Paris Day 5 - Hollandaise at Le Cusine Paris

Oct 8, 2010 - Friday

About a month prior to our trip, we booked a cooking class at Le Cuisine Paris, and we are running late for our "poisson du jour" class.  Three girls.  One shower.  Our Paris apartment's bathroom is smaller than most of our closets, but the real challenge is having only one blow dryer, but somehow we manage... we manage to be late.  We hopped on the metro and headed over to Quai de l'Hotel de Ville - (as in Cruella) along the Seine River and it's a beautiful day with blue-blue skies.  We actually ran the couple of blocks from the metro station to the class.  We were greeted by the owner who directed us upstairs.  There were aprons hanging on hooks, so Kellie and I each tied one on, then realized that those were for the instructor's... students wore disposable plastic aprons, like big bibs, my first thought was, I hope we're having lobster... we laughed at each other and ourselves.  The classroom kitchen is pretty spacious for Paris and well lit with a big window looking out onto traffic and beyond to the Seine River.  A small gas cook top at one end of a long work table with plenty of room to prep runs the length of the room.  There's a large wooden table in an alcove with chairs near the big window, and an elderly gentleman enjoying the sunny spot with his newspaper, he had accompanied his wife to the cooking class and was participating in the eating portion of the class, he called it supporting his wife's interest... A narrow bar with bar stools line the length of one wall and more stainless steel with sinks and supplies on the other side with ovens, refrigerator and of course the enviable wall of knives...

The class had already gone through introductions when we arrived, most of the participants were retired travelers from the US or the UK and they were ready to start.  This afternoon's poisson du jour was... drum roll please... saumon (salmon), coming from the Northwest region of the US, salmon is a common fish... I had hoped to learn the technique for Sole Meuniere.  Well, at least it was "saumon avec sauce hollandaise" and since I have not mastered my hollandaise skills, it was not a complete loss. Champignons sautés and tatin aux pommes, bread and wine completed the lesson's menu.

Our instructor, an expat from Chicago had us peeling and chopping apples (for the apple tart tatin) and shallots, and cleaning and trimming three types of mushrooms; oyster, chanterelles, and a dark mushroom that translated as "black trumpet of death" (for the sauteed mushrooms).  I was surprised that she instructed us to plunge the mushrooms in a large bowl of cold water.  I had been told to gently wipe mushrooms with a damp towel, that mushrooms are porous and would absorb the water AND most edible mushrooms are cultivated so you need only to wipe off the dust... well Dorthy, we're not in Kansas anymore, or CA, or OR, well... these must have been foraged in the forest?  The salmon fillets had already been trimmed and pin bones removed, so they were left at peace, no poking or prodding.

 

The instructor demonstrated the caramelization process using powder sugar and butter under the mound of sliced apples, but it didn't caramelize, it gave off a lot of water from the apples, at which point she abandoned the recipe, and started dumping granulated sugar, turned up the heat and the tartin started bubbling and turning golden, you could see the relief on her face, it could have gone either way, tragic if it had scorched.  She topped the apples with pastry, brushed it with an egg wash, tucked in the sides, slid the pan into the oven.  I wondered if we could get everything done in the one and half hour?

Most often, when I go out for breakfast, I order eggs benedict, simply because hollandaise is a pain and I would rather have someone else do it badly, with an exceptions for a few places in Portland, Screen Door being one of them, hollandaise sauce appears to be a problem even for professionals.  I've read lots of recipes and tried several - use a double boiler - don't use a double boiler, use melted butter, use cold butter... you just want to throw up your hands and settle for an omelet.  I wanted to learn a technique not just a recipe.  So I was an eager student for this portion of the lesson and you'll be happy to know I learned a few tips.  First, clarify the butter, a lot of butter, separating the milk solids and water from the butter fat will give the sauce a silky mouth feel and a glossy look (see Harold McGee's "Keys to Good Cooking" or Mark Ruhlman;s, "Ratio" for alternate recipes).  Mix the egg yolks with water on low heat into a fluffy emulsion (sabayon).  Slowly, add the clarified butter, the butter should be hot but not scalding, add just a little, to temper the sabayon, so you don't end up with scrambled eggs, slowly drizzle in the rest of the clarified butter constantly whisking and adding air into the second emulsion.  To finish the sauce, add lemon juice and continue to whisk.  I got the best tip of the day, use direct heat on low but keep your hands around the pot. Whisk the egg yolks and clarified butter, when your hands get too warm, remove the pan from the heat but continue to whisk... Brilliant!  Our hollandaise took 20 minutes of whisking in nonstop figure eights to come together.  Advance warning, it's a process that made a professional-chef-that-teaches-French-cooking-classes-in-English-at-a-Paris-cooking-school SWEAT!  You need muscles on top of muscles, so start the arm workout now.  Find a recipe that appeals to you and try this technique.

The mushrooms were cleaned and trimmed to a uniform size.  Another tip:  BROWN the mushrooms in a large pan with olive oil with salt and pepper, it takes time, but makes a world of difference in flavor, don't overcrowd the pan, it will steam and boil rather than brown and serve right away, once it sits, it gets that wilted - dejected look - not pretty.  I discovered my love of chanterelles in this class. 

 

The salmon fillets were treated simply with some salt and pepper and sauteed in pans with olive oil and finished in the oven.  The apple tart tatin was successfully inverted.  Food was plated, wine was poured and lunch was served.  Le Cusine Paris is a great little cooking school in Paris. It has a fun atmosphere, we learned a few new ticks and when your first drink of the day is wine, well, you just have to love Paris...

My friend Joan is tall (everyone is tall to me) so how tall is this Julia look-alike?

Tweezers-like tool to remove pin bones from fish (available at E. Dehillerin)

Day 4 - Frenchie (not so much)

Oct 7, 2010 Thursday

Paris, the city of love, why am I here with women friends instead of hubby?  To see the marches (markets), and who better to stroll the antique, boutique, gastrononmique, and all other manner of shops, than with amis des femmes (women friends - especially my Kellie and Joan).

Paris, 2004 with hubby, was all about amore... we strolled hand in had down the white graveled walkway of the Jardin des Tuileries with the Eiffel in the distance, and we were humbled by the awe inspiring masterpieces at the Louve and D'Orsay, where I met Mona, Venus and the two Sisters (this one was especially interesting http://ssa.paris.online.fr/pages/LouvrePaintings.htm ), as well as Picasso, Dali and Rodin's smaller ateliers, we were quieted within the candle lit walls of the Notre Dame, Basillica Sacre Coure and Church of Saint-Séverin, we were dwarfed by the palatial grounds and the various apartments of King Louis XIV's Versailles and the halls and rooms where you can still hear the laughter or whisper of the court,  we were impressed with couture shops straight from the runway on Rue St. Honore and Place Vendome, home of Channel's boutique, and we were initiated into the inner sanctum of gourmands at restaurants like Guy Savoy and Taillevent with their gut busting chef's tasting menus, where a cheese platter, is a 2 tiered cart with 25 plus cheeses that is served AFTER dessert and the attendant waits for you at the door of the lady's room to return you to your table - maybe they are afraid of gourmet spies.  That trip instantly turned me into a Franophile; the food, cafes, language, and ease of chic (the last two still elude me).

So, rather than a re-do, I had another game plan, a trip just about the markets, eating, and cooking!  Alright, and a bit of shopping, one museum, one church, but definitely no strolling hand in hand, but sometimes locked arms. 

Luxembourg Garden - east gate entrance at Rue du Fleures

Our route took us through the Luxembourg Garden and around the Pantheon, to Rue Mouffetard.  We started our morning with "the usual" at the cafe stand, and we walked down rue Rennes, just outside of our rented apartment, a large boutique lined boulevard, toward St. Germaine.  We admired one shop after another until we turned onto rue de Assas, the boutique shops quickly turned into luxury apartments, some traditional, some modern, some pristine, some under restoration, but all boasting the the Luxembourg Garden address.  We turned onto a little side street, rue du Fleures, which has an entrance gate to the Luxembourg Gardens, an oasis in the middle of the city, where people come to jog, rest under the large trees, play Boules, sail a boat in the fountains or just sit and watch people go by.  Being October, we expected cloudy, drab weather, but what we got was clear blue skies after the morning clouds lifted... lucky me.

Luxembourg Palace - Home of the French Senate

You emerge from the calm garden and you are immediately assaulted by people and traffic, you want to go back to the tranquil fountains and gardens.  But onward you march to the task at hand, getting to Rue Mouffetard.  Rue Mouffetard is the quintessential Parisian market street in the 6th Arrondisment, tucked behind the shadow of the Pantheon.  It is lined with cafes, bakeries, boutiques, junky souvenir shops - think "made in China",  flower, produce and food markets.  Rue Mouffetard winds down from rue Thouin to rue Censier with a barricade at  rue Calvin to motorist, it's a pedestrian only cobble stone street.  The closeness of the buildings makes the place feel medieval, and the peeling facade adds to the charm.  There are dozens of cafes, and food from all over the world, of course the window for gyros but also Indian, Japanese, and Italian, all compete with bistros and cafes.  Since we had been walking for awhile at this point, we settled into a sidewalk table at a little bistro that had onion soup on their menu.  The soupe à l'oignon tasted of pure beef bone-marrow from the stock that was cooked down for days, it was too rich for our taste, but I appreciated the effort that they put into a simple soup.

Pedestrians only at Rue Calvin and Rue Mouffetard

Pates and terrines

Baked potatoes, cream, and cheese

One of the many produce stalls on Rue Mouffetard

It was worth getting out early to enjoy this market street.  It should be on everyone's Paris must-do list.  At Rue Censier, we hopped on the Metro and headed across the river to Ile Saint-Louis.

Ile Saint Louis is one of the two islands in Paris that is connected to the main land via bridges.  The island is mainly residential with some retail shops, mostly ice cream shops. We walked to 5 Quay d'Anjou, an apartment building along the Seine River. My friend, Joan's grandmother lived there as a young woman. When we returned home, I found out that our friends had stayed  in the same building on their recent trip.  Had we known, we could have toured inside the building, it would have been a thrill to see the inside of the French Grandmother's apartment, but I'm sure just walking in her footsteps was an experience.  We walked along the quay until we reached the shopping area of the inner street.  You cannot be on the this island without sampling their goodies; cookies, ice cream, chocolates, and it is home to two foie gras shops, well.. how many foie gras shops does your island have?  

I stopped at the poste (post office) and dropped off a postcard to my family, when it finally arrived, I was already back home... my five year old son looked at the post card with the Eiffel tower, and asked, "who is it from?"... you have to love him.

You can spend the entire day on this little island, enjoying all the little shops and tasting all sorts of delectable morsels, but beyond the double ice cream, I was saving myself for lunch at Le Cafe Marley, Ina Garten recommended it, and you never question the Barefoot Contessa.

We made a short stop to see the stained glass windows of Saint Chappell located in the Palais de Justice complex on the Ile de la Cité.

Each panes depicts a biblical story

The upper level contains the richly colored stained glass with a bible story on each pane, and with the light coming in, it's beautiful, you can almost hear the angels sing.  There are wooden seats where you can sit and contemplate... the amount of time it would take to clean those windows... which makes me think of food.  Le Cafe Marley is located in the Richelieu wing of the Louve in front of the Pyramid.  A perfect place to sit, sip and stare - ok don't stare, but do enjoy people watching.  We ordered a light Italian inspired meal of prosciutto with fresh melon and Burrata, a loose fresh mozzarella with fresh heirloom tomatoes drizzled with basil oil, served with bread.  I enjoyed a glass of Viognier, a French semi-sweet crisp white wine that paired perfectly with the salty prosciutto.  When things are perfect, it just is.  

From our cafe seats, we admired the pyramid and enjoy the late sun just a few hours before it turns to evening.  

After admiring I. M. Pei's pyramid from the terrace of Le Cafe Marley, we peeled ourselves from the cafe seats to take a look inside.  The pyramid is made of glass segments; 603 rhombus-shaped and 70 triangular glass segments.  The pyramid is said to have 666 glass panes in the Dan Brown's, The DaVinci Code, and the urban myth continues to interest people. 

Making most of the light, we took a stroll in the park, Jardin des Tuileries, from the Louve to the Place de la Concorde, with a pit stop on one of the green chairs around the large fountain.

Even though it was just a short time since our snack at Le Cafe Marley, we were headed to our dinner destination, on foot.  We would hoof it from Place de la Concorde to Frenchie in the 2nd Arrondisment, a restaurant featured on Anthony Bourdain's 100th Episode.  The fixed menu of fresh small plates of two starters and two mains appealed to me and chef, Gregory Marchand, is said to be doing the best cuisine du marché in town, and in this town, that means a lot.  So, we walked and walked and turned, up and down and around, until we found ourselves in what I could only described as "the bad part of town." A dark, small, street, Rue de Nil.  I felt my heart pounding and sweat beading, as I walk into the small - tiny restaurant, we didn't have reservations, although we tried, their answering machine was only in French and according to Madame Elisabeth Bertrand, our apartment owner, she wasn't able to get through either, so we took a chance.  I have to say, I must have looked like a mad-woman.  We had been out all day, since 9 or so in the morning and it was 8 pm, with not so much as lip balm on my lips and after all that walking, well... I'm sure it was not a pretty sight.  The restaurant must have been just opening for dinner service, when I walked in, Kellie and Joan waited outside.  I asked for a table for three, they asked if I had reservations, of course now they speak English!  I said no, this is where I failed.  I should have said YES.  Note: Say YES when you do NOT have reservations but you should have, and when they say that they do not have your name on the list, pretend you do not understand how they could have screwed up and look annoyed, but be properly lipsticked and be in heels so you can look down at the maitre'd, they're not very tall in Paris... instead, I bowed my head and headed out the door.  Well, Chef Gregory, you will never know how much we would have appreciated your food, it would have all been right here...at least two or so paragraphs with photos but when I return, I hope you are still there on your small dark street in your tiny restaurant, Frenchie. 

Frenchie - a wooden sign on Rue de Nil - see how dark it is

Chef Gregory's back

After leaving Rue de Nil a bit deflated, our spirits were lifted when we walked smack into a crowded trendy night life area on Rue Montorgueil, by day a crowded market area and by night, crowds of people going in and out of restaurants and bars.  We walked around until we found a restaurant that appealed to us.  A giant golden snail called out my name, we sat outside and drank wine, ate cheese and bread until our hearts content, chef Gregory who?  

L'Escargot Montorgueil - Founded in 1875