mars 2025 - FUSAC Paris Classifieds

A brief History of the Cookbook

Most households have at least a few cookbooks: perhaps some have been passed down through generations; perhaps others, more recent, cater to the various dietary needs and restrictions in the household. Cookbooks are a familiar sight, but what do we really know about their history? One of the most famous early cookbooks dates back to the 2nd century BCE. It is called the Deipnosophistai (“The Learned Banquet”) and is a treatise on food and food preparation written by Athenaeus, a Greek gourmet. This was however not the earliest cookbook by any means. That honor goes to the Yale Culinary Tablets, three of which date back to 1730 B.C. They are from the Mesopotamian region, or what is today Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq. In fact, much of what we eat today was cultivated or domesticated in that region. The tablets provide recipes for more than two dozen Mesopotamian dishes, such as stews of pigeon, lamb or spleen (A team of international scholars set out to recreate three of the r…

Who was Christopher Oberkampf?

Oberkampf. You know the neighborhood which was named for the metro station, which was named for the street. The street was named for Christopher-Philip Oberkampf in 1864. But do you know who Oberkampf was and why there is a street named after him?

Christopher was a German Protestant immigrant to France in the 1700s under the Ancien Regime. He was a man who climbed the social and financial ladder by his own grit. He came from Germany and spoke only German when he arrived in Paris as a trained, but young, textile printer and dyer. He died a millionaire, head of an empire of 1300 workers and fashion trend-setter. The odds were against him, but his tenacity, creativity, technique, innovation, intuition and thick skin makes him one of the best immigration success stories in history. And that's why Paris has a street, metro and neighborhood named after him. But in fact though he did not live and work in Paris but in the nearby (now) suburb of Jouy-en-Josas. You pro…

90+ reasons why we love France

90+ reasons why we love France Reasons 31-60 31.For excellence in sports for example Les Bleus are long standing World Handball champions 32. For being the first to require vehicle registration (1891 in Lyon), although already in 1783 a metal plate with the owner's name and address was required on all hippomobiles. For many years license plates in France were called “plaques minéralogiques”, not because they were made of minerals, but because it was the Services des mines that was in charge of them. 33. For a network of French high schools all over the world 34. For knowing how to take lots of time off and rest, understand the concept of farnieté even though they didn't coin the term and they wish each other a “réposez-vous bien” each time they say good-bye for a vacation. The French have mastered the concept of living from vacation to vacation; they work to go on vacation. 35. For regional products: snails, oysters, frog legs (8000 tons per year!) and sea urchins…

Tribute to Michel Fehrenbach

Tribute to Michel Fehrenbach, a personage in the international community of Paris, who passed away in October 2024. Many in the English speaking community, especially those of the "FUSAC Generation" knew Michel (and Daria his wife who was rarely seen but the backbone of the back office) as he helped us to get our French driving license. For more than 30 years his Fehrenbach Driving School advertised in FUSAC offering his services to English speakers. In fact Michel was one of our first clients. And we thank him for believing in us at our beginnings. The Driving School, now run by Axelle and Charles, his daughter and son, is still a client, making the Fehrenbach Driving School our longest client of all. To prepare that first ad I remember carefully scanning the horizontal logo with our hand scanner. It must have been about 1989. The logo on paper was wider than the scanner and so we had to go over it in two sections then piece them together. You had to be at just the right…

The Soul Trembles, Chiharu Shiota Exhibition

Chiharu Shiota Born in Osaka, Japan in 1972, Chiharu Shiota has been living and working in Berlin since 1997. She initially studied painting in Kyoto but, realizing that this medium had too many constraints and too much history to her taste, she turned to woven thread, making it her own paintbrush. In her work, she takes her personal experience and turns it into a universal one, by allowing the viewer to project their own story onto her work. This stands true for the work featured in the The Soul Trembles, held at the Grand Palais until March 19. Organized in conjunction with the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, this is the artist’s largest ever exhibition in France. Spanning over 20 years of Shiota’s career and featuring installations, sculptures, photos, drawings and videos of past performances, it is a perfect way to get acquainted with her work. It is also a great opportunity to visit the Grand Palais, which closed in 2021 for renovations and reopened briefly for the Olympic Ga…

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Mois: mars 2025

A brief History of the Cookbook

Who was Christopher Oberkampf?

90+ reasons why we love France

Tribute to Michel Fehrenbach

The Soul Trembles, Chiharu Shiota Exhibition

BILL & ROSA's BOOK ROOM