chefchristianbauer

May the 4th. Be with us.

And so we have been told that we can open for business again. Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to limit our first week to just Fuego, with areas demarcated for tables, walkways taped to the floors and capacity limited to one seating only. I think this is the time for us toContinue reading “May the 4th. Be with us.”

The Incomparable Toast

Rare are the times when you pick up a toast, butter it generously and bite into it to be instantly transported to a better time in a worse off world, i.e. the past. The soft crumb turned a golden hue, the crisp crust and the taste of natural goodness, in short a bead with substanceContinue reading “The Incomparable Toast”

There’s One in Every Village

Now you might be wondering what every village has or at least used to have. The Village Priest? The Village Idiot? Sometimes one and the same. Or maybe the Village Bicycle? Which, incidentally is not a method of transportation, even though it does get around. What I meant was the Village Baker. In times goneContinue reading “There’s One in Every Village”

In Praise of Leftovers

There’s no such thing as leftovers, there are just second chances. From the simple to the inspired, there’s always another dish just waiting to be created out of humble beginnings.

General Vegetable Soup

I don’t know why every time I write “Soup”, everyone skips the post. Is it memories of mother saying: “Mange ta soupe!”? My own mother made just 2 soups well; lentil and dried pea soup. One came with Groperekichelcher; Luxembourgish for fried potato cakes and the other with wonderfully smokey, fatty Mettwurscht, which you mayContinue reading “General Vegetable Soup”

The Lost Weekend

Eddie and I decided we should give the tortellini making another go. Now that our pasta machine had arrived, it was sure to be a complete breeze! Making the filling was going to be quick (it was) and we had a batch of tortellini broth ready in the freezer from last time, so there wasContinue reading “The Lost Weekend”

Almond Sablé Breton

In danger of being run out of town by angry people from Brittany, our intrepid chef bravely and brazenly changes a classic recipe.

The Best Strawberry in the Land

I would like to say that I went in search of the strawberries of my youth, but the truth is I just stumbled upon these.

Petits Pots au Chocolat

Translates to: Little pots of chocolaty custardy cold creamy deliciousness. It’s an old Brasserie standard, which some chefs seem to think license to muck it up. I’m happy to see creativity, but when my favourite lunch place in Paris serves me pot au chocolat with goat’s milk, I draw the line, pull the plug andContinue reading “Petits Pots au Chocolat”

Desserts in the Social Desert

I’m not quite sure how this happened! Here we are entering week 6 of the lock-down and I have not given you a single recipe for any desserts whatsoever. It’s terribly remiss of me, so I am going to add some in very quick succession, I promise. Sitting at my dining table with a coffee,Continue reading “Desserts in the Social Desert”