Tag Archives: France

Romanian Scenes at Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton

As someone who professionally observes economic and political developments in different fast-developing emerging markets, I find it particularly interesting what Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton is doing. Since 2006 they have organized three contemporary art exhibitions per year, gathering artists from all over the world (but mainly from emerging markets) to show their work around different themes such as travel, heritage, art and fashion. These themes are then presented in the light of globalization, localisation, conflicting identities and nostalgia that compete to win the future in so many countries today, and as one could image, the result of intriguing!

I have followed Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton exhibitions since the beginning and some of my personal highlights are the very first exhibition called Métamorphoses (presenting the South Korean artist Sookyung Yee, who was also portrayed at FIAC 2013) and Somewhere Else (another great presentation of today’s globalized world and identity struggles seen through the eyes of artists).

Last Sunday I went to see the latest production of Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton: Romanian Scenes. The exhibition combines works from artists that come from two different eras and two different artistically-important locations. Era-wise, there are those from the Communist/Soviet/Cold War period and those who emerged after the collapse of the great Soviet power. Geographically, Bucharest is presented as the more traditional home and the artistic capital of the country, whereas Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania is portrayed as “today’s creative epicenter”.

The exhibition provides an intriguing opportunity to time travel in the past and the future of Romania as well as to learn more about this grand European nation. Indeed, a highly recommended exhibition, but hurry up: Romanian Scenes ends January 12!

Lastly, the million-dollar view of Paris and Parisian architecture you get from Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton is another good reason to head toward avenue des Champs Elysées… Just don’t be afraid of the dark (you will see why)!

Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton (http://www.louisvuitton-espaceculturel.com)

Main entrance: 60, rue de Bassano, 75008 Paris
Entrance by the Louis Vuitton shop: 101, avenue des Champs Elysées, 75008 Paris
Opening hours: Mon to Sat 12am to 7pm; Sun 11am to 7pm (no entrance fee and open on French holidays)

PS The copyright of the image goes to Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton, whose press service I thank for kind cooperation with Pearlspotting.

King Cake traditions

Christmas meal essentials!

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One of my favorite things to do in Paris is visiting La Grande Epicerie de Paris. Their recent renovation is so stylish and the service impeccable. Not forgetting their sophisticated food items’ offer and regular dégustations…

To add that extra touch of elegance and perfection to our Christmas meal, I did a bit of groceries at La Grande Epicerie de Paris on the Christmas Eve and this was the result:

From left to the right:

Bordier butter: the butter of “the real chefs”; the best butter in the world
Grey salt from Guérande with summer truffle by Maison de la Truffe: an absolute cooking must! (if you like truffle, do not miss their restaurant at 19, place de la Madeleine)
Balsamic vinegar from Modena by Fernando Pensato: a fine product of Italy, used by the most elegant restaurant and hotels of the world
Extra virgin olive oil with white truffle: another cooking must by Maison de la Truffe. Particularly good with the Finnish sweetened potato casserole
Organic Boletus-mushroom mustard by Savor & sens: excellent with smoked salmon
Onion confit by Le Coq Noir: an essential companion to foie gras
Scallops-flavored tarama: a bit more original than the ordinary tarama (also exists in truffle and other flavors)

La Grande Epicerie de Paris: http://www.lagrandeepicerie.com/en.html

French Christmas meal: stuffed goose from Les Provinces

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Traditional Finnish Christmas meal includes an oven-cooked ham but my parents happily followed French traditions while in Paris. Good for me, as I do not eat pork!

One week before Christmas we visited the boucherie-restaurant Les Provinces near Marché d’Aligre to see what our options for the Christmas meal are. The most typical French Christmas meat (poultry) is capon, a castrated rooster, but the butcher suggested we buy goose. After discussing the choice between the capon and the goose with everyone, we agreed that we prefer goose. Price-wise there was no difference and we had a feeling that the goose will be more original –the goose meat is more reddish brown (similar to duck or duckling) whereas the capon remains white as chicken (but is more fatty). So, “Prepare us a nice big goose with stuffing” we told the butcher and left a 10€ prepayment!

In the afternoon of the Christmas Eve we returned to fetch our stuffed goose and in the late morning of the Christmas Day we opened the package to find a beautiful, fat goose from Anjou with some organs aside for those who appreciate them.

We followed the roasting instructions: higher temperature in the beginning that gives the goose golden color and crispy texture, and lower temperature during the rest of the time with the aluminium foil. We added a glass of water in the casserole and kept moistening the goose with this water (some fat drained from the goose and mixed with the water). 2 1/2 hours later our goose left the oven and was ready to be cut. Such a beautiful piece of goose it was!

Everyone loved the goose and it will surely find its way to our Christmas table again in future! We enjoyed it with sweetened potato casserole, a Finnish dish, but you could also serve roasted carrots and potatoes or other vegetable with it. The red wine we had was Mas des Montagnes, “Terroirs d’Altitude” AOC Côtes du Roussillon Villages, and it was really excellent!!

The stuffing our goose had included veal, poultry liver, onion, alcohol, herbs and spices, and no pork, but remember that nothing prevents you from creating your own stuffing…

Boucherie-restaurant Les Provinces: Easy Saturday dinner from the Aligre Market

Wine: Maison Lorgeril from Languedoc-Roussillon and http://www.lorgeril.com/2-35542-Terroir-d-Altitude.php

PS As a bonus, here you go with a photo of the organs we prepared some days after Christmas. We recognized liver and gizzard but were not sure about the rest. Do you have an idea?

Importance of the new year

Happy new year dear everyone!

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Champagne in Paris! Big Indian dinner waiting for us at the table!

Happiest new year to all of you and your loved ones!!

Elegant amuse-bouche recipe for Christmas

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Our Franco-Finnish Christmas meal begun with an amuse-bouche of quail eggs. These eggs make an elegant alternative to normal eggs and are pretty easy to find everywhere. We had tarama and black caviar as a topping but only your imagination is limit! Here you go with my recipe:

1. Boil the eggs for 5 minutes. I was under the impression that I should put the eggs into boiling water but when I did this, they cracked. Thankfully I had bought a dozen of eggs, so I boiled new eggs but this time in cold water and in lower temperature. The second time no egg cracked.2. Peel the eggs. Keep the eggs in cold water for a good 10-15 minutes before you start peeling the shells off. Change the water to keep it cool, if necessary. Once you start peeling, be careful. This is the trickiest part as you can see in the photo above….

3. Cut and place the eggs on a serving platter or a cocktail plate. A tip: have you ever wondered how to make an egg stand still? By cutting a tiny slice off of its bottom!

4. Be a Michelin-starred chef! Think of the presentation and colors. Green always looks great with yellow and white, so I added slices of leek and cucumber.

5. Topping: I added scallop tarama and black Russian caviar on both eggs, with a sprinkle of dill, but I am sure that herring, salmon, dried and smoked meats, cream soft cheese etc. would all marry well with quail eggs! And if you want to make the amuse-bouche a bit more heavier, place the egg slices on a blini….

Voila, the easiest and classiest amuse-bouches are ready to be served with French champagne! Happy Boxing Day everyone.

Merry Christmas!!

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With this photo taken at the midnight mass at Notre Dame de Paris, I wish my dear family, friends and followers a merry Christmas!!

Christmas food shopping at the Bastille Market

Bringing a little bit of Finnish Christmas to Paris

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My parents arrived in Paris yesterday, carrying a little bit of Finland in their suitcase.

First of all, they brought us a tiny pine with some Christmas decorations. The tree seems to be seven years old and now waits in the kitchen to be properly planted. It will be interesting to see how it will like French climate and after how many years it has to be moved to the balcony?

In addition we received almost ten kilos of fish caught by my father in our summer house lake: salmon (järvilohi = landlocked salmon) and pikeperch (kuha). They were frozen when they left Finland and arrived intact upon arrival in Paris. I put them directly back to the freezer together with some berries sent to us by friends of my parents. No shortage of organic, local and healthy food this winter!

Do you think we will manage to succeed in creating a fine Franco-Finnish Christmas in Paris this year? What about you: how is your own Christmas coming along? Do you have influences from different countries and cultures? I would love to learn more about you!

PS If you find this interesting and fun, why not to check out Pearlspotting’s Facebook page too!

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