Oui, Oui, Je Speak Franglais
Culture

Netflix and Voyager

Nowadays, there are very little options to entertain so we tend to binge on Netflix. While others may love the notion of Netflix and Chill , I would like to introduce Netflix and Voyager– oui, oui, –watch and travel. So the film that inspired me to write this article is Netflix’s, The Old Guard.


[Spoiler alert] The Old Guard starring Charlize Theron, Kiki Lane and Chiwetel Ejiofor has a group of immortal mercenaries globe-trot through time and places such as Sudan, Afghanistan and Francophone cities in Morocco and France, while saving humanity.

Although, The Old Guard was only filmed in two locations-England and Morocco– which you would not know just from the pure genius of set designers … we thought , we’d create a bucket list for those who would want to travel to the Francophone cities/towns featured in le film.

✈︎ Marrakesh, Morocco

What to do: Get lost in the Medina- There’s no other way to have a lens through local life than at the Medina, with bustling noises, beautiful colors and eclectic wares.

Medina market/image via :medinamarrakech

Where to stay: El Fenn Hotel ( actually featured in The Old Guard)

✈︎ Goussainville, France

What to do: Goussainville is an abandoned old town in the outskirts of Paris. Since this town is directly in the path of the Charles de Gaulle airport and also a ghost town, there’s not much to do or see.

Facade of a building in Goussainville/image via : tripadvisor

Where to stay: There is a list of hotels; however since this town is not quite touristy… many may book hotels in its environs since it is close to the airport.

✈︎ Val d’Argent, France

What to do: Adventure off into the ancient silver mines of Parc Tellure.

Parc Tellure/image via : val d’argent tourisme

Where to stay: Chambres d’hôtes du Val d’Argent —

Landscape of Chambres d’hotes/image via booking.com

✈︎ Paris, France

What to do: It takes more than days, months, years to discover Paris— it takes a lifetime. But we’d recommend you to explore the off beaten path of the architectural gem of the Gare de Lyon’s Le Train Bleu.

Le Train Bleu Restauart at Gare de Lyon/image via le train bleu

Where to stay: Hotel Splendid Etoile

So get your Netflix and Bon voyage!

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Culture

How to Make Crème Brûlée with Mon Petit Four

photo via Mon Petit Four

Crème brûlée, which literally means burnt cream, is a dessert of custard–topped with caramelized sugar. My first time ever ordering this dessert was about 15 years. It was at a bistro in le quartier de la Bastille and ever since then, Oui, Oui — you guessed it, crème brûlée is usually my first choice when ordering dessert in a resto. I mean , pourquoi pas? This creamy custard leaves me craving for more.

Thanks to Mon Petit Four’s, Beeta Hashempour, you too can recreate this decadent recette for yourself or guests. Bon app!

Crème Brûlée

Yield: 5 Prep Time: 25 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Creamy vanilla custard baked until set, then topped with a caramelized sugar topping. 

Ingredients

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 6 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • turbinado sugar, or any kind of coarse sugar granules, for the top

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 320°F. Bring a kettle full of water to a boil. Meanwhile, In a medium saucepan, warm the cream just until it’s beginning to simmer along the edges of the pan. Don’t let the cream boil! Stir in the vanilla bean paste once the cream is warm. Turn the heat off.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the granulated sugar together until thick and pale. Stream in 1/4 cup of the hot cream mixture, whisking vigorously as you do. Continue to stream in another 1/4 cup, again whisking the entire time. Pour in the rest of the hot cream and whisk until everything is blended together.
  3. Use a ladle to distribute the batter among 5 (6 oz.) ramekins. Place the ramekins in a large casserole dish and place the dish in the oven. Use the kettle spout to pour the hot water into the casserole dish, pouring enough water so that the water almost reaches the top of the ramekins. Be careful not to get any water into the ramekins.
  4. Bake the custard for 1 hour just until the centers are slightly wobbly. If needed, after 1 hour, raise the heat to 350°F and bake for another 10 minutes until you’ve achieved the desired doneness. Remove the ramekins from the casserole dish and let them cool to room temperature. Wrap the ramekins tightly in plastic wrap and freeze.
  5. To brulee, sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of the turbinado sugar over each frozen creme brulee. Set the ramekins on a baking sheet under the oven broiler (500°F) for about 1 minute, constantly checking it and rotating the pan so that all of them are evenly bruleed. Let the burnt sugar topping set for a few minutes before serving. 

Notes

If you decide to make this recipe for 2 people, divide the recipe in half and use 8 oz. ramekins.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 5

Serving Size:

5 Servings
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 423

And if it so happens that you need help pronouncing crème brûlée, we’ve got you covered!

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Language

How to Pronounce Your Favorite French Food: Part I

Have you tried ordering from the menu in France and struggled with the waiter? Well, if your answer was ‘oui,” we have a few tips for you. I had enlisted the help of un petit Parisien, my nephew– Enzo to help me out with the pronunciations.



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Lifestyle

Fed up of online dating? We’ve found a way to take your love life offline.

image courtesy of The Inner Circle

As we quote la reine of love songs, Celine Dion – – – Oui, Oui ,’L’amour existe encore!’

It’s understandable if you’re sick of online dating. There are so many different apps to choose from now, and the endless swiping and constant cheesy chat up lines are enough to make anyone give up. Online dating has definitely reached a plateau, but that doesn’t mean your love life should too. 
In a world run by technology, it’s easy to forget that something like dating is all about real life connections, and we need to be careful not to forget that. 

This is where The Inner Circle comes in. The online-meets-offline dating app that hardly wants you to use it. It might sound weird, but they’ve turned online dating upside down and  rather than coaxing you into hours of swiping and chatting, encourages offline meet-ups as quickly as possible.

Here’s what they’re doing:

  1. No catfish, fakes or frauds

If you’re going to date offline, you need to have the confidence to know who you’re meeting. The Inner Circle does everything they can to keep their members safe and undaunted by the real world, so they manually check that each member is who they say they are. Each profile picture is also checked to make sure it’s up to date, so no one has to worry about being catfished or tricked by other users. 

image courtesy of The Inner Circle

2. First dates are super easy

The Inner Circle has this unique feature called ‘spots’. It’s a user-curated list of venues that have been tried and tested for first dates. Basically it means setting up a date is as easy as possible, because you don’t have to worry about where to go. There’s also an option to check out your favourite places and see who else likes to go there, you already have that much in common you can skip the chatting and ask to meet. 

image courtesy of The Inner Circle

3. Users can ditch the swipe, and meet face to face

But if even the idea of swiping, matching, chatting sends you shivers.. Why not meet in real life? The Inner Circle hosts dating events, in cities all over the world every week. They vary from underground house parties to rooftop cocktail classes, and are always a sell-out. In a new motive to get as many people meeting as possible, they’ve started putting on cocktail masterclasses, pop-up festivals, and even members can host their own singles events. 

If you think your love life could do with a fresh approach, try The Inner Circle. You can sign up here. 

NOTE: SPONSORED ARTICLES DO NOT BELONG TO THE EDITORIAL TEAM AT OUI, OUI, JE SPEAK FRANGLAIS. ARTICLE(S) ARE PROVIDED OR WRITTEN AT THE REQUEST OF THE ADVERTISER, WHO DETERMINES THE CONTENT.

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Culture

Laissez les bons temps rouler

Oui, Oui, aujourd’hui c’est Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) for us (Francophones) and for others, Pancake Day! However you like to call it, it’s a day to indulge then it kicks off to Lent then bam! Easter, is here again.

If you couldn’t make it to New Orleans or Les Antilles for Carnival, we have come up with ideas that can help you celebrate ce jour!

If want to indulge with your eyes or a trip to ‘The Big Easy’ …

If you want to practice your French while indulging…

Recette des beignets MARDI GRAS VEGAN by Titoon Baker

And you if want to shed those calories after indulging…

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