Parisian Comfort Food

Parisian Comfort Food

Every dish described here is a favorite Parisian food of someone in the (extended) family 'crowd.' Each dish is basic...bistro...brasserie style...but then again 'classic'...maybe.

The impetus for describing these dishes as an entry in this blog is mostly nostalgia, but also... maybe... someone will read about them and try some of these dishes and enjoy them as the 'crowd' have (you want to argue about whether 'crowd' takes a plural or a singular verb?) and will.

(This blog includes the ability to 'comment' so that you can add your own recollections and favorites. See the bottom of the page.)

So let's start.

Moules Frites...mussels in a sauce and french fries (accompanied often by a 'demi-pression' ...a draft beer.)

Try Parc aux Cerfs, on Rue Vavin in the 6th (metro Vavin) ...this little place is on the same street (8 bis, rue Vavin) where we lived for several years in Paris in the 1970s. There are two secrets to enjoying moules...(1) use a shell, after removing and eating its moule, of course, as a pincer tool to eat the remainder and (2) ask for plenty of bread to sop...yes 'sop'... the sauce...the Moules Marinieres (white wine and onions) is the classic choice of sauces among the many in which the mussels are cooked...a favorite of Eric McDougall.

Couscous ...semolina wheat...fluffy and light with vegetables like turnips, carrots ...hot peppers..and merguez or chicken or both...then its called "Couscous Royal." Maybe L'Atlas, 12 Blvd. St. Germaine in the 5th or better the Arab Mosque or Le Mosque de Paris and the Cafe de la Mosque the 5th near rue Mouffetard near Lycee Henri IV where Lauren graduated after an intensive three years.

Steak Frite ...tender but chewy French cuts of steak best eaten, in my opinion, 'saignant'...translated perhaps as 'underdone' but meaning practically rare or medium rare... here are the terms used to describe how meat is cooked in France.

• Au bleu is raw; only the outside is heated.
• Saignant is rare; the center is perceptibly warm.
• À point is medium rare; the blood coagulated and        the center is hot.
• Bien is what Americans would call medium.
• Bien cuit is medium well; the center is still a bit pink.

"Steak" in France is sometimes designated steak in menus but often is named: entrecôte, filet, tournedos, châteaubriand, cœur de filet, filet mignon, faux-filet, contre-filet, rumsteck, bavette, or onglet.

Purists insist that steak frite refers only to hanger steak or onglet, but I insist that it's any of these with sauce and french fries. Who cares? Want to know more?

Paul Bert Rue Paul Bert in the 11th near Place d'Ligre or the 'Arab Market' serves a very good steak frite.

Salad Nicoise (Tripp and Ping's favorite) Potatoes, green beans, anchovies, tuna, hard-boiled eggs, and a little vin ordinarie. Its worth a trip to Brasserie Vavin at the corner of Rue Vavin and Rue Notre Dame des Champs in the 6th.

Steak Tartare (Tamur's favorite) Ground steak (steak hache) of the highest quality seasoned so...salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces, chopped parsley and shallot and a raw egg yolk plus, of course, pomme frites. Le Sèvero, a tiny joint of about 30 seats in the 14th Arrondissement (8, rue des Plantes) is a good place to try this dish if you've never had it and are leery of the fact that the meat is uncooked.

Harang Baltic (Baltic Herring)... it's a dish that probably requires acquisition (an awkward way to say ..."is an acquired taste.") but it is delicious and satisfying. This is Lauren's favorite dish and she 'acquired' the taste at La Couple in Montparnasse...the very best place n Paris...maybe...for a late Sunday night dinner after returning from a weekend in the country.

Ice Cream (Benjamin's favorite...actually I think his favorite is sorbet...but Berthillon sells it also.)

Berthillon is a famous manufacturer and retailer of traditional, homemade ice cream, with its primary store on the Île Saint-Louis just down and across the street from the apartment. The company is owned and operated by the Chauvin family, descendants of the eponymous Monsieur Berthillon, who opened the first store in 1954.

Berthillon sells its ice cream and sorbet in bulk and by the scoop from its shop on the island, but many other retailers in Paris sell its ice cream and sorbet in cones and cups, and some grocers sell larger amounts.

Berthillon's fame derives in part from its use of natural ingredients, with no chemical preservatives, sweeteners or stabilizers. Its ice creams are made from only milk, cream, and eggs. Flavorings derive from natural sources (cocoa, vanilla, fruit, etc.).

Despite its business being ice cream, like many family-run Paris businesses the main Berthillon closes for the summer. Don't you love this eccentricity?

Crepes...very thin pancakes with stuff inside

Really good crêpes in Paris can be found at Crêperie Bretonne, in the unlikely area of the 11th arrondissement, near the Bastille. (67, rue de Charonne) Some prefer crêpes made with blé noir, buckwheat flour, although buckwheat crêpes are generally called galettes rather than crêpes. But Chris prefers the 'crepe complete'...ham, cheese, and egg....available, by the way, at any crepe stand on the street....there are at least two crepe places on the island...so... "Come Vous voulez" (as you wish.)
Falafel... a delight of Arab origin...Pita bread with fried chickpea flower balls, tahini, and accouterments. L'As du Falafel, Paris in the Marais...34, rue des Rosiers... 10 minutes from the apartment. Anyone will like this.


Gateau du Figue...Down Rue Rosier about 10 storefronts on the left from L'As is a patisserie (Sacha Finkelsztahn) that offers the best Gateau du Figue ('the best fig newton ever' is the parallel I can think of for an American, although there is really no comparison.) I'll admit this is my favorite.

Chocolate...next door at La Charlotte de l'Isle...the most deadly, delicious, rich, cup of hot chocolate you will ever drink, plus the most unusual shaped chocolates arrangements...and often opera singers are invited to sing after the shop closes if you can wrangle an invitation from the owner. Anne MacDonald D'Annuncio discovered this confirmed by Holly MacDonald.

Tarte Citron...at the Pastierrie on Rue Saint Louis en L'ile just out the door, right, and stop at the Boulangerie.

Souffle.. . Le Souffle-- Rue Thabor . Its been a while since Katherine and I have been here, but I 'hear' that it's still the best soufflé in Paris... it's probably expensive and it's a favorite of visitors.

Tartine...a baguette sliced down the middle (a true aficionado of 'tartine' will specify which way the cut is made...horizontally...the usual resulting in a separate top and bottom of different appearance ...vertically giving you an equal part of top and bottom...(remember the Seinfeld episode in which a business was started to produce muffins with only tops)...buttered and often with jam...an interesting alternative in my opinion to a croissant...(also as just an opened-face sandwich.)...the brasserie on the corner of Les Deux Ponts across from Societe Generale. This is Katherine's favorite brasserie and she always orders a cafe (tres chaud) with her 'tartine.' She orders a 'petit creme' as opposed to a 'grand creme.'

There's another way to order cafe creme (see the image below.) Some...ethereal beings... order instead of a 'noisette' (hazel nut) Its an espresso with a very small pitcher of hot milk on the side. When you place a small amount of the milk in the espresso the result appears to be a noisette...that is the mixture..not stirred... looks like a hazelnut. (By the way..the Italians call this mixture of an espresso and a small amount of milk ...a makiato...a 'mark'... essentially describing the rich combination of dark and light in a swirl)
Go further into esoterica and order the noisette... 'Serre'... which requests the bartender to tighten the coffee and filter holder (the silver metal-colored thing with the black handle) to the last notch in the espresso machine. This action causes less water to flow through the grounds and a much stronger espresso to exit.

Noir du coco...that's the name I recall fondly of a very tasty dessert. This was Claudia's favorite. She would go out to get it often..like every day... in the afternoon before dinner about 5pm... it's not at all uncommon to see people coming from work stop at a Patisserie for a dessert before dinner. The 'noir du coco' (coconut) is actually a macaroon made of coconut.

Cassoulet... white beans, sausage, and duck confit...Brasserie Ile Saint Louis near Pont Saint Louis across from Notre Dame. Delicious...not for vegetarians.

The perfect lunch:
Sandwich Pate Cornichon plus

"Balloon du vin rouge" is about 12.5 cl whereas a regular 'verre' is probably 25 cl ..although when the wine is ordered by the glass...the glass is never completely filled...but the beauty of ordering a balloon in a brasserie at the bar is watching the barman pour the wine. He holds the bottle...already opened... sitting typically in a cold slot under the counter... about a foot above the small rounded 'balloon' glass sitting on the counter directly in front of you and pours it in a steady stream with the liquid splashing readily into the glass, stopping the pour at the very moment when the glass is filled to the brim and one drop more would cause a spill.

plus Oeuf Dur




And of course for lunch also or for dinner or anytime: Belon Oysters from Brittany.


Nothing like a Belon oyster that I know of. And Belon oysters come in grades...order the 00s. Brasserie Le Dome in Boulevard Montparnasse.


And then there's mousse au chocolate a' volante'...translated as 'as you will' or in American  'all you eat.'

I love mousse au chocolate. However, its so rich that only a small amount suffices, but there's something exciting about the rare occasion when its offered by a restaurant 'a volante'...'as you please'. The place I remember served it in a large glass bowl... brought to the table with a ladle and left. The restaurant is on Rue de Serviers...but I can't think of the name. There's a place in the Marais... Chez Janou... that serves it similarly...'a volante' is not really translated as 'all you can eat'..it's more like serve yourself from the big bowl the amount in a small bowl that you want.






But I can't end this without a reference to

île flottante (the favorite of a friend and member [along with Chris Arrasmith] of the 'crowd.'... Tom Arrasmith... who by the way thinks February is the best time to visit Paris.)....a pouffy meringue that weighs about an ounce yet is the size of a football, drizzled with caramel and swimming in a little pool of crème anglaise. Tom first had ile flottante on the island in the company of Claudia and Lauren and Kath who told French jokes in sufficiently loud voices to embarrass even the "garcons."

or Cafe Le Flore...

I am not absolutely certain about this, but I think this was the favorite of my old friend John Bishop...who claimed Cafe Le Flore as the best 100 'franker' in Paris.  This characterization was made in the early 1980s when the conversion rate of the dollar to franc was very generous.