Lunch today was a croque madame on Poîlane bread and a glass of rosé
I have thoroughly enjoyed eating my way around the city these last twelve days. It is funny though, the most memorable meals that my Mom and I have eaten in Paris have not been from the fancy or famous restaurants that we visited.
The food and meals that we have enjoyed the very most have been from bistros and brasseries where the classics dishes are prepared with care and love and a sense of culinary history. The French take their food very seriously and I think this shines through most brightly in the day to day cooking that is simple and straightforward and relies on very good quality ingredients and a light touch.
On my way to do some gift shopping for Max and Glen this afternoon I stopped at a little cafe, grabbed an outside table and ordered the most deeply satisfying lunch: a glass of rosé and a croque madame sandwich which came with a little salad of arugula and some slices of tomato with a basil vinaigrette. When I cut into the egg on top it bathed the sandwich in the runny yolk which mixed in with the melted Gruyère cheese. Pretty simple stuff but pure gustatory bliss.
I sat and ate and watched the world go by. I thought about how to capture this artful simplicity in French cooking and bottle it up and bring it home with me, right into my own kitchen.
I have dreams about meals like that! I am not kidding!! I think of Michael Pollen who muses about possible reasons for the French Paradox – how the culture values food and eating in terms of atmosphere, time and respect – and not as “fuel” just to keep the body machine functioning. I know you capture the spirit in your kitchen, and I hope to taste a little bit of Paris in the dishes you are sure to be creating when you get home!!
gustatory! Yumm!
Deeply satisfying, indeed.