The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • 229

THE SUN SECTION Food Wire Entartaining SUNDAY, yJUNE 29, 1986 it. .1 VIVE LA CUISINE AMERICAINE 7 -v .1 1 "PI By Sheila Mooney Mall I Paris RANTED, THE STATUE of Liberty was a great gift idea, but consider what America has given Fran.ce. There is, for example, the hamburger. You may think that quarter-pound beef patties and sesame-seed buns are a chintzy thank-you to the nation that provided us with Champagne, croissants, bearnaise sauce and Brie. But the French have embraced r.

Pi -tf-rv i I IT i31 I 1 i tarn" 41 ri I I Fast-food hamburgers are now a staple in Paris, and young French diners enjoy barbecued spareribs washed down with a Coke. if if 'l if .1: 4 -4. f. V' fr'l SlJ'1 S3-ftVt' 71- 1 1 if, Whoppers and Big Macs with enthusiasm. They have also launched their own burger chains, so that fast food is now a staple in Paris.

America's culinary contribution to France extends beyond burgers, though not very far. At the 20-odd American eateries in Paris, at least 12 serve hamburgers. One that doesn't is Haynes' on the rue Clauzel. It's the granddaddy of American restaurants here, founded in 1947 by Leroy Haynes (who died in May at age 72). Rue Clauzel is a street of modest 19th century houses Just below Montmartre.

It's tricky to find, but once you're on the street you can't miss Haynes' Bar and Restaurant: it's the only log cabin on the block. A sign in the window proclaims "cuisine de la nouvelle-Orleans." The dining room is divided by arches and implausibly twisted pillars; the stucco walls are nicotine yellow; candles in bottles and red-checked cloths are on the tables. It could be a set for a spaghetti Western. In the kitchen a stout Frenchwoman placidly peels beets. At the stove, Don (that's what his torn blue T-shirt says) Corinaldo prepares batter for his honey-dipped Southern fried chicken.

Mr. Corinaldo, wiry and bespectacled, has developed admirable biceps shifting heavy kettles of barbecue sauce and chili. Mr. Corinaldo arrived in Paris via the Normandy beaches in 1944. He discov- See FRENCH, 41 1 BY JAMIE HOGAN BOOG'S BARBECUE SCORES CAJUNDISH THREATENS REDFISH SPECIES HAPPY EATEH By George Thurston Knlght-Ridder News Service Tallahassee, Fla.

hen New Orleans chef Paul Prud-homme popularized blackened redflsh three years ago, he proba Washington These days most of the cookbook authors you interview are built like leeks, smell of herbs and approve of small portions. Not Boog. John "Boog" Powell, former baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles, the Cleveland Indians and the Los Angeles Dodgers and a regular player in beer commercials, is as beefy as a brisket. Boog likes barbecued beef and smoked pork ribs and sweet corn soaked in salt water, then cooked on the grill. As for herbs, Boog believes they should be called upon very sparingly.

Like triples. In the 17 years Boog was in the major leagues he legged out 1 1 triples, or just about one the "feel" of cooked food comes to you after a while. Listening to the food sizzle, Boog's book says, is also a useful indicator of when a dish is done. A sputter means the dish needs more cooking. A hearty sizzle means it's getting close to done.

And no noise means nothing is cooking. As for aroma, Boog's book says the knowledgeable nose can detect the difference between the smell of steam coming from raw food and the smell of steam from cooked food. Even after reading the book I was a little shaky on my touching, listening and smelling techniques, so when I heard that Boog was going to ROB KASPER FANCY FOR THE FOURTH: i EASY OUTDOOR MEAL: By Shelley Davis Few things are more frustrating for backyard barbecuers than fires that just won't start. Surely it's happened to you before; no matter how many bags of charcoal you open or how much" lighter fluid you saturate the charcoal with, there are times when the coals just won't start. To have this happen on the Fourth of July, the biggest barbecuing day of the season, is enough to make some people pack up the grill forever and head to the nearest restaurant.

That's why I'm passing along the sure-fire "chimney" method that wilt not only start the coals In 1 5 minutes, but will also produce a red-hot flame perfect for the grilling of blackened cornish game hens. You'll need to buy a 46-ounce can of Juice. Empty the contents into, another container to serve as an appetizer. Try orange juice thinned with club soda and garnished with a mixture of fresh berries on the bottom and mint leaf floating on top, or tomato Juice perked up with a little hot saucea splash of vodka and a crisp, leafy celery stalk. While the guests are sipping their Juice, you proceed with the fire following these four steps: 1 Remove the top and paper from around the can.

2. Use a can opener to punch holes every 2 inches around the side with the bottom still Intact. Now remove the bottom. This will be the bottom of your charcoal starter. 3.

Pack the bottom quarter of your charcoal starter with crumbled newspaper. Fill the remainder with hardwood charcoal or hardwood chips such as hickory, mesquite, locust or oak. (Note: Hardwood chips make better-tasting food than those loaded with chemicals and fillers. Be sure to read the label and buy those products labeled 100 percent hardwood or 100. percent charcoal.) 4.

Ignite the newspaper through the holes In the bottom. First there will be smoke, followed by a flicker of fire. Within minutes, a flame should shoot up through the top. Once you have a thin layer of ash across the top layer of coals, use a protective glove to remove the can and spread the coals evenly See FAST, 41, Col. 3 Cookbook looks like a hit bly had no idea that he was touching off an attack on a whole species, along with a raging debate between conservationists and commercial fishermen.

After Mr. Prudhomme Introduced his tasty gourmet recipe for the Cajun delicacy, restaurant demand exploded from 54.000 pounds of live fish in 1980 to 5.4 million pounds in 1985. according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. This year's catch Is projected to be more than 10 million pounds. And virtually all those fish were taken by fewer than a dozen boats working the Gulf of Mexico with purse seines, using aircraft to spot the huge schools.

Purse seines are large, fine-meshed nets that capture virtually everything in their path and can engulf entire schools of fish at one time. They are lifted to the deck when full, and the tons of fish they scoop up are usually dead by the time they're sorted and Iced. A national conservation group wants emergency action by the federal government to halt all commercial fishing for red drum another name for redflsh while an effective management plan is worked out. Conservationists say this would keep the fish from a quick extinction, while al- SeXEDFISH, 6N, Col. 1 play in the fifth annual National Old Timers baseball game, I went down to Robert F.

Kennedy Stadium in Washington a few days ago to ask his help. I found him standing in the hallway between the locker rooms for the American and National league teams. He was in uniform, an extra-large, I guessed. With spikes on he is about 6 feet IV2 inches tall. He is 44 years old and looks as If in his nine years of retirement he's added a few pounds to his playing weight of 230 pounds.

While talking to him I was often distracted. Some of history's greatest ballplayers, like Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees. Willie Mays of the Giants, and Rocky Colavi-to of the Indians, ambled in and out of the hallway, some stopping to greet Boog. But I took a triple every year and a half. And as for tiny portions, as someone who has seen him both with his shirt on and his shirt off, I can attest that "petite" is not Boog's style.

Some of the flavor of big Boog comes across in his new cookbook "Mesquite Cookery" (McGraw-Hill Paperbacks, It's a book for the boys of backyard barbecue. The best parts of the book, like the best barbecues, are those without pretense. Take the section, for instance, on how to tell when a dish is cooked. When you want to know if something is done, Boog's book says, stick your finger on it, listen to it, or smell it. It takes patience and an audience of eaters who aren't squeamish about hyglenje to perfect the touch technique, according to the book.

But 1 i 1.