March 2013 - Paris Insights - The Blog Paris Insights

Archive for March, 2013

She’s a Fan!

Thursday, March 28th, 2013

Wasabi from Taiwan
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

During the chocolate tasting that I blogged about yesterday, a young woman stepped into the store. Her name is Wasabi, and she is from Taiwan. She told me that she is studying art in Florence.

I asked her if she was in Paris during her spring break and she replied affirmatively. She also told me that she was traveling alone. Her response greatly impressed me because so many people refuse to travel because they are afraid to travel by themselves and don’t have anyone to travel with. Here was a young, soft-spoken woman who didn’t seem at all perturbed by the idea of traveling solo in a foreign country. Even more amazing (to my mind, at least), she told me that she doesn’t speak French! She had come upon the chocolate shop full of people conversing in French and stepped right in. She speaks English quite well, and seems to get around fine in that language.

Will her story inspire those who yearn to travel but are afraid to travel alone?

After she purchased some chocolates, I asked her if I could take a photo of her and put it on Facebook. She held up my business card when I took the shot. She’s a fan!

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Tags: solo travel
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Autrement Chocolat by Christophe Potel

Wednesday, March 27th, 2013

Last Thursday evening Maire-Hélène Gantois of Mococha, our favorite chocolate shop on rue Mouffetard, held an open-house chocolate tasting at her store. She invited Christophe Potel of Autrement Chocolat, a producer of chocolate confections in the nearby town of Colombes, to present his designer chocolates.

Christophe Potel and Marie-Hélène Gantois

Christophe Potel of Autrement Chocolat
Marie-Hélène Gantois of Mococha
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

“Designer” is the appropriate word to use here, because Potel earned a degree in design from the Ecole Supérieure de Design Industriel and then went on to work for Dior (fashion), Christofle (tableware), Cartier (jewelry), and Léonard (fashion). After a number of years he decided that his true calling was in chocolate, so he founded his own confection company. To learn his new trade he studied with Jérôme Lespinay, the former chief of production for chocolatier Patrice Chapon.

Potel makes several kinds of chocolates, including Tubos (tubes), Amulettes (matchsticks), and Tablettes (tablets). The ones that we tasted that evening were Tubos, which look like lipstick containers.

There are fifteen different flavors of Tubo. Each is identified by a distinctive pattern that is stamped on the end of the tube. Potel proclaims that the tube of chocolate can be cut into pieces and shared with friends, which is an advantage to choosing Tubos over other forms.

My preferred was the Caramel Beurre Salé Liquide, liquid salty caramel enrobed in dark-chocolate. Contrary to the other flavors, this one cannot be cut into smaller portions because the sticky caramel is immediately released and makes a mess. After the tasting, it took only two bites to consume the sample that I brought home. No cutting and sharing here! I enjoyed the rich, heavenly-sweet butterscotch flavor as it oozed out of the chocolate tube. Sublime!

Another flavor that I enjoyed was the Ganache Mojito, made of dark chocolate, mint, lime, and rum.

One of the products that Potel has developed (and patented) is a carrousel for producing shaved chocolate. Although the advantage of shaved chocolate is not immediately obvious, Potel’s associate Céline Barbe told me that the “flowers” that are created can be served with espresso, or can be used to decorate cakes, ice cream, and other desserts. And here is another way to share chocolate with friends: place the carrousel in the middle of the table and let each guest cut a shaving for himself/herself.

Not content with just designing chocolate tubes, matchsticks, tablets, and a carrousel, Potel has created a chocolate origami chicken for Easter. Marie-Hélène brought it out to show to us, but alas! we didn’t get a chance to taste it.

Chocolats Mococha
89, rue Mouffetard
75005 Paris
Tel.: 01.47.07.13.66
Métro: Censier Daubenton (Line 7)

Open Tuesday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Christophe Potel’s chocolates will be for sale at Mococha until June 30.

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Tags: Autrement Chocolat, Mococha
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Swedish Products at the Paris Cookbook Fair

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

Assortment of Swedish Foods
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

The Festival du Livre Culinaire was held from February 22 – 24 this year at the Carrousel du Louvre. While there I had the opportunity to visit the Husmansbord stand. The folks there had lots of Swedish food on display, and I got a chance to taste some. What a treat!

Fläder
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

The first product was a soft drink called Fläder, which means “elder” in English. Sweet and refreshing, it was a carbonated elderflower beverage that tasted somewhat like lychee and pear.

Hjortronsylt
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

I was given a jar of hjortronsylt (cloudberry jam) to take home and try. The jam had a golden color and contained lots of seeds and cloudberry pulp. It was intensely sweet and tasted mild like honey from the flowers of a meadow. I tried it with Scottish oatcakes and Minimunk cheese (described below) and found that it went well with both.

Minimunk
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

And speaking of Minimunk cheese, I was given a portion to take home to try. This cheese has been produced from cow’s milk from farms within a 2 1/2 mile radius of the dairy. Aged at least 22 months, it contains 31% fat. The producer claims that it is a powerful cheese with fully-developed flavor, but having tasted French cheeses whose odors almost knocked me backward, I judged it to be fairly mild. Its taste was buttery and tangy at the same time. When I cut into it, it crumbled and flaked. I enjoyed it with cloudberry jam and also tried it with Majsknäcke (described below).

Majsknäcke
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Majsknäcke means corn crispbread in Swedish. These were very dry rounds of wholegrain corn and wheat flour that had been baked in a wood-fired oven. They had lots of crunch. I could taste the corn, but it wasn’t predominant. The crackers make an excellent accompaniment to the Minimunk and provide a crunchy counterpoint to the soft cheese.

Affären, a Swedish food store in Paris sells a wide variety of Swedish specialties, although they may not have these specific products. Call them to inquire!

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Tags: Affären, Festival du Livre Culinaire, Fläder, Hjortronsylt, Majsknäcke, Minimunk, Paris Cookbook Fair, Sweden
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The Big Bang Boom Bloggers’ Meet-up and Tweeps’ Tweet-up Is Now History

Thursday, March 14th, 2013

Mary Kay Bosshart – Adrian Leeds – Rosemary Kneipp – Tom Reeves – Lisa Rankin – Thomas Butler – Donna Morris – Marie Gantois
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

The Big Bang Boom Bloggers’ Meet-up and Tweeps’ Tweet-up is now history, and what an event it was! Bloggers and tweeps braved freezing weather and icy streets on Tuesday evening to attend the social mixer that we hosted at the Caveau Montpensier. A big thank-you goes out to Jeb, the owner, for providing space for us to meet, and to Priscila Pilon (Weekend in Paris) and Forest Collins (52 Martinis) for their invaluable advice and suggestions about how to organize this event.

Thomas Butler - Elizabeth Milovidov - Niki Borofski jpg

Thomas Butler – Elizabeth Milovidov – Niki Borofski
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

The event was a great opportunity for people to come together, renew old acquaintances, and to make new ones! The following persons attended:

Donna Morris Best Friend in Paris
Mary Kay Bosshart Out and About in Paris @OutInParisBlog
Marie Gantois Mococha Chocolats @MocochaChocolat
Tony Paschall Union of Overseas Voters @WeVoteAbroad
Niki Borofski Global Potential @globalpotential
Andrea Carroll Paris Really @ParisReally
Thomas Butler Localers
Rosemary Kneipp Aussie in France @RosemaryKneipp
Lisa Rankin Flavors of Paris @flavorsofparis
Elizabeth Milovidov Crossing Guard Consulting @crossing_guard
Adrian Leeds Adrian Leeds @adrianleeds
Tara Byrne Cook’n with Class @Cooknwithclass
Monique Y. Wells Discover Paris! @MoniqueinParis
Tom Reeves Discover Paris! @TomReevesParis

Andrea Carroll and Donna Morris
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Elizabeth Milovidov with Chocolate Sculpture
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

The big attraction for the evening—and probably the real reason why people showed up in spite of the freezing weather—was the chance to win a scale-model chocolate statue of Auguste Rodin’s La Danaïde made by chocolatier Jean-Charles Rochoux. Elizabeth correctly identified the statue from the intriguing image of its fesses (buttocks) that we posted on our Web site two weeks before the event. Congratulations, Elizabeth!

Chocolate Replica of La Danaïde by Auguste Rodin
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

The giveaway was timed to promote the launch of our exciting new game called Guess the Fesses—it is an online quiz that tests your knowledge of sculptures that grace the Paris landscape. Designed to be fun, the correct answers are revealed immediately after each guess. At the end of the quiz, if you want to learn more about the sculptures, you can take our free virtual tour of Paris!

Guess the Fesses
Mystery Fesses N° 1
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Now that your interest is piqued, click here to begin!

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Tags: Bloggers' meet-up, Guess the Fesses, Tweeps tweet-up
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Tasting Cupcakes at the Paris Cookbook Fair

Wednesday, March 13th, 2013

The Festival du Livre Culinaire was held from February 22 – 24 this year at the Carrousel du Louvre. There were publishers from around the world displaying their culinary books and non-stop conferences and cooking demonstrations for three days.

Alisa Morov
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

The first demonstration on Saturday featured Alisa Morov, an American who moved from Los Angeles to Paris in 2002 to found Sweet Pea Baking. Alisa showed the audience how to bake cupcakes. This may sound easy, but according to Alisa, it can be frustrating if you don’t combine the ingredients properly. Baking is chemistry, and Alisa explained how to do it correctly.

Sifting the Flour
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Alisa said that some people who buy her cupcake cookbook (Sensational Cupcakes, Simon and Schuster, UK) complain that they don’t get good results. She said this is because they combine all of the ingredients at once, rather than following the step-by-step instructions. The trick is to combine the ingredients in stages so that they get a chance to react with one another chemically. And here was her big tip: use real buttermilk in the cupcakes, not a buttermilk substitute, such as regular milk mixed with lemon juice. Buttermilk, she said, is one of the ingredients that helps the cake rise.

View from TV Camera
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

And so we watched as she added flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, real vanilla, eggs, butter, buttermilk…all in the correct order…

Putting Batter into the Cups – TV View
www.DiscoverParis.net

…and then put the batter into the cupcake pan and pop the pan into the oven. Each cup was lined with a paper cupcake liner. Alisa said that cupcake liners are not necessary with modern non-stick pans, but that people like to peel the paper liner off their cupcake…it’s like opening a gift!

Squeezing Frosting from the Pastry Bag
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Then she made buttercream frosting and squeezed the frosting from a pastry bag onto a batch of cupcakes that had already been made (the other cupcakes were still in the oven)…

Cupcakes by Alisa Morov
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

…and distributed them. We each got one!

The cupcake tasted rich and buttery. It had wonderful flavor but was too rich for my taste. Alisa staunchly defends the use of butter and heavy cream in her cupcakes and frostings, and she made comments during her presentation indicating that these products are not meant to be diet food. I found myself wondering why, in this era when Americans are becoming alarmingly obese from eating fat-filled and sugary foods, Alisa appears to blithely ignore the dangers that fat and sugar pose to health…clogged arteries and diabetes…just to name two.

As is true for everything, moderation is key to consuming these cupcakes—particularly if you have a weakness for sweet and buttery baked goods!

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Tags: Alisa Morov, Festival du Livre Culinaire, Paris Cookbook Fair, Sweet Pea Baking
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A Fashion Cruise along the Canals of Paris

Sunday, March 10th, 2013

Our Boat
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

On Saturday, March 2 I stepped aboard a boat for a fashion cruise down the central canal of Paris. Organized by Seine-Saint-Denis Tourisme the 3½-hour cruise was an opportunity to learn about the history of the textile industry along the canal as well as listen to two presentations about fabric design and watch a parade of fashions created by a young designer.

Patrick Bezzaloto
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Our boat left a dock in the town of Pantin and proceeded southward along the Canal de l’Ourcq towards Paris. Along the way, architect and historian Patrick Bezzaloto gave running commentary about the industrial buildings that we passed by. For example, he pointed out the blanchisserie Elis, a company that furnishes uniforms for the hotel and restaurant industry, and the usine Lefaux that once manufactured jute bags used for packaging agricultural products.

Alice Laroche
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Next, fabric designer Alice Laroche gave a demonstration of serigraph printing, a method of using a stencil to apply ink onto fabric. Some of her clients include Maison Georgette (accessories and decoration), Tout Compte Fait (children’s wear), LeSportsac (handbag, luggage, and accessories), Obaïbi (infant wear), and Leroy Merlin (home improvement).

Caroline de Tugny
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Textile designer Caroline de Tugny gave a talk about her work in creating period costumes for the cinema. She has worked for such productions as Le Pacte des Loups by Christophe Gans, Le Parfum by Jean-Jacques Annaud, and Potiche by François Ozon. She is currently working on Luc Besson’s new film Malavita.

After the boat passed through the Bassin de la Villette, we entered into the Canal Saint Martin. At that point the fashion show began. Models paraded down the central isle of the boat wearing the latest designs by 19-year-old stylist Fahaid Sanober.

Fahaid Sanober and His Models
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

Of Pakistani and Moroccan origin, Sanober hails from the nearby town of La Courneuve. He became interested in fashion at the age of 14 when he saw a show on television of the fashion designs of John Galliano. He declares that he finds inspiration in strong, independent women who made an impact in history, such as Josephine Baker and Bonnie Parker.

Following the fashion show, our boat docked at the Port de l’Arsenal, just south of Place de la Bastille. It was a fascinating excursion!

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Tags: Alice Laroche, Canal de l'Ourcq, Canal Saint Martin, Caroline de Tugny, Fahaid Sanober, Patrick Bezzaloto, Port de l'Arsenal, Seine-Saint-Denis Tourisme
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Sacred Music Concerts at Notre Dame Cathedral
By A.D. McKenzie

Thursday, March 7th, 2013

Lionel Sow
Director of Notre Dame Choir

Notre Dame Cathedral is celebrating its 850th anniversary with a year of “sacred music” concerts that run until December of this year.

The world’s most famous church traces its history back to 1163 when construction first began, and music has always been a part of its tradition, says Lionel Sow, head of the Notre Dame Choir and artistic director of the sacred music project.

“We’re having 25 concerts this season and the public will get to explore this rich tradition of ancient music,” he told Paris Insights.

Starting with polyphony and covering music up to the 20th century, the concerts include various orchestras in joint projects with the choir. Leading soloists will also be performing a variety of pieces.

This week, the acclaimed Chamber Orchestra of Paris (OCP) performed Haydn’s “The Creation,” conducted by Thomas Zehetmair and featuring soprano Sophie Karthäuser, tenor Werner Güra, and bass baritone Matthew Brook.

The OCP said that Haydn’s masterpiece oratorio is a “true celebration and glorification of the universe” and that the work was “at home” under the “celestial vaults” of the cathedral. The soaring voices of 60 singers from the Notre Dame Choir added to the uplifting pull of the 18th century composition, which was written for orchestra, choir, and soloists.

Sow says that the choir is not only presenting known works but that it also wants to help the public to “re-discover” rare or unjustly forgotten repertoires such as “La Vierge” oratorio by French composer Jules Massenet, which retells the story of the Virgin Mary.

The cathedral’s recently renovated grand organ will also have a starring role when Notre Dame’s small and select group of organists show off their talents during the year of celebration. On March 19th, Johann Vexo will present works by Franck, Dupré, Duruflé, and Vierne, while on May 28th, the organ recital will be by Olivier Latry, who is also a professor at the Conservatoire de Paris.

The public will get to see the relationship between music and architecture when the church’s acoustic qualities are put to good use for Gregorian chants, Pentecostal music, and a performance by Les Sacqueboutiers, an award-winning brass ensemble from Toulouse that focuses on early music.

The year began with Claudio Monteverdi’s Les Vêpres à la Vierge (Vespers for the Blessed Virgin) and will end in December with a specially commissioned work of the same name by Rome-born French composer Philippe Hersant. This will comprise the full Notre Dame Choir, Les Sacqueboutiers, two organs, and several soloists for a “truly dazzling sound,” promises conductor Sow.

We wish to thank A. D. McKenzie, a Paris-based author and journalist, for her contribution to the Paris Insights blog.

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Tags: Lionel Sow, Notre Dame Cathedral, sacred music
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By A.D. McKenzie

Paris Insights Monthly Newsletter – The Man Who Paints Paris

Friday, March 1st, 2013

Jean-Charles Decoudun
Photograph by www.DiscoverParis.net

When Jean-Charles Decoudun was a young man, he didn’t dream about becoming a painter. Today, his paintings are exhibited in an art gallery in Paris and some of his best clients are tourists. Read about how his passion for painting evolved in this month’s Paris Insights.

To view a preview of our 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!

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Tags: Jean-Charles Decoudun, painting, watercolor
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Paris Insights - The Blog

Archive for March, 2013

She’s a Fan!

Autrement Chocolat by Christophe Potel

Swedish Products at the Paris Cookbook Fair

The Big Bang Boom Bloggers’ Meet-up and Tweeps’ Tweet-up Is Now History

Tasting Cupcakes at the Paris Cookbook Fair

A Fashion Cruise along the Canals of Paris

Sacred Music Concerts at Notre Dame Cathedral
By A.D. McKenzie

Paris Insights Monthly Newsletter – The Man Who Paints Paris

Subscribe to Paris Insights – The Blog

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