Paris -- Fun Chocolaterie/Confiserie

My friends Eric and Fabienne took me today to À l'Étoile d'Or, at 30 rue Pierre Fontaine in the Ninth arrondissment. This wonderful shop is a chocolaterie/confiserie, not a chocolatier/confiseur, because they don't make the things they sell. The owner, Denise Acabo, has been in business in this location near Place Pigalle for 47 years, interrupted a few years ago by a gas explosion in her building. She is a pistol, and when you know her, as my friends do, will tell amazing stories about the clients she has served over the years.

After all these years, she is bubbling over with enthusiasm for her extraordinarily fine chocolates and traditional candies, recommending all of them in succession. And she has apparently been wearing the same outfit, including the kilt, for decades: a lovely character.

Bobby Jay with Denise Acabo

A portrait of Denise with a chocolate sculpture of her

(Photos courtesy of Eric Perdrizet.)

This is a great place to go, for yourself or for gifts, much more interesting than À la Mère de Famille or La Cure Gourmande, which have become chain stores present wherever chain stores tend to be.

Bobby Jay

SPECTACULAR Peanut Butter . . . and More

Big Spoon Roasters' Cocoa Nib peanut butter

My neighbor recently gave me a jar of Cocoa Nib peanut butter from Big Spoon Roasters. This is one of the most exciting products I have tasted in years: a perfect balance of salt with a hint of sweetness furnished by wildflower honey, and the crunch (and mysterious taste, barely perceived as chocolate) the result of cocoa nibs added to the stone ground peanuts. The honey enables this peanut butter to be stored outside the refrigerator, so you don't get that hard, grainy texture that cold storage gives to otherwise delicious organic peanut butter.

I immediately went to Big Spoon Roaster's web site and placed an order (with my neighbor, who was reordering) for another jar and two others that he recommended: Almond Ginger and pure Peanut. Both pretty spectacular, although I am still a partisan of the Cocoa Nib. Eventually I will probably try all ten of the nut butters, just for the sake of my readers of course.

A variety of nut butters from Big Spoon Roasters

So you now have the perfect holiday gifts/stocking stuffers! That being said, make sure you keep some for yourself.

Bobby Jay

Paris 2013 - Holidays = Luxury Foods

The weather being clear and relatively mild, I took my dog Sylvie for a walk to the Madeleine, one of the centers of luxury French gastronomy. While I felt this was not the best year for Christmas displays, there were some interesting things in the windows.

Fauchon always has nice windows, and this year took the prize (notice the rare, gorgeous sky reflected in the window - it almost looks like it's done on purpose but the fact is I couldn't avoid it).

Hédiard makes the best pâtes de fruit and here is a nice arrangement.

Maison de la Truffe's window had some naked white truffles (a bargain this year at only $3107 per pound) as well as masses of foie gras incorporating their signature black truffles.

Caviar Kaspia featured an arrangement of, guess what?

Speaking of caviar, Prunier's display highlighted their caviar macarons, which I am now kicking myself for not trying (okay, I was a little put off by the $11 price tag for a single one, but still . . .)

 For chocolates, Patrick Roger featured Christmas tree sculptures . . .

. . . while Marquise de Sévigné took a more elegant, conservative approach.

Mariage Frères, the great tea purveyor, featured a seasonal "Christmas Pudding" blend

but also a tribute to Martin Luther King - "Thé I Have a Dream," in a rainbow-colored package.

Of course, the celebration also includes oysters, game, foie gras, vacherin de Mont d'Or and all manner of wonderful products of the land and sea from around the world. But that's another post.

Bobby Jay

En Passant (4) . . . Food Related Gifts

With the holidays just over, we have a respite from thinking about gifts. Or do we? What about birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, engagements, showers, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, etc.?

Here are three food-related items that make perfect gifts.

Modernist Cuisine

I recently had a chance to leaf through a copy of Nathan Myhrvold's amazing 6-volume Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. At $650 retail (only $449 at Amazon) and taking up a lot of shelf space, this set is not for everyone, but in addition to the most spectacular food photos you will ever see, there appears to be a lot of interesting (useful?) information about cooking processes, ingredients, etc.

Copper Polenta Pot

This gorgeous polenta pot (paiolo), made by Ruffoni in Italy, is available from Williams-Sonoma for $175:

Cheese Knives

La Cucina Italiana, a fun publication that I recommend to anyone interested in cooking, published the following piece on cheese knives of varying types and to fit any budget:

Of course there is an infinite variety of food-related gifts - cookbooks, cooking classes, knives, pots and pans and other equipment, etc. - but these are some that struck me in my post-holiday haze.

Bobby Jay