World Chefs: Keller shares memories, spotlight in latest book

Thomas Keller, one of America's most respected chefs, shares the food memories of his childhood and his time in France in his new book "Bouchon Bakery," which is also the name of his chain of pastry shops in the United States. Keller is the only American chef who owns two three-Michelin-star restaurants - Per Se in New York City and The French Laundry in the Napa Valley wine region in California. Earlier this year, Britain's Restaurant Magazine named Per Se, which opened in 2004, the world's sixth best restaurant. Keller also earned the magazine's lifetime achievement award. Like his four other books, his latest effort is a collaboration. He co-wrote it with his top pastry chefs Sebastien Rouxel and Matthew McDonald along with food writers Susie Heller, Michael Ruhlman and Amy Vogler. The 57-year-old spoke to Reuters about the book, his pastry chefs and his place in the culinary world. Q: Why did you collaborate with the leaders of your pastry team with this book? A: "If you look at my other cookbooks, it's always been a point with me to share these opportunities with those who share their skills and expertise with the general public. That was the reason why I did the book. Sebastien is one of the best pastry chefs in America. His techniques are unparalleled. I'm not trying to pretend that I'm a pastry chef by writing a book about baking and pastries. Nor am I trying to be a bread baker. I have Matthew McDonald, who is one of the best bakers in America. To be able to highlight his skills in the bread section was very important as well." Q: How did your time in France change your view about pastry and bread-making? A: "When you are in France, especially in Paris, there were three or four boulangeries of different significance just on the block where I lived because they had pastry chefs with different levels of skills. You went to different ones for different things. To have a fresh baked baguette everyday was extraordinary. Anyone who lived in Paris for any length of time would say eating a fresh baguette is pretty special. Bread plays a real important part in the experience of the diners. To make sure we have the opportunity to significantly impact the experience by controlling the production and style of the bread was very important to me." Q: Do you have a favorite dessert? A: "It depends on the day ... There are so many things I love. I think anything that's done really, really well. For me, that's really something I really appreciate. I think one of the things that really resonate with the individual is that idea that eating, and eating through that experience, they have a memory. We are always trying to do something that's good. Why put something on the menu that's not very good?" Q: The book emphasizes weighing ingredients over measuring with cups and spoons. Could that be difficult for home cooks? A: "One of the things about pastry ... it's such an exact process. The most exact thing you practice is with weighing. There is an exactness to the execution, which gives you every opportunity to be successful." Q: French Laundry and Per Se are among two of the best restaurants in the country. Bouchon Bakery is a success. What more would you like to accomplish in the culinary world? A: "I have accomplished today everything I wanted to accomplish, more than I ever dreamed was possible. Right now, I'm just focused on the restaurants we have and the book I just wrote. Let me enjoy this moment before you ask me what I'll be doing tomorrow." Pecan Sandies for my mom (Makes 1-1/2 dozen cookies) 1 ¾ cups + 1 ½ teaspoons all-purpose flour (250 grams) ¾ cup coarsely chopped pecans (80 grams) 4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature (170 grams) ¾ cup + 1 ¾ teaspoons powdered sugar (90 grams) Additional powdered sugar for dusting (optional) 1. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F (convection) or 350°F (standard). Line two sheet pans with Silpats or parchment paper. 2. Toss the flour and pecans together in a medium bowl. 3. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium-low speed until smooth. Add the 90 grams/¾ cup plus 1¾ teaspoons powdered sugar and mix for about 2 minutes, until fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, until just combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate any dry ingredients that have settled there. 4. Divide the dough into 30-gram/1½-tablespoon portions, roll into balls, and arrange on the sheet pans, leaving about 1½ inches between them. Press the cookies into 2-inch disks. 5. Bake until pale golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes if using a convection oven, 22 to 25 minutes if using a standard oven, reversing the positions of the pans halfway through. (Sandies baked in a convection oven will not spread as much as those baked in a standard oven and will have a more even color.) 6. Set the pans on a cooling rack and cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely. If desired, dust with powdered sugar. Note: The cookies can be stored in a covered container for up to 3 days.

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Australian DJs break silence over UK royal prank tragedy

Two Australian radio announcers who made a prank call to a British hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate broke a three-day silence on Monday to speak of their distress at the apparent suicide of the nurse who took their call. The 2DayFM Sydney-based announcers, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, said the tragedy had left them "shattered, gutted, heartbroken". Greig and fellow presenter and prank mastermind Christian have been in hiding since nurse Jacintha Saldanha's death and the subsequent social media outrage at their prank. Their show, "Hot 30," has been terminated, the station's parent company, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), said in a statement on Monday. SCA also announced a company-wide suspension of prank calls. Greig told Australian television her first thought when told of Saldanha's death was for her family. "Unfortunately I remember that moment very well, because I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened," she said, amid tears, her voice quavering with emotion. "I remember my first question was 'was she a mother?'" "I've wanted to just reach out to them and just give them a big hug and say sorry. I hope they're okay, I really do. I hope they get through this," said Greig when asked about Saldanha's two children, left with their father Ben Barboza. Saldanha, 46, was found dead in staff accommodation near London's King Edward VII hospital on Friday after putting the hoax call through to a colleague who unwittingly disclosed details of Kate's morning sickness to 2DayFM's presenters. The nurse's family travelled from their home in the western English city of Bristol to meet with politician Keith Vaz in London on Monday. British Prime Minister David Cameron said news of the Saldanha's death was "shocking". "I just feel incredibly sorry for her and her family. It's an absolute tragedy this has happened, and I'm sure everyone will want to reflect on how it was allowed to happen," he said. The hospital at which Saldanha worked told the BBC it had not disciplined her for taking the prank call. On Monday, it announced the launch of a memorial fund in Saldanha's memory to benefit her family. A post-mortem examination would be conducted on Tuesday, police said. FIRESTORM A recording of the call, broadcast repeatedly by the station, rapidly became an Internet hit and was reprinted as a transcript in many newspapers. But news of Saldanha's death sparked a firestorm of vitriolic comments towards the DJs on Facebook and Twitter. Christian said his only wish was that Saldanha's grief-stricken family received proper support. "I hope that they get the love, the support, the care that they need, you know," said Christian, who like Greig struggled to talk about the tragedy. Both Greig, 30, and Christian were relatively new to the station, with Greig joining in March and Christian having been in the job only a few days before the prank call after a career in regional radio. Greig said she did not think their prank would work. "We thought a hundred people before us would've tried it. We thought it was such a silly idea and the accents were terrible and not for a second did we expect to speak to Kate, let alone have a conversation with anyone at the hospital. We wanted to be hung up on," she said. SCA, 2Day's parent company, has received more than 1,000 complaints from Australians over the actions of the popular presenters, who have both been taken off air during an broadcasting watchdog investigation. "SCA and the hosts of the radio program have also decided that they will not return to the airwaves until further notice," SCA said in a statement. Shares in SCA fell 5 percent on Monday after two major Australian companies pulled their advertising with the radio station in protest and other advertising was suspended. The station said it had tried to contact hospital staff five times over the recordings. "It is absolutely true to say that we actually did attempt to contact those people on multiple occasions," said SCA chief executive Rhys Holleran. "No one could have reasonably foreseen what has happened. I can only say the prank call is not unusual around the world." Australia's Communications Minister Stephen Conroy sought to deflect calls for more media regulation, telling journalists that a looming investigation by Australia's independent regulator should be allowed to happen without political interference.

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Inside David Lynch's Paris art-studio hideaway

Behind the doors of a 19th-century printworks in south-central Paris, filmmaker and painter-by-training David Lynch takes a cigarette break after hours of etching abstract shapes and twisted limbs onto stone and wood. Although best known for dark, surreal movies such as "Eraserhead", "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive", Lynch was an artist before he began filmmaking and since 2007 has been using the Idem workshop as his studio in Paris, creating some 170 lithographs and engravings. As three workshop staff clamber onto one of the six giant mechanical presses to print up a fresh design, Lynch - dressed in a blue apron and sporting his trademark white, bouffant hairdo - explains that there is something uniquely inspiring about the Parisian printworks. "This is totally Parisian. In people's dream of Paris, this place would fit in that dream perfectly," the 66-year-old tells Reuters, speaking above the noise of the whirling cogs and hand-operated cranks that he says remind him of the twisted, industrial world of his debut feature film "Eraserhead". "Everybody that comes to this place, they feel it...I can feel the past. I can feel the whole art of life going on here." Artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Chagall and Miro all had their prints produced at the site, a two-floor workshop built in 1880 that is still in use today by artists including Lynch. Encircled by piles of engraving-stones and the odd stuffed toy panther, the presses can also print from digital files. Lynch's prints - which he says he etches from scratch after "catching" an idea in his mind - vary from Keith Haring-esque red-and-white squiggles and doodles to ghostly Edvard Munch-like humans stranded in desolate landscapes, with titles like "Things In Air Over City" or "Oh, A Bad Dream Comes". They seem to combine the black-and-white, nightmarish imagery of "Eraserhead" and "The Elephant Man" with the abstract, surreal narratives of Lynch's last two movies, 2001's "Mulholland Drive" and 2006's "Inland Empire". Lynch has explored other media over the past decade, creating a series of animated shorts posted online called "Dumbland", directing a Duran Duran concert streamed on YouTube and even recording his own solo album called "Crazy Clown Time". He has even adapted his trademark palette of dark tones and surreal shapes to French tastes, designing a limited edition of Dom Perignon champagne bottles as well as an underground nightclub in the center of Paris called "Silencio". Despite his obvious enthusiasm for trying out new things, Lynch's affection for Paris comes from its protection of tradition. "I like the way the French people live. They protect the arts more than any other country," he says. "Here, almost every avenue of life is like an art form." In a seemingly upside-down world where governments and bankers are suffering from the financial crisis but where big-name artists are fetching higher prices than ever before, Lynch says that he can still separate the urge to make money from the urge to make art. "It's like Hollywood versus the art way," he says. "I love money for getting things to work and to live. But it's not the reason in my mind to make a film or to make anything." Asked what his next move is going to be, Lynch says he will continue to work on music and art but adds that there is a movie idea also in the pipeline. "Music and painting and maybe cinema, but we'll have to wait and see," he says. "Maybe it's going to happen but you need to be deeply in love and, you know...I'm falling in love.

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4 SKoreans freed after being kidnapped in Nigeria

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Four South Korean construction workers and a Nigerian colleague who were kidnapped in southern Nigeria have been freed. The five employees of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. were preparing for the construction of factories when they were abducted by unidentified gunmen Monday in Bayelsa state. Bayelsa State police chief Kingsley Omire said Saturday that the kidnappers "freely released" their hostages at about 9.30 p.m. Friday. He said no ransom was paid. Seoul's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday that the release was the result of "persistent persuasion." Omire said no one was hurt and that the Bayelsa State government had a strict no-ransom police. Kidnappings for ransom are frequent in Nigeria's oil-rich delta.

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Burger King's Whopper returns to France

PARIS (AP) — For the first time in 15 years, Burger King served its flame-grilled Whoppers in France, a country better known for its gastronomy than fast food. Burger King Worldwide opened a restaurant at Marseille airport on Saturday, returning to France thanks to an agreement with Autogrill, which operates restaurants at highway service stations. The burger chain, the world's second biggest behind McDonald's, closed its 39 French restaurants in 1997, because they were not profitable. Burger King says their next restaurant is planned at a highway service station in Champagne in the first half of 2013.

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Obama tries to rescue fiscal talks for post-Christmas deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday tried to rescue stalled talks on a fiscal crisis after a Republican plan imploded in Congress, but there was little headway as lawmakers and President Barack Obama abandoned Washington for Christmas. In remarks before flying to Hawaii for a break, Obama suggested reaching a short-term deal on taxes and extending unemployment insurance to avoid the worst effects of the "fiscal cliff" on ordinary Americans at the start of the New Year. "We've only got 10 days to do it. So I hope that every member of Congress is thinking about that. Nobody can get 100 percent of what they want," said Obama. Obama said he wanted to sign legislation extending Bush-era tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans in the coming days. The Democrat appeared to be offering bickering lawmakers a way to fix the most pressing challenge - tax cuts that expire soon - while leaving thorny topics such as automatic spending cuts or extending the debt ceiling for later. Obama called on lawmakers to use the holiday break to cool off frayed nerves, "drink some eggnog, have some Christmas cookies, sing some Christmas carols," and come back next week ready to make a deal. Negotiations were thrown into disarray on Thursday when House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner failed to convince his fellow Republicans to accept tax cuts for even the wealthiest of Americans as part of a possible agreement with Obama. "How we get there, God only knows," Boehner told reporters on Friday when asked about a possible comprehensive fiscal cliff solution. If there is no agreement, taxes would go up on all Americans and hundreds of billions of dollars in automatic government spending cuts would kick in next month - actions that could plunge the U.S. economy back into recession. Obama spoke to Boehner on Friday and held a face-to-face White House meeting with the top Democrat in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Before his defeat in Congress, Boehner had extracted a compromise from Obama to raise taxes on Americans making more than $400,000 a year, instead of the president's preference of those with income of $250,000 a year. But with talks stalled on the level of spending cuts to which Obama would agree, Boehner attempted a backup plan to raise taxes only on those making more than $1 million a year - amounting to just 0.18 percent of Americans. BAD DEFEAT FOR BOEHNER Boehner's reverse in the House was worse than first thought. A key Republican lawmaker said Boehner scrapped the vote when he realized that between 40 and 50 of the 241 Republicans in the House would not back him. Obama and his fellow Democrats in Congress are insisting that the wealthiest Americans pay more in taxes in order to help reduce federal budget deficits and avoid deep spending cuts. Republicans control the House and Democrats control the Senate. Stocks dropped sharply early Friday on fears that the United States could go fall back into recession if politicians do not prevent it. But major indexes lost less than 1 percent, suggesting investors still held out hope that an agreement will be brokered in Washington. "I think if you get into mid-January and (the talks) keep going like this, you get worried, but I don't think we're going to get there," said Mark Lehmann, president of JMP Securities, in San Francisco. Boehner, joined by his No. 2, Eric Cantor, at a Capitol Hill news conference, said the ultimate fault rests with Obama for refusing to agree to more spending reductions that would bring down America's $1 trillion annual deficit and rising $16 trillion debt. "What the president has proposed so far simply won't do anything to solve our spending problem. He wants more spending and more tax hikes that will hurt our economy," Boehner said. Democrats responded with incredulity. House members, heading to their home states for the holidays, were instructed to be available on 48 hours notice if necessary. "They went from 'Plan B' to 'plan see-you-later,'" Obama adviser David Axelrod said on MSNBC on Friday morning. The crumbling of Boehner's plan highlights his struggle to lead some House Republicans who flatly reject any deal that would increase taxes on anyone. Republican Representative Tim Huelskamp criticized Boehner's handling of the negotiations, saying the speaker had "caved" to Obama opening the door to tax hikes. Huelskamp, a dissident first-term congressman from Kansas, said he was not willing to compromise on taxes even if they are coupled with cuts to government spending sought by conservatives. Fiscal conservatives "are so frustrated that the leader in the House right now, the speaker, has been talking about tax increases. That's all he's been talking about," Huelskamp said on MSNBC on Friday morning.

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EU to give Spain, France more time to cut deficit: press

MADRID (Reuters) - The European Commission will propose giving Spain, France and several other euro zone states more time to cut their public deficits below the target limit of 3 percent of GDP, newspaper El Pais said on Saturday. Citing senior Spanish and European Union sources, the Madrid-based daily said France could get an extra year, allowing it to narrow its fiscal gap by 2014, while Spain would be given one or two more years beyond that date. France said on Saturday that it would maintain its deficit-reduction goal for 2013 regardless of any softer line from Brussels. A Commission spokeswoman declined to comment on the report. Spain's fiscal targets are to be reassessed in February, EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said last month. No additional austerity efforts are needed until 2014, he added, when more structural reforms are likely to be required. France does not appear to need additional belt-tightening and may have room for a "softer adjustment", the commissioner also said in an interview with France's Le Monde newspaper on Friday. But France said on Saturday it planned to stick to its 3 percent goal for next year. "Our public finance path remains unchanged as it was fixed in the autumn," an aide to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said. The French government's 2013 budget is based on a 0.8 percent growth forecast for the year - more optimistic than the flat economic output predicted by Brussels and the International Monetary Fund. European and Spanish sources had said earlier this month that Spain's fiscal path was likely be loosened to offset the country's second recession in three years. Such decisions need a formal discussion between the 27 European commissioners as well as a political green light from euro zone finance ministers. Spain sought support from its European partners this year for its ailing banks, hit by a burst property bubble. Recession is also undermining government efforts to keep the public debt burden in check, and financial markets expect Madrid to seek sovereign aid sometime next year. Madrid is to unveil new curbs on index-linked pension payouts and accelerate increases to the retirement age. Both EU demands must be met for Spain to tap international aid, lower its debt costs and fix its stricken economy. According to El Pais, the Commission has agreed on a new Spanish deficit path of 7 percent of economic output in 2012 and 6 percent in 2013. That compares to current targets of 6.3 percent for 2012 and 4.5 percent for 2013. Senior Spanish officials told Reuters this month the deficit would probably come in at around 7 percent at year end. Spain's 17 highly devolved autonomous regions are broadly on course to meet their deficit target of 1.5 percent of GDP, while the central government is heading for a deficit close to 5.5 percent, including social security spending.

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