Paper Palate

I have a special relationship with Cuisine Actuelle because I am a proud owner of its first issues from 1991, and subscribed to the magazine for many years as I slowly but surely learned to cook in France.

Along with Guide Cuisine, Cuisine Actuelle is part of Trio Gourmand promoted by the Prisma Presse publishing group.

With recipes designed to be “convivial, creative and always practical,” Cuisine Actuelle has become more innovative over the years. A format change in May 2005 marked the beginning of a new era of recipes “picked with a focus on ‘hospitality value’ (good for entertaining guests), creativity, fresh ingredients and speedy preparation.”

Editor Monique Chassang calls her magazine “the right idea at the right moment,” and indeed I have often found this to be the case. That’s why these days I carry my current issue of Cuisine Actuelle in my briefcase. It often gives me just the idea I need to pep up a simple ingredient for dinner, as with the recipe for “pink radishes served with fresh goat cheese” culled from the April 2007 issue.

The easy yet original recipe involved mixing sliced radishes into a blend of fresh goat cheese, crème fraîche, lemon juice, shallots and chives. Chilled and served in individual glasses, the dish represented a welcome change from the simplistic French tradition of serving radishes with butter and salt as a starter.

I can always count on Cuisine Actuelle for new and simple ideas for seasonal cooking. And apparently I’m not alone, since it is France’s number one cooking magazine.