Lesson 8: Turned Vegetables, French Meringue

Soupe à l'Oignon Gratinée
(Gratinéed Onion Soup)

Truite aux Amandes
(Trout with Almonds)

Pommes à l'Anglaise
(English-Style Boiled Potatoes)

Oeufs à la Neige
(Snow eggs with Caramel and Crème Anglaise)

Onion Soup: When Les Halles, the famous Paris food market, was in the center of the city, late-night merrymakers could be found sitting shoulder to shoulder with butchers eating onion soup from midnight to dawn in busy bistros. This combination of cheese, bread, and onions was said to restore strength. Today Les Halles is gone but gratinée lives on, no longer the midnight meal of yore but a popular first course during the winter months in Paris...

Trout: This recipe is one of the rare French savory dishes that use almonds. It is, in fact, a variation on a classic truite meunière (trout with nut-brown butter) -- the difference being the almonds...As here, trout cooked this way is always served whole with lemon, boiled potatoes and freshly chopped parsley...

Potatoes: In France, anything that is simply boiled is said to be à l'anglaise, English-style. Unlike their English counterparts, however, French chefs typically "turn" their vegetables before boiling them to ensure even cooking...

Dessert: Sometimes called "snow eggs"... this dessert is standard bistro fare...