Inedible Garnishes: 2010/06

We got back a week or so from spending ten days in Paris together. We ate out a couple of times, but we ended up cooking a lot of our meals in our very tiny apartment (which was, however, on the top level of a beautiful building in the 16th and was positioned to view the top half of the Tour Eiffel). Some of these meals were just cheese, fruit and bread (and macarons) and some were a little more involved.

Available to us for cooking was a hot plate, a microwave, a 1.5 quart pot and a tiny Teflon pan. There were a few plates and some silverware, but we had to buy wine glasses and a small all-purpose knife. We saved up paper bags to use as cutting boards. Jeremy's assertion: "Yep, I can make just about anything here... It will just take a lot longer." I think we did pretty well. We did not buy the live eels that I wanted, however, because the pot was not large enough to fit them. Next time...

Other culinary highlights included a sushi place near our apartment with very fresh fish, albeit nothing too fancy technically. We picked up many brioches chinoises au porc grillées (steamed pork-stuffed Chinese dumplings) from Restaurant Wen Zhou (~60 Rue de Belleville). They are the fluffiest of dumplings with a touch of sweetness in the white dough, a skin formed from steaming, and a crispy browned bottom where they are toasted. These have always been some of my favorite things to eat and Jeremy considered them--if not the best--among the best of all the things he ate on his trip (pretty good, considering the number of Michelin-starred restaurants he visited).

We also went to Toraya, a very highly-esteemed Japanese tea house with a shop in Paris known for their amazing confections known as wagashi. We each had one pot of tea and one wagashi. This was my favorite of the things we did.

Some excellent pistachio ice cream was also enjoyed from Regis, an ice cream shop nearby on Rue de Passy. It was the most pistachio of all ice creams and almost had a floral note in addition to its creamy nuttiness.

We thoroughly imbibed as well, perhaps most with Loire wines. Cheverny Sauvignon Blancs being some of past favorites, we dranks a few of those and were not disappointed. A gamay/cab franc from the same region did not deliver. Crémants de Loire (sparklies) revealed themselves to be toasty, citrusy and very satisfying. Chinon and Bourgeuil Cab Francs were great. Burgandy Chardonnays and Pinots were all very tasty and all kinds of appellations that we struggle to find in the US were available readily in even the most local of shops in Paris at very good price points.

Livarot and Courgette Constructions

Soft, pungent rind-washed cheese and zucchini

Poulet Fermier with Duxelle and Potato Stack

This was the result of a trip to the market and to a local boucherie. Our chicken came with head and feathers on, as well as with feet. It is not in the picture, but we also enjoyed the liver with this meal. In the picture below, you can see the only knife we had available for cooking (which we also purchased at a market). The size of the knife made dinner preparations take a little longer than at home.