I am a big nerd, and I love
nothing more than going to the market: be it the open-air farmers’ market or
the plain-ol’ grocery store. (As you can imagine then, Paris is my idea of heaven).
I take extreme pleasure in
keeping a stocked kitchen at all times, to the point where I feel antsy and nervous if I see my supplies start to dwindle. For this I blame my mother, who instilled in me an ever-present need to 'hunt and gather,' as they say. And as Momma Bear taught
me, a key part of a properly stocked kitchen is a properly stocked freezer.
In Paris, I handle this in
part by hopping over to Picard every once in a while. Picard is the market chain specializing
in frozen goods: from the humble choux-fleurs
en fleurettes (cauliflower) to the slightly more up-market frozen soups or velouté glacé (concombre à la menthe
being my particular favorite) or even the ever-present mainstay of French
patisserie, the macaron. (Frozen macarons? Mon
dieu!)
Don’t mind the sterile-looking
décor - the place has everything and is seriously a lifesaver when it comes to
quick and easy nibbles for a last-minute apéro.
But one of my favorite parts is
that there, tucked amongst the sections for vegetables, fish, desserts and the
like, is this:
Only in France would you find a
dedicated section for les escargots
(snails).
And you’ve just got to love that.
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