The acclaimed food writer and Francophile Dorie Greenspan writes about the top ten must-have, must-try, must-taste foods of Paris in her blog.
"Earlier this year, I was asked to come up with a list of the 10 iconic foods of Paris, the tastes a visitor, perhaps a first-timer, shouldn't miss in the city, and it turned out to be a tougher assignment than I'd imagined. Being a Paris part-timer for over a decade, I've written dozens of lists, but when I looked at the current ones, there wasn't much on them I could use. The lists I make include my favorite bistros and wine bars, food shops, markets and, of course, patisseries, as well as places I want to try, but this list was meant to be a kind of meta-list, a categorization of culinary musts that would save a visitor from that horrible moment when he's returned home and is recounting what a great vacation he's had, only to have someone say, "I can't believe you were in Paris and didn't have a macaron!"
It took me a while to pare the gustatory pleasures of Paris down to a top 10, no time at all to come up with a list of places to taste them, and then more time to pare down the places - there are so many places for great food in Paris."
Not an easy task, distilling all the flavors and seasonings of Paris into a list of ten iconic foods, but it's difficult to find fault with her selection. She pretty much nails it - and includes where to go to savor the best of each food. And she mentions Pierre Hermé as THE place to go to for the best buttery-flaky croissants as well as macarons. I wholeheartedly agree - I worship the Valrhona-strewn ground Pierre Hermé walks on.
Her list:
BAGUETTES
CROISSANTS
MACARONS
CHEESES
ICE CREAM
PLATEAU FRUITS DE MER
CREPES
STEAK-FRITES
CROQUE-MONSIEUR ET CROQUE-MADAME
CHAMPAGNE
i so agree with this list, except for the croque M/M. and instead of ice cream, gelato from amorino. and yes anything & everything from maison du C!
Posted by: mikel | October 20, 2008 at 07:39 PM
Mike, where is Amorino???
Posted by: bambinawrites | October 21, 2008 at 05:53 PM