ever wondered what 1920 paris would look like in the aftermath of an apocalypse? a deserted city where nature would have claimed its rights back?
this is the unbelievable (and kinda creepy) experience we had last sunday!
during a walk in the countryside on sunday (not far from home, in franche-comté), our parents took us (m. & s.) to an unbelievable place!
our adventure began by spotting an unsual building on the side of the road, lost in a jungle of nettles and thorns. needless to say we wouldn't have gone any further if our parents (well let's be honest, mostly our 6 feet 2 dad!) weren't there with us...brave but not reckless!
we couldn't have imagined what we discovered then... an entire and abandoned holiday complex with reproductions of parisian art deco buildings! a hotel, a restaurant, multiple promenades ... and even a fake subway entrance!
we have no idea when this was built (maybe in the 80s) nor when it was abandoned. judging by the amount of plants...we'd say nobody has lived there for about 20 or 30 years...!
we had a great time exploring this place! well...we jumped at every noise, but it was great anyway! fortunately the weather was pretty good. discovering this under the rain would've been a whole lot different experience...!
so, without further ado, welcome to post-apocalyptic 1920 paris!
black rice, avocado and matcha:
there was a great article in the latest issue of elle à table mag about cooking with matcha. we immediately loved the recipe using black rice, avocado and matcha! it was so beautiful and so simple! and the flavours are original and sooo good! avocado/matcha is really something!
we changed slightly the original recipe: we added some mascarpone to our whipped cream for texture, and used chia seeds instead of gomasio (we didn't even know what it was, so needless to say we didn't have some at home! it's actually a japanese condiment made with sesame seeds and salt, just so you know!)
cooking black rice can take some time, so we usually cook it ahead.
when we made this dish on sunday, we cooked it in the morning, so we just had to re-heat it after our post-apocalyptic walk! the rest of the preparation is done in no time.
we actually made this three times in the last month. yeah, it's that good. and easy!
serving 4:
adapted from elle à table magazine, n°102
100 g venere black rice
2 ripe avocados
1 tsp matcha
10 cl (100 g) full liquid cream (whipping cream)
1 tbsp mascarpone (or cream cheese)
salt and pepper
chia seeds (optional)
cook the rice according to the instructions on the package (if there's no instructions, you can have a look here. we used method 2!).
cut the avocados in half, peel them et remove the pits. cut them lengthwise into thin stripes.
prepare the whipped cream: whip the cream with a pinch of salt, pepper and the mascarpone (or cream cheese). season to taste.
place the rice (hot) in 4 bowls. place the avocado strips on top, and 1 tbsp of whipped cream.
sprinkle some matcha on top using a small strainer, along with some chia seeds.
season to taste.
piece of advice:
make sure your avocados are really ripe, it won't be as good with firm ones
you can prepare the rice a day ahead if needed, it will save you some time!
