December 14, 2011 by Clotilde Dusoulier
I got my first Opinel pocket knife at age seven—the age of reason, my parents must have thought—during a summer vacation in the French Alps. Each member of my family had one, and they got plenty of use during mountain hikes: my father’s to carve intricate pattern on his walking stick, my mother’s to butter the baguette sandwiches when we stopped for the midday picnic.
I was thrilled to get my own, a tiny, child-size replica of the classic Savoyard pocket knife, with its glossy wood handle, its pointy steel blade, and the rotating ring that locked it all into place.
Twenty-five years later, this miniature Opinel is much too small for me to use, but I have a grownup’s version now, which I’m sure to take with me on any walk in the wild, and especially on mushroom foraging trips: not to brag, but that Opinel has seen its share of porcini.
Opinel pocket knives make for wonderful gifts, too: they’re not at all expensive, they’ll last a lifetime, and they’ll accompany the recipient on their outdoor adventures—even if it’s just an improvised picnic in the park. Just be sure to have them give you a coin (any small piece of change will do) in exchange for the knife: French superstition states that if you give away a knife without getting anything in return, you risk severing the friendship. Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Shopping | 7 Comments »
November 14, 2009 by Tory Hoen
Our friend Clotilde Dusoulier (of Chocolate and Zucchini) has helped to edit the English version of Ginette Mathiot’s classic french cookbook, Je Sais Cuisiner. This book is the bible of French cooking and can be found in just about every French kitchen (Fanny Farmer or The Joy of Cooking would be the American equivalents). When I spoke to Clotilde last spring, she was wrapping up the project, and this Tuesday, November 17, at 7pm, she will be at WH Smith to publicize the book—on shelves now in France and the United States. The event will also mark the 6th anniversary of Chocolate and Zucchini, Clotilde’s wildly successful food blog that put her on the map as one of today’s best culinary bloggers. Continue Reading »
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June 21, 2009 by Tory Hoen
All photos courtesy of chocolateandzucchini.com
“I’m not a local food celebrity,” Clotilde Dusoulier assures me, as she sips her Perrier on a café terrace in Montmartre. And she’s right; she’s not a local food celebrity. She’s an international food sensation, thanks to her blog, Chocolate and Zucchini, which has captivated foodies around the world. While the majority of her readers are North American, Clotilde is thrilled by the amount of international attention received by her blog, which she updates twice a week. “That’s what’s absolutely magical about the internet and blogs,” marvels Clotilde. “You can draw people so close when they’re so far apart in the real world.” Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Parisian Living | 3 Comments »
Tiago Pereira
Kaspar Metz
