Fishwives of Paris

Record heat and historic drought are forcing France's most protected cheeses to break their own rules.
Caroline and Emily unpack how the AOP charters for Comté, Beaufort, and Abondance have been temporarily loosened after historic drought hit the Alps and Jura. They explain what changes when cows eat grain and hay instead of mountain grass, why terroir shapes the flavor, and what happened to producers like Salers, who could not adapt in time.

Podcast Show Notes

In this episode:
• France's record-breaking heat waves and wildfires in summer 2026
• The INAO's historic dryness declaration for the Alps and Jura
• Temporary charter changes for Abondance, Beaufort, and Comté cheese
• How terroir shapes the flavor of mountain cheese
• The three jobs behind every wheel of Comté, farmer, cheesemaker, and ager
• Why Abondance is so tightly tied to its valley and cattle breed
• Beaufort's three tiers and the disappearing Bleu de Termignon
• Why Salers producers switched to cheaper Cantal cheese this year
• The UNESCO-protected transhumance tradition and its uncertain future
• A parallel case in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and possible reform of French irrigation rules

Key Takeaways
• July 2026 was the hottest month on record in France, with more than 90,000 hectares of forest and vegetation burned since spring.
• The INAO declared historic dryness in the Alps and Jura on August 10, 2026.
• Abondance, Beaufort, and Comté are AOP cheeses whose charters normally require a set percentage of local grazing.
• Abondance's summer grazing requirement temporarily dropped from 50 percent to 15 percent of local grassland, and outside hay is now allowed.
• Beaufort's local feed requirement dropped from about 70 percent to 50 percent, with grain now permitted as a supplement.
• Comté's rules changed the least of the three, allowing green corn feed from outside the AOP zone through the end of October.
• Salers cheese producers in the Auvergne could not modify their charter in time and switched to making cheaper Cantal instead.
• Transhumance, the tradition of moving herds up to summer pastures, was named UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2023.

French people rarely bake elaborate pastries at home, and Versaille-based pastry chef Molly Wilkinson says that is by design.
Caroline and Emily talk with Wilkinson, an American pastry chef trained at Le Cordon Bleu, about why French home bakers stick to simple recipes like mousse au chocolat and yogurt cake while buying croissants and tarts from professionals. They compare that mindset to the American love of ambitious home baking projects, from layer cakes to laminated dough.

Podcast Show Notes

In this episode
Why Caroline avoids baking croissants at home despite loving French pastry
How Molly Wilkinson learned lamination and croissant making after Le Cordon Bleu
The difference between viennoiserie, patisserie, and home style French desserts
Why French people would rather buy a pastry from an expert than bake one
The most common French home desserts, including mousse au chocolat and yogurt cake
How packet baking powder and boxed recipes shape French home baking
Why French pastry certification starts as young as age sixteen
What Molly teaches American home bakers in Le Baking Club, including a Marie Antoinette themed entremet
Why cookies and donuts have become newly popular in French bakeries
Molly's plans to open an American style cafe near the Chateau de Versailles

Key Takeaways
Croissant dough is a laminated, yeasted dough that takes about three days to make properly.
French people generally do not bake difficult pastries at home and prefer to buy them from experts.
Simple one bowl desserts like mousse au chocolat, fondant au chocolat, and yogurt cake are French home baking staples.
Many classic French home recipes originated on the backs of packaged ingredients like Nestle chocolate and baking powder sachets.
French pastry chefs typically earn formal certification starting around age sixteen.
American baking culture values ambitious home projects and DIY effort in a way French baking culture does not.
Molly Wilkinson teaches American home bakers French pastry techniques through her membership, Le Baking Club.
Molly Wilkinson is opening a cafe near the Chateau de Versailles in fall 2026.

Macarons may be one of France’s most recognizable culinary exports, but their history is much messier than the pastel boxes suggest.
In this episode, Caroline and Emily dig into the Italian origins of the macaron and the role Catherine de’ Medici supposedly played in bringing almond cookies to the French court. They explore the roughly 40 regional versions still found around France, including macarons that look nothing like the famous Parisian sandwich cookie.
Then it’s on to Paris and Ladurée, where the macaron evolved into the polished luxury pastry tourists recognize today. Caroline breaks down exactly why macarons are so technically difficult to make, from meringue and macaronage to achieving the elusive “foot.”
Finally, they taste their way through macarons from Pierre Hermé, Lautrec, and Picard. The biggest shock isn’t a rare flavor or an expensive Parisian creation: it’s just how good the frozen supermarket macarons are.

Key Takeaways
Macarons are generally traced back to Italian almond cookies, with Catherine de’ Medici associated with bringing them to France.
France has around 40 regional variants, many of which are rustic, undyed and completely unlike the Parisian sandwich macaron.
Ladurée helped create and popularize the modern Parisian form, rather than inventing the macaron itself.
Macarons use relatively simple ingredients but require considerable technical precision to make well.
Macarons actually benefit from aging, as moisture moves from the filling into the shell and creates the desired texture.
In the tasting, Picard’s frozen macarons perform surprisingly well against much more expensive pâtisserie versions.

ishwives of Paris is back for Season 2—and this time, we’re going weekly.
Starting September 1, Caroline and Emily will be bringing you a new episode every week. Some will be our full studio productions, some will be more casual webcam episodes, and we’ll be welcoming more guests into the Fishwives universe.
We also want to hear from you. We’ll be sharing listener stories and questions on the show—and yes, we’re introducing corrections, because occasionally even Fishwives get things wrong.
Have a story we need to hear? A question about French food or wine? Think we got something wrong?
Email us at bonjour@fishwivesofparis.com.
Fishwives of Paris Season 2 begins September 1, with new episodes every week.

Duralex is the little tempered glass found everywhere from French school cafeterias to Parisian bistros—and once you start looking at its history, it becomes a surprisingly revealing story about modern France.
After decades of globalization, disastrous ownership and repeated financial crises, Duralex’s own employees stepped in to save the company, transforming it into a worker cooperative and investing their own money. Now soaring energy costs have put the French icon in danger again.
Caroline and Emily unpack why France cares so deeply about an inexpensive water glass—and somehow end up discussing Stanley Cups, the American obsession with hydration, French distrust of ice, cafeteria lunches, James Bond and the secret childhood game hidden on the bottom of every Duralex glass.

Podcast Show Notes
Duralex was officially launched in 1945, but its origins stretch back to a Loire Valley vinegar maker who needed bottles. Its tempered glass eventually became synonymous with French cafés, schools and institutional dining.
In this episode:
How Duralex became a postwar French design icon
The disastrous ownership period that helped push the company into decades of instability
Why energy costs are particularly dangerous for glass manufacturing
How Duralex became a worker-owned cooperative
Why tiny French water glasses horrify Americans
The myth of drinking eight glasses of water every day
Why some French people avoid water or ice with meals
Duralex at MoMA—and inSkyfall
The number underneath every Duralex glass and the French childhood game attached to it

Key Takeaways
Duralex is not merely inexpensive glassware; it has become part of French everyday cultural identity.
The company has survived repeated financial crises, ownership changes and receiverships.
In 2024, employees reorganized Duralex as a worker cooperative, preserving 250 jobs.
Glass manufacturing requires enormous amounts of energy, making Duralex particularly vulnerable to energy-price volatility.
The American “eight glasses of water a day” rule is not the clear-cut health requirement many Americans assume it is.
Drinking water with a meal does not dilute stomach acid, despite a persistent French belief that it does.
The mysterious number underneath a Duralex glass inspired a generations-old French school cafeteria game.