More about Food!

Yes, Paris is all about food, and we certainly have been enjoying that aspect of life here. I’m afraid of what the weigh scale is going to say when I get back home!

Nevertheless, we don’t want to let that interfere with sampling the various delights the city has to offer, now do we? So let me tell you about (and show you) a few of our food adventures.

This unusual photo is of a light fixture in a restaurant at Le Mosquee (pronounced Mos-kay) in the Latin Quarter. We had been told that the food was excellent and went to sample their fare on a drizzly Sunday.

The restaurant was absolutely packed, but we managed to find a table. While we were waiting to order, we became aware of all the sparrows that were flying around inside the room.

They usually didn’t bother people when they were eating, but as soon as the scraps were left unattended, the birds swooped down and cleaned up.

Can you count how many are in the photo? I’ll tell you at the bottom of this article.

We had ordered mint tea and the only vegetarian item on the menu, Vegetarian Couscous. A huge metal bowl arrived along with a plate overflowing with perfectly cooked couscous, and a side dish of chickpeas. What a delight! I thought I would have room for dessert, but no way! By the way, don’t you just love the tea pot?

Our next extraordinary culinary experience was at a small Italian restaurant with very friendly waiters who helped us with our French.

Here we had the most creamy, rich pasta dishes that you could imagine – Lasagna Quattro Formaggio, and canneloni stuffed with walnuts and lying in a thick cream sauce. Neither of us thought we would be able to manage dessert, but David just had to have some espresso; so we decided to order “a little something” to eat with our beverages.

We chose panna cotta which we had never had before. It’s good to try new things every once in a while, isn’t it? It arrived exquisitely presented with a raspberry coulis drizzled over it and kiwi slices artfully arranged on the plate.

So what is panna cotta, you might ask? Why, it’s cream and sugar heated and thickened to allow it to set in a nice mold. I don’t even want to know how many calories were in that meal!

What about the Indian restaurants? We have been frequenting a number of them since they are often the best places to get good vegetarian food. And most of them have been very good – with the occasional exception where saag panir turns out to be saag ricotta. You know there is a problem with the authenticity of the dish when your “panir” melts in the spinach.

This photo was taken at a small restaurant in Passage Brady where we stopped for chai and sweets on our way home one day. The orange dish on the left was the most delicious carrot halva I have ever eaten. And there’s another one of those exquisite teapots that we kept running into – this time with a beautiful sugar bowl.

Now its’ time for the more mundane. A couple of weeks ago, we went in search of a bookstore with English books to replenish our reading material. The guide book said that there were many small restaurants and bistros in the neighbouring streets, and we planned to have lunch in one.

We were not prepared for what we found – small streets crammed with little eateries with doormen standing outside trying to entice you to come in. Whoa! How do you take time to examine the menu posted outside to see if it is has anything resembling vegetarian food with these guys breathing down your neck?

We quickly turned a corner and there was the sign – Vegetarian Maoz. It was a very small “hole in the wall”, but the food choices looked good – and vegetarian! We had pita bread stuffed with salad and falafels – and freshly made fries, our first in Paris. Boy, did they taste good!

Of course, no story about food in Paris would be complete without mention of their famous pastry tarts. It took us a while before we began purchasing them at the local bakeries, but now they have become a weekly essential. (We try to limit ourselves to once or twice a week!)

The delightful concoctions in this photo are tarte aux poires and tarte aux fruit rouges. The delicate taste of the pear tart was enhanced by a creamy custard base, and the “red fruits” in the other tart consisted of a variety of berries. Absolutely delightful! Does anyone want to set up a French bakery on Salt Spring? Bon appetit!

(How many birds did you count?  There are 6.)