Paris in a Basket
Markets: The Food and the People by Nicolle Aimee Meyer and Amanda Pilar Smith Konemann Press, 352 pp., $19.95
The title is an apt metaphor for this book’s contents — a huge, beautiful basket of fresh and lively information about the open-air markets of Paris. And just as a shopping basket contains a colorful panoply of purchases, this book is stuffed with brilliantly compelling photos and detailed descriptions of Paris neighborhoods and their markets.
To create what was clearly a labor of love (as well as of diligence and patience), the authors — both American residents of Paris — bicycled to each of the 61 open-air markets of Paris, chronicling what they found in photos and text. Arrondissement by arrondissement, they provide metro stops and directions to the markets (most arrondissements have several); they describe the neighborhoods, their inhabitants, and the character of each market. They talk to the vendors, capturing their stories and recipes, many of which are reproduced in the text. Most recipes are uncomplicated and contain ingredients available to us (there are some exceptions, of course, such as fresh veal kidneys, foie gras, or escargots). I was totally taken by the Ratatouille and Crab Timbale from the President Wilson market, as well as the cumin-perfumed Avocado Vichyssoise from the Barbés Market in Montparnasse.
The hundreds of photos are a visual delight, documenting the riot of color and movement in the markets, the vast arrays of foodstuffs for sale, the shoppers intent on their missions, and most especially, the vendors themselves, whose faces uniformly express pleasure at being photographed in their milieu, whether it be slicing cheese, plucking a fowl, shucking an oyster, or flipping a pancake. Don’t miss the photo of droll Monsieur Lory, soaking his feet while selling bath salts at the Place de la Bastille market. Or of Jacques Loqineau at his poultry stand at Réunion, slyly grinning as he dangles a couple of quail carcasses like earrings.
For $20, this coffee table-sized book is a bargain, and I intend to keep it in mind for gifts to the numerous Francophiles of my acquaintance. In addition to being a comprehensive guidebook to exploring Paris markets (although too heavy to carry along), it contains a history of the legendary Les Halles, a glossary of French culinary terms, a useful section on identifying French cheeses, one on the names of French cuts of beef and their anatomical diagrams, a map of market locations, and an index of recipes. A very full market basket, indeed. Paris in a Basket: Markets: The Food and the PeopleNicolle Aimee Meyer | Amanda Pilar Smith
Publisher:Konemann
Format:Hardback
This article appears in August 3 • 2001.
