Because summers in Japan are hot and humid, Japanese cooks know a thing or two about the refreshing dishes such sultry days call for.

Gomadofu falls into that category: a concoction of sesame paste cooked with a thickening agent until set, it resembles tofu in color and texture, hence the name (goma = sesame), and is served chilled.

I first came across it when Maxence and I traveled to Japan last spring, and stayed overnight at a temple in Koya-san. There we were served a shojin ryori dinner, the vegan cuisine that is practiced by Zen Buddhist monks in Japan*, and one of the many little dishes brought to us was a shallow cup of gomadofu, silky on the tongue and richly flavorful.

I hadn’t really thought to make it myself until I found this post on Maki’s ever-helpful Japanese food blog. Her recipe seemed so easy, I couldn’t not try it.

I already had sesame paste on hand — mine is a Middle-Eastern-style tahini I buy at the organic store — so all I needed to get was some kudzu powder, a starch drawn from a Japanese vine, which is not hard to find if you have access to a natural foods store or a Japanese market.

I made my first batch following Maki’s recipe, to deliciously rewarding results. All you do, really, is combine the sesame paste with kudzu powder and water, heat it up to thicken, then chill to set.

On a later occasion, I used a couple of tips I got from another inspiring Japanese food blog I frequent, called Tess’s Japanese Kitchen. I steeped some kombu (a type of seaweed) in the water first, and added a little sake for flavor, but both of these steps are optional.

All in all, very little exertion is required to create your very own sesame “tofu,” which you’ll then divide into cubes and serve cold, as an appetizer or as part of a light meal, typically pairing it with soy sauce, wasabi, and freshly grated ginger, or the homemade sauce Tess suggests.

I myself like it with yuzukosho (a yuzu and pepper condiment) and a little seaweed — strips of torn nori or, as pictured above, a sprinkle of freshwater seaweed from Jugetsudo in Paris — in addition to soy sauce.

Having made the original sesame version a few times now, I am planning to branch out and make amondodofu with almond butter and kashudofu with cashew butter**.

Don’t forget to read Maki’s post and Tess’s post; they both offer interesting info on gomadofu.

* If you’d like to learn more about shojin ryori, Maki recommends a book called The Enlightened Kitchen, by Mari Fujii.

** Not official names; I’ve just made them up.

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Yogurt Cake is a staple of French home baking: it is very easy to make and I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t like it.

What’s notable about the method is that it calls for two (half-cup) tubs of yogurt, and you then use the empty tubs to measure out the rest of the ingredients. This no-scale recipe is a rare exception to the French usage, in which quantities are measured by weight rather than volume.

It is very popular with kids, who love a simple, moist and fluffy cake. But what they particularly enjoy is that they can make it almost entirely on their own, perched on a kitchen stool. There is no complicated step, no scale to fiddle with, and with the intensive sandbox training they have, they are usually experts at the emptying and filling of small-sized containers.

The basic gâteau au yaourt recipe lends itself to a lot of great variations. You can add citrus juice, zest, or peel for a delicious lemon or orange cake, you can add chocolate chips or nuts to the batter, you can slice the baked cake in two and spread a layer of jam in the middle, you can frost the cake with a chocolate frosting… Whatever strikes your fancy.

I especially like this variation, in which I fold raspberries (fresh or frozen) into the batter, and substitute almond flour for part of the flour. The berries bring delightful tart notes, and the almond flour make the cake even moister.

We typically have this as an afternoon treat, but it is such a subtly sweet cake, it would be perfect for breakfast or brunch as well.

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I am coming to you today with the beverage that will keep you cool and hydrated and energized throughout the summer.

It is a sparkling honey ginger lemonade that I make with fresh ginger — infused in hot water for a few minutes — and fresh lemon juice, sweetened lightly with artisanal honey, and top up with sparkling water.

It is immensely refreshing on sweltering days, such as we’ve had in Paris lately. It is also a heathy summer drink, bringing you the immunity-boosting benefits of ginger, lemon juice, and honey to ward off those weird summer colds one catches sometimes.

This honey ginger lemonade is, naturally, very easy to prepare — if making lemonade becomes a project, you’re doing it wrong. I am only offering a recipe because I fiddled with the details of the preparation before I landed on the just-right ratio of ingredients, and how long to infuse the ginger for, so I’m saving you a little bit of experimentation. That said, you may prefer your lemonade a little sweeter — I like it pretty tart — so feel free to adjust accordingly.

If you like sparkling water as much as I do, but don’t like to lug home and then have to recycle all those plastic bottles, consider getting a sodastream machine, which carbonates regular water with the push of a button. We’ve have ours for years now — a fabulous gift from my sister and brother-in-law — and it still brings me the same joy and delight every time I use it. (Actually, I don’t get to use it much these days as my sons fight over the privilege.)

And if you or one of your friends don’t drink alcohol, this is a wonderful cocktail hour option, too.

More refreshing beverages for you:

• Heatwave-Ready Mint Lemonade
• Water Kefir (Tibicos)
• My Best Tips for Juices and Smoothies

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If you’re anything like me, you love the idea of ​​a picnic, but in practice, when someone throws the idea up in the air on a Friday night, in this beautifully spontaneous way people do, your Inner Grump awakens (“ugh, so much to organize, I have zero ideas, who’s going to do the shopping, we always end up eating the same thing, the kids will just stuff themselves with potato chips, and it is so uncomfortable sitting on the ground anyway”).

So for you, for me, for us, here are a few ideas I hold at the ready to alleviate my Inner Grump’s fears and turn the corners of his mouth upward: yes, we can have easy and colorful picnics this summer!

Of course, we all dream of lazing around in bed all Sunday morning, then get up to attend a picnic straight out of Pinterest. But the hard truth is this: without a minimum of forethought, it will just end up being soggy sandwiches, canned corn, a squashed roll of paper towels, and lukewarm soda.

No. What we want is ideas that feel fresh, cheerful, and a little bit unusual.

My Best Picnic Tips: Recipe Ideas

French picnics are all about the jambon-beurre sandwich — a split baguette spread with butter and filled with cooked ham — but for a nice change of pace, I like to make a banh mi of sorts, the Vietnamese sandwich I love so much. Get a slim baguette without too much crumb, fill it with meat or tofu (marinated and grilled), grated carrots and cucumber dressed in magic sauce, sliced chilli peppers, a little mayonnaise and a lot of coriander: it’s a close enough approximation and a delight.

And if we think that sandwiches are good, but still a lot of bread to eat, we can make rice or nori rolls by rolling up raw vegetables in rice paper wrappers or grilled nori sheets, maki-style, as for these cucumber and avocado nori rolls (which are one of my most popular recipes on Pinterest! See how nicely this gets tied back in).

Another option is to go for smørrebrød, the Danish sandwich. Instead of making sandwiches for everyone, provide sliced ​​black bread and a variety of simple ingredients: butter, cucumber slices, sliced ​​boiled eggs, thin slices of ​​gouda cheese, pickled herring, thin slices of roast beef, sliced spring ​​onions, fresh herbs… Arrange everything on the picnic table or in the middle of a tablecloth spread out in a pretty meadow, and have everyone compose their own open-face sandwich.

As for salads, which are always a bit awkward to eat on your lap, with the vinaigrette dripping from the side when the discussion becomes animated, I like to assemble them in jars (I use the glass containers from my yogurt maker as I have an extra set), in good-looking alternating layers. Cooked grains and/or legumes at the bottom, cooked vegetables, raw vegetables, something soft (tofu, cheese), something crunchy (toasted nuts, sprouted seeds), and dressing simply poured on top. Shake before eating.

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