Tom Douglas

Katie O (Tom’s Assistant) Blogs from Paris! Marche de Bastille

Today I went to the wonderful outdoor market, Marche de Bastille.  It is a food lover’s dream.  There is everything one could ever possibly want in terms of French deliciousness.  Vendors selling all kinds of raw goods, like various poultry (heads on, some feathers intact) (see photo left), every cut of pork and beef, seafood galore, veggies, spices, freshly made butter and creme fraiche, and all kinds of eggs.  They also sell cooked savory goods like choucroute and poulet roti, plus sweets like chichis (commonly known as churros) rolled in sugar as well as caneles. (See photos of caneles, top, left and right.)  Caneles were new to me. (Editor’s note: made from a batter that resembles crepe batter and baked at a high temperature in a special copper mold.)  They are tiny cooked custards with a caramelized outside. They are, all at once, soft on the inside, chewy on the outside, yet they maintain a delicate crispness much like a lace cookie.  Often people are hard pressed to find a good version, but at the market there’s a sweet old man that makes and sells them.  If you ever find yourself in the Marche de Bastille you MUST find him.

February 25th, 2009