Tag Archives: France

The biggest farm of Paris

2 Replies

In case you missed it, Paris International Agricultural Show ended last Sunday. It is an annual, nine-day long exhibition that attracts nearly one million visitors from France and elsewhere. The president of the French Republic always pays a visit during the first day, and this year Holland spent seven hours inside the Show. This is how important the Show is to France. Paris International Agricultural ShowWe decided to spend last Friday evening at the Show and very much enjoyed ourselves. In fact, I thought that the Show was extremely fascinating and well done. The offer is huge and diversified, focusing on four main sectors: livestock, nature, gastronomy and agriculture as a profession. One can taste milk, get free samples of cat and dog food, learn how to cook, watch animals competitions, change a career (schools and employers are present to recruit), explore food products from different parts of France, including wine, etc. In addition, there are restaurants serving regional specialties, making the Show an excellent way to learn about France’s rich gastronomy.Paris International Agricultural Show We spent most of the time admiring cows and beef, and believe me when I say that some of them were enormous. In fact the biggest animal (a bull) of the show was called Le Fêtard (Party Animal) and it weighed 1691kg. Le Fêtard  was sleeping while we visited him, so we moved to my favorite cattle breed “Charolais”: I love their features and that curly white hair. Charolais cattle breed

As you may know, every year there is a showstopper at the Show. Two years ago when I first visited this Show it was Valentina, and this year it was Bella, a beautiful, elegant seven-year old cow from Tarentaise breed. It was no doubt that Bella was the star of the Show, because when we found her, she was surrounded by dozens of people calling her name and trying to catch the best shot of her. Bella the starIn fact, if you go to the website of the Show, you can find a lot of information on Bella and her breeder and daily life in the Savoy region of France, near the Alps. The website continues to reveal that “Bella has a very easy nature, and is gentle and curious” and “Bella has two jobs: producing milk for Beaufort cheese and maintaining the Savoy landscape”. It almost feels like reading someone’s CV…!

This time we did not stay to eat at the Show, simply because no-one was serving côte de boeuf. It was a pity, because two years ago we ate a really tasty steak at the Show. Well, maybe next year!

Even if it is too late for this year, do not miss the Show next year! It is worth a visit, for many reasons. There are many activities for children, too.

English website of the show: http://en.salon-agriculture.com/

Who is Bella? http://en.salon-agriculture.com/Discover-the-Show/Who-is-Bella

Note: I love animals but I also have a professional interest toward agriculture because I recently wrote for a publication related to agribusiness. The publication was not about France but we did a lot of comparative analysis and France came up several times. As many of you know, France is very proud of its gastronomic heritage and diversity, and agriculture is viewed as a sector of prestige. And as the Show shows, French agribusiness receives a lot of state-driven marketing support, which is fantastic. Image building is vital for growth, maybe even more than we realize. (I just realized myself that I don’t think I know the type of cheese Bella’s milk produces and I should go and buy some. See! Bella is not only the star of the Show, but also the best PR person along with President Holland of course…!)

PS Pearlspotting can be found on Facebook, too!

Market surprise

5 Replies

Doing groceries at the food market is exciting: you never know what you come home with! The weekly market supply for food products depends on the season, on the weather, on transport issues, on regulations, on trends, on political issues, etc. –you name it! And that is why it is so interesting (if you like unpredictability).

For example today, my husband asked for the price of mussels. The seller was in a hurry to return home and responded: “They were caught yesterday. I have tried to sell them for 6€ and nobody wants them, so if you like, take them home for free”. My husband offered him money anyway but the seller smiled and said no worries.

So, today’s (late) lunch is going to be mussels with parsley, celery, onions, white wine (Muscadet) and crème fraiche. And guacamole, grilled bell peppers, slow-roasted cherry tomatoes for the rest of the week. La vie est belle!Bastille market on Sunday

PS If you like this, why not to join Pearlspotting on Facebook?

Le Tipaza: refined Moroccan food

10 Replies

Le Tipaza is located in the northern part of the 15th arrondissement, not far away from the Eiffel Tour and UNESCO. We used to go this Moorish restaurant a lot in the past and were always very pleased with food and service. And yesterday was not an exception! Le TipazaLe Tipaza serves classic North African specialties (couscous and tajine) and some French dishes. My husband always chooses couscous and I take tajine (which is gluten free because it comes without the semolina). The wines come from Algeria, Morocco and France. Le Tipaza, couscousMy husband’s couscous royal came with a large bowl of hearty vegetable stew, a plate of mixed grilled meats, small bowls of raisin and chic peas, and semolina of course. He absolutely loved the stew, beef and chicken. The rest (merquez and lamb) he found tasty, too, but a bit dry. Anyhow, it was an excellent couscous. grilled meat plate, Moroccan foodI usually have tajine with lamb but changed my mind and ordered chicken. The tajine I chose came with preserved lemons, onions and olives. Some potatoes were included in the dish, too. It was delicious!! Such a delight!  tajine with lemons, onions, olivesWe drunk Château Mansourah, Côteaux de Tlemcen (Algeria) and it was a perfect choice: aromatic, slightly maderized red wine made of grapes that grew under that strong African sun. On previous occasions when drinking North African wines we have noticed that they make us really tired –maybe it is the sun effect? Yesterday again we felt the same and in the end of the meal we could have fallen asleep right way. The dinner was very enjoyable and we were happy customers, but indeed the only thing we could have wanted more was a magic carpet to fly us home over Paris!

Lastly, the bill was 51€ for a couscous, a tajine and a bottle of wine. Excellent price-quality ratio!

Le Tipaza: 150 Avenue Emile Zola, 75015 Paris. Tel: 01 45 79 22 25. Metro: Avenue Emile Zola.

***

Previous posts about eating North African food in Paris are:

L’Alcôve: finest meat of Paris (also serves couscous and tajine, but house specialty is grilled meat)
Algerian restaurant l’Atlantide in Paris (excellent couscous and tajine)
L’Homme Bleu: Berber hospitality in the center of Paris (reputable couscous and tajine restaurant but I was disappointed during my last visit)

Tribute to Parisian architecture

2 Replies

As I was returning home this afternoon I stopped to take photos of this building, located right next to our metro station. The station has three exits but this is my favorite sortie. I get out of the tunnel, see the sun light and these elaborate statues salute me, time after time. One of those moments that makes one’s day. Hence this photo, a tribute to the 19th century architects and workers. Bravo.Paris architecture

Light parade in Paris

11 Replies

That blue hour before it gets dark. When the lights turn on and the boats go to sleep. Paris tonight.Bassin de l'Arsenal

PS Summer is definitely not far away (or at least spring). Such a lovely, sunny day.

Cheese platter

15 Replies

It has been a long time since we had a full-blown cheese platter for dinner. Last Saturday it happened again, and this is what we did: seafood for the first course (What is a whelk?) and cheese with salad for the second course. It does not get better than this, does it?

This time we did a bit of experimenting and did not stick exclusively to French cheese. Cheese platter

Clockwise from the top right:

  • Boutton de Culotte (France): Goat milk cheese from Bourgogne. Semi-hard. Best when it is even harder. Lovely, balanced, medium strong taste.
  • Salers (France): Cow milk cheese from the center part of France (Auvergne). The region is also known for volcanoes and Cantal cheese. One of my favorite cheeses of France.
  • Bethmale (France): Soft cow milk cheese from Midi-Pyrénées near the Pyrenees mountains. My husband’s favorite cheese. Strong cow taste and smell! Also exists made from goat milk.
  • Shropshire Blue (UK): I wanted to find Stilton, but fromagerie didn’t have it. So we had Shropshire Blue (cow milk), which is considered a cross between Stilton and Cheshire. Strong and soft at the same time, but perfect for blue cheese lovers.
  • Pecorino with Black Peppers (Italy):  Semi hard cheese from Tuscany. Pungent. I loved the black peppers. Also loved the texture. Perfect in salads (I put cubes of it today in my chicken, tomato, avocado and artichoke salad. Yummy).

As there are hundreds of cheeses in France (some say 500 different types), I guess I will be posting many cheese platter photos!

PS What is your favorite French cheese?

 

 

 

What is a whelk?

8 Replies

A whelk looks strange. It is slimy. It smells like sea and mud. Some call it ugly. Just look at this photo!a whelk

But a whelk is also delicious! Especially with homemade mayonnaise! Moreover, it is rich in protein: around 20g of protein per 100g, which is more than what lamb contains. Would you have believed? In addition, a whelk is rich in vitamin B12, copper and zinc, making whelks more than ten times richer in B12 than beef. Impressive how good these slimy creatures are for us!

You can buy raw whelks and boil them for a few minutes with salt and black pepper, but supermarkets in France sell them ready-cooked. This is what we did yesterday: we purchased shrimps and whelks and ate them with mayonnaise. Afterwards we had a cheese platter with salas. Such a perfect dinner. Easy (no cooking needed), affordable, tasty, healthy. And as a bonus, gluten free. shrimps and whelks for dinner

If you are interested in whelks, maybe you would like to read this article by the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/19/dining/whelks-are-coming-out-of-their-shell-and-onto-your-plate.html (December 2012). Apparently the whelk has surfaced on cutting-edge menus in the US, and chefs are creating some very interesting-sounding dishes of them. Why not to try when you next time see them on the menu?

Tip number 1: The only thing you really need to be aware of when eating whelks is that little tiny “lid”. It is the thin top part of the whelk, and should be removed by your fingers and thrown away.

Tip number 2: You need special equipment to eat whelks with. A normal fork won’t do it. Tiny forks or pins are the only efficient ways to pull the whelk from its shell, believe me.

PS Have you already tasted a whelk? What was your impression? How was it prepared and eaten? Did you have red or white wine with it? We had biodynamic red (Côtes du Roussillon, Marie Gabrielle Cazes, Languedoc), creating a nice match.

If you haven’t yet tasted the whelks, do you think you will one day?

 

 

 

Slow-roasted cherry tomatoes

8 Replies

The great thing about food markets is that you never know what you end up buying! Yesterday the Bastille market seemed full of cherry tomatoes, and we purchased one big box of them. The question what to do with them was answered when I stumbled upon a Low and Slow Semi Dried Tomatoes recipe, and thanks to Sip Chomp Chew blog, I now have hundreds of delicious cherry tomatoes in the fridge!

So, here you go, my recipe (with some modifications compared to the Sip Chomp Chew’s recipe):

1. Cut cherry tomatoes in half and place them onto baking sheet.roasted cherry tomatoes

2. Sprinkle with olive oil (I used olive oil from Crete: the best olive oil in the world!)

3. Sprinkle with Herbes de Provence. If the mix does not include oregano, add. Add also black pepper. I did not use salt.Herbes de Provence on cherry tomatoes

4. Roast in oven for a loooong time. My first set of cherry tomatoes stayed 4 hours in oven (130C), but I did increase the temperature to 150C for my second set. This made the cooking time considerably shorter (3 hours) and the cherry tomatoes did not burn. Try and see!

roasted cherry tomatoes

5. We ate the cherry tomatoes like that, and added some to a salad. The more obvious ways to use them are in pizza, ratatouille, salad, pasta, etc., but I would like to experiment using them in amuse-bouche, moussaka, Mediterranean fish dishes, chicken….

Whatever you do, but be careful. These little creatures are so yummy that you may just want to eat them directly from the baking sheet!

 

 

Playing with still life in Paris

Leave a reply

still life, Paris

 

Mirror: Antique, French. Not quite sure, 18th or 19th century?

Green vase: Designed by Helena Tynell in the 1960’s. Produced by Riihimäen Lasi, Finland (http://www.laatutavara.com/index.php?hakuteksti=aurinkopullo&page=haku)

Candle holder: Designed by Heikki Orvola in 1988. Produced by Iittala, Finland (https://www.iittala.com/Series/Iittala/Kivi/c/Kivi).

Pendant lamp seen in the mirror: Alvar Aalto bell lamps from 1937 find a new home in Paris and Alvar Aalto bell lamp

 

Easy oven-roasted cauliflower

Leave a reply

A friend recently sent me a recipe, which included broccoli, but since I had cauliflower at home, I used that. Since that day I have made the recipe several times and cannot seem to get enough. Some people eat chocolate for a snack, I opt for cauliflower!

So, how to begin? Buy a large cauliflower. Cut it into florets. Place them in a large oven-safe bowl. Sprinkle olive oil, black pepper and salt. Add crushed garlic. Roast in the oven (225C) for 30 minutes (cooking time depends on your taste and on the size of florets, so taste to see how you prefer your cauliflower). oven-roasted cauliflowerOnce the florets have obtained nice color, remove the bowl from the oven. Immediately after, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (again, add according to your taste). And voila, the dish is ready to be served!! See, super easy and fast to make! oven-roasted cauliflowerFYI: the original recipe said squeeze a lemon at the same time when adding Parmesan cheese, but I have not yet done that. Maybe one day.

PS In case you are wondering, the tiles (carreaux ciment) are from a shop called Mosaic del Sur. Their production takes place in Andalusia, Spain and Morocco. If you are looking for original and beautiful tiles, this is The Place! They have a showroom in Paris, and even if you are not renovating at the moment, stop by to admire these elegant pieces of art! (http://www.carreauxmosaic.com)

***

If you are on Facebook, why not to check Pearlspotting’s Facebook page?