What’s Cookin’?

I have always loved cooking. Baking, too. So why have I lived in Paris for TWO YEARS without taking advantage of some of the finest culinary institutes in the world?

My new years resolution is to take cooking classes. I have done some Googleing and it seems that cooking classes in English are readily available. Of course, this is all just an excuse to buy expensive cookware!

Another Parisian experience I have denied myself is a pilgrimage to the Paris cookware district centered around rue Montmartre. There are several stores within five minutes of each other selling just about anything you would want/need to cook. So I bookmarked several stores on my iPhone and set out.

The first stop, of course, was the new APPLE STORE PARIS! Sorry for the non-sequitur, but it had been open for over a week and I had yet to experience it. It is in the Carrousel du Louvre by the inverted pyramid. Indeed, a place of honor for the first & only Apple store in Paris (about bloody time! There are already about 15 in Manhattan!). It was packed with shoppers & tourists admiring the latest Apple wares.

The store is two stories with a spiral glass staircase in the middle.

Oh, well. I didn’t buy anything, though I was tempted. Now back to our scheduled blog entry…

Walking north up rue du Louvre from the Louvre/Rivoli Métro stop, you will eventually hit rue Coquillière and to your right, you will see the most famous shop for cookware among professional & amateur cooks and a tourist attraction in itself for foodies; the 190 year-old E. Dehillerin.

If you love shopping at stores with beautiful displays of immaculate copper & stainless steel pots & pans, like Williams Sonoma or Sur la Table, then you will hate E. Dehillerin! Well, maybe not, but this store is crowded, dirty, noisy and there is stuff everywhere. On shelves, in the basement, bolted to the walls, hanging from the ceilings… There are no prices, just numbers that you must cross reference from a book in the store.

Stuff Everywhere!

Down in the basement

Big stockpots in case you need to make several gallons of chili or maybe even brew some beer.

And if you need to stir it…

…they have paddles, which also can be used on your boat.

The Dehillerin stamp on a piece of Mauviel copper.

I went back there this Saturday to exchange a Christmas gift and while I was at the counter, I snapped this image with one of their famous “things”:

What is it? The beautiful Laguiole steak knives? The sign about taxes that looks 50 years old (with “new” blacked out)? The price index? The copper pots? The rooster? Nope, it’s the black & white photo just to the right of the rooster. I showed it to Danielle and she said, “The old lady makin’ the pie?” Yep, the old lady makin’ the pie! The “old lady” is one of Dehillerin’s most famous customers, Julia Child (click for a zoom that does not reveal much detail!).

After I explored Dehillerin’s, I headed up rue Jean-Jaques Rousseau to rue Montmartre. At the intersection stands La Bovida.

Another store full of Mauviel cookware and spices and enameled cast-iron cocottes. They also had a set of Peugeot salt & pepper mills with a finish of braided stainless steel. They would make a great gift (hint hint)!

Just down rue Montmartre is Mora, with still more Mauviel cookware (can you ever have enough?). They also have a baking section with everything you would need to make a wedding cake if the mood should strike you.

This is where I found a few cookie cutters for Sarah & me to make our Christmas cookies this year.

Cookie cutters were not easy to find. I really wanted and Eiffel Tower form, and Mora had a couple, but the smallest was about a meter long, so that was out. I got a rabbit & a pig. They are very sturdy and will be with us a long time! I also got a Christmas tree, which was the only “Christmas-y” one I found and a set of heart-shapes that Sarah really liked. Sarah refused to have anything to do with the pig, however.

There are more (or at least one) stores on rue Montmartre (Simon comes to mind), but I didn’t hit them all. Just off Montmartre is another store that supplies professional bakers on rue Tiquetonne – G. Detout. If you speak French, you may notice that the name sounds like “J’ai de tout” which means “I have everything.” And they just about do. I got some vanilla extract and cream of tartar for the sugar cookies along with some candies violet petals, because, well, I COULD!

I used to think I was cool because I bought vanilla extract by the pint. Ha! They carry it in liters! I got a small bottle because it was slightly different. A little syrupy and the woman at the store reminded me to shake it before using. But it is indeed the vanilla extract that I have seen nowhere else in Paris. They also had baking soda, which is hard to find.

For Christmas I got two things from Dehillerin’s; a copper Mauviel pot and a 31 cm Staub cocotte:

Pretty aren’t they? I almost hate to dirty them up with food! I exchanged the 31 cm for a 33 so I can make a boat-load of chili. It will nicely complement my Le Creuset.

Well, my other resolution was to update this blog more often. I wanted it as a record of our adventures in France more than anything else. So we’ll see if I can keep it up!

Bonne Année, tout le monde!