An American woman I met this week has set herself a budget of 20 euros a day. Meanwhile, I spent that much on candy. It seems to be a theme for this trip: what tiny amount of what tempting food stuff can I buy for a whopping 20 euros? First it was the petit sac of chocolate-covered candied orange peel. Then it was the Spanish ham (direct from the leg of an acorn-fed pig) that, once wrapped up in cello and paper, seemed to weigh as much as a carte postale, and which I ate in one sitting, with a baguette. Today, I dropped a solid 20 euros at L'Etoile d'Or, a little candy shop in Pigalle with a famous (in foodie circles) proprietess, Denise Acabo, who bustles around the 20 or so square feet of her shop chattering a mile a minute. One bag of "CBS" (caramels-beurre-sel) and one high-end bar of dark chocolate mixed with ground-up pralined hazelnuts, and my wallet was that much lighter.
I do want to note that I have not eaten all these treats that I've bought. Not even I am capable of that, so my kitchen is well-stocked now with candies, financiers, chocolate cake, sablés, and orangettes.
For your consideration:
ReplyDeleteThere is a restaurant called Il Etait une Oie dans le Sud-Ouest in Paris which specializes in dishes like cassoulet and foie gras from Southwest France. My daughter and I had a selection of several types of foie gras (hey, I didn’t know there was more than one either) with a perfectly matched wine. One of the most memorable meals of my life.
http://en.parisinfo.com/paris-restaurants/7262/il-etait-une-oie-dans-le-sud-ouest
thank you! I'll look for it -- can never get enough cassoulet, especially if confit du canard is involved.
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