Paris, Capital of Gastronomy

“It is not pretentious to say that France is the nation with the best fare,” wrote Armand Lebaut in 1910. And chefs come to Paris to train, he explained, from all over the world, or as he put it, from “all countries where civilization has brought a certain gastronomic sophistication.”

This delightful reveling in the success of the French culinary arts is at the heart of the exhibition “Paris, Capital of Gastronomy” – running at the Conciergerie until July 16th. That’s where I found this quotation, along with five separate sections devoted to the celebration of food in the city with an unrivaled claim to excellence in the field.

T’was ever thus. The opening section takes the visitor back in time to some of the grandest meals ever served in Paris. First, an Epiphany banquet hosted by Charles V in January 1378, here in the Conciergerie, or Palais de la Cité, as it was then known. A colorful picture from the Grandes Chroniques de France covers one wall, depicting Charles flanked by the two guests he most wanted to impress: the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV and his son King Wenceslas. The three kings dined on soups and pâtés, assorted roast meats and sweet pastries, each seated under a canopy and watched over by assorted bishops and 800 other guests. It was an early state banquet, medieval style.

A number of other grand events are recalled. Peacock, pheasant, swans and doves were all served at a dinner in honor of Catherine de Medici in 1549. Napoleon hosted a grand celebratory dinner at the Tuileries Palace in 1810 to mark his marriage to Marie-Louise of Austria. He was no great gastronome, but he knew that spending 4 million francs on festivities would underline his power. The “Périgord hedgehog in its nest” served to Queen Elizabeth II at a dinner on her first official visit to France in 1957 is still much talked about. It was actually a ball of foie gras, with silver slivers of truffle to represent the spikes, and it was so well received that foie gras was served again on every state visit she made to France.

 

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The next section is called “The Belly of Paris,” referencing the name given to Les Halles by Victor Hugo and indeed it is all about how food is supplied to Paris. The history of the city’s famous food market is traced, from its origins in a market set up in the 12th century by Louis the Fat (presumably an epicurean!), to the building of the famed wrought-iron and glass halles in the 19th century. Its eventual destruction in the 1970s, much regretted by many Parisians, is also covered, along with the subsequent move to Rungis, the vast fresh produce market near Orly airport.

Here too are exhibits explaining the provenance of food, from a mocked-up épicerie – grocer’s shop – to material on all the workers who help bring food from farm to table: market gardeners, deliverymen, restaurant owners, cooks…  One appreciative caption reads: “A whole world is hidden behind a meal.”

That quintessential Parisian institution, the restaurant, is celebrated in detail, from its beginnings in the grounds of the Palais Royal to its subsequent spread to the boulevards and then out to the rest of the city. Exhibits include documents such as a book, La Table à Paris, published in 1845, menus from bouillons, and life-size photographs of the kind of bistro where post-war Parisians liked to “perch on a wobbly chair and read the specials scribbled on a slate,” then perhaps order egg mayonnaise and blanquette de veau followed by Île flottante for dessert.

Famous restaurants are featured. There is a photograph of the “reconciliation meeting” between rivals Georges Pompidou and Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, staged because Président de Gaulle had ordered them to dine publicly at the Brasserie Lipp, knowing that the resulting photos would quell rumors of political instability. And there are whole tables dressed in the style of the Ritz from its heyday in the early 1900s under the chef Georges Auguste Escoffier. Admiring the bespoke table linen, crockery and cutlery takes you back to another era, one where two different forks were required to deal with melon, one with a cutting edge, another to pick up the slices.

Baking and pâtisserie have their own separate section. The story of bread-making from the Middle Ages to the present is told, illustrated by such fascinating artifacts as an 18th-century gerbe d’or, a beautiful gilded carving of a sheaf of corn which would have served as a shop sign. Pâtisserie is especially fêted in this city where Antonin Carême, (1783-183) who was known as “the king of chefs and the chef of kings,” sculpted desserts for royalty and for Napoleon. Today, he is thought of as the father of modern pâtisserie, the grand Parisian tradition that has brought us the millefeuille, the Paris-Brest and the opera cake.

And the croissant, of course. I was transfixed by a film projected onto a screen in this section, showing a chef piling more and more layers of butter onto a dough and rolling it this way and that, before precision-cutting thin triangles the length of a man’s tie. Whatever was it to be? It was only when he rolled it up from the wide end, popped it onto a tray next to dozens more and slathered it with more melted butter, that I realized it was a croissant. And watching the high-speed film of its transformation in the oven to flaky golden perfection was mesmerizing. Another clip took us through the melting, moulding and chiseling routines of a master chocolatier. And there, just at the end of the exhibition, was a chocolate model of the Sainte Chapelle spire, 1.6 meters of exquisite design in chocolate form.

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The final section is called “Paris, a land of affluence and influence’, focusing first on the richness of French produce and secondly on the vast range of foreign cuisines found in Paris today. To read the menu served at a grand dinner when COP 21 was held in France in 2015 is to be reminded of the riches of France’s produce. Guests were served, presumably with Président Hollande’s approval, Normandy scallops, French poultry, Reblochon cheese and a Paris-Brest with a citrus compote made with clementines from Corsica.

A huge map of the country is covered in the names of products from each region.  Normandy alone has scores of references, from the familiar cream, cider, calvados and Pont l’Évêque cheese, to lesser known, very local specialities such as brioche Rouennaise and galettes Caennaises. I heard a visiting teenager comment to his friend: “Ah oui, c’est le Guide Michelin de l’époque,” which roughly translates as ‘it’s a food guide from the old days.’

The point is made that foreign influences date back centuries. The first Italian shops opened in the 18th century, selling mortadella and vermicelli and were followed in the 19th century by restaurants serving English and Italian cuisine. The 20th century explosion in culinary influences from all over the world, especially from the 1960s onwards, is catalogued in maps and illustrations. As one of the captions reads, “You really can taste the whole world in Paris.” The role of Paris as the number one draw for chefs from all over the world who seek experience and training is also underlined.

I thoroughly enjoyed this comprehensive exhibition in which it seemed that no gastronomic nuance had been omitted. Food from important moments in the history of Paris, food brought to Paris from every corner of France’s enviable terroir, food as a diplomatic tool, food so perfect that the French language is used worldwide to describe its finer aspects. If you are a Francophile or a foodie, better still if you are both, then catch this exhibition if you possibly can.

DETAILS
The exhibit “Paris, capital of gastronomy, from the Middle Ages to today” is running until July 16, 2023.
La Conciergerie
2 Boulevard du Palais, 1st
The full-price ticket costs €11.50
Open every day from 9:30 am to 6 pm, last admission at 5 pm.
Saturday night until 8pm, last access at 7pm.

 

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