I am taking a blogging vacation this week but not leaving you high and dry without any postings or with reruns. I have invited a different guest blogger for each day, so please welcome them. I met Zabie Johnston about a month ago through a mutual friend and we had an instant rapport, especially around food. Zabie had two successful restaurants in the U. S. before moving to Paris a few years ago. Her love of food still remains and she writes a delicious blog www.frenchmarketmaven.com. about Paris food markets. Today Zaby has written an informative story about visiting three markets with a director of food markets in California. Enjoy and don't read on an empty stomach.
It was not the best weather to be meeting up for a market crawl, but in mid January, I was glad it was only rainy. We were to rendez-vous at 8:30 in the red awning’d cafe on the corner of the Marché Maubert by the bread shop. Easy enough.
My date was with Catt White, Director of the San Diego weekly markets (to say she is passionate about what she does would be an understatement) our plan was to visit three Saturday morning markets and talk about (not only) the various farmers, but the evolving rules and regulations governing the 65 roving Parisian markets for the last 200 years. It is estimated that more than 30% of all Parisian households shop at the outdoor farmer’s markets, which are faithfully maintained with one purpose in mind: to supply nourishment and quality foods to Parisians within their own neighborhoods.
Marché Maubert, in the 5th arrondissement, is the oldest outdoor market in Paris and also one of the smallest, with about 2 dozen vendors rain or shine. Unless one of the regular merchants is out for the day, you will not find anything but food being sold at this market. The quality is high, everyone is quite friendly, and the variety is impressive - there are even some of my favorite vendors from sunday’s Marché Grenelle.
Interestingly enough, the guideline for Parisian markets specifies that at least 10% of all fruits, vegetables and flowers sold at the individual markets must come from farmers (clearly marked ‘producteurs’) and that 10% of all produce sold must be organic. In winter it is not difficult to differentiate the producers from the resellers: Root vegetables and cabbages dominate in farmers stands, colorful grapes and berries in the resellers.
Another good indicator that the vendor is the farmer (beside the ‘producteur’ sign) is when all the vegetables are from the same place (say ‘Isle de France’, which is the department Paris is located in). Everything sold at the farmers market must have a sign identifying the product, with the price and where it was grown.
Markets in Paris operate 6 days a week, generally 2 days at each location (though Marché Maubert operates on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings) Production farmers are generally absent early in the week; they drive their goods in from the countryside arriving at dawn on Friday mornings, returning to their homes Sunday evenings after selling for three days.
Catt and I spoke about a recent uproar in California over “Organic farmers” selling at the farmer’s markets who were neither organic, or even farmers. How did the French deal with that? Since 1969, a farmer applying for a stand at a Parisian farmer’s market must purchase a vendors license. But, before doing that, the farm must be visited and reviewed by a representative of the department of agriculture who will provide a notarized certificate detailing where the farm is located, it’s acreage, what is grown and the quality (1, 2 or 3)) and these farmers must provide a new certificate annually when renewing the stand rental agreement. Organic farmers must additionally provide an Organic certification. On top of that, all farmers, producers and resellers must have their trucks (refrigerated or not) inspected annually by a health inspector (interestingly this is done by a branch of the Veterinarian department) to ensure their products are being properly transported.
Next stop: Marché Saxe-Breteuil in the 7th, under the gaze of the Eiffell Tower. This market is much larger with a greater variety of vendors, many of whom are not farmers; this is easy to spot by the exotic fruit, fancy berries and signs with locations as far away as Peru hanging over the produce. However, the seafood at this market is remarkable - there are several fish mongers, from the husband and wife team with a stand brimming with shiny black moules (mussels) to the nearly 20 foot long stand with a large sales force selling oysters, live crab, scallops in their shells and eel.
Farmers, fish mongers, butchers, cheese vendors and florists are at their same spot week after week. This is because they rent their booths annually and have ‘dibs’ on their same spot year to year. The better markets have waiting lists, and the rules are quite clear as to protocol should a spot become empty: if the spot is beside a farmer selling, say, chicken and eggs, another chicken/egg vendor may not set up shop beside or across from the original one. It’s a system that seems to work.
After checking out an interesting potato stand, where a mother and her two daughters sell every type of potato known to man (and quite a few we’d never seen before) Cat and I set off for the Marché President Wilson in the 16th on my favorite metro line (6). It’s my favorite because it runs over ground, above the city and across the seine with glorious views of the Tour Eiffel. Rain, shine, day or night it’s glorious. We walked from Trocadero to the long, narrow market that sits on a narrow island strip beside the Palais de Tokyo Museum. It the summer the plane trees cast a lovely and welcome shadow over the market, in the winter they stand guard.
This market, due I suspect to it’s up-scale location, has excellent quality vendors beginning with Joel Thibault, Heirloom farmer extraordinaire. The beauty, variety and abundance available at his stand year round is impressive. Watching Joel interact with people explaining why, for instance, the roots and greens aren’t clipped off of HIS celery root (they loose their moisture) or why he picks his chard so much smaller than other farmers (the chard leaves get tough as they get larger) or even, why his chard is rainbow colored (because he grows that variety and other farmers don’t) is a marvel to observe... he picks things up to show people; he turns them over, or will cut a candy stripe beet in half to make his point. He shares cooking tips and serving suggestions for his favorite vegetable that week... and he smiles, a lot. It’s lively on Joel’s end of the market. Get there early if you want the best selection as pickings get slim by about noon.
Joel was just back from a 6 weeks vacation he’d taken from the public markets, something he apparently does annually around the holidays. Vendors are allowed, encouraged actually, to take at least a month off every year - either sequentially or through out the year. The vacationing vendor must, however, give the market manager one month’s written notice so that the empty spot is appropriately filled in the vendor’s absence.
Further down this crowded, narrow market are a couple of middle eastern food stands selling a hot, herbed covered bread you can smell before you can see. While Catt and I did not indulge there, we did stop by and say hello to Francesca, my favorite cheese gal (who I usually see on Sundays at Marche Grenelle) Catt bought some raw ewes milk cheese that looked amazing. I bought none, regrettably, as Francesca was sold out on Sunday (at the Marche Grenelle.)
I think what impressed Catt nearly as much as the variety and quality of the three markets we visited is that the city of Paris sets up the stalls, breaks them down and cleans up after each market, 6 days a week, year round. Each ‘mairie’ (city hall) is responsible for the roving markets within their arrondissement, thus providing their inhabitants a wide selection of truly farm fresh produce, farm raised meats and hand made, raw cheeses, all the while ensuring farmers with a hungry audience... something which turns out to be good for everyone.
Useful Information and Links:
Marches by days of the week: http://frenchmarketmaven.blogspot.com/2011/08/marches-of-paris-by-days-of-week-short.html
Marche Maubert: http://frenchmarketmaven.blogspot.com/2011/12/marche-maubert-and-turducken-tale.html
Marche Saxe-Breteuil: http://frenchmarketmaven.blogspot.com/2010/03/marche-saxe-breteuil-paris-7eme.html
Marche President Wilson: http://frenchmarketmaven.com
Marche Grenelle: http://frenchmarketmaven.blogspot.com/2010/02/marche-grenelle-and-roast-chicken_04.html
"Paris has been MarieZ's "home away from home" as well as "home" for decades. Her mother was Parisienne; and her family lived in the 15th and the 11th - both quartiers still are MarieZ's unintentional haunts. For MarieZ's family, shopping in the marchés (farmers markets) was a way of life, which meant following the rhythm of the seasons on their plates... it still remains unthinkable for MarieZ to eat strawberries in December from New Zealand or tomatoes from Israel in April.
Finding herself living in Paris full time after having spent years professionally cooking in her restaurants (Zabie's in Santa Monica, Ca and Poulet-Patatte in Santa Fe, New Mexico) it seemed a natural next step to write about food, the people who grow it and those who prepare it with love.
Connect with MarieZ on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marie.z.johnston?ref=profile
http://frenchmarketmaven.blogspot.com/
In addition to my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, we now offer Eye Prefer New York Tours, 3-hour walking tours of New York's best neighborhoods including Soho, Meatpacking/West Village & Tribeca. Tours cost $195 for up to 3 people and $65 for each additional person.Come take a bit of the Big Apple on an Eye Prefer New York Tour!
Come experience my blog ìliveî with my Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I lead. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.Tours cost 195 euros for up to 3 people, and 65 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris. www.eyepreferparistours.com
New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotteís professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.
Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.
Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.
