“I never travel without an empty suitcase that I bring back filled with finds”

As a young teenager, I would sneak between my father and the stove to watch him cook. Before, I accompanied him to the market, he showed me how to choose the right products, respecting the seasons while favoring local producers. I learned very young to recognize the freshness of a fish by the red of its gills, to ban strawberries at Christmas or tomatoes in January, and I thank him very much for that. Back home, I played clerk, trying hard to carry out the small tasks he gave me. I was proud to participate in preparing the meals, and above all happy to have managed to share this special moment with him. We were both, I had my place and I wouldn't have given it up for anything in the world.

Also read
With his book Olympe, free cookAnne Etorre wins the first Festins Féminins prize in Madame Figaro

Will there be capon at Christmas?

I obviously get from him this taste for good things, this passion for products and an irrepressible gluttony. It's stronger than me, I never travel without an empty suitcase which I bring back filled with finds. This link with cooking has always remained our preferred mode of communication. We exchange photos of our culinary achievements, share images of our meals at the restaurant, and everyone has their own tips and tricks to improve a sauce, a pie…

These exchanges reach their peak at Christmas time, when Mom joins in to talk about dessert, a subject that never interested my father. At the beginning of November, the first messages came out: will there be capon at Christmas? Are morels affordable this season? Are you making your pie for Boxing Day? What if we made fish this year? Did you find a good foie gras? Are we trying to make a log or are we ordering it? Yes, but with whom? What if we made a citrus dessert?

An extraordinary field of possibilities

Christmas meals are a celebration, and the celebration begins in November. At the center of our discussions are our cookbooks, because we share the same passion for the subject. At home, books devoted to gastronomy have always had a good place in the library. Dad leafed through books by Olympe Versini, Jacques Maximin and Roger Vergé before starting cooking. We have Olympe in common, but with one book purchase per week on average, my collection offers me an extraordinary range of possibilities, and I always have a stack of cookbooks at the foot of my bed that I consult before falling asleep. Those of Japanese cook Fumiko Kono or Andrée Zana Murat are never far away.

Christmas will have a special flavor this year, not only are discussions about the Christmas meal going well, but Olympe is still at the heart of it. The feeling of a beautifully completed loop.

Culinary author, Anne Etorre published “ Olympe, a free cook », published by Éditions Hachette Cuisine, a work which was crowned by the Feminine Feasts Prize-Madame Figaro 2024rewarding a cookbook signed by a woman.