Reading may seem like a solitary pleasure, but we do not believe it is so. As we read, we intimately interact with writers, the worlds they create, and our own inner selves as well as the real world that surrounds us. Some of us are also blessed enough to have friends to share the experience with.

While discussing the idyllic village of Three Pines and the captivating characters author Louise Penny created in the Inspector Gamache books, we were aware of the sensory pleasure to be had in the meals described. Olivier’s Bistro, Gabri’s baking, and dinners at the Morrow’s can easily make us salivate while reading the books… Louise Penny's books, are a wonderful entrée into a sensual world, where each book is a season, capturing its mood and flavours, and contributing to the layers of meaning about the characters, who are marvellously revealed over the series.

At one point, a daydream of going through the series with a notebook in hand, writing down all these meals and later cooking them, took shape. This is our "notebook". We hope you enjoy this literary-culinary-sensory-philosophical journey.

Friday, April 29, 2016

Pain Doré and the Art of Salvaging

by Amy


“Gamache tried the door to the bistro and was surprised to find it open. Earlier that morning, over breakfast of pain doré, sliced strawberries and bananas, maple syrup and back bacon, Gabri had admitted he didn’t know when Olivier might reopen the bistro.”
“Maybe never,” he said, “then where would we be? I’d have to start taking in paying guests.”
“Good thing then that you’re a B and B,” said Gamache.
 “You’d think that would be an advantage, wouldn’t you? But I’m handicapped by extreme laziness.”
And yet, when Gamache and Agent Morin walked into the bistro there was Gabri behind the bar, polishing it. And from the kitchen came the aroma of fine cooking.“Olivier,” Gabri called, coming around from behind the bar. “Our first customers since the murder are here,” he sang out.
“Oh, for God’s sake, Gabri,” they heard from the kitchen and a pot clanked down. A moment later Olivier punched through the swinging door. “Oh, it’s you.”


I went to the theater the other day. The stage had a piano and four cubicle-like apartment sets. There were five people in one crumbling building. The play is a collection of moments in their lives, their longings, frustrations, and issues. A siren goes off sometimes. To the public, it signals a new scene or short monologue. The idea is that the building is a crumbling hazard and the characters are supposed to react (evacuate?) when the siren sounds. Eventually, in the end, the place is demolished and the four inhabitants of the apartments die. The old building becomes a new ruin. The last character – the outside observer throughout the play – ends the show saying he was (or could have been) the three year old child who was the sole survivor.

His last words are a reflection on what ruins are and what can be salvaged from disaster. What do you do with what is left? How do you pick up the pieces? How do you give new meaning and new function to the bits and pieces you ransom? What is the use of a broken past? Is it possible to find opportunity in chaos?

Sometimes I wonder if Louise Penny chooses these meals on purpose (of course she does, but could she be aware of all the double meanings, too?) or if it’s just serendipity. Another name for pain doré is pain perdu. That could be translated into “lost bread”. Old bread. It’s lost already. It would be trash. It’s salvaged. A new opportunity for what had been a ruin.

Pain perdu. Lost bread. Pain doré. Golden bread.


Olivier was ruined. He believed the bistro, the business, could be ruined. His life, as he knew it, was threatened. His reputation was lost.

I do think, though, that the man who was salvaged was better than the original. Just as pain doré is coated with flavor and toasted into golden yumminess, the character’s hardships gave him a “coat” of flavor, depth, and growth. I wouldn’t have wished his pain on anyone, but he was better for it.

Once again, I start talking about a recipe by saying I’d never made it before. I had never made French toast, pain doré, pain perdu or whatever else you’d call it. I looked up quite a few recipes and when I read the word “creamy” in this recipe I decided that this would be my first choice. Click here for the link.

It was yummy. I shared some with my assistant (who is a fellow bread-lover) and the two of us oohed and aahed over our brunch. It was spicy and full of flavor and yes, it was creamy. And not too sweet. Perfect.



There were so many recipes to choose from I felt like Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride trying to figure out how she liked her eggs. I didn’t try all of them. I just made the one that seemed to be the best match for me.

Rabanada (the Brazilian version) is frequently served as a New Year’s treat. I know my mother in law loves them. I asked how she makes it. She soaks the bread in milk (and sugar), then in beaten eggs and cinnamon. She then fries the bread and, afterwards, coats the fried bread in sugar.

Do you like French toast? How do you make yours? Is there any trick to your recipe? I loved the nutmeg and ginger that complemented the cinnamon. What flavors do you add? Butter or oil to fry the bread? Do you use “lost” bread? Or fresh?

6 comments:

  1. What recipe did you use? I dip the bread in egg mixture and cook it in a fry pan on the stove. Very basic.
    Olivier could have saved himself if only he told the truth. Of course that would have been a problem for us, the readers. We would have lost two great books.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nancy!
      I'm sorry. I was trying to get fancy with links, but it wasn't very clear. This is the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/7126/pain-perdu-i/.
      I love that it was creamy. I ignored the amount of calories involved. LOL!
      You are so right. Olivier could have saved himself... but his lies are at the center of TWO of my favorite books, so I'm glad he didn't!

      Delete
  2. French toast is my favorite thing for going out for breakfast. Especially if there is lots of cinnamon and they cook uses cinnamon swirl bread for the base! My mom would make terrific French toast with sugar/cinnamon, but also make "framed eggs", which was the egg/milk soaked bread that had a circle cut out, and before the first flip she'd crack and egg into it. Yum. Something you can eat for any meal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never ordered french toast going out. Framed eggs! I'm not much of an egg person and my husband isn't much of a breakfast person. Maybe I should make him framed eggs for lunch someday. He might enjoy that!

      Delete
  3. Looove French Toast! I would love to see your recipe. I dip my bread (I never have "lost" bread, so just regular bread is what I usually use) in an egg/milk/vanilla mixture, turn it once after 5 minutes, and let it really soak in for a total of 10 minutes. Meanwhile, I put a few tbsps. of butter in a glass pan into an oven that I'm pre-heating to 400 degrees. When the butter is hot and the soaking is done, I transfer the bread to the hot pan and top with sugar and cinnamon. I bake it for 25 minutes, and it gets all puffy and crunchy on the outside and lovely. I usually serve it with breakfast sausage, and maple syrup (of course). Strawberries and bananas would be good - especially fresh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oooooooh... I'll have to try it your way someday! It's baked. I love baked everything. For some reason baking tends to seem easier than stovetop. I wonder why that is. So you have the glass pan & the butter both hot and already in the oven and you add the soaked bread. Did I get that right? Do you flip it when baking? Or not? That sounds yummy.
      I tried to get fancy with posting the link - but I don't think I was clear. This is the recipe I used: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/7126/pain-perdu-i/.
      I ended up using the leftover of the milk/flour/egg mixture in the next batch of bread I made and it was sooooo yummy. I'm blaming the extra cinnamon.
      As for lost bread, I laughed at your comment. I never ever EVER have lost bread, either. I have extra pounds I'd like to lose. Not lost bread.
      Do you use "hard" bread, though? I'm asking because soaking softish bread for 10 minutes might dissolve it, right?
      One of the things I've been enjoying with the blog lately is how there are so many "versions" of dishes...

      Delete