How Eva Longoria Makes a Journey Present

There is not any chicken in France as extremely considered the Bresse hen. Unique to the area in Burgundy with which it shares its identify, the breed is probably the most scrumptious and costly poultry within the nation—revered for its marbled meat and mixture of stark white feathers, shiny pink comb, and slate blue ft that collectively resemble the colours of the French flag. To see poulet de Bresse on a menu right here is as pure as seeing Dijon mustard or a bottle of Pinot Noir.

I’m being instructed this by Eva Longoria, who has paused halfway by filming a scene for her CNN journey present, Searching for France, which airs April 12, to enthusiastically clarify an in depth illustration of stated hen. We’re standing contained in the kitchen of Michelin-starred Clos du Cèdre in Beaune, an enthralling medieval city thought of to be the wine capital of Burgundy, which can be Longoria’s dwelling base for the following few days. So far, the actor tells me, she’s ordered it each nights for dinner. “I continue to be surprised by how regional French cuisine can be,” she says. “Wherever I go, I’m asking: Where did this dish come from? How was it born?”

Eva Longoria with chef Jordan Billan in Clos du Cèdre’s kitchen

Joann Pai

The dish escargot quenelle

Joann Pai

Culinary origin tales—the methods components and their histories can form or mirror a tradition—are the connective tissue that holds Longoria’s present collectively, which is now in its third season. Prior to France, the actor traveled to Mexico, the place her household is from, after which to Spain, to hint her personal colonial heritage. In an area crowded with journey exhibits hosted by celebrities (Zac Efron, Conan O’Brien, and Eugene Levy, to call simply three), Longoria proved herself to be an enthusiastic and curious traveler onscreen, biting into sugar-coated conchas with gusto in Mexico City and indulgently guzzling down Catalan prawns in Barcelona.

It was these private connections to Mexico and Spain that made her an apparent alternative for CNN because the community sought to capitalize on the success of Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy. And whereas Longoria stays open-minded about the place she might journey to sooner or later, she says France was an apparent subsequent step for season three, having fallen onerous for it after marrying her now ex-husband, the French American basketball participant Tony Parker. “I got to explore France through French people, which is really a beautiful experience because they love their country so much,” she says. It additionally left her with an insatiable starvation to go extra locations and see extra issues after noticing “how well-traveled Europeans were” in distinction to what she describes as her personal comparatively sheltered upbringing in Texas. “When we divorced, I stayed in love with the country,” she says. “I have strong ties here. It feels like a second home.”