--The excellent north african cous cous that we liked so much we went back for more. I have experimented the last few days with making my own vegetarian and meat versions with moderate success. If I make them again I'll post the recipes. It's nowhere near as good but it's still pretty good, and I'll keep experimenting to perfect it.
--A fantastic starter salad of puy lentils cooked in goose fat with caramelised shallots, horseradish (?), and topped with bacon lardons. Fabulous, and I think I can reproduce it. The French are schooled in the art of the judicious application of bacon.
--A chocolate mousse that came out in massive proportion in a large serving bowl. I was given a heaping pile of it and the serving bowl was left on my table, but I don't think they intended for me to eat the rest of it (surely not!). Yet if I was, later in the night, served a half-eaten bowl of mousse, I might raise an eyebrow. This is definitely redo-able but actually I prefer the thick, rich, smooth chocolate pudding to which I'm currently addicted.
--The Economist had an asparagus cream soup with mushrooms that he thinks is the best thing he ate in France. I had a spoonful and it was certainly heavenly smooth and creamy.
--Before one of our meals we partook in an aperitif, a kir, which is white wine mixed with blackcurrant liqueur. It's cool and fruity, goes down really easy and whets the appetite for what's to come.
--For the first time in my life I tried foie gras, served with thinly sliced toast and this weird stock jello stuff. The foie gras was... what can I say?... delicious! It has the smooth, rich texture of butter, but the taste of delicate meat. I know that may not sound appealing, but it was oh so good. I had it twice. The first time I finished it and told the Economist, 'Now that I've had it, I don't feel the need to chase after it ever again.' Two days later I couldn't get it off my mind and the next menu I saw it on, I had to have it. It was just as good. The first time I had it, it was served with that stock jello, just really intense pieces of gelatinous stock--I think. I'm not really sure. The second time it was served with lots of freshly ground pepper and course salt on top. Also delicious. And I'm a salt fiend so salt is always appreciated.
--We filled out meals with visits to an ice cream shop which I'm sure everyone has heard of when mentioning Paris in the same breath--Bertillion. It is without a doubt the best ice cream I have ever had. We always get two flavours in a cone, and they're incredible together but even alone, each ice cream is so intensely flavoured--the vanilla is powerfully vanilla, and the fruit sorbets are so sharp and taste like just frozen crushed fruit. The Economist had a Bertillion lime sorbet which tasted like pure frozen fresh-squeezed lime juice.
Well that's all for now about Paris.
Like a good tourist, I also picked up some souvenirs. However, these souvenirs are all blessedly edible. I went to a french grocery shop and picked up whatever I thought looked interesting and what I decided I would like to eat more of later on. A post on that is forthcoming.
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