A FRESH TASTE OF PARIS
Visiting the markets is the best way to get to know the city and its flavours
When it comes to gastronomy, Paris, France, is often seen as the motherland.
Holding more Michelin stars than any other city, its culinary talents are on full display with spectacles of sauces, vegetables showing off precise knife skills and gloating pomme de terre soufflé all atop fine squares of foie gras or surrounded by perfect droplets of caviar.
The patisseries and salons de thé are even more elaborate, with furnishings as ornate as the Ancien Régime and the desserts just as intricate.
To me, Paris is very much about this opulent eating, about this rare convergence of history and taste. It seems UNESCO also agrees, as the French gastronomic meal was named as a ‘world intangible heritage’ in 2010.
I must admit that while I began to learn the language and culture in restaurants when I first came to Paris, it was in the markets that I first started to understand both.
Marché de la Bastille was my local market, one of the largest, and every Sunday morning I would walk through the dozens of vendors selling hundreds of cheeses, tasting for the first time Rocamadour and fromage blanc, a fresh, creamy cheese similar to yogurt often eaten as a dessert with fruit.
I would learn the basics of French by talking to fishmongers, reading signs next to each fruit and vegetable and listening to the pronunciations.
I soaked in the varietals of mushrooms, leafy greens and the smells of roasting chicken, their fat bast- ing a pan of potatoes below them. This is where I first began to feel at home in France.
Since then, each time I have visitors in Paris, I take them to the market, as an introduction to the Paris I love.
I force feed them Lebanese breads, buckwheat crepes, olives and dried fruits. I drag them around arrays of fresh herbs and green almonds, oyster stands and flower stalls.
We’ll wander until they are full of inspiration and a hunger to take it all home to cook and feast.
For those staying in hotel rooms or tiny Parisian rentals with meagre kitchens, it’s often not possible, and I am always disappointed that one of the most intimate Parisian experiences is missed: the market meal.
It’s the satisfying culmination of a good market day, cravings satiated with a table full of the season’s freshest, enjoyed leisurely with some cheese, baguette and wine to the sounds of busy streets below.
So, in contrast to the haute cuisine of Paris, I’ve created “fondcuisine” — flexible, no-cook, noneed-to-measure dishes from market finds that can be prepared with simple tools you might find in a hotel room: a dull knife, plates, a few wine glasses — all that’s really needed for those with an appetite for fine dining.
A note on the recipes: don’t worry about precision, as these recipes are meant to be simple and eyeballed to taste.
They are not meant to be measured, there is no right or wrong, just enjoy the process and if it tastes delicious to you, it’s perfect.
With flavourful ingredients, it doesn’t need to be more complicated than that. Makes: 2 servings I love the juicy rotisserie chickens found at the markets all over Paris. The skins are crispy and caramelized and the scent is irresistible. It can be eaten plain but if you’re wanting a twist, this prune and chive vinaigrette adds a bit of sweetness and acidity to the savoury chicken. The prunes in France tend to be much juicier and more tender, so if you are making this elsewhere, soak the prunes in hot water for five minutes first to replicate the texture.
1 roast chicken
Juice of 2 lemons
A large spoonful of honey
A bunch of chives
About 20 prunes
Coarse sea salt
Ground black pepper
1. Take the juices of the chicken and place into a bowl and put the chicken on a plate. Garnish the chicken with about 15 prunes and half a bunch of chives to the side. In the bowl of chicken juices, add the lemon juice and honey, whisk with a fork until dissolved.
2. Tear the other half of the chives by hand into the bowl and add about 5 prunes, also torn my hand, pits removed. Smash and muddle the mixture together using a fork. Add salt and pepper to taste and drizzle over the chicken to serve.