Welcome to Secret Breakfast / An exclusive newsletter, the best place to start your day looking for 2000 Feuilles, Spicy Potato Noodles and French Jarcuterie

Hi there!

Happy Saint Joseph's Day!

Many countries have traditions to honor Jesus’ father. Need one? Saint Joseph's tables! (Hat/tip reader, and auntie, Maristella from Bruxelles).

Saint Joseph's tables are a ritual that takes place in several towns of Salento, in Southern Italy, where families open their homes to strangers and the poor, offering them a variety of foods on long wooden tables decorated with flowers and candles.

It’s a great Catholic tradition, even if I can’t imagine it happening in our cities or urban flats right now.

Piero

Picture via The Italian Enthusiast

✦ Simone Veil, Holocaust survivor, magistrate, and politician who championed women's rights and European unity.

72 HOURS IN PARIS

Ok, that’s not the most original escape, nevertheless, you can never eat Paris in a whole weekend.

Random notes following.

Louvre in 3 hours. Why not? Preorder your tickets online; skip the queue entering by the underground mall (the Carrousel du Louvre); point to The Winged Victory of Samothrace; don’t miss the Hermaphrodite and the Venus of Milo; then the Italian Painters (da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks, then the Mona Lisa); take a bow to Imperialist French painters; give yourself the gift of a hot Chocolate by Angelina in the Richelieu Café (so you skip the queue at the original Angelina); gain the exit as you wish.

Shopping for cooks. E.Dehillerin, I know you know it. Librairie Gourmande is not far.

Bateaux Mouches yes or no? Yes, at 19.00-19.30, then you have the Eiffel Tower blinging for you.

The food catch. Find a local market (I visited Bastille’s, but Beauvau is pretty good), watch, and taste. Wherever you are, go to Arnaud Nicolas’ Charcuterie for Jambon persillé (★recipe) and their extraordinary terrines: it won’t be cheap, but you’ll provide a memorable picnic. You’ll see people lining up for Café de Flore, don’t forget that Les Deux Magots has better croissants and chocolate. Pierre Hermé for the macarons (the single most expensive item in Paris after the house rent), but don’t miss the 2000 Feuilles.

Rétro dining. I can’t stay in Paris and miss a fish platter from “old” restaurants like La Coupole or Bofinger (or the extra posh Le Train bleu), I bet there are better places, but it’s something that reminds me of my first visits. Ah, if you’re in for something French and strong, don’t miss the “bouillons”, restaurants intended for simple meals: this time I took my chances at Le Petit Saint-Benoit in St. Sulpice, food was good but I totally chose the wrong wine (skip the Aveyron…); writer and cook Tommaso Melilli suggests: Aux Deux Amis, Le Baratin, Le Verre Volè, Bistrot Paul Bert + Le Servan, that is more refined and another category.

Bread. Yo, here you have to try. Bakeries make their own bread in Paris and you have to taste for yourself. I tried Boulangerie Poilâne, Liberté, Leonie, Bo, and one called Top Baguette that was 1000 better than the name.

Jewish bakeries in the Marais. I should skip this one today because I felt sick after a pastrami sandwich there, but it was my fault because I over-fermented it keeping it in my bag for hours. Ok, good spots are pretty easy to find: Chez Marianne, Florence Kahn (look for the tongue sandwich), and the yellow one I never remember the name but you can’t miss it. Since you’re there remember: As du Felafel=good, King of felafel=don’t know, but sounds a copy.

Showtime. Two things looked hot: Dévorante by Eleonora Galasso, a theater show about food and toxic relationships; the movie Black Tea, about a young Ivorian woman who immigrates to China and falls in love with an older Chinese man (and tea, I suppose).

Any question? Happy to answer.

Picture: Netflix

Welcome to Club Med

★★★☆☆

“Zaytinya” translates to “olive oil” in Turkish and it is also the name of chef Jose Andrés’ restaurant in Washington D.C. Here we’re traveling in Greece, Syria, Turkey and Jordan; a world of yogurt and kebabs, chickpeas and spices, and pita breads. Let’s say it’s an Ottolenghi less contaminated and more refined if you allow me the definition. Bonus: try the Carrot Fritters (★recipe)

Zaytinya: Delicious Mediterranean Dishes from Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon by José Andrés
→ Shortplot: 🫒 🐟 🍆 🍖

(👆🏻Not everybody likes it)

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➤ Last week's most clicked link was about The Daily Hunt for Food in Gaza. And that's all for today.