Paris Journal 2011 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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I should have given you all fair notice: September 17 and 18 are the Journées du Patrimoine, or Heritage Days, in Europe. Here in Paris that means that many places are open for us to visit – places that normally are not open to the public. We take advantage of the opportunity, and we suddenly become tourists on steroids. It is now 5PM and we’ve been going at it all day. Finally, we came home and Tom collapsed into a nap, while I put my feet up and propped the laptop on my lap (so that’s why they’re called “laptops”!). This morning I did manage to process my photos from yesterday, but the Heritage Days photos will have to wait until I have time to deal with them. Maybe tomorrow, maybe Monday. So let’s go back to yesterday . . . . We walked all the way down to Parc Georges Brassens, pausing along the way to look at this and that. At the park, we entered through the area that is used as an outdoor book and stamp market one or two days a week. The park itself is on the site of an old abattoir (slaughterhouse). The park and the entire area around it are teaming with families with kids. It is the Great Land of Fecundity. The French government pays their citizens to have kids. Did you know that? Still, the rate of fecundity is not what the government had hoped for. I’ll tell you, though, the lower part of the 15th arrondissement is doing more than its share, it seems. Kids, kids, everywhere! We finally made it to dinner at L’Oie Cendrée, on rue Labrouste. Just before we arrived there, we discovered a wholesale seafood market off the rue de L’Harmonie, by the railroad tracks that lead up to the great Montparnasse train station. The chef, yet another Olivier (Andreys is the last name) greeted us as we arrived at his tiny restaurant, which he runs entirely by himself. That reminded me of the old days when we dared to frequent Le Beau Violet, run by old Roger, all by himself. Olivier does seem to be a new, younger version of Roger. But where Roger’s cuisine was/is Corsican, Olivier’s is from the Perigord. It is, as my friend Lennie describes it, “rustic.” But that is to say “rustic” in a good, country sort of way. Besides Lennie’s recommendation, I also have been researching restaurants that specialize in Andouillette AAAAA. L’Oie Cendrée popped up in the searches. Because the place is so tiny, reservations are essential. We had one. We were the first to arrive, so we had Olivier’s full attention when we ordered. I was disappointed to see that the Andouillette was not on the menu. I asked Olivier about it, and he said not to worry, that he always keeps some on hand because people ask for it – especially young Japanese women. It must be on their list of things they must try in order to say they have had multi-cultural experiences. Good for them! Olivier recommended the Andouillette, and it was nice not to have the server or Patron ask me if I am sure I know what I’m doing when I order Andouillette. He acted like it was a perfectly reasonable, even a smart thing to do. Whew. I went with his recommendation for the starter course, which was a salad with a cranberry vinaigrette, garnished with a little of this and a little of that from the Perigord: smoked duck breast slices, rillettes of goose, etc. It was delicious. Tom started with a salad with lardons – little smoked ham bits – and it, too, was delicious. His main course was duck breast, which was served like a small roast, not sliced. When my Andouillette arrived, Olivier asked me if I wanted mustard, and he tried to use the English word for it, but I didn’t understand him with his accent. I was trying to figure out what French word he was saying, and then I said “Ah! Moutarde! Oui! Merci.” But actually Olivier does do a fairly decent job of speaking English. He said when he was younger, he had several friends who were from other parts of the world, and they all used English to communicate. Ah bon! While we ate, Olivier took and cooked orders for others (all Parisians, of course), but he took time at one point to come out and ask us about the English words for Andouillette. He said, “It is chitterlings, isn’t it?” Whereupon Tom, who is from South Carolina originally, said, “It is chittlins.” And I said, “Well, the British would say ‘chitterlings,’ yes.” Well, to be clear: it is tripe sausage made with pork or veal chitterlings, seasonings, wine, onion. In French cuisine, it is not spicy. In Cajun cuisine, it is spicy. The AAAAA stands for the name of an association which
judges Andouillette. The French Wikipedia says: « L'Association
amicale des amateurs d'andouillette authentique délivre son diplôme aux
producteurs qui produisent avec régularité des andouillettes de grande
qualité. » Translation : The Friendly Association of Lovers of Authentic Andouillette delivers its diploma to the producers who regularly produce Andouillettes of great quality. So it is like a sort of Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for Andouillettes. And that means that if you make Andouillettes outside of France, they cannot be AAAAA, because there is no AAAAA other than in France, I believe, to issue its approval. Because of the nature of what Andouillette is made from, I wouldn’t go with anything other than AAAAA in France. But if someone would please make it in the U.S., I’d order it – if I trust the chef to buy wisely. And I know one who would . . . . Christian Vivet, a Parisian-born French chef living and creating in Fort Myers, Florida. Olivier’s Andouillette at L’Oie Cendrée was wonderful – the best I’ve eaten yet. It was grilled, and came with sautéed potatoes which I could not possibly finish. (One reviewer said Olivier’s Andouillette is oven roasted; but I still say I think it is grilled.) For dessert, we each had a Délice a la Crème de Marron – chestnut cream delight – topped with rich chocolate sauce in a pool of crème Anglaise. Even though we were far from home, we decided we better walk back after that great dinner. So we did. Sign
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Saturday, September 17, 2011
Two cow
statues like this grace the main entrance to the Parc Georges Brassens, on
the site of a former slaughterhouse.
Lots of
lavender grows just outside the Parc Georges Brassans.
A
wholesale/discount seafood, shellfish, produce, and wine market at the end of
the rue de l’Harmonie, near the railroad tracks
leading to the Montparnasse station.
Duck breast
at the L’Oie Cendree.
Hooks on
the ceiling hint that the restaurant was a former butcher shop.
Part of the
menu at L’Oie Cendrée. Olivier prints his on the blackboard, so it
is easier than the ones that are written in French longhand. |
