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The global Automotive Popup Sunroof market is valued at XX million USD in 2017 and is expected to reach XX million USD by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2017 and 2025.
China plays an important role in global market, with market size of xx million USD in 2017 and will be xx million USD in 2025, with a CAGR of xx%.
This report studies the Automotive Popup Sunroof development status and future trend in China, focuses on top players in China, also splits Automotive Popup Sunroof by type and by applications, to fully and deeply research and reveal the market general situation and future forecast.
To learn more about this report, Download a free Sample Copy
The major players in China market include
Aisin Seiki
Mingfang Automotive Parts
Johnan Manufacturing
Shenghua Wave Group
Geographically, this report splits the China market into six regions,
South China
East China
Southwest China
Northeast China
North China
Central China
Northwest China
On the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume K Units, revenue Million USD, product price USD/Unit, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into
Power Sunroof
Manual Sunroof
On the basis of the end users/application, this report covers
Sedan & Hatchback
Other Vehicle
If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.
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A license granted to a single business site/establishment.
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riteshn necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 50 diseños de 12 diseñadores freelance.
We are an internet startup with an intent to create the best distribution system for independent electonic music.
Producers and listeners of independent electronic music
The site is a mix of Reddit.com and Psyshop.com (and cytopia.org) whereas Independent Artist or anybody can upload music or music related content and people can vote/comment on it etc. In the long run we plan to sell music too.
We are looking for somebody who can design us an interface like http://www.giftag.com or http://www.momolog.com or anything that is not jazzy. Uses simple pastel colors and is not hard on eyes.
Other sites that might be inspirational and gives an idea what we want:
Remember: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor
We will need design for two page: index and one inside where we show the music and its comments/replies.
Layout would be the standard:
* Container layer
* Header
* Navigation
* Content
* Sidebar
* Footer
PS: We already have a logo that you will have to integrate with your design. You can see the logo at: http://99designs.com/contests/18851

subset: commoncrawl


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Artist a draw for pundit portraits
Some political pundits, you might have noticed, are pretty impressed with themselves. Artist Scott Wilke is here to help feed their egos.
The Wisconsin-based artist has made a side business out of doing colored pencil drawings of talking heads such as Sean Hannity, former CNN contributor Amber Lyon, Bret Baier, Andrea Tantaros and Andrew Breitbart. The Daily Caller's Jamie Weinstein has commissioned Wilke to do some portraits of him doing television hits — such as on Fox News's "Red Eye" — and Wilke says he's sold portraits to Breitbart News contributors Lisa Mei Norton and Tony Katz.
Story Continued Below
"I love doing pundits, whether it's from the left or the right," Wilke, 42, told POLITICO. "I just get a kick out of it." His portraits can run anywhere from $150 to $500, depending on the size and other considerations.
He knows that his résumé is heavy on conservatives and says it's not a reflection of his politics but, rather, his paychecks. He says he has one loyal fan who has commissioned him to draw roughly 40 people from Fox News, at $50 a pop — "my pre-2013 price," Wilke said.
"He's just a fan," Wilke said. "I guess an obsessed fan, to put it mildly." It's driven Wilke far away from the Fox-house, so to speak.
"I can't stand drawing pundits on Fox, I really can't. It's not that I don't like Fox, but when you draw enough from one channel, it becomes a little rigid for me." Wilke describes his own politics as having "gone up and down" over the years and now settling into being "a libertarian conservative."
"I would love more than anything to draw Joe Scarborough, to get on MSNBC and branch out," Wilke said. Also high on his bucket list: CNN's Anderson Cooper.
Wilke's strategy of putting pundits to paper is, in part, a reflection of his general interest in cable news, but it's also a shrewd way of getting his work more publicity.
"I try to draw pundits and get it out there and maybe they'll give me a shout-out and get me on TV," Wilke said.


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Custom-made men's dress shirts were once considered the privileged peacockery of the moneyed set -- a dash of sartorial swagger that could be afforded only by Hollywood A-listers, Wall Street bankers and monocle-wearing aristocrats of a bygone era.
But today, thanks to advances in technology, a competitive market and consumer demand, custom clothing has moved within the barrel-cuffed arm's reach of the common man. Click a button in Burbank and a factory in Beijing can cut and sew a dress shirt made to specification -- not just in size, shape and fabric, but with a mind-boggling number of other options as well (including mitered pockets, contrasting buttonholes, French cuffs and rounded collar points). And it can be delivered to your doorstep in less than three weeks for the sum of $100 -- less than half the price of an off-the-peg luxury brand using the same high-end Italian fabrics.
That's the business model of 5-year-old, Dallas-based custom clothier J.Hilburn, which couples e-commerce with a nationwide direct-sales team of "style advisors" armed with fabric swatches and tape measures who do initial in-person consultations. The company has gone from selling $1 million worth of custom dress shirts in 2008 to more than 10 times that last year, according to co-founder Veeral Rathod. "We sold 100,000 custom dress shirts in 2011," Rathod said. "Up from 60,000 in 2010."
J.Hilburn isn't the only crafter of custom shirts to report growth. Peter Crawfurd, the co-founder and chief executive of 3-year-old website ShirtsMyWay.com, declined to provide specific figures, but he said 2011 sales were up 91% over 2010. A similar online purveyor, Indochino (which also sells custom men's suits and outerwear), has seen sales triple over the last three years, according to its co-founder and chief executive, Kyle Vucko.
Even some in the old-school bricks-and-mortar custom shirt business -- such as Anto Distinctive Shirtmaker in Beverly Hills, where the shirts cost $325 each, require at least two fittings and are made no further afield than Sherman Oaks -- report a bump in business.
"Knock on wood, we've seen sales increasing every year," said Jack Sepetjian, a partner with his brother Ken in the family business named for their father. "The last five or six years we've noticed more of the younger guys -- in their 30s and 40s -- coming in. That's a good sign for us."
Although it doesn't track custom dress shirts specifically, market research firm NPD Group reports that sales in the men's dress shirt category jumped 13.49% to $2.78 billion in the 12-month period ending Nov. 30 (compared with a 2.26% increase in the overall men's shirt and sweater business in the same period).
Paulo Goncalves, a partner and co-designer of New York City-based ready-to-wear label Bespoken Clothiers, which rolled out a Web-based made-to-measure program in October, explained why the brand decided to enter an increasingly crowded arena.
"We're living in a world where people are customizing everything from their cars to their computers to their phones and the skins on their phones," Goncalves said. "But it's been really slow to translate to clothing. We figured that if we could do it -- in the proper manner -- it'd be a good opportunity."
Bespoken's idea of the "proper manner" helps illustrate how the custom shirt business has changed since the days when the words "custom shirt" meant one thing: a truly handmade garment, cut from a pattern made specifically for a single individual (the way Anto's still does today) for which the customer could specify any number of details.
At Bespoken's website, for $245 a customer can specify fabric, collar and cuff style, enter four measurements (collar, chest, waist and sleeve) and three weeks later receive a shirt featuring Thomas Mason fabric that's been handmade in the same U.K. factory that makes shirts for venerable British clothier Turnbull & Asser.
"There's storytelling that goes along with it as well," Goncalves said. "It takes 16 people to construct a single shirt, we use only mother-of-pearl buttons, and the shirts are all made in the same factory that made the famous James Bond shirts. Someone who wants made-to-measure wants a story to go along with it, something they can sit in a bar and talk to their mates about."
If you're working with a clothing budget that's more "savings" than "story," websites like the aforementioned ShirtsMyWay (starting at $75) or Indochino ($79 and up) exchange pedigree for price tag, offering shirts in less expensive fabrics and made in Asia instead of England.
But in reality, none of these options is truly "custom" in the strictest sense of the word. A custom garment is based on an individual pattern made from scratch, while these newer options are made-to-measure -- based on a standard, existing shirt pattern which is then sized up or down to fit.
"If you're paying $125 to $225 for a shirt and you're going by four or five measurements, that's fine, that's understandable," said Anto's Jack Sepetjian, who says his shop has more than 10,300 patterns on file. "But the more measurements you take, the better a shirt's going to fit. We take over 21 different measurements -- six different measurements for the collar itself -- to build each person an individual pattern based on their exact posture down to the sixteenth of an inch. If they are going through that process, then that's a perfect custom shirt."
That brings us back to J.Hilburn's hybrid approach, which is neither as cold and impersonal as the straight e-tail model nor as expansive and expensive as a traditional tailor such as Anto. Every prospective customer is required to meet with a style advisor at least once (after that orders can be placed online). It's not just for a detailed measuring (six for a dress shirt) but also to rifle through closets looking for favorite shirts, discuss preferences and talk over the myriad options (four options for the button placket alone) before placing an initial order for a shirt priced from $89 to $159, depending on fabric and details.
Studio City resident Chip Meehan, a J.Hilburn customer for the last year and a half, says having a style advisor has not only been helpful, it's made the shopping experience enjoyable. "There were questions asked to which I guess I had an opinion, but I hadn't formulated it," he said. "For example, I prefer the button-down collars where the button is hidden underneath. When I was asked if I'd like that I was like: 'Why yes, I would!' "
He works in sales at Comcast, so the 56-year-old Meehan isn't required to dress up on a daily basis. "But when I do, it's nice to have something that fits me better -- there's not fabric in the wrong place and things aren't short where they should be longer. I used to wear traditional shirts that were so blousy I felt like I could have had other people in there with me. Now, it's not like I get a flood of comments, but I've definitely had people ask me if I've lost weight or say things like I seem more fit."
Meehan says he orders about four times a year. "Usually for the change of the season," he said. "Think I'll try some casual shirts next. I see a time when two-thirds of my closet is filled with custom stuff."
Rathod says that average customer spending has been increasing by about $200 a year. And in addition to helping create a lucrative and long-lasting customer relationship, style advisors serve another practical purpose -- keeping custom shirt remakes down to, in his words, "a phenomenally low 3%."
"I can see the younger guys, who are maybe a little more fashion-forward, trying to take their own measurements, giving it a shot online, maybe looking for the best price," he said. "But our guy is a 45-year-old professional -- a doctor, lawyer or banker, and he appreciates this concierge-type service."


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Music and film superstars Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah duet in this gospel choir dramedy about an unlikely partnership between two strong-minded women who are forced to work together to save a small town gospel choir after budget cuts threaten to shut them down.
The small town of Pacashau, Georgia, has fallen on hard times, but the people are counting on the Divinity Church Choir to lift their spirits by winning the National Joyful Noise Competition. The choir has always known how to sing in harmony, but the discord between its two leading ladies now threatens to tear them apart.
Their newly appointed director, Vi Rose Hill (Latifah), stubbornly wants to stick with their tried-and-true traditional style, while the fiery G.G. Sparrow (Parton) thinks tried-and-true translates to tired-and-old.
Shaking things up even more is the arrival of G.G.'s rebellious grandson, Randy (Jeremy Jordan). Randy has an ear for music, but he also has an eye for Vi Rose's beautiful and talented daughter, Olivia (Keke Palmer).
If these two strong-willed women can put aside their differences for the good of the people in their town, they—and their choir—may make the most joyful noise of all.
With a strong musical component, this inspirational film, also starring Kris Kristofferson and Courtney B. Vance, is written and directed by Todd Graff.
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- Scout's Medallion
- Item Level 53
- Binds when picked up
- Unique
- Neck
- +12 Agility
+8 Stamina
- Requires level 48
- Vendor 300
- Not the version of this item you were looking for? See Scout's Medallion.
The Scout's Medallion is PvP reward necklace for the Horde from the Warsong Outriders. It can be purchased for the correct amount of honor points depending on the level. There are 5 versions of this necklace which correspond to the 5 level brackets in Warsong Gulch.
This item is a PvP reward, and can be purchased for 45 from Kelm Hargunth <Warsong Supply Officer> in Northern Barrens.
Patch changesEdit
- Patch 3.3.3 (2010-03-23): No longer requires Warsong Gulch Marks of Honor to purchase.
- / Patch 2.0.1 (05-Dec-2006): Reputation requirement removed.
- Patch 1.6.0 (12-Jul-2005): Added.
External linksEdit
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


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- About Company
Established in 1981 , is a leading manufacturer & exporter of gas welding & cutting equipment as well as welding accessories. Our complete product range provides customers convenience and saves on product sourcing. OEM requirements are welcome. Our professional technology and talented working team make strict quality control from raw material sourcing to final production procession to ensure standard and high quality products. To keep BOD growing, we are constantly upgrading our facilities to meet our goal of giving our customers satisfaction with products that assure total performance. If you are looking for safety, superior quality welding equipment in view of very competitive price, we are the right people.


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Admit it, we're in love with our mobile devices. Even while camping in the middle of the forest, give us Wi-Fi, and we'll regularly check our email and Facebook to make sure we're not missing anything. Snap a pic, record a video, share an update, there are just so many things to do via mobile. Add work connectivity into the mix, and you can set up your own mobile office.
While smartphones and tablets are great, a whole slew of gadgets and gizmos have been created to extend the unique capabilities of these wonderful devices. In this slideshow, we've collected 15 unique and innovative inventions that can add functionality, connectivity and just plain convenience to your mobile devices.
Related Topics : In Their Own Words: The Four Dark Horses for the Third Major Mobile OS Speak, HTC, Mobile Search, 3G, Location-Based Services
Wearables are revolutionizing the workplace, with innovations that create a safer work environment or enhance the way professionals are able to go about their job. ... More >>
Here are the top 10 strategic technology trends that will impact most organizations in 2017. Strategic technology trends are defined as those with substantial disruptive potential or those reaching the tipping point over the next five years. ... More >>
Digital innovation is by far the biggest influencer, changing the way we do just about everything, from shopping to communication to running a business. ... More >>


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9 Bouncing Baby Boys
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Another friend of mine, Gretchen, found out today she is having a boy. I don't have ANY friends in the last two years that have produced anything but little boy babies....so if one could pop out a girl---->I'd certainly have plenty of nice little boys to introduce her to when she gets older. I just think that is an odd little fact (I'm waiting on two more friends to find out what they are having). Amber and I will be throwing her a work shower in May.....and we can use some of the 'stuff' I've used in the past :O) More planning to come later....it'll be relatively 'low key' compared to the extravaganzas I usually like to throw because it's May and I'll be running on fumes....and because it'll be after work-people usually just want to high tail it out of there at the end of the day! Basically, I'm posting so if you check with any regularity....there is something for you to read :O)
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© Christy Robbins · Design by Albemarle PR · Craft Clipart by Le Petite Market


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1. Status of Marriage
Standard: Irreconcilable differences have arisen. If you were married, then the judge will want to know if "irreconcilable differences have arisen leading to the irremediable breakdown of the marriage." This means that there has been a breakdown of the marriage and that no amount of counseling will reunite the two of you.
2. Child Custody and Visitation
Standard: Best Interest of Child. If there are minor children of the marriage, then you will want to explain to the judge what you want and why. If you are requesting no or supervised visitation don't forget to tell the judge why you believe your proposal is in the best interests of the child or children.
3. Child Support/Health insurance / Child Care
Main Factors to Determine Child Support: Dad's Income, Mom's Income, Percentage of Time each Parent.
If you are going to request a specific amount of child support at your default hearing, you may have the Self-Help Center / Family Law Facilitator calculate the possible guideline child support amount or you may want to calculate it on your own at www.childsup.ca.gov. In order to calculate child support you should bring a copy of your FL-150 Income and Expense Declaration. Also, you will have to make an estimate for the judge as to the other parent's gross income before taxes. If you tell the judge, "I don't know what s/he makes," then the judge will have a difficult time making an order. Remember, you know more about what the other parent earns or is able to earn than the judge does. For this reason, you can describe the other parent's occupation, experience, etc., and let the judge know what you believe the other parent is capable of earning. The judge can then use this figure in setting the other parent's earnings.
At your hearing, you may also request an order that the other parent carry the minor children on health insurance available through the other parent's employment even if they don't have insurance now. Note that the judge may make the same order for you that each of you carry the children on insurance that is available at no or reasonable cost through your employment. You may also request that each parent pay one-half of any reasonable health care expenses that are not covered by the insurance.
If you incur child care expenses while you are at work or school, you may request that the other parent pay for one-half of any child care expenses incurred while you are at work or school.
If there is a case with the Department of Child Support Services, you will want to let the judge know this. Bring a copy of the child support order with you to your hearing. If the case is in another county, you will want to tell the judge the name of the other county where the DCSS case is located.
4. Spousal Support
Main Factors: Ability to Pay; Need for Support; Standard of Living During Marriage; Length of Marriage; Age and health of each spouse; How much income each can earn on their own; What the expenses of each spouse are; Whether there are minor children at home; The history of the way the couple handled money during the marriage; What each person needs; What each person pays or can pay (including earnings and earning capacity); Whether having a job would make it too hard to take care of the minor children; Debts and property; Whether one spouse or domestic partner helped the other get an education, training, career, or professional license; Whether there was domestic violence in the marriage or domestic partnership; Whether one spouse's, or domestic partner's, career was affected by unemployment, or by taking care of the children or home, and; The tax impact of spousal support.
If you want to request a specific amount of spousal support, you will need to tell the judge all the facts in your case that are related to the factors listed above.
If you do not ever want spousal support (now or in the future), then let the judge know you are "waiving" spousal support. If you waive spousal support, you will never be able to ask for spousal support in the future, even if you need it. If you have a marriage of 10 years or more the court will want you to explain why this is a reasonable request.
If you do not ever want to pay spousal support to the other party, then let the judge know that you want to "terminate jurisdiction" over the issue of spousal support. If you have a marriage of 10 years or more the court will want you to explain why this is a reasonable request.
If you want the court to make spousal support orders in the future, then let the judge know that you want to "reserve jurisdiction" over the issue of spousal support.
5. Assets and Debts
Standard: Equal Division of Community Property and Debt. Remember that community property is defined as any asset or debt that was purchased or incurred after date of marriage and before date of separation. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as gifts or inheritance. Generally, in a default hearing the court wants to be able to divide that community property assets and debts equally between the parties.
If there are assets or debts to be divided by the judge, you should review the FL-160 Property Declaration(s) that you previously completed. If you are requesting that the community property assets and debts be divided unequally, you will need to tell the judge why your unequal proposal for division is a fair and equitable division.
If you are requesting that the court divide a pension or retirement plan then you may need to seek legal advice from an attorney before you get divorced. In most cases, the pension plan will not be able to disburse any money until a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is signed by the judge. In addition, if the employee spouse dies before a QDRO is signed then the pension will not pay out any money to the spouse.
6. Restoring of your Former Name
If you want the judge to order that your name be restored to your former name, be sure to request this at the time of your hearing.


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Notes from a Parisite
Posted 14 May 2004 - 03:42 AM
I sometimes post reports about Paris on another site, and some friends have asked me to post them here too. I haven't done well at these reports this spring for a variety of reasons, but I hope to be more consistant during my last six weeks here. Here are the only two I've posted so far.
Maurice Naughton
Paris, 2 April 2004, mostly cloudy and cool, report 1
Hi, There--
Getting here wasn't half the fun. I rented a car to go from Flint to the Detroit airport, and a day-drinker promptly rear-ended me at a stoplight. The ensuing brawl (verbal) took up considerable time, but wasn't interesting. I got to the Hertz office at the airport with less than an hour till plane time. The folk there were, to my surprise, wonderous kind and considerate, and I managet to arrive at the British Airways check-in only twenty minutes before departure. Spent some more time at security after that, where the nice lady confiscated by beautiful little German pocket knife that separates into a picnic knife and fork. I had forgot to move it from my pocket to my suitcase. But I made it to the plane, last sod to board.
The flight, aided by an 85 mph tailwind and "Something's Gotta Give," (Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson) and not terribly inhibited by the truly lousy lasagna, was fast and Heathrow arrived at six in the morning. The charm of the international departure terminal at Heathrow is minimal at that hour, oh hell, at any hour. I thought two ounces of oscetra caviar at about £60 unreasonable, and I had no need for a Thomas Pink shirt, a Bulgari necklace, a Mont Blanc fountain pen, nor a Vacherin et Constintine wristwatch. And I hadn't enough room in my backpack for an Easter bunny. I settled for a ready-made BLT at Pret á Manger and a pint of Fuller's at J. D. Whetherspoon's Bar, whilst I read the The Daily Telegraph. Come on, guys, it's for laughs.
The short hop to Charles de Gaulle brought BA's breakfast--tea, orange juice, and an inedible wedge of something they called "pie." It brought the only memorable moment to the flight, when the collecting attendant showed up and asked, "Finished, sir?" I said, "This thing's not much to my taste." The collector said, "You, sir, are not the first to have made that observation." Brightened the morning a treat.
Up and down stairs. RER train to place Denfert-Rochereau. Up and down stairs. Up and down stairs again. Metro to Corvisart. Down stairs. Short hike to apartment. Uneventful but two small suitcases and a backpack are quite a load (I bring lots of books) to schlep up and down stairs for an hour or so.
My apartment is in all ways but one excellent. It doesn't have a real oven, just a microwave one. But it has two rooms, and everything in them but the carpet is virgin--brand-new, unused, pristine, from the cookware to the furniture to the sheets and pillows, still wrapped in plastic. I'm glad the carpet has a stain here and there. It gives me peace of mind. And it has that rarest of appliances, a bathtub, one of those astonishing French ones, about four feet long and three feet deep, with water hot enough to cook lobsters.
My landlord is a fine fellow, American with a French wife and two grown kids. He and I spent Wednesday late afternoon wandering about the neighborhood (called la Butte aux Cailles), listening to its hum, smelling its smells, catching its mood, savoring its flavor. It's in the 13th Arrondissement, fast by the place d'Italie, near two of my favorite restaurants, Chez Paul and l'Avant-Gout, a personable little neighborhood with twisty streets, short buildings, neighborly shops, and a village feel.
When Will (Faas, my landlord) left me to my own devices it was getting on to dinnertime, and I suddenly realized I was numb with wearyness, too tired to think of anything but a hot shower and early bedtime. I did buy a sandwich, just in case, and a wedge of apple crumble tarte (Ah, Paris!), but mainly I tried to find my way home (I'd not brought my map book, and the little twisty streets were a Minotauran maze about which there was apparently no reason).
But I kept asking people, "Do you know where I live?", and all of them were warm, cordial, and very thorough in their concern for an âgé perdu . When I ask for directions and have no idea of what's being said to me, which is almost all the time, I watch the hands. The first direction one of them points is the way I go. After a while, I ask someone else, knowing that when he points behind me, I've missed a turn. A half-hour or so of this backing and filling finally got me there, to 19, rue des Cinq Diamants, a fine good-omen of an address--a a 19-high diamond flush is rarely a loser.
After my shower and part of the sandwich, I fell in bed and slept.
The sun has just popped out, my signal to leave.
Much time has passed since I wrote the preceding, and I've been very busy and wasteful of my time (or not; it's a point of view). I think I'll send this much now and you'll have to wait a bit for the rest.
Paris, May 2, 2004, Report 2
Hi, There--
Let's just pretend that I've not been away and pick things up, like Homer and Virgil, in medias res.
This year, May Day, le Fête du Travail, tripped in on the first of May, as scheduled, and as scheduled, it was the occasion of some manifestations social.
Lovers of labor, working folk, and the drinking classes in general use this day to celebrate. What they celebrate, ostensibly, is travail, in both its French and English meanings. They don't, however, do it as a united siblinghood of friendly fellows and fellowettes, and in past years political differences have made the day's atmosphere, say, scratchy, but this year everyone managed to be low key, and rival factions generated almost no manifest ugliness. I didn't expect to see any bullet holes in the plate-glass along the Viaduc des Arts and the avenue Daumesnil the next day.
Maybe peace prevailed because ten new countries were welcomed to the European union that morning, and Paris didn't want to show itself testy, Or perhaps it was because morning clouds dispersed into mostly sunny and it finally got warm enough, a few degrees above normal, for the younger citoyens to shed their quilted parkas and Burberry scarves and show some pearly bare arm, winter-faded belly, and youthful springtime joie de vivre.
The predicted parade routes were published Friday. No newspapers escape their presses on labor day in France (indeed little work of any kind gets done, except by bartenders, waiters, cooks, cops, the unlicensed one–day street-corner vendors selling what must be the entire annual crop of muguet, and the City of Paris's green-clad and ubiquitous sweepers-up, very much later). I say "predicted" carefully because parades, once underway, tend to develop minds of their own, and shoot out splinter sorties like conga-lines or bunny-hoppers. In any case, four parades had been planned and were mapped out.
[An aside. Muguet, Lily-of-the-Valley, is what you traditionally give your mom on Mother's day in France. On the day before, every street corner in Paris has its little table or two or three, every curbstone its urchin, with tiny bouquets of Lily-of-the-Valley, or little potted plants of them, to sell you, for a nosegay to be pinned to your mom's lapel on her special day.]
Early birds, the Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens (the CFTC, certainly not to be confused with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which preys on labor in an entirely different way) begins in the morning around the Gare de Montparnasse and goes to the Champs de Mars, to look at the Eiffel tower for a while and horse around on the greensward. I don't go out that early.
The National Front (FN) makes its piddly contribution starting from Châtelet at about nine-thirty, and finds its way to the Opera, to contemplate Garnier's overwrought confection, maybe try to estimate what the gold on all those statues robbed the state coffers of. Why the FN show up on May Day at all makes little sense to me. I think they condemned Juan Peron for leftist tendencies. I skip them, too.
The Force Ouvrière starts at noon in the place de la Bastille and migrates eastward, keeping the sun to their backs, to the place Gambetta. They are a more or less cosy, dull, orderly group, reminding me of the May Day procession of pupils and nuns from St. Elizabeth's School parading thinly across 75th and Main in Kansas City in the '50s, to sing "Oh, Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,/Queen of the angels, queen of the May," in front of her engrottoed statue, whilst a little blonde girl in a blue pinafore climbed a wooden ladder to put a garland of lily-of-the-valley on Mary's polychromed and gold-crowned head. I can do without such reminders.
My favorite parade, combining the field operatives of the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), the Union Nationale des Syndicats Autonomes (UNSA), and the Fédération Syndicale Unitaire (FSU) gather under their banners and slogans in the place de la République at the entirely reasonable hour of 15h00 to slap another's back, sing merrily a little, and skip sociably along by way of the Bastille to the place de Nation. I discovered a couple of years ago that the reds and the greens are generally found here.
The greens seem austere and abstemious to a fault, regarding their bodies as temples, I suppose, not to be violated by anything that may have been tainted by sulfites, or sealed with the highly unnatural screw cap, and seeming as sanctimonious, pietistic, and devout as shi'a clerics, or inmates of the class of '56 at Notre Dame de Sion Academy for Catholic Girls. I tend to shy away from them.
As paraders, on the other hand, the communists are by far the most fun as well as the weirdest. They drink really cheap wine--the young ones, I mean--share it with anybody, and are generally friendly to old white-haired guys with backpacks and digital cameras. They also seem to attract Goths, with fuchsia hair in spikes, eyelids to rival Cleopatra's, and multiple body piercings, most of which they will gladly display for photographs.
I set myself north from my apartment a bit before noon. I'll cross the place d'Italie, cruise along the avenue des Gobelins, then the rue Monge to Cardinal Lemoine where I can angle right to the Pont de Sully, crossing the Seine, the tip of the Ile St-Louis, and the Seine again to the boulevard Henri IV, and thence to the place de la Bastille. It's a beautiful day for a walk down interesting thoroughfares. I intend to dawdle and think I may get to the Bastille around two.
There are few shops open. You'll find the occasional Arabe du Coin (the odd street name for the tiny grocery stores found every couple of blocks throughout Paris, with the tilt-tables of fresh fruit and veggies on the sidewalk out front, where you can pick up an emergency bottle of Côtes-du-Rhône, a cold can of Heineken, a box of Velouté de Legumes, or a roll of toilet paper, when the supermarchés are closed). Some restaurants and sidewalk cafés are unfurling, but not much more. Almost no traffic, and very quiet. Paris beset by complacencies of the peignoir.
By the time I reached the Bastille, Paris seemed to have finished her aubade, done with yawning and stretching behind her morning coffee and brioche and was now settling down for some preprandial drinking. Under the careless eye of the Genie on the Pillar, the outdoor cafés' terraces are full of Parisiens sitting in sunbeams like iguanas soaking up the heat, drinking a pastis or a pression or a citron pressée or an espress', not pressed themselves, no appointments to keep.
There's supposed to be an orchestra in the Square Louis XII, surrounded by the pink brick edifice of the most exquisite place des Vosges, and I detour a little westward to have a look. The back entrance, through the Hôtel de Sully has been closed for a while, so I head west on the rue de la Bastille, past the Brasserie Bofinger, turn right on the rue des Tournelles, left on the rue du Pas du Mule (which, surprisingly, means the street of the pace of the mule; French leads you not to expect the obvious), and into the place des Vosges at the corner entrance at the end of the rue des Francs Bourgeois.
At the northwest corner, the spilling out into the arcade, the restaurant Ma Bourgogne is very busy and noisy with chattering families in springtime clothes. Not a great kitchen, but a rather renowned steak tartare and a decent boeuf bourgogne, I'm told. The three-star l'Ambrosie is here too, very close at hand and at the same time immensely far away. There's a crowd on the square's pebbled walks, waiting for the music, but the grassy areas are still "resting" and can't be trod upon till they are ouverte, when spring has undone winter's damage. I decide not to wait. All the benches are full and I'd rather be in the open rather than in a crowd today.
I go back to the Pas de Mule and east to the boulevard Beaumarchais, then north again on that May-Day-quiet, commercial street, with few café and restaurants, but with an outpost of the British tea company Betjeman and Barton, a big Harley-Davidson showroom and service center, a little luthier (lute-maker by cognate, violin maker in practice), but too-few other shops of much interest to tourists and no "destination" restaurants, so it remains a very Parisien street.
A little before boulevard Beaumarchais becomes boulevard des Filles du Calvaire, all without warning and seemingly without reason, you could take a left down the tiny, narrow rue des Arquebusiers and find at a little turning not far along, hidden in a corner, the sequestered, elegant, and very discreet four-star-deluxe Hotel Villa Beaumarchais and its excellent restaurant l'Orangerie. This seems to me about perfect as a Paris honeymoon hotel, or the exactly fastidious place for circumspect weekends with a gilded baroness who's footing the bills.
Back on the boulevard, the organizers of the CGT-UNSA-FSU parade have been here, mounting banners that publish slogans like "Rebellez Vous!" and "Syndiquez Vous!" There are a lot of people about, strolling toward the place de la Republique, not getting into position for parade-watching, just rolling along the sunshine dappled sidewalk, on a perfect first of May.
It's getting on to half past two, and the crowd is swelling. By the time I pull up even with Chez Jenny, the very beautiful but overrated turn-of-the-century brasserie, the crowd ahead, beyond the restaurant Indiana, Paris's Tex-Mex chain that always makes me laugh, is just milling around in little eddies and waves, not doing much.
The outdoor tables at the big chain brasserie Taverne Maître Kanter, with probably better choucroute garni and certainly better prices than Chez Jenny, is chock full, and offers little hope of a front row seat for the pre-parade festivities and antics. Even the Lily-of-the-Valley sellers seem to have been swept away. Last year, over a million showed up for this parade. Some had not even left Republique before the vanguard arrived at Nation. Looks like a repeat this year. I don't do well in shoulder-to-shoulder, breast-to-back crowds. Last year, I hadn't got into the center of things like this; I'd joined the commies late, by the awful Opera Bastille and along the avenue Daumesnil.
I determined to escape eastward to the rue du Faubourg du Temple, peel off left along the quai de Valmy and stroll along the quietly lovely Canal St Martin, till the distant shouting and peripheral noise suggested the parade was well underway. Then I'd get a metro to the Gare de Lyon and pick up the parade at Diderot and Daumesnil. Wasn't to happen. There was no way I could make it across the place de la Republique, no way to get through the river of people swarming out of the metro station entries, nothing but to turn back toward the Bastille, try to get to the boulevard Voltaire and the Metro at Oberkampf.
That plan worked. Bastille is the third stop south from Oberkampf and I got into the shadow of the Genie on the July column before the parade arrived. I was on the north edge of the place, and headed toward the rue St Antoine. As I got to the Café des Phares' big outdoor dining terrasse, a big group, maybe from a tourist bus, all got up to leave together, and I grabbed a chair. A little rest off my feet would do me fine. I ordered some Belgian beer (Leffe) and a sandwich jambon-fromage and caught my breath.
The parade arrived while I was still there in the front row. A great glacier of people--striding along, carrying banners, pushing kids in strollers, carrying them on shoulders and in backpacks (and frontpacks, too), distributing leaflets, chatting and laughing with their camarades-- flowed into the big circle around the July column. Many had red flags, red CGT ribbons on their lapels and shirt-fronts.
The folks who'd been "recalculated" were there--the unemployed whose benefits had been slashed on January first. They were the ones with leaflets, explaining their position, why so many had sued for reinstatement of the cuts. One contentious point. But here were many others, too, too many for the unions to agree to any kind of common protest, too many splinter groups for there to be a true coming together. And the little groups marched apart.
Nevertheless, flags, balloons, banners, red, yellow orange, sunshine and warm weather blew somberness away, and people were celebrating. I had an uncustomary cup of coffee after my lunch, sat and took pictures for a while, and finally, when I'd calculated maybe half the crowd had passed, I got up to join them.
The Unions aren't very picky. If you want to join the parade, choose a group whose ideology or wine you savor, and then just jump in.
Instead of turning left across the place de la Bastille and heading east down the rue du Faubourg Saint–Antoine, the parade has come around towards me, past the Café des Phares to move into the rue de Lyon and down the avenue Daumesnil
The space running north up the center of the boulevard Richard-Lenoir, where the big Thursday and Sunday Marché Bastille is held, holds an amateur art market today, and across the place to the south, overlooking the Port de l'Arsenal, is installed a more commercial art and brocante market with an entrance fee. The newspaper L'Humanité has a tent by it, with a live rock band, playing music to march to, if you've got the swing.
The city has put a fence around the July column in the center of the place, but some nimble youths have hopped it and climb up its base as far as they can to display their "Euro - May Day" banner for a little while. But soon they disembarked and continue their banner along its way to the place Nation.
The column has a bit of a raised base, and from this I can see paraders still filling the Boulevard Beaumarchais, with red flags still waving and the balloons still advancing slowly.
At previous May Day parades I've attended, the police contingent was huge and mightily visible, with their big transport buses lined up along the boulevards Bourdon and de la Bastille on either side of the yacht anchorage in the arsenal basin, and windowless blue paddy-wagons parked in the rues Lacuée and Jules Caesar branching north from the basin. But the presence is curiously lacking this year, just the officers assigned as parade marshals and some scooter and bike police. No buses, no vans, no black mariahs.
I continue with my splinter group of commies and Goths up Daumesnil to boulevard Diderot, where they peeled off to the left down Diderot to Nation. I turned right and stopped at the brasserie Europeen across the street from the Gare de Lyon, for a bowl of moules provencale and a bottomless basket of terrific double-fried frites, bien cuit, and some sauce mayonnaise to dip them in, an artery-hardening bad habit I'd picked up in Belgium years before and remembered with fondness recently. A bottle of Chimay, the trappist-made Belgian beer, made it a meal.
Tomorrow is the first Sunday in May, so a lot of the museums will be open with free admission. That means that the lines will be miles longer and the crowds inside several feet thicker than the awful usual. I think I'll get an early start on the Marché Auguste Blanqui just down the street from me, get a half a roast guinea-fowl, some leek and white asparagus vinaigrette, a tomato, a little fromage St-Felicien, a flute ancienne, a bottle of cold vinho verde, and a barquette of strawberries. I already have some crème fraîche. There's a little park by the rue Croulebarbe across from the fine old basque eatery Auberge Etchegorry, just a stone's throw from my apartment, and I think I'll have a picnic there.
Later will be soon enough for the Foire de Paris, which began its 11 day run on Thursday, April 29. I'll reveal its wonders to you later.
bien amicalment,
Maurice :)
I thought you'd want to know.
Posted 14 May 2004 - 11:17 PM
Your enjoyment of Paris flows from every line of your prose. I enjoy reading your comments and observations.
Posted 21 May 2004 - 12:33 PM
Hi, There--
The birds start twittering at 4:00 am sharp and are in full throat by 6:00.
Some of my time since I returned here from England has been taken up by visits to a cardiologist at L'Hôpital Americaine in Neuilly (a pleasant bus-ride) to get some meds regulated, and, as I seem to have stopped falling over occasionally, I think I'm back to full-time flaneuring.
I had a couple of glasses of wine with Plotz, Marc Cosnard (the Foodhunter), and new guy Michael last Tuesday evening at Willi's Wine Bar. Plotz was in fine fettle, getting ready for his 50th birthday party. It was very good to see Marc again, and to meet Michael. An excellent evening.
Wednesday, I meandered around in the seventeenth for a while, checking out some restaurants I've eaten at in the past (Chez Rose, La Petite Auberge, l'Entredgeu), taking some more pictures, ending up at noon in front of l'Entredgeu, in the neighborhood of the far-flung Porte de Champerret.
This is the little bistrot Phillipe Tredgeu and his petite and pretty wife, Pénélope (who used to work for Ducasse, I'm told), opened in January last year, after he left Chez Casimir.
It's a very pleasant room, with red naugahyde banquettes, black-and-white-tiled floor, pale yellow walls, grandma's sheer café curtains, little shaded sconces, le comptoir zinc veritable, brown wooden slat-backed chairs, linen cloths with central red stripes, and excellent, thin crystal glassware, big, bordeaux-style, and about thirty covers. I was the first person there at twelve, but by one thirty every seat was taken. I deduced that about half the parishoners showed up like me, hat in hand. The other, smarter ones had phoned ahead.
The menu-carte was sur d'ardoise, and very legible (a great restaurant virtue, as some blackboard French is so byzantine in its orthographic grandeur as to make it almost illegible).
Menu à 20€, Entrée et Plat ou Plat et Dessert. Menu Carte, 28€
Soupe crèmeux de Morue, crème légere safranée.
Tarte fine au parmesan, mozzarella, tomate et thon cru moeuré.
Terrine de Campagne.
Vinaigrette d'asperges blanches, oeuf poché, jambon de Pays.
Rillette de Maquereau et avocat, gelée de tomates.
Remoulade de Celeri noir, pomme verte et échine de porc confite.
Mousserons marinés au vin blanc et vinagre, queues de langoustines rôties.
Etuvée de morilles légèrement crèmés, pousse d'epinards, + 10€.
Pavé de Colin, barigoule d'Artichaut et Celeri branche.
Filet de Rascasse, purée de fenouil.
Gigot d'Agneau de Lozére rôti, mijoté de fevette, pousse d'epinard, et citron confit.
Cuisse de Canard confite, pot au feu de légumes et foie gras.
Epaule de veau roulée et confite à l'ail et thym, petits pois frais.
Carré de Cochon rôti et laqué, jus aux epices, frites confites à la graisse d'oie.
Daube de joue de boeuf, mijoté de carottes fondantes et ? paysan.
Pigeon rôti entier et foie gras, + 6€.
Croustillant de framboises et crème legère.
Crème onctueuse du citron, caramelisèe au sucre.
Sablé fin, quenelle de mousse chocolat ble, poires pochées.
Baba au Calvados, pommes rôties, glace pain d'épices.
Soupe de fraises au vinaigre balsamique, sorbet fromage blanc.
Compote de Rhubarbe et pomme, glace vanille.
Feuillantine pralinée et mousse chocolat.
Reblochon fermier de Chez Dubois.
Tredgeu is a chef of style and some originality, his menus are market-driven, and you have the assurance that the produce he uses is of top quality, after the fashion of Thierry Breton at Chez Michel, his erstwhile mentor. This, as you can see, is a great bargain lunch.
For lunch there in mid-November last, I had a soupe de gibier et royale de foie gras (game soup with an island of mousse de foie gras d'oie in the middle), followed by palombe rôti with root vegetables, of perfect rareness and deep flavor, washed down with Cahors vielle vignes Les Camille 1999, Clos Siguier, a huge bargain at 14 €.
This time, after an aperitif of vin cuit de Provence veritable (a remarkable wine of which till now I'd only heard tell), I started with the white asparagus vinaigrette, with a copious helping of country ham, and some chopped tomato, chives, and sweet onion. A simple but tasty preparation of complementary flavors. I still, however, think white asparagus is wasted time.
For mains, I had the roasted pigeon (I'm a sucker for all the little birds I can't get back home), halved and partially de-boned, sitting on a rather skimpy little disk of foie gras, but with some supernal petits pois and a sauce au jus to walk miles for. I soaked it up with the good beige bread, probably Poilâne, with the proper sourish savor. The bird was perfect, rosy and chewy tender, even in the legs. Excellent but for the disappointing round of foie gras, whose flavor and texture evidently went elsewhere.
With that, a couple of glasses of Beaujolais Villages that was nothing special. I skipped dessert, as is my custom.
I took a bus from Champerret heading toward the Jardin du Ranelagh and the Musée Marmottan-Monet, but when we got to the place Victor Hugo, I realized that I was at the end of the rue Bugeaud where Joël Robuchon's new restaurant had opened just the day before. So I thought I'd take a look.
For a the last few days weeks, Paris's foodies had been all atwitter (like the 4:00 am birdies) because his new joint was going to open. Le Figaro had written (a little too enthusiastically for plain journalism) a while back, on 24 April:
"Bonne nouvelle pour les déçus et les éconduits, la deuxième adresse de Joël Robuchon va ouvrir début mai, en lieu et place du Seize au seize (16, avenue Bugeaud, 01.56.28.16.16) avec le chef Frédéric Simonin qui vient d'avoir une étoile au Michelin. L'esprit contemporain devrait présider à cette table traditionnelle. Car non seulement on pourra s'attabler à la Table de Joël Robuchon (c'est le nom du restaurant), réserver au téléphone et la porte ouvrira de l'extérieur. Si la vie n'est pas belle !"
My rough translation:
"Good news for the disappointed and excluded: the second address of Joel Robuchon will open at the beginning of May, replacing Seize au Seize (16, avenue Bugeaud, 01.56.28.16.16) but retaining chef Frederic Simonin, who has just got a Michelin star. The contemporary spirit should preside at this traditional table, because one not only will be able to sit at the Table of Joel Robuchon (it is the name of the restaurant), he will be able to reserve by telephone and the door will be open. Is life not beautiful!"
So even before it opened, Robuchon's new one could clearly anticipate Figaro's endorsement.
The Wine Spectator produces the "duh" quote of the week: "'La Table is the same concept as L'Atelier, but you eat at a table,' said Robuchon." What he evidently means by the same concept is that he offers mini-portions for "degustation" and larger servings of the same "à la Carte."
Here's his first week's menu:
Entrées Froides et Chaudes
Les Primeurs: confits et croquants sur une fine croûte friande à l'origan, degustation 13€, à la carte 18€
Le Torteau: cans une gelée acidulée à l'avocat, 18€, --€
Le Jambon "Iberico de Bellota": esorté de pain toasté à la tomate, 13€, 24€
L'Aubergine: en cavuer légèrement fume, 11€, --€
La Tomate: en gaspacho et aux croûtons doré, 9€, 16€
Le Foie Gras: frais de canard cuit au Torchon, 16€, 28€
Le Caviar: ociètre sur un oeuf mollet et friand, --€, 49€
La Langoustine: en papillote croustillante au basilic, 18€, 54€
L'Oeuf: cocotte à la crème légère de morilles aux asperges, 13€, --€
Le Cuisses de Grenouille: aux girolles et à la purée d'ail doux, 16€, --€
La Lisette: en fine tarte aux copeaux de parmesan et olives, 13€, --€
L'Asperges: vertes parmesan aux morilles et vin d'Arbois, --€, 45€
Le Foie Gras: chaud de canard au gratin d'agrumes, 19€, --€
Les Plats
Les Poissons
La Ventriche de Thon: mi-cuite aux fines aromates, 17€, 32€
Le Merlan: à la Colbert, beurre aux herbes, --€, 23€
Le Rouget: fine pissaladiere et une vierge d'agrumes, 16€, 30€
Le Saint-Pierre: avec saveurs méridionales, 25€, 48€
Les Viandes
Le Cote de Veau: au sautoire aux olives, févettes et artichauts violets, --€, 58€
Le Ris de Veau: ?té de laurier frais et un feuille de blette farcie, 20€, --€
L'Agneau de lait de Pyrenees: cotêlettes à la fleur de thyme, 18€, 34€
Le Caneton Croise: arrosé à l'orange, petits pois à la menthe, 18€, 34€
Le Caille: carmélisée à la truffe blanche, 19€, 37€
Les Fromages
Le Tomme de Brebis de l'Abbaye de Belloc, confiture de cerises noires, 6€, 10€
Les Fromages de Saison: selectionées et affinés par Philippe Alleosse
Les Desserts, 9€
Le Souffle: chaud au café, glace canelle au gingembre
L'Ivoire Safran: balle coulante au chocolat coeur d'orange, glace au safran, dentelle au citron
Le Secret Tibetain: gelée au thé, poussière glacée au melon
Le Yuzu: compote de framboises au yuzu, crème Madame à la vanille, croustillant cacahuète
Le Chocolat Sensation: crème oncteuse au chocolat Araguani, glace chocolat au biscuit Oréo
Le Pastel Delice: fraises de bois, fines feuilles de chocolat, crème citronée, meringue molle aux groseilles
Le Total Rhubarbe: spéculoos écrasés, rhubarbe pochée, glace à la Kriek, gariguelles entières
I wouldn't mind trying all of that, even the Chocolate Sensation, mounted on an Oreo cookie and the Flemish-inspired rubarb, also on a cookie, but with Kriek ice cream, a truly bizarre notion. Would Michelob ice cream go over in the US? Probably not. Kriek, unlike Michelob, has some actual character.
I think some friends of ours are having dinner there next Tuesday, so doubtless we'll be getting a report sometime soon.
The bread festival is going on at the square of the Hotel de Ville, and I don't want to miss the opportunity.
I thought you'd want to know.
Posted 21 May 2004 - 01:03 PM
I mention him now because last week he put up two big canvas tents in his front yard (le Parvis de l'Hôtel de Ville) for a four day celebration of bread, la fête du pain. Last Saturday, some bread guys, the Chambre professionnelle des artisans boulangers-pâtissiers de Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-St-Denis et Val-de-Marne, who used to be called the Syndicat Patronal de la Boulangerie et de la Boulangerie-Pâtisserie de Paris et de la Seine (the French beat everybody except maybe the Germans in naming committees, syndicates, and chambers) when they started up in 1801, were going to nominate the best baguette in Paris. And on Sunday there was a cook-off. Too crowded and sweaty for me.
The Chambre professionnelle has as it's main interest "the study, the representation, and the defense of the economic, commercial, and social interests of the bakery and baker's and confectioner's shops of Paris and the departments of the Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-St-Denis and the Val-de-Marne." High ideals indeed.
La fête du pain was born in 1996. It was fixed around May 16, Saint Honore's day, the patron saint of bakers. Its intent is to reaffirm the quality of artisanal bread and to confirm its place in the culinary and cultural "patrimoine" (another word with big-time clout) of France. All over france, bakers get together to demonstrate to children particularly (and to the general public as well) the art of artisanal baking. One of the two tents in front of the city hall is intended for bread-making, the other for the promotion of wheat-flour bread.
Choosing the best baguette was to be a hard decision, because bread-making in Paris is undergoing a turn-around. For a while, French bread had suffered a decline, consumption was falling off and Les Panames (a nickname for Parisiens that I may explain some day) were buying a lot of crummy baguettes made in big factories and retailed in supermarkets.
But the govmunt decided that should stop and decreed that, after a while, if your shop didn't mix up the ingredients, knead them, let them rise, and bake them on the premises, you couldn't call yourself a boulangerie any more. And if you did all that on the premises, you could call yourself a boulanger artisinale, a buzzy phrase with some hard-hitting cachet, "artisinale" being the general bearer of good connotations. (It appears after Cordonnier, Fromagier, and Choucroutier, among other things. Look for it if you want honest shoes, cheese, or sauerkraut.)
The French peasantry has always been passionate about bread (only to be expected from people who'll get into fist-fights over salt). It is a custom in some parts of the countryside to make the sign of the cross on the bottom of a loaf before tearing off a chunk. And now the Panames are coming back into the fold. You can even get a good loaf in the supermarket nowadays, if you choose it (i.e. the market) carefully.
It's not hard to tell the difference between a bad baguette and a good one. The bad one is pale yellow, has a crust that won't cut the roof of your mouth into shreds, and a crumb full of tiny, evenly spaced holes. And it doesn't smell like much of anything. A good one is caramel brown, with a crust that can injure you and a crumb full of very irregular holes of many different sizes. And it smells like your grandma's kitchen--if you had a grandma who baked bread--yeasty and floury and mouth-watering.
Foreigners tend to think only of baguettes when they think of French bread, a big mistake. Paris's most famous dead baker, Lionel Poilâne didn't even make baguettes. He made big fat round Boules, chewy dark beige sourdough loaves, 15,000 of them a day, 2.5% of all the bread sold in Paris in 1961. The man must have fallen in bed exhausted every night. His eponymous (I try to use that word whenever I can, because a lot of people don't know what it means, and that makes me feel like a doctor--medical, that is) bakery is churning them out yet.
His shop is still at Boulangeries Lionel Poilane, 8 rue du Cherche-Midi, in the sixth.
His brother Max does make a baguette, a very good one, at three addresses, 87, rue Brancion in the 15th; 29, rue de l'Ouest
in the 14th; and 42, pl du Marché St Honoré in the 1st.
Other boulangers of widespread fame are Eric Kayser (85, Blvd Malesherbes in the 8th; 8, rue Monge in the 5th; and "Boulangerie-Èpicerie," BE, co-proprietor with Alain Ducasse at 73, rue de Courcelles in the 8th), and Jean-Luc Poujauran (20, rue Jean Nicot, in the 7th).
I favor four others, one on the city's north edge, one on the city's south edge, and two on the city's center edge (you sacrifice some reasonableness when you go for strictly parallel sentence structure--makes for a little edgyness that suits the subject).
In the north, the 17th, near the Porte de Champerret, is Boulangerie-Patisserie Alsacienne R. Maeder at 158, boulevard Berthier, whose baguette "retrodor" won the Grand Prix for baguettes in 2000 and 2002. Since it's an Alsatian bakery, you can also get excellent Kugelhopfs, both sweet and savoury, Stollen, Berawecka (fruit breads made with dried pears, plums, figs, dates, grapes, walnuts, almonds, oranges, lemons and Corinth raisins macerated in Kirsch), and Bretzels, which is Alsacien for big fat pretzels. You can see it all at http://www.boulange-alsace.com/
On the bottom end of Paris, down by the Porte d'Orleans in the 14th is Patisserie Thevenin at 119, avenue Géneral Leclerc, where I get toasting breads, filled with fresh corn kernels, or pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds, or other stuff, as well as loaves typical of Normandy, Brittany, and Picardy, and fugasses, that odd pretzel-shaped (sorta) bread that can be full of bacon or olives or other things, and little boules de campagne.
In the middle of Paris, in the Marais, M. Malineau has two shops, one at 26, rue St Paul and one at 18 rue Vieille du Temple, with excellent pain ancienne and, on Sundays, great chocolate macaroons.
Not far from there is Miss Manon's Bakery at 87, rue Saint-Antoine (corner of rue Saint-Paul), also in the fourth. Her specialties are baguette "bagatelle - label rouge", boulangraine (six cereals), corde (traditional leavened rye), ciabatta (flavored with olive oil, a treat), poppy-seed bread, sesame-seed bread and so on. The label-rouge is a high honor conferred on few bakers in Paris. She got hers last fall.
I think this is enough of a read for the time being.
I think I'll have me a little bread and cheese and a ballon of some fresh young Cahors.
I thought you'd want to know.
Posted 21 May 2004 - 01:50 PM
Then that happened.
I traveled to Tijuana to smack the federali
Who packing avocado toast like Mario Batali--Black Thought
Posted 21 May 2004 - 02:27 PM
Posted 21 May 2004 - 02:28 PM
Agreed, but we don't want him falling asleep on the job.
Maurice is dreamy :wub: :wub:
Then that happened.
I traveled to Tijuana to smack the federali
Who packing avocado toast like Mario Batali--Black Thought
Posted 21 May 2004 - 08:15 PM
***Every Monday***At the Sign of the Pink Pig.
If the author could go around the place hitting random readers with a rubber hammer, the Pink Pig would still be worth a visit.
Posted 23 May 2004 - 12:26 PM
Hi, There--
I've been informed this morning by the BBC and my pal John Whiting that Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 has just won the Palm d'Or at the Cannes Festival, to a ten minute standing ovation. First time a documentary has taken the top prize.
Sketchy report: At around seven this morning, the roof in a departure lounge in the year-old terminal 2E at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport collapsed, causing both chaos and at least 7 deaths and more injuries. No terrorism involved. But I betcha there're gonna be beaucoup lawsuits.
And BBC Radio 4 has presented, as a public service, the correct technique for assembling a properly safe "bomb" from flour, food coloring, and a spare condom, useful for tossing at politicians with whom you disagree. Political terrorists evidently have plenty of spare condoms, which may partially explain their discontent.
End of morning news.
On my way home yesterday from Chinatown, the older one a little southeast of the place d'Italie, I stopped at a tiny, pretty boulangerie because I'd not bought my daily bread, and I got lovely small boule levain of some regionality, but I was feeling a bit distracted and forgot to write down the name of the shop and the exact designation of the bread.
A shame, really, because it's an excellent, artisanal loaf, with a tight crumb, a chewy crust, and a close grain, tan-beige and delicious. I'm eating a sandwich I've made with it for my breakfast, of butter and some excellent, salty serrano ham ten months old. And its wondrous full-flavored chewiness reminded me that, after my last posting on the subject, there were a few comments I still wanted to make about bread before segueing down the other fork in my Bertrand Delanoë road.
I've already explained about the revival of the pre-war "baguette traditionelle," the ingredients of which are now decreed by law and which is now a matter of increasing gastronomic interest.
I should mention two relatively standard loaves whose formulae are trademarked and licensed to small bakeries, Baguette Banette and Flute Gana. (I think there's a third of these trademarked breads, but I've forgot the name.) Both (or all, if that's the case) are good brands that escape greatness.
I don't know the history of Banette, but I do know that they have a school offering a six month course in baking, and a stableful of millers who grind flour specially for them. And they've licensed a whole line of breads, not just baguettes.
Gana is a different story. A couple of decades ago, Bernard Ganachaud, scion of a family of bakers, in his bakery in the distant 20th, produced a formula and process that achieved some local and then city-wide fame. His daughters have now taken over, continue using his methods, and have licensed it to other small boulangers, so the Flute Gana, a baguette, is available spottily all over Paris.
And finally, the two new books. The books that newspapers and magazines are talking up and that are reviving le Pain as a hot topic of conversation over dinners at Guy Savoy and Pierre Gagnaire.
First, in French, is "Le guide des boulangeries de Paris," by Augustin Paluel-Marmont and Michel de Rovira, which purports to list the 180 best boulangeries of Paris. The authors are two young amateurs of bread who offer their personal comments and appreciations and provide gastronomic walking tours to introduce readers to the art of tasting pain, so to speak. Headed for the bestseller lists.
And next, "Cherchez le pain," by Steven L. Kaplan, an American professor, historian, and bread expert, who's sampled baguettes from all over Paris and makes bold to provide a ranked list of the best, not with Michelin's macarons, nor with Gault-Millaut's toques blanches, but with little wheat sheaves.
Both these books are now appearing on coffee tables and library waiting lists throughout France and are making boulangers' heads ache with their first full experience of the pressure of "Guide-Book Anxiety," the sort of spiritual attack of paranoia that has led some of the world's top chefs to nervous breakdowns and even suicide.
Both books agree that Dominique 's bakery, Le Boulanger de Monge, at 123, rue Monge in the fifth, makes the best baguette in Paris. P-M and dR say it is "very beautiful, with a tight cavity structure and a fatty and very soft interior." Dr. Kaplan says, "The toasty, caramelised flavour of the crust perfectly complements the fruity interior."
And thus we now must learn a whole new vocabulary of bread tasting terms that will not have much meaning till time invests them with it, and will probably become as silly and overblown as the huge glossary of more-or-less meaningless winetasters' metaphors that so many wine writers will be punished in hell for.
I, for one, think that this loaf shows the tantalizing ambiguity of flour milled to talcum fineness by the winds of the Atlantic, but tweaked ever so slightly by the savoriness of the fleur de sel de Guerande and with subtle lashings of minerality teased from the aquafer deep beneath the gorges of the Tarn. Or maybe not. I haven't been ordained yet.
Kaplan goes on to nominate these as the rest of the best.
Jean-Noel Julien, 75 rue Saint-Honoré, in the first
Fabrice Cléret, 10 Place des Petits Pères, in the second
Eric Kayser, 8, rue Monge, a stone's throw from Saibron in the fifth. Kaplan says that the two rivals regard one another as natural enemies and share a passionate loathing.
Jean-Luc Poujauran, 20 rue Jean-Nicot, in the seventh
Thierry Meunier, 29 rue Tristan Tzara, in the eighteenth
Remember that these baguettes have the same four ingredients, flour, water, salt, and yeast, so metaphorical tasting terms like "buttery," "caramalised," "fruity," "floral," "spiced," and "nutty," must be taken with, well, a spoonful of sugar, to help the medicine go down.
I may have overdone it on the bread. Next on the agenda is the awful quartier des Halles and what the Mayor wants done about it, and my shopping excursion to the avenue d'Ivry and exciting stuff like that. But now I think I'll go find lunch. Simple and cheap today.
Maurice :unsure:
I thought you'd want to know.
Posted 23 May 2004 - 11:07 PM
Call me a Philistine, but I agree with you. Well said.
And thus we now must learn a whole new vocabulary of bread tasting terms that will not have much meaning till time invests them with it, and will probably become as silly and overblown as the huge glossary of more-or-less meaningless winetasters' metaphors that so many wine writers will be punished in hell for.
Then that happened.
I traveled to Tijuana to smack the federali
Who packing avocado toast like Mario Batali--Black Thought
Posted 24 May 2004 - 12:59 AM
I, for one, think that this loaf shows the tantalizing ambiguity of flour milled to talcum fineness by the winds of the Atlantic, but tweaked ever so slightly by the savoriness of the fleur de sel de Guerande and with subtle lashings of minerality teased from the aquafer deep beneath the gorges of the Tarn. Or maybe not. I haven't been ordained yet.
Consider yourself ordained. No tonsure required, no circumcision needed, and no distinction btween men and women in this scheme of beliefs...
Boulanger professionnels de la cuissions alimentaire
Posted 24 May 2004 - 07:23 PM
Hello, There--
It's almost time to say "Happy Birthday" again, and to have the wish greeted by another stony silence. David, Michelangelo's Jewish boy (hah!) with a sling and a healthily buff bod, who lives in Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia, is 500 today, and has been getting a bath.
When "the experts" decided on a wash and brush up, a squabble started. Purists, pointing out that Dave lives indoors and is regularly dusted, said that he smelled ok and didn't need a bath, particularly one that would possibly involve solvents and abrasives.
They complained that some of the wax that Michelangelo probably used in his work might have remained attached to the lad, even after his bath 100 or so years ago, and perhaps a hair or some other microscopically identifiable part of the artist himself might still have been extant, and perhaps the bath would wash away this precious fragment, precious, of course, because it may, perhaps, possibly, in the best of all potential scientific outcomes, contain a strand of MA's (precious) DNA.
The bath critics didn't say exactly what they would like to do with this strand, but the wild imaginings of those for whom the abbreviation DNA connotes, not crime and conviction, but rather cloning and rebirth . . . . Well, we all can pretty well infer their wild imaginings.
Meanwhile, back in Paris, it's Monday and a lot of things will be closed, and on dulcet days like this one many Parisiens, freed from work, head for their beautiful parks--Montsouris, the Promenade Plantée, la Butte Chaumont, Monceau, les Jardins de Luxembourg and des Plantes, the Champs de Mars--, but not to the newish greenery, propped on one end by the old dome of the Bourse de Commerce and on the other by the new snake pit of the Forum des Halles.
This particular park, whose proper name Parisiens seem simply not to know (it's le Jardin des Halles), lies where the beautiful old iron and glass market pavilions of Victor Baltard once stood, Victor Hugo's "belly of Paris." They were torn down in 1969 when the market moved to Rungis, a suburb out by Orly airport, and Paris was left with a big hole in the ground and a political dustup about how to fill it in. About ten years later, the miserable Forum des Halles was decreed to be the proper debris to use as filler, and Paris developed yet another pock.
What you find, if you go there, are tight paths to nowhere peopled by shockingly young boys dealing drugs, considerably older furtives selling "Rolexes" and "Montblancs," and gray specters with neither age nor sex who might help you "make arrangements." And there are the clochards, Paris's homeless, with their blankets and cheap wine and smell, and with their last year's accumulation of personal hopelessness packed into whatever carryalls the dumpsters and trash bins behind Auchan and Carrefour have given up to them. It's not a place to push your stroller nor enjoy a picnic.
A project begun in hope has ended in a kind of awfulness that even the enticements offered by the four-level underground shopping mall and entertainment complex can't mitigate. One reason is that just a block east runs the rue St. Denis, Paris's shoddy red-light street, with (legal) prostitutes lurking in doorways and a whole littoral of high-tide shops for fetishists and appliance aficionados and low-tide coin-operated xxx video masturbation parlors. The smell of hemp hangs everywhere.
And underneath it all is Paris's biggest subterranean transportation interchange, where three RER and four metro lines converge, guaranteeing huge milling crowds, the confident residents striding along and the confused strangers looking for signs--fodder for the ubiquitous pickpockets, bottom feeders, feeding at the bottom.
Well, Mayor Bertrand Delanoë doesn't like it either (see? I did get there). And he's looking at plans for redeeming it. Last April he revealed four proposals, two French and two Dutch, and opened them up for inspection in the Forum, and is soliciting comment and criticism from the public, as a good socialist should.
The French architects, Jean Nouvel and David Mangin, and their Dutch colleagues, Rem Koolhaas and Winy Maas, have created wildly divergent schemes not easy for me to understand or to summarize, so I won't try, but the Mayor will, after the accumulated advice, choose one by the end of June. Whatever happens, Paris's philosophical cafes and bars, with all their unofficial debating societies and self-ordained experts, will start to roil with argument about two hours before the decision leaks out. It's the Parisien way, and should be a lot of fun.
Thereafter, les citoyens de Paris are in for a long and incredibly expensive disruption of their city's center, which they will assuredly accept with the same even-tempered grace that has characterized their concurrence in radical change throughout the city's history. Wear your flak vest.
I think I'll find some lunch.
Maurice :blink:
I thought you'd want to know.
Posted 25 May 2004 - 09:03 AM
Hi, There--
Having made myself a little nostalgic about the old Victor Baltard pavilions at Les Halles as I remembered them from the '60s, I decided to go out to Nogent-sur-Marne to have a look at the only one to have been saved, re-erected in this small riverside town as a historical monument and tourist attraction.
Baltard Pavilion, Les Halles 1890
It's surrounded by a high iron fence, and sits on its little ground, apparently doing nothing. Public access is "interdit." Why is it there? There's a postage-stamp park in front of it, loomed over by a big apartment complex and distinguished only by its Wallace fountain, dry and sober. Little kids are playing hiding games in the shrubbery by the fence around the apartments, and mothers (no nannies here, I think) sit in supervision, talking to one another, keeping their strollers out of the sun. There are a few benches for them and the little spot of park is evidently a regular late afternoon sunning spot for moms and kids on fine days.
I walked around the area a bit, found some fine old houses behind high stuccoed walls and fancy gates of iron or wood, notes of a prosperous suburb. But I didn't go the extra kilometer or so to the town center, not curious enough, I suppose, getting old and lazy.
Nogent Mansion
Earlier, around one-thirty, I followed a whim and went to lunch at the beautiful old restaurant Bouillon Racine on the rue Racine near the St. Michael's fountain on the boulevard St. Michel by the river.
Bouillon Racine
Its wonderfully restored Belle Epoch installation is pale green trellis-work, mirrored walls, tall pier-glass windows, mosaic-marble floors, opalescent glass tables framed in dark oak, wrought iron chairs with brown faux-leather seats, very pretty, more lavish upstairs, more casual down.
Bouillon Racine, Interior
Bouillons, and there were a big handful of them, were the turn-of-the-last-century's version of fast-food eateries, generally Belgian in orientation, offering rather quick and informal meals of soups (bouillons), waterzoois, mussels, and frites, washed down by tankards of beer.
The term "soup kitchens," often used to describe them in some guides, is entirely wrong in its connotations in American English. They weren't there to serve the indigent but rather the new species of businessman in that age, who had cordage or cloth or ironwork to sell, carriages waiting, afternoon appointments with the bankers, and didn't want to spend three-and-a-half hours eating five stupifying courses and drinking a half-bottle of Champagne and two of Burgundy for their two-in-the-afternoon dinner, the standard main meal of the comfortable classes.
The Racine has pretty much abandoned its Belgian aspect, save for a grand selection of beers, and switched to traditional cookery, competent and reasonably priced at dinner, 25 Euros for three courses, but an authentic bargain at lunch, two courses for 15.50.
I had gaspacho andalouse for my starter, a coarse puree with the telltale taste of olive oil and bread crumbs, with three little squares of dark bread floating around a little chopped veggie aspic. An excellent cold soup for the first really warm day in Paris this spring.
Gaspacho Andalouse
My main was broiled filet of bar on a bed of fine vegetables and a little green sauce. The veggies were cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, baby peas (the size of a matchhead), and tiny snow peas (which French grocers call "mange-tout"--eat all--and newspaper recipes "pois gourmand"). Each vegetable was perfectly cooked, so they must have been steamed separately, and the large filet of bar was flaky and very moist. Quite a successful, albeit simple, dish. I drank with it a couple of undistinguished glasses of Sauvignon de Touraine.
Filet of Bar with Vegetables
Well, I think I've finally found an acceptable photo storage site and can post pictures in these reports without needing an extra three or four hours to do it. (It's still slow, however.)
So I'm going to post this now and see if it works.
I thought you'd want to know.
Posted 25 May 2004 - 12:41 PM
My old blog: http://newyorkandels...e.blogspot.com/
My new blog: http://newwalksinnew....wordpress.com/
Both defunct
Posted 25 May 2004 - 02:10 PM
Advocating integrated avatars and sig lines since 2006


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Thanks Luke. And for once I will be able to watch! Yay, don't get too excited. I hope this leg will be a doozy!
I usually use JustTVNuts. Though the link isn't working now, I'm sure it will come up nearer the date. The site has been having problems but hopefully it will clear up!
Page created in 0.091 seconds with 33 queries.


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Standard Chartered Partners with Telco on Mobile Money Accounts
Standard Chartered and Singaporean telco SingTel announced a new mobile service, called Dash, that provides customers with a cash and savings account, personal loans, payments options and the ability to buy insurance through their mobile device.
The Dash service can be accessed through mobile apps for iOs and Android, according to a statement released by Standard Chartered and SingTel. Customers can sign up for the Dash service directly through the app, without having to visit a branch or website. The service has three components: Dash Easy, a mobile-centric two-in-one savings and cash account; Dash Advance, where customers can apply for loans through their mobile devices; and Dash Abroad, which lets users buy travel insurance while they're on-the-go.
[For More of Our Mobile Coverage, Check Out: Cutting Complexity Out of Mobile Payments]
The Dash Easy account will be available to customers of any local mobile network operator in Singapore. Users will be able to access cash without visiting an ATM by downloading cash from the savings account to the mobile cash account. That cash can then be used to make P2P payments or pay at the point of sale at more than 20,000 acceptance points that are being rolled out in Singapore this year, the joint statement said. Standard Chartered and SingTel partnered with a number of major retailers, such as cafes, restaurants and convenience stores, in Singapore to gain those acceptance points.
The service uses a new technology to help integrate the mobile device with point of sale systems that still has a patent pending.
The Dash Easy account also leverages a social media community where customers get to have a say in the terms of the account. Customers can use the hashtag #needsanupdate on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to give their input on terms, such as the interest rate of the savings account.
Customers looking to get a loan from the Dash Advance service can apply directly through the Dash app, and get a decision in 60 seconds on loans up to the equivalent of 4 months salary, according to the statement.
And Dash Abroad will let customers pick from different travel insurance coverage options and apply directly from their Dash mobile app, with plans starting as low as 20 Singapore dollars.
Jonathan Camhi has been an associate editor with Bank Systems & Technology since 2012. He previously worked as a freelance journalist in New York City covering politics, health and immigration, and has a master's degree from the City University of New York's Graduate School ... View Full Bio


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Anyway, he mentions Left Behind: Eternal Forces at one point - this is the video game where believers run around NYC and try to convert people to fight against the Antichrist. When it came out in 2006, I heard rumblings about how some of the fundamentalist Christians didn't like the game because of it's violence - you have to build a Christian army to fight against the Antichrist and the Global Community forces. However, I hadn't heard anything about this:
"The apparently unintentional messages in Eternal Forces seem more troubling. When you move through the tutorial, you learn how to convert passersby and then how to train them to be soldiers, builders or disciples. When you convert men, they transform into identical preppy kids wearing V-necks. Women suddenly sport an orange jumper, like Velma from Scooby Doo. If you only convert men, you can do everything you need to do in the game. But if you bring women to Christ, the game starts giving you polite reminders that your options are limited. 'For the next operation,' says the cheerful voice in the tutorial, 'you will need a man. Take a moment to recruit a man before continuing!'Kinda interesting, and a critique I hadn't heard from the various outlets that reviewed the game. I'd suggest checking out the book if you're interested in the apocalyptic culture but don't want to pick up something that'll try converting you. It's an attempt at an unbiased assessment, in my opinion.
Girls can't do very much in Eternal Forces. Men can become disciples, builders or soldiers. Women can't. You can train them to become medics, but that's about it. Even then, they're not indispensable: men can do this, too, along with their many other talents. Helpfully, random men keep sidling up to you and your female converts if you ignore the injunctions to convert them, though this seems quite seedy if you haven't understood the game's regressive sexual politics." (199-200)


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Archive for October 16th, 2009
2nd annual Cherry Bounce Fest, Oct. 18-24
Get ready to gear up because like Shakori Hills, this post is going to be a long one.
This week-long Raleigh festival is named for a drink that an inn owner, Joel Lane, served to men who were searching for the site of N.C.'s state capital. Apparently this drink was so fantastic that it persuaded the powers that be that the place where the inn was located (which was what is now Raleigh) would be the destined site instead. Check out the full story and drink recipe here.
The artist lineups are almost completely local and it's affordable as admission is free three nights and $5 the other four. Indy Week's Scan points out that the festival has expanded by five days since it's inaugural year and David Menconi's On the Beat notes that this year that conveniently most of the venues are indoor since last year's event was rather wet.
There's only one stage a night so no worrying about trekking across muddy fields to catch another local favorite. Here's the complete schedule:
Sunday, Oct. 18
Show at 9 p.m., $5
Deep South the Bar [map]
Alex Lawhon of Colourslide
Monday, Oct. 19
Show at 9:30 p.m., FREE
All acoustic:
Brian Corum of Lonnie Walker
Matt Douglas of The Proclivities
Jason Kutchma of Red Collar
Tuesday, Oct. 20
Doors at 9 p.m., show at 9:30 p.m., $5
Music.MyNC showcase at Slim's [map]
Wednesday, Oct. 21
Show at 9 p.m., $5
The Busy Bee/The Hive [map]
Thursday, Oct. 22
Show at 10 p.m., FREE
WKNC showcase at Tir Na nOg [map]
Friday, Oct. 23
New Raleigh showcase at Berkeley Cafe [map]
Saturday, Oct. 24
Show at noon, FREE
The Raleigh Times
Old Avenue (1:45 p.m.)
Peggy Sue (3 p.m.)
The Balance (4:15 p.m.)
Schooner (5:30 p.m.)
Fin Fang Foom (6:45 p.m.)
The Hood Internet (8 p.m.)
Man Man (9:30 p.m.)
Raleigh Wide Open fireworks will follow


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Banh Xeo Recipe
The exact translation of bánh xèo is a "sizzling cake that is deflating". The crêpe-shaped dish is made out rice flour, coconut milk and other herbs and spices. It's a lot thicker than the French version but equally delicious.
Bánh xèo is a specialty from Saigon, the region where my "Papa" comes from. When I was young back in France, I remember we would have family gathering every weekend with all my dad's family at Ông nội's (my paternal grandfather's home). Uncle Philippe (Chú mười) would be in charge of the cooking and he would make the most delicious bánh xèos, just like the ones available in the streets of Saigon. And now it's become one of our family's favorites. I try to make them when we have time on weekends and it's always a hit. As usual, I made one veggie version, as well as one filled with grilled meat and shrimp. These are great options, but the filling is really up to you!
Yields: 6 servings1-3/4 cups rice flour
¼ cup wheat flour
1 to 1-½ cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup water (see tips)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon superfine sugar (or granulated sugar)
2 green onions, thinly sliced into rings
1-½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground
½ pound raw medium shrimp, thawed
½ cup canola oil (or any neutral oil)
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1-½ cups grilled chicken (gà nướng), cut into strips
1 cup nuoc mam
3 cups cilantro, Vietnamese mint, shredded cucumber and lettuce, for garnish
4 cups fresh bean sprouts
Sriracha sauce, for garnish (optional)
Prepping the shrimp: Remove and discard the head of the shrimp if it's still attached. Carefully shell and de-vein the black part of the shrimp using a sharp hook-like paring knife. Make sure to remove the tip of the tail as well, this part is very delicate. Rinse the shrimp under cold running water and pat dry using a paper towel. There should be as little water as possible. Repeat the same procedure for each shrimp. This step is tedious but essential for good results.
Making Vietnamese crêpe batter: In a bowl, whisk the flours together with coconut milk and water. Add the turmeric, sugar, curry and green onions. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well; make sure there are no lump. Add 2 tablespoons of oil. Let the batter stand for at least 1 hour in a cool place.
Assembly time: In a non-stick pan or a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over high heat. Add the onions and shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a plate. Set aside.
Make sure the pan in hot. Grease it with about 1 teaspoon of oil using a silicone brush. Add 2 or 3 shrimp and stir fry for about 1 minutes. Stir the crêpe batter and ladle 1/3 cup of it into the pan. Lift the pan and then tilt and rotate it until the batter is evenly spread and forms a nice disk. Keep the heat high. Cover when the edges start to dry a little, reduce the heat and cook until the sides of the bánh xèo turn deep brown and curl up, about 3-4 minutes. Place a little bit of the chicken, mushroom and onion filling, fold the bánh xèo in half using a wide spatula and cover for an additional 1-2 minutes. The filling shouldn't be exposed as more vegetables and bean sprouts will burst from the bánh xèo later. Slide it onto a warm plate. Drizzle with Sriracha sauce (if used) as garnish.
Wipe pan clean with a paper towl and repeat the same procedure until all the ingredients are used.. Pour a little more oil into the pan before beginning the next bánh xèo. Stir the bánh xèo batter as you go for uniform consistency.
When ready to serve, fill the bánh xèo with lettuce, bean sprouts and Vietnamese herbs (served on the side) and drizzle with nước chấm sauce.
Bon appétit!
You can check out the vegetarian bánh xèo version on the previous link.
The longer you let the batter rest the better. It will still be good after 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
I used water to dilute the banh xeo batter, maman sometimes used to add beer (for the leavening agent).
I used leftover grilled chicken, you could use the meat of your choice.
Some people also like to add pickled carrots and daikon to the filling (we don't).
You can buy rice flour at the stores. I prefer grinding my own though. I know all the nutrients are preserved. I use the Nutrimill brand mill. If you cook a lot, this machine might be very useful to make any kind of flour.Published By: on March 20, 2011.


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The New York Times recently published an article on Kevin Costner, who was so disturbed by the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 that he invested in oil separation machines shortly thereafter. Costner partnered with Ocean Therapy Solutions and donated millions of his own money toward the development of oil separation machines, should such an oil spill occur in the future.
Now, as everyone is scrambling to control and clean up the BP oil spill, Ocean Therapy claims to have six of its 32 oil separation machines ready for testing. Costner said that the larger machines can separate 200 gallons a minute, which works out to around 210,000 gallons of oil from water a day. Ocean Therapy is waiting for BP's approval to test the machines.
The New York Times article suggests the story evokes the tagline of Costner's movie Field of Dreams. You know, "If you build it, they will come?"
I can't help but think of another Kevin Costner film: Waterworld. In that post-apocalyptic film, a group called the smokers — led by Dennis Hopper — take as their base an old rusted out oil tanker. The name of this oil tanker? You guessed it, the Exxon Valdez.
It may be easier to pick up on the environmental issues at the heart of this action film when watching it today. Apocalyptic films like The Day after Tomorrow and 2012 have shown us that environmental catastrophies can make some of the best disaster movies. The post-apocalyptic Waterworld was a result of the polar ice caps melting, which then flooded the Earth completely. (If you're looking for less action, check out our list of five must-watch water movies.)
In Waterworld, Kevin Costner plays "the Mariner," one of many mutants who have evolved with gills and webbed feet to match their environment. Had the film not been one of the biggest flops of its day, I wonder if Costner would entertain a sequel based on the recent BP oilpocalypse? At the rate the current oil spill cleanup is going, we may evolve before it is stopped.
Let's hope Kevin Costner and Ocean Therapy's oil spill machines can prevent that, or else — like the Exxon Valdez —� we may be seeing a BP oil tanker in the next environmental disaster film..


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LibraryThing ReviewUser Review - overthemoon - LibraryThing
a readable, straightforward account of Louis XIV, his wife, mistresses, children, the building of Versailles and his death. On the same subject I enjoyed the romance of l'Allée du Roi (Françoise Chandernagor) more but it is also a lot longer. Read full review
LibraryThing ReviewUser Review - RMMee - LibraryThing
I learned a lot about Louis XIV by reading this book. The style is not always that stimulating, but for a general introduction to the subject it is definitely worthwhile. Having played the tourist at ... Read full review
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Web based sales management Archive
Advantages of Sales Letter Generator softwarePosted on April 10, 2014 | No CommentsIt is not easy to create text for a business website. Sales letter generator software is really helpful for the businesses to create a text for their website. This text […]
Advantages of Cloud based sales managementPosted on December 26, 2013 | No CommentsCloud based sales management was a great challenge some decades before. The whole business community was longing that could control and monitor the track of marketing and sales activities. Earlier […]
Advantage of web based sales managementPosted on December 18, 2013 | No CommentsWeb based sales management software is an online web-based Customer Relationship Management. It is designed to capture and organize the communications and information from current or prospective clients from many […]
Benefits of online mlmPosted on December 4, 2013 | No CommentsMLM is known with different name like network marketing, party-plan marketing, direct selling, relationship marketing and Internet affiliate marketing. No matter what so ever is the name, Online MLM is […]
Benefits of cloud based mlmPosted on November 22, 2013 | No CommentsMLM business can only produce fruitful results with the help of active off-site campaigns and aggressive marketing. It is impossible to succeed in the MLM business by just focusing on […]
Benefits of web based mlmPosted on November 12, 2013 | No CommentsMLM network marketing has gained immense popularity in recent years due to excellent advantages associated with it. MLM distributors are using the advantages and recruiting more people for expanding their […]
Advantage of online business managementPosted on November 7, 2013 | No CommentsOnline marketing is the most important function to promote your business brand and reach the sales target. Online business management is essential to taste great success in the business. Online […]
Advantage of cloud based business managementPosted on October 18, 2013 | No CommentsIt is essential for business houses to store and mange huge mass of data. This data or information is really very crucial for the businesses or organizations. It is must […]
Advantages of web based business managementPosted on October 4, 2013 | No CommentsIt is not so easy to run a business; there are quite different elements to think about. Right tools can make help to make all the difference. It is essential […]
Benefits of online sales managementPosted on September 3, 2013 | No CommentsNowadays online businesses have gained immense popularity to gain quick success in the business. Several offline businesses are bringing their business online to taste huge profits. It is must for […]