Archive for August, 2012

Meet José Maréchal, Chef and Proprietor of Café Noir

Wednesday, August 29th, 2012
Facebook Twitter Linkedin
Chef José Maréchal

José Maréchal, Chef and Proprietor of Café Noir
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Last month we dined at Café Noir, a restaurant that stands at the intersection of two cobblestone streets in the 20th arrondissement of Paris. Read our review of the restaurant and meet chef and proprietor José Maréchal this month’s Paris Insights newsletter.

Our newsletter is published monthly as a downloadable PDF file. It is available only to paid subscribers for an annual subscription fee of $30.

If you are not a paid subscriber and would like to download the newsletter, please click here. Enter promotional code 11473309154 to receive a $5 discount off the price of an annual subscription.

Bonne lecture…et bon appétit!

* * * * * * *

* * * * * * *

We participate in Wanderfood Wednesdays. Head over there to explore food from around the world!

Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!

Visit to an Apiary – Part IV

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012
Facebook Twitter Linkedin
Talking about Honey

Talking about Honey
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

After our visit to the bee colony, we returned to the area around the beekeepers’ office to hear Madame Bonnet talk about honey.

In the photo above, Madame Bonnet is explaining how honey is extracted from the honeycombs. First the wax caps are cut off the comb to expose the honey (photo to the left of her hand). Then the combs are placed in a centrifuge (photo to which she is pointing). After the honey is extracted, the wax combs can be recuperated.

In general, bees forage within a radius of about 3 km from their hive. The bees from the Saint-Ouen apiary find the following flowers within their foraging range:

dahlia
cosmos
daisy
clover
lime
chestnut
wild rose
blackberry
rose
raspberry
gooseberry
squash
and other flowers…

When they land on a flower, bees use their proboscis to suck up the nectar. They carry it back to the hive and transfer it to other bees. This second group of bees deposits the nectar into the cells of the honeycomb. While the nectar is in their stomachs, proteins and enzymes convert it to honey. After the honey has been deposited in the cells, the bees fan it to evaporate the water, then cap the cells with wax. In short, the honey that we eat is flower nectar that honey bees have collected, regurgitated, and dehydrated.

Rucher de Saint-Ouen - Miel de Fleurs

Rucher de Saint-Ouen – Miel de Fleurs
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

I purchased a 500-gram jar of honey and took it back to our apartment to taste. It is quite fragrant and has a mild, distinctive flavor. Spread on toasted country bread or stirred into yoghurt, it adds a delicious, sweet dimension to our breakfast.

Special thanks go out to the Saint-Ouen tourist office for researching the names of the flowers in the vicinity of the apiary.

* * * * * * *

We participate in Wanderfood Wednesdays. Head over there to explore food from around the world!

* * * * * * *

Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!

Visit to an Apiary – Part III

Tuesday, August 21st, 2012
Facebook Twitter Linkedin
Tom with Bee Hat

Tom with Bee Hat
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

After Madame Bonnet’s presentation of the construction of an unoccupied bee hive, she took us over to the colony to see the bees at work. To prepare us, her assistants passed out bee bonnets to protect our faces. Madame Bonnet told us that bees are attracted to the breath as well as to perfume. I was glad that I hadn’t splashed on my morning after-shave.

Some of the visitors declined to don bonnets. Brave souls were they!

Observing the Hive

Observing the Hive
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Madame Bonnet gave lots of fascinating information about bees. She talked about caste hierarchy in the hive. The queen bee spends her day laying eggs in the hexagonal cells of the combs that the worker bees have built. Worker bees—all female—buzz within the hive creating a draft that maintains a constant temperature in the brood chamber (around 35°C – 37°C). This permits the eggs to develop. The workers perform many other tasks, including gathering nectar and pollen.

Drone bees are male bees that develop from infertile eggs. Their main task is to mate with the queen, and they do little else. While this sounds like the good life for a male, there are two drawbacks. The first is that a successful coupling with the queen leads to the death of the drone. The second is that surviving drones are driven out of the hive and left to die at the end of the mating season. Nature can be cruel…sorry, fellows!

Tending the Hive

Tending the Hive
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Madame Bonnet opened up one of the hives so that we could see the bees at work. A sheet of rigid, clear plastic prevented the bees from flying out and allowed us to peer in.

Bee-keeper Office

Beekeepers’ Office
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

After Madame Bonnet’s presentation, we walked back to the beekeepers’ office. A tent and a table had been set up nearby so that we could sample honey.

Tomorrow…a taste of honey!

* * * * * * *

Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!

Visit to an Apiary – Part II

Sunday, August 19th, 2012
Facebook Twitter Linkedin
Displaying hive

Displaying the Hive
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Following her introductory remarks, Annie-Claude Bonnet took us over to an unoccupied bee hive that the association uses to demonstrate the art of beekeeping. The hive consists of one or more wooden boxes stacked on top of one another. Within each box are frames that hold the wax foundations upon which the bees build hexagonal wax cells. These cells eventually contain larvae and stores of honey and pollen.

In the photo above, Madame Bonnet is showing an empty frame that has wires strung across it. These wires support a sheet of beeswax that the beekeeper places there. The sheet has an imprinted hexagonal pattern that provides a foundation upon which honeycomb cells are built.

Sheet of Beeswax with Hexagonal Pattern

Sheet of Beeswax with Hexagonal Pattern
Photo by Waugsberg from Wikimedia Commons

When it is time to harvest the honey, the beekeeper withdraws the honey-laden frame from the hive, removes the wax covering that the bees have created to protect the honey-filled cells, and places the frame in a centrifuge. The centrifuge extracts the honey without damaging the comb. It can be reinserted into the hive.

The combs in which the bees store their honey are not the same combs in which they raise their larvae. Only the combs containing honey are removed. The beekeeper leaves the combs that contain larvae intact, thus preserving the life of the colony.

Tuesday…we visit an active bee hive.

* * * * * * *

Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!

Visit to an Apiary – Part I

Saturday, August 18th, 2012
Facebook Twitter Linkedin
Rucher Audonien Pédagogique

Rucher Audonien Pédagogique
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

On Friday, August 10, I joined a local group visiting an apiary in the nearby town of Saint-Ouen. The visit was organized by the Saint-Ouen tourist office and the Rucher Audonien Pédagogique, an association of bee lovers whose mission is to educate the general public about the world of bees. The apiary is located on an isolated plot of land next to a cemetery—an ideal place to raise bees.

Annie-Claude Bonnet

Annie-Claude Bonnet
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Annie-Claude Bonnet gave our group a presentation about bees and beekeeping. She knows a lot about bees and was happy to share her knowledge with us. She told us that the apiary has twelve bee hives that produced 450 kg of honey last year. She told us another thing about the harvesting of bee products that I had never considered before: the association does not harvest royal jelly or pollen, because that would be detrimental to the bee colony.

I also learned that the association is cognizant of the importance of this insect in the environment. Their maxim is “The bee protects the earth.”

Tomorrow…we take a look inside a bee hive.

* * * * * * *

Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!

Who is That Masked Man?

Friday, August 17th, 2012
Facebook Twitter Linkedin
Tom with Bee Hat

Tom with Bee Hat
Photo by www.DiscoverParis.net

Why, it’s none other than our intrepid reporter on his way to another story. The last time we saw him he was stumbling onto the dock from a boat where he had tasted six wines. Only small sips, mind you!

Tune in tomorrow for more adventure!

* * * * * * *

Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!

Our Intrepid Reporter Steps Ashore

Wednesday, August 15th, 2012
Facebook Twitter Linkedin
Emerging onto Dry Land

Emerging onto Dry Land
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

We recently learned that a barge makes bimonthly trips to Paris to sell wine that is produced around L’Yonne, a French administrative département that lies to the southeast of the city. Heedless of the dangers of sipping wine on a rocking boat, our intrepid reporter visited the barge to taste six different wines. Emerging unscathed from the experience, he wrote an article about how it is now possible to purchase wine from this vessel when it docks along the canal in the City of Light. Read about this unique dockside wine cellar in this month’s Paris Insights, our monthly newsletter.

To view a preview of the newsletter, click here.

Our newsletter is published monthly as a downloadable PDF file. It is available only to paid subscribers for an annual subscription fee of $30.

If you are not a paid subscriber and would like to download the newsletter, please click here. Enter promotional code 11473309154 to receive a $5 discount off the price of an annual subscription.

Bonne Lecture!

* * * * * * *

We participate in Wanderfood Wednesdays. Head over there to explore food from around the world!

* * * * * * *

Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!

Memorial to Django Reinhardt

Saturday, August 11th, 2012
Facebook Twitter Linkedin
Memorial to Django Reinhardt

Memorial to Django Reinhardt
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

This column, called a Morris column, stands at place Django Reinhardt in the 18th arrondissement. Bearing the name of this famous jazz guitarist, the column and the place were inaugurated on January 21, 2010 in his memory.

In the July edition of our Paris Insights newsletter, I wrote about Reinhardt and the café in the adjoining town of Saint-Ouen that is dedicated to the type of music that he played.

To view a preview of the newsletter, click here.

Paris Insights is published monthly as a downloadable PDF file. It is available only to paid subscribers for an annual subscription fee of $30.

If you are not a paid subscriber and would like to download the newsletter, please click here. Enter promotional code 11473309154 to receive a $5 discount off the price of an annual subscription.

Bonne lecture!

* * * * * * *

Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!

Tasting Powdered Fruit

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012
Facebook Twitter Linkedin
Background: tray of dried fruits  Foreground: powdered fruits - clockwise from upper left: orange, mango, lemon, strawberry

Background: tray of dried fruits
Foreground: powdered fruits
Clockwise from upper left: orange, mango, lemon, strawberry

Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Last May we stopped by Nabil Debabha’s shop on Ile Saint-Louis where we tasted an assortment of his delicious dried fruits, nuts, and Oriental sweets. On Sunday, I stopped by again and learned that he has a new product, powdered fruit. It comes in four flavors: strawberry, lemon, orange, and mango. I took home a sample of strawberry to try.

By itself, the powdered strawberry tastes slightly tart. At Nabil’s suggestion, we added it to tea and yoghurt. We brewed a cup of English breakfast tea and added a tablespoon of the powder. It does, indeed, produce a pleasant strawberry-flavored tea. Added to yoghurt, it transforms the product into an agreeable strawberry-flavored dessert. In both cases, we added sweetener, which we found necessary to bring out the flavor.

Display of Dried Fruits

Display of Dried Fruits including Mango, Sour Cherry, Kiwi, and Pineapple
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

As well as the powdered product, Nabil gave me a sample of his dried fruits. I particularly enjoyed mango, but I also tasted pineapple, kiwi, strawberry, as well as other fruits. All of them are fun to snack on!

Nabil Debabha

Nabil Debabha
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Nabil’s shop is located on Ile Saint-Louis at 1, rue des Deux Ponts. His telephone number is 07.60.09.85.21. He is open seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. There is no name on the store front. Just look for the display of fruits, nuts, and sweets in the window!

* * * * * * *

We participate in Wanderfood Wednesdays. Head over there to explore food from around the world!

* * * * * * *

Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!

New Discover Paris! Video

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012
Facebook Twitter Linkedin

In February 2011 we were invited to participate in a travel series that will soon be launched by RPP Productions. In exchange for contributing our expertise on Paris, the studio promised to produce a promotional video for us. The filming took place at the famous Café Tournon and the Luxembourg Garden. Click on the image below to view!

We wish to thank Stephen Mann and Amanda Rogers of RPP Productions, as well as Anna Bromwich and Bryan Pirolli for their efforts.

* * * * * * *

Like our blog? Join us on Facebook!