I was the lucky recipient of a trip to Paris this weekend. The girlfriend and I have been the girlfriend and I for 4 years now and to celebrate she treated me to the trip. Whilst the aim was romance I couldn't make my first trip to the French capital without checking out what they had to offer regarding food.
Whenever I travel abroad somewhere new I always read up on it ahead of time and one place that court my eye was Au Pied de Cochon , more specifically their signature Grilled Pig's Trotter with Frites and Bearnaise sauce. I read that the place had become more touristy over the years but people still spoke highly of their food and it ended up being the first thing I ate over there.
The first thing that hits you with this dish is the sheer size of it. My favourite lens for food shots is a 50mm prime (quite zoomed in and no ability to change it) and I couldn't fit the whole of it in without standing up and stepping back. I'm not one for being shy when snapping food in restaurants but even I draw the line at that. The trotter here, as far as I can tell, has been simmered till melt in the mouth before being giving a coating of breadcrumbs and the grill to crisp up. What you're left with is gelatinous, melt in the mouth skin and fat (even the occasional few morsels of meat) with some crunch to break it up. The bearnaise was rich and the leaves added some welcome bitterness.
Not one for boiled feet the girlfriend went for a Tarte au Boudin Noir. As much as I wanted to try the trotter this dish blew it out the water for taste. Buttery puff pastry topped with sweet fried onion then thick slices of soft, rich boudin noir. It that wasn't rich enough it was surrounded with a dark, meaty sauce. Again bitter leaves made a welcome foil to the richness. Luckily for me there was far too much of this for the girlfriend so I had a third of this too. Stunning, and hopefully something I can replicate easy enough at home.
On top of great food (there was many a platter of fruit de mer on tables) this restaurant has a fantastic location and a beautiful interior - touristy or not I'm a fan.
Beautiful photos. Did you have to be rolled out of the restaurant?
Posted by: Lizzie | October 12, 2008 at 07:28 PM
We only had mains so I was fine. The meal was followed straight away with a nice three hours of walking around the Louvre too so it provided helpful energy.
Posted by: Joshua Armstrong | October 13, 2008 at 11:27 AM