Raymond’s recipe for an
IT’S Saturday morning in Paris and top chef Raymond Blanc is giving me a personal tour around some of his favourite foodie spots in the City of Light.
We start in the 16th arrondissement, at a humble fresh food market called Marché President Wilson.
‘The food markets here are incredible,’ Blanc enthuses. ‘And this is the best. It’s very special: proud people selling fresh local produce, a wonderful snapshot of everyday life. Markets like this are more than just a place to buy food.’
We saunter past colourful displays of fish, fresh that morning from the Breton and Norman coasts. Vendors sell the freshest shrimps, lobsters, mussels, oysters and snails. We follow heavenly aromas to stalls selling rotisserie roast chicken with potatoes cooked in dripping, freshly made paellas and beef bourguignon cooking in open pots. There are also Middle Eastern dishes made with herbs and olive oil simmering on pans that look like metal drums.
‘On my first trip here as a young man I was bowled over by the scale and grandeur of everything in Paris,’ says Blanc. ‘The huge avenues, the way they created light and space.’
In the heart of the city, the top chef is soon talking about how much he loves Britain. ‘Britain has taught me many things. The best is probably the ability to laugh at myself. This is a great hurdle for a French man!’
But this is Paris, so it’s time for a sit-down lunch – at one of Raymond Blanc’s favourites, the tripleMichelin starred Pierre Gagnaire on rue Balzac. The stand-out dish is an exquisite fillet of roasted veal.
‘Ooh là là!’ Blanc exclaims mid-mouthful. He says this a lot in person, too, not just on TV. It’s his own seal of quality, when something meets his approval.
‘Pierre is one of the best chefs in Europe,’ says Blanc. ‘His is one of my all-time favourite Parisian restaurants. I love his approach and sensitivity to food.’
Cheese is next, naturally. We
head to Laurent Dubois, Blanc’s favourite cheesemonger in rue de Lourmel in Dupleix.
He sells 150 different cheeses, including a Normandy Camembert from the salty meadows of the Cotentin Peninsula, and a Tartuffe, a comté made with truffles. This is France, so sweet must follow savoury.
Blanc takes me to his favourite neighbourhood patisserie – Laurent Duchêne, in rue Wurtz, in the 13th arrondissement.
‘Another of the things I love is patisseries like this. I love the croissants here.’
The corner shop sells brightly coloured éclairs and pastries, and macaroons of every flavour. We are too old to party all night but Blanc recommends going to Montmartre very early in the morning. ‘Montmartre is very busy with tourists during the day. The best time to go is at sunrise, maybe after you’ve been out all night. You can see Paris waking up, coming back to life. The lights and everything. Paris is not called the City of Light for nothing.’