheese and some famous names come to mind: Camembert, Brie, Roquefort. Fromages that are big in flavour, stronger in smell, and likely...
Think of French cheese and so...
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Delicious French cakes that may make you weep a little
There's a new boulangerie in town and goddamnit it's good. I had a raspberry crumble tart from there that tasted so good it actually made...
There's a new boulangerie in t...
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The surprising reason why French people eat horses
The other night I was reading Black Beauty to the enfants and, when we got to the bit where (SPOILER) Ginger dies, my smallest had...
The other night I was reading ...
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Are you eating the wrong crêpe?
My first encounter with French crêpes was in Glasgow back when I was a student. We would have high japes and revelry in the city...
My first encounter with French...
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Delicious French winter salads
Until shamefully late in adult life, I’d regarded salads as a sort of non-food: unfilling, devoid of flavour, and eaten only by feeble dieter-types as...
Until shamefully late in adul...
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Is beaujolais nouveau really that bad?
“I tried it once and it was horrible.” Last week my partner explained why he has never celebrated beaujolais nouveau day and why I,...
“I tried it once and it was h...
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French wine: a confession
There is a popular belief that practising a skill day-in-day-out will turn you into an expert. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, says that 10,000...
There is a popular belief tha...
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