tmso's Profile
info re jewish/kosher shopping area or marche
The Eastern part of the 11th has a strong Jewish concentration. There are a lot of Kosher shops on boulevard Voltaire from Place Leon Blum to Nation. There are a number of butchers and a pretty decent North African restaurant just off the Place Leon Blum; a good schwarma shop with great, home-made Laffa, on bd Voltaire between m° Voltaire and Charonne; and a kosher market, and several bakeries, further along bd Voltaire just past m° Rue des Boulets.
it's easy to spend $$$$$ where do the common folk of Paris eat?????
Congratulations for reading the first word or what I wrote. Did you read past that? If you want to eat a coucou de Rennes, that will cost you more than pasta alle cozze. Of course you can spend more. But are you arguing that you can't spend 2 € for a litre of good quality moules?
it's easy to spend $$$$$ where do the common folk of Paris eat?????
""" If you are a vegetarian focusing on cheap vegetables. """
Nonsense.
We spent 17 € at the market this weekend, and came back with kilos of good fresh vegetables and fruit, plus a litre of moules. The two of us will eat very well on that this week. We'll go to the butcher during the week and buy whatever is on special. That will account for 6 dinners. Soup, roast meat, pasta alla cozze, frittata, lasagne using the leftover meat, and something else not yet decided for Friday. On Saturday we'll have friends over, and that dinner will cost quite a bit more.
It's certainly easy to spend more on dinner, but it's perfectly reasonable to spend 2-3 € per person as a basic budget, and choose where to spend the extra money.
Note that I put the wine budget seperately. One certainly can drink descent wine for that price (2-6 € per person). I prefer to spend my extra money there.
it's easy to spend $$$$$ where do the common folk of Paris eat?????
Having just done our household budget, I disagree with this: "It is hard to eat out at all on 250 euro/week."
Preparing your own dinner costs about 2-3 € per person. Buying pre-prepared (or nearly so) things (roast chicken, steak; salad, haricots verts, frozen or canned ratatouille; canned lentilles, pot au feu, fish soup, tripes, etc; frozen parmentier, frozen fish in sauce, etc) is more like 3-5 €. Add 2-6 € for basic wine (depending on the wine and how much you drink), 0,5 € for breakfast, 4 € to buy a sandwich for lunch, and you've come to 8,5-18,5 € per person per day. This leaves you an eating-out budget of 23-31 € for lunch, or 31 € for dinner. Or eat lunch in a restaurant every two days, and you have 60 € per person, which is getting into the realm of lunch specials at fancy restaurants. Or drink better wine at home.
There is okay food in the 8-16 € realm (1-2 restaurant tickets), especially couscous, tagines, soupes, etc, but also steaks, salades composés, andouillettes, crêpes, and the like. I cannot imagine having any problem eating in the 18th on your budget. In the parts of the 11th that are near touristy places, I could recommend: Le bar à soupes (r de Charonne); Le Kabylie (r de la roquette at the Bastille); Café de l'Industrie (r Sedaine); Chez Paul (r de Charonne); Menekse (passage de la Main d'Or); even Le Rey (r de la roquette) if you want a place they'll write on your tablecloth.
That's not a list that's worth going out of your way for, but if you're near the Bastille and hungry, it's in your budget. Except the Bar à soupes; that place is simple but fantastic for what it is.
it's easy to spend $$$$$ where do the common folk of Paris eat?????
"It is a big deal to a tourist with taste buds"
Exactly the point of these documentaries. And I guess what the OP was trying to avoid.
it's easy to spend $$$$$ where do the common folk of Paris eat?????
""" Everyone seems to be telling the OP that they have to change something: consider eating non-French food, consider not eating out at all, consider not staying in Paris, consider not being on such a tight budget ... [ or consider eating unremarkable food ] """
Yes, exactly. Reshuffle your budget, stay more in the provinces and do your good eating there; eat at home; eat imported cuisine, despite all those great réunionaise, tunisienne, martiniquaise, portugaise, and kurdish cuisine back home; or eat out less often. Or eat mediocre. Pick one.
My advice: spend more time in the provinces. When you're in Paris, divide your budget. Eat cheaply, at home, some of the time. Go out, spending a little more, when you go out. And: eat North African food in France; eat Turkish and Kurdish food in Germany.
Canard Laque for TA in Paris
I've either been lucky and always gooten your friend, or they're good about quality control for consistency. I've had canard laqué twice at Tang Frères, and both times it was great.
Red Wine and BBQ [moved from Austin board]
Texas brisket and halbtrocken Blaufränkisch can be a good match, to my palette.
Paris 19th arrondissement and thefork.com
How many Euros total are you looking to spend, for two, per meal? Don't translate your idea of menu prices, but rather the whole bill including tax and tip. Do you all like, or are you open to, Arab food? West African food? Carribean food?
I see you're californian; Paris is in many ways similar to San Francisco: small, dense, good food is easy to get, but bad food is even easier; and filled with tourists. It is also much, much less integrated than SF, but because it's so small, you can get around to different areas pretty easily. Even Porte d'Italie should only be a 30-40 min bike ride from the 19th.
If you're ordering from a fixed-price menu, "hors menu" means "off the menu", ie, something listed on the "carte" ("menu" in American English), but not part of the "menu" ("fixed price menu" in Am En ?).
French fries fried in horse fat. Where in Paris?
Besides the market vendors, there is a normal storefront one on rue de la Roquette in the 11th, and one near the Mutualité, across the river.
Healthy Food in Paris?
I remember him straightening them out, and getting them to serve food people would like, but don't remember it ending badly, so I guess I must have missed the end. Too bad, the cook came off seeming nice.
Speaking of hilarious and vegetarian, one more thing comes to mind: there is a Loving Hut on blvd Beaumarchais (between the 11th and 3rd), for anyone who likes their healthy whole grain food mixed with strange asian cults.
Healthy Food in Paris?
"Cauchemar en cuisine" had an episode on a vegetarian/vegan whole grain type restaurant in the Marais, run by a foolish British woman. This sounds like the sort of food you're looking for. Post-Ramsay they should have reasonable food. I don't remember what it was called or if it survived.
Soupe de Poisson
I've never found good provençale or nicoise food in Paris. It's enjoyable to cook, however. A soupe de poissons takes about 1,5-2 hours to cook, and is not very difficult. The good news is that it's easy to find the Mediterranean fish you need in Paris, even if we're much closer to the Atlantic.
I hope someone corrects me and has a lovely nicois restaurant to recommend; if not, are you staying somewhere you can cook? I can type up a recipe.
Something similar to US Country Ham [moved from France board]
This looks like the same dish as the recipe you posted. The purpose of the exchange was less finding a recipe, so much as knowing what dishes to make.
American Ham in Paris
I would like to buy an American ham in Paris.
It seems this board is for questions about where in the States to buy pressure cookers, and endless questions about the same tourist restaurants. But not which ham to substitute for a recipe like this: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/793063#6645055
So I will ask a different question: where can I buy such an American ham? My family is once again in France and Italy, and I travel once per year to the US for work. If I must buy such a ham in the US, then so be it. Is there any where to buy one here?
French fries fried in horse fat. Where in Paris?
If you want to make your own, go in to any boucherie chevaline and ask for some fat. You're not planning on eating this every day; there are no health issues particular to horses in this case.
Horse meat is better consumed in Lombardia, where they take it seriously. There is no shortage of horse butchers in Paris, however. Where are you located?
Something similar to US Country Ham [moved from France board]
That's a good point. The recipe is follows.
A 12-pound country ham.
8 pounds mixed greens (watercress, collards, mustard, spinach)
5 red chilis
5 stick celery
5 sticks carrots
Equal amounts salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, mustard powder, allspice, celery seed, Louisiana hot sauce.
Soak the ham for 3 days, changing the water every day. Scrub off the mold and skin. Drain the ham.
Boil the greens, then mix with the seasoning.
Cut slits along the bone, on the top, right, bottom, and left. Once at the butt, once in the middle, once at the end.Stuff all the greens in the slits. Tie up the ham in cloth. Put in a pot and just cover with water. Simmer for 3-4 hours, then let cool to room temperature before taking it out of the liquor. Slice off the bone. Serve the liquor with bread, corn bread, rice, etc.
Something similar to US Country Ham [moved from France board]
I traded family recipes with an American friend when I lived in the US, and I wanted to try to make her "Country Ham stuffed with Greens". I know some of you will be familiar with both traditional American ingredients and French ones. I've had Country Ham cooked for me before, and it seems like it's pretty much crudo or jambon de pays. Could I substitute a french jambon de pays and follow the directions? If there are significant differences between the two, what are they?
Paris: pork-free cassoulet
I have no idea if this is the case with this cassoulet at the Petit Canard, but I could imagine a duck/goose/lamb/veal cassoulet finding a nice niche. There are a lot of people who don't insist on eating halal or cacherout but who avoid clearly haram or passoul/treyf foods.
Quick dash into Paris with handicapped person
That's probably the best advice in this case.
For anyone who finds this thread later, if you're in a wheelchair, the RER to the airport is a better choice. If you talk to an agent, they'll arrange with the agents in the other station, and the drivers, to make sure that there's someone with a ramp where you need them, that the driver knows what stops you're getting off at, where you should transfer if you need to, etc. It's a remarkably pleasant experience.
Cheap Wine that Doesn't Suck
Just took a look at their web site: plenty of Rhone wines under $10 too.
Gluten Free in Paris??!!
That's a good warning about fries; pommes sautées, on the other hand, should be safe.
Easter Menus, y'all!
Artichokes stuffed with oil-soaked bread crumbs and garlic
Fresh pea ravioli
Stewed lamb with peas, favas, egg, and lemon
Best Döner kebap in 75 or 93?
After their demise, I have a new favorite: the kurdish restaurant Menekse on the Passage de la Main d'Or. Not a place to get dönner kebap, but great charcoal-grilled meats and smokey eggplant.
Andouillette in Paris or Tours?
If you love liver, I can almost guarantee you'll love kidneys. Turkish or kurdish grill places will often have them, which would be a good way to try a single brochette. But since you say you love liver, why not just go for a whole plate somewhere.
As for blood sausage ... have you tried boudin créole? It's different enough from the flavors of boudin noir and Blutwurst that it might be worth giving blood one last try.
As for the particular taste of chitterlings, I can imagine not liking it, the way I can imagine not liking stinky tofu or ripe cheese. Cajuns tend to marry it with vinegar and chile, and Mexicans with medium spicy chile sauces and lime; both treatments really reduce the aspect of the flavor you're probably objecting to. I've had North American visitors who were surprised that they didn't like French andouillette, because they do like Mexican tripas or Cajun tripes. Alas, I don't have any Mexican or Cadien suggestions in France.
Weekend in Paris
France is still a very backwards and macho country in some ways. German women (and many men) are often horrified ... but it can be shocking, even to Italians. A German friend who lives here, when confronted with bullsh*t like this, responds "Monsieur, BITTE SCHOEN, on est dans l'après-68 et je suis une adulte. Merci de faire attention."
We are in fact in the après-68, so a little reminder of such should result in a very quick change of attitude, and you'll be politely treated as an adult.
Red wine -- not burgundy red or rose', but Santa-suit red / lipstick red / fire engine red
No need to get offended. You claim that (good) rosé champagne is not made from blended red and white wines. In fact, it is; since you're not being specific, I will be: Taittinger's rosé is made from a blend of 30% white Chardonnay, and 70% Pinot, of which some portion is made as a white, and some as a red. I assumed you'd never been on the tours of the Champagne houses at Reims because they explain this during the tours there, and it's confirmed on their website here: http://www.taittinger.com/prestige-rose.html
Or maybe you have the tastes of a Chirac or a Mitterand, and consider Taittinger to be dreck. In that case, please tell us what you consider a worthwhile rosé, and how it's made. Otherwise, I'll just repeat the suggestion that you go on a tour again, and listen and ask questions.
Is the "recommended" daily limit (of wine) the same in Europe as in N. America?
Uh, what country are you living in? There are ads on the metro, ads at bus stops, notices in the free newspapers, posters in bars, ads on TV ... against both binge drinking, and passive alcoholism. It doesn't seem to me that there are as many as there were a few years ago, but for example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VM6vZMVxyE
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYzjIKd2GlE
