I Prefer Paris: Sweet Week 4, Day 1: Henri Le Roux

It's my annual Sweet Week, edition four. My sugar levels have climbed higher in service of finding this week's sweet shops. I also have a few surprises up my sleeve, so fasten your sweet belts, it's going to be a long, sweet ride ahead.

Henri Le Roux is a well known and respected chocolatier whose original shop is in Quiberon in Brittany. He recently opened his first Paris shop in St. Germain des Pres.

Not only is Henri Le Roux a formidable chocolatier but he is also one of the best caramel makers in the world. In fact, he invented the salted butter caramel in the late 70s, with the idea of taking salt from the nearby sea and putting it into caramels mixing them with crushed hazelnut, walnuts, and almonds to give it the right texture. After being a huge success, many candy manufacturers jumped on the salted butter caramel bandwagon, producing many imitations. Not happy with his imitators Le Roux decided to register the name CBS (Caramel au Beurre Salé). Le Roux is an official caramelier, the only one in France with the title. He has many awards including the best chocolatier in France by Guide des Croqueurs de Chocolat and the award for the best sweet in France at the “Salon international de la confiserie”.

The Paris shop is a high tech version of a typical Bretagne style building with painted brown beams, white shelves, light wood floor, and splashes of orange all around. There are two rooms, one for candies and caramels and one just for chocolate with a long counter showing off rows of pristine chocolates. One interesting feature in the chocolate room is a counter facing the street with four stools for having tea along with the chocolates.

As always, I face a dilemma in choosing what to sample, and Henri Le Roux didn't make it easy with over 80 varieties of gorgeous, mouthwatering choices. After many questions and a few suggestions from the sales girl, I strategically made my decision. I knew I had to sample the caramels so I chose the Ble Noir, the specialty of the house, and the tatin. Even though I have had my fair share of salted butter caramels, these were in a whole other taste universe. Smoky and intense, the taste was close to mind-blowing. Biting into the tatin was like eating a big piece of tarte tatin except it was compact and chewy. The Ch'tou was the best chocolate of my three, a chocolate sphere filled with caramel and cider liqueur from Brittany. The sensation of the soft, melted caramel with a quick after taste of the sharp apple liqueur was sheer heaven.

One of the other specialties that intrigued me was the truffe de truffe, a chocolate truffle with a truffle from the ground. Intrigued as I was, I wasn't game to try it, I just wanted straight, no nonsense chocolate. I looked around some more after my tastings, and contemplated what I would try next time. The fruit jellies, the caramel sauce and the many varieties of chocolate bars including their award winning Yuzu Macha green tea bar looked quite appealing, but I am sure I would be happy with anything from Henri Le Roux.

Henri Le Roux
1 rue de Bourbon le Chateau, 75006
Metro: St. Germain des Pres or Mabillon
Open everyday
Monday 11AM to 7PM, Tuesday to Saturday 11AM to 8PM, Sunday 11AM to 6PM
http://www.chocolatleroux.eu

OMG caramels

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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.

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