When I was in Paris last September with my group tour, one of our daytime activities was a trip to a suburb outside of the city where we attended a cooking demonstration and wine tasting in a private home. One of the recipes that was prepared for us before our eyes was a delicious puff pastry filled with veggies and cheese, and it called for crème fraîche (fresh cream) - which is essentially (per Wikipedia) and I think Julia Child would attest, "... a soured creamcontaining about 28% butterfat and with a pH of around 4.5 .... soured with bacterial culture, but is thicker, and less sour than sour cream." During the cooking demonstration, this ingredient was whipped out of a jar that was, we were told, purchased at a market. I asked, "Isn't there a recipe for crème fraîche?" (I seemed to remember seeing it in a cookbook once.)
"Oh, noooooo ..."
Oh, yeeeessss! For Christmas, my brother gifted me with this little gem:
And lo and behold, here is the recipe ...
Now, my only problem: where to get that not ultra-pasteurized cream - the health food store?
Question to French-inspired cooks here: Have you ever made this? Would you make it? I am planning to do this in the Spring. Want to try it with me?
3 comments:
I'll try it with you. But lately, I have been seeing creme fraiche in grocery stores. In Canada, we have organic milk products in our larger grocery stores and maybe that's a good place to find cream. Don't you worry about leaving milk outside a refrigerator for a couple of days? I know that is a North American hang up. Definitely will give this a try. Thanks for finding the recipe Cynthia.
Meg
Once you have crème fraiche, sour cream will never do! Bon chance avec cette recette! (I say if you can find it in the market, increase your monthly food budget and get it there!)
a+
leslie
Oh, yes, crème fraiche is absolutely something you can make at home. And, yes, I agree w/La Fourchette, once you've had it sour cream just doesn't cut it anymore.
Same thing w/mayonnaise, which is so easy to make. (See my Blog Post on "Memories of Mayonnaise.")
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