I don't barbecue, but if I wanted to take it up, my guide would be "French Grill," the latest cookbook by Susan Herrmann Loomis.
In this book, she writes about grilled food as the French like it, meaning local, fresh ingredients, natural flavors and attention to technique.
If you're addicted to loud, sweet barbecue sauces, "French Grill" isn't for you. Reading it has inspired me to throw out the bottle of such sauce that I have in the refrigerator.
In France, "grilling is a man's world," Loomis says, so I don't feel bad about not doing it. Loomis (above) can get away with it, because over there she's an anomaly, a tall, red-haired, blue-eyed American. She's also an enormously talented chef, teacher and author--this is her 13th book.
Resettling in France because of the food, she founded the cooking school On Rue Tatin in Normandie, about an hour from Paris.
On a book tour here, she appeared at Melissa's Produce, where she showed how tasteful and varied French grilling can be.
Even guacamole starts on the barbecue, where Loomis grills the avocados naked, without their peel. Although she calls the recipe smoky guacamole, there's only a hint of fumes. "The French don't want to eat smoke, they want to eat food," she explains.
At Melissa's, tortilla chips were set out with the dip. The French would spread it on a toasted baguette.
Loomis says she gets the best results barbecuing over coals. However, all the recipes in the book were tested on gas grills too, and in the United States as well as in France.
And each recipe includes detailed advice on equipment needed, how to prepare coals, and special notes on ingredients, preparation and cooking that Loomis calls astuces, a French word meaning tips. The introduction alone is a full guide to barbecuing, and a delightful read.
The recipes take you through a wonderful assortment of dishes, and not always what you would think of as French, like curry beef and zucchini brochettes (above).
These grilled new potatoes (above) are seasoned with maple syrup, which isn't unusual. The French have been using such syrups since the Middle Ages, according to Loomis.
Chicken wings with herbes de Provence (above) is more what you would expect in a French cookbook. Loomis would like you to make your own herb mixture from fresh rosemary, savory, oregano and thyme, but dried is permissible.
This grilled vegetable salad is "Mediterranean and purely French at the same time because of the vegetables," Loomis says in the book. It can be an appetizer, side dish or a main, with crusty (French) bread and a glass of wine.
Grilling vegetables is new to France, but the French have a thing for composed salads with something hot on top. Loomis's example is grilled bacon-wrapped goat cheese on lettuce with a classic vinaigrette (above).
Loomis even does flourless chocolate cake on the grill, using the heat remaining when the main course is finished.
Her primary way to bake these spice cookies is in an oven. It's only from the astuces that you learn how to do it on a grill.
As a cookie lover and non-griller, this is the perfect recipe for me. Whatever else I try will have to go onto a stovetop grill pan, which is less than ideal.
Why would I want a grilling book? Because I'm a fan of Susan Herrmann Loomis. I've gotten wonderful recipes from her previous books. And this one I can at least savor in my mind.
And who wouldn't want to savor French food in any form? One of the hallmarks of French food is, "it's not heavy," Loomis says. "The food is really clean because it's fresh. It's the best of what food can be."
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