COOKING LIKE MONET
Claude Monet’s art uplifts my spirit. His paintings remind me what it is like to be outside with warm sunshine and fresh air enveloping you. They make me marvel at nature’s wonders, whether it is a lily pond, a cliff by the ocean, or a garden bursting with a multitude of colors. As beautiful as his art is, just as beautiful his garden is. He was a dedicated gardener who created his garden in Giverny, shaped it, and then drew inspiration from it to paint its flowers, trees, and that famous water lily pond.
In addition to his flower and lily pond garden, he also maintained a vegetable garden that supplied fresh produce to his kitchen. The food he enjoyed at home was fresh, simple, and of good quality. He enjoyed eggs, wild mushrooms, game, and homemade plum brandy. Simply put in modern day terms, he was a foodie.
While searching for books on Monet’s garden, I came across this cookbook containing original Monet recipes. The Monet Cookbook: Recipes from Giverny contains gorgeous reproductions of his artwork as well as photographs of him, his family, and the guests he entertained in his house. It was simply not enough for me to read this book. So, I picked two dessert recipes from this book to bake. Lemon Madeleines and Clafoutis.
The Lemon Madeleines baked from the Monet’s recipe made me realize this: add fresh lemon zest to the batter if you want your Madeleines to taste better. When it comes to enhancing flavor, fresh lemon zest is a really a game changer. My Madeleines tasted good but they could have been more spongy.
Photo by Sichu Mali. Pitting cherries for Clafoutis.
Photo by Sichu Mali. Lemon Madeleines and Cherry Clafoutis baked from Monet’s recipes.
Clafoutis, on the other hand, did not turn out custardy as I’ve heard other cooks and chefs say it should be. Still, it was tasty. What I did learn is that when it comes to Clafoutis, the star of this dessert is the fruit. In this case, sweet ripe cherries. A Clafoutis should capture that sweetness and that juiciness of ripe summer fruits. TIP: To save time, use a Cherry Pitter that pits multiple cherries at a time instead of only one cherry at a time.
