Paris Journal 2011 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com

Photos and thoughts about Paris

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The 16^th arrondissement, especially the southwestern half of it, is quiet and calm. Too calm, Tom says. We walked the full length of the avenue Emile Zola to reach the Pont Mirabeau and crossed over to the 16^th, where we walked around in what had once upon a time been the village of Auteuil. (The other end of the 16^th, to the northeast, was once the village of Passy.) The old church was not open for visits on a Monday, but we’ve seen it before. Tom was not aware of the huge retirement facility near it until he caught a glimpse through the facility’s gate. I showed him on the map how large it is – the Maison de Retraite Rossini. The place was established in 1889 with a legacy from the composer Rossini’s widow. Its main purpose was to serve old French and Italian writers. It was reconstructed as a hospital in the 1980s. While looking at the map, I noticed that there was supposed to be another church nearby, on rue François Gérard, called Sainte Trinité. I couldn’t remember ever seeing it, so we walked over to that little street. I could not find the church! We retraced our steps. It was supposed to be next to a complex called Square Henri Pate. While Square Henri Pate is very nice indeed, with a big central garden and apartments that sell for over 9,000 euros per square meter, the building next to it was an ugly, undistinguished 1960s thing – not a church at all. I stood across the street from it, staring, until finally I noticed that a yellow piece of paper had been taped to the glass door at the street level. Sure enough, it announced that the Sainte Trinité Russian Catholic Church meets in the basement. Mystery solved. We walked back into the 15^th enjoyed the activity level. The 15^th has everything you need; the 16^th is a little on the short end of service businesses and useful retail. Everything you need, indeed. I needed Indian food yesterday. I announced to Tom that I wanted to go to Banani, my favorite Parisian Indian restaurant, in the evening. He readily agreed. We dressed up a little because the ambiance of Banani is elegant. Arriving just shortly after the resto opened for the evening, we were given a great little table by the window. We were tended to by a couple of the servers, who were somewhat formally dressed, as always. The first thing that happens at Banani is that a server brings you a couple small glasses of complementary rosé wine, with a bit of lemon and an ice cube in each. With that comes a papadam. I knew what I wanted – lamb korma. The only question was what to get for starter courses. We decided upon a cheese nan and an order of oignons bhaja (red onion beignets). Instead of the basmati rice, we decided on the fancier Kashmiri rice (adorned with butter, saffron, and dried fruits) to go with the korma. A server brought the typical three condiments – one savory (a yogurt & herb concoction), one sweet (fruit-based chutney), as one hot as all get out (pepper chutney). I like the hot one the best. So unusual it is to be able to order something this hot and spicy in France. Many Indian restaurants in France tone down the spiciness of the food because of French tastes. The French like subtle flavors, and so do I, but I also like super-hot, spicy food sometimes. The hot concoction at Banani last night was great. The server later was surprised at how much of it I consumed. It was not what he expected. The cheese nan was delicious. The korma was out of this world. It was, perhaps, the best I’ve ever had. At any rate, it was right up there with the korma of the Indian Oven in Columbus, Ohio. Now Banani’s restaurant menu tells us that the korma is a speciality of the house. They have every right to make that claim. Their korma is very special. There was no way we could eat dessert with this feast, so Tom just had a decaffeinated espresso, and we were on our way after being profuse in our thanks. But as we were getting ready to go, a large, extended Indian family was arriving – many of them crowded in a gleaming, new black minivan. The men looked like they were very successful. The women were well-nourished. The kids were well-behaved and adorable. The family was given a dining room off to the side. They easily filled it up. That is a very good sign – to see a family such as this one dining at an Indian restaurant. In the other dining room off to the other side was another group – I’d say about six people. They were speaking English with the servers. But at least one of them, a woman, spoke with an Indian or Pakistani accent. While the official language of India is Hindi, there is plenty of English spoken there, and there are also all of the following languages: Assamese ·Bengali ·Bodo ·Chhattisgarhi ·Dogri ·Garo · Gujarati ·Standard Hindi · Kannada ·Kashmiri ·Khasi · Kokborok · Konkani ·Maithili ·Malayalam ·Manipuri ·Marathi ·Mizo · Nepali ·Oriya ·Punjabi ·Sanskrit ·Santali · Sindhi ·Tamil ·Telugu ·Urdu. So I guess it is possible that the woman spoke a different language from the servers, and so she had to rely on her English to communicate with them. I think that the cuisine found in India and Pakistan can vary regionally just as the languages spoken do. Korma, in particular, is found in India and Pakistan, and originated as a result of Mughal invasions into what is now northern India and Pakistan, back in the 16^th century. Today’s korma is a thick cream-based curry sauce that can often have cashews or almonds or even coconut in it. A surprise ingredient in last night’s korma were a few chunks of apple! The cooking process is long and slow – and somewhat complicated. The lamb used by Banani is top-notch. And it was braised to tender perfection. There seem to be two schools of thought about the spiciness of korma. Some think it can be spicy; others think it should never be spicy. I can go either way on this debate. The korma at Banani is not too spicy. But if you want to spice it up, you could add some of that pepper concoction to it. I was very happy as we walked home through our neighborhood. I got exactly what I wanted, and oh was it ever GOOD! Sign my guestbook. View my guestbook. Note: For addresses & phone numbers of restaurants in this journal, click here.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011 The garden at the Rodin Museum. ← Previous Next →