One reason you’ll fall in love with Paris is their outdoors farmers’ markets. Even in the “sketchiest” part of town (the border of the 17th & 18th arrondisements) you can get the freshest, most delicious products. I say sketchiest, because you will have to watch out for pick pockets (usually blamed on Gypsies, although I had no such experience), people begging on the streets, and you will see plenty of prosties looking for clients at night. This area of Paris is not the one you see in postcards, but it has its charms and plenty of gorgeous architecture (think Sacre Coeur & Moulin Rouge).
This Saturday, Antonio and I headed to the Batignolles Market, since the next day was Easter and we figured everything would be closed. The market is just a few steps away from Place de Clichy on Boulevard des Batignolles. I am told the market is only on on Saturdays, and as with most French farmers’ market, I suggest you get there early. They usually close around noon or 1pm. Every supplier here is bio (the French term for organic), so everything is top notch. Here’s a picture tour of all the delicious goodies you can pick up at this lovely marche.
Homemade jellies & preserves for about 6€ you can get one of these containers in flavors such as cassis, raspberry, dandelion, elderberry, cherry, melon, strawberry, apricot, green tomato, fig, blackberry, redcurrant, blueberry, and gooseberry.
It would not be a marche without staples. You can get all your staple fruits there: apples, lemons, pears, melons, etc…
I’m not really sure how these are “bio” in Paris, but I was thrilled to find granadillas here. I have not been able to find them in the US. If you find one, crack it in half (the top so you can hold it like a wine glass…I used to make pretend when I was little), grab a spoon and eat the delicious seeds. MMmmmm!
Plenty of veggies, they’ve got pretty much everything you need and more including Radishes, onions, shallots, carrots, potatoes, and broccoli…
We did not see a whole lot of mushrooms, perhaps they were out of season.
Vegetable stands abound with organic goodies like red & white cabbage, oranges, lemons sweet potatoes, hazelnuts, ginger, and turnips.
Red mustard, used as a condiment in salads.
How about butchers with freshly slaughtered animals. Freshest meats in town.
Sweet potatoes were at almost every produce stand.
The freshest scallops in the city.
Did I mention these gorgeous scallops? Oh, yeah…I did.
Shrimp, dorado, and conger eel (mmm caldillo de congrio).
And a little ray as well.
Whiting, carp, and sole.
And a little calamari.
Oysters, my favorite thing in the world. If you buy them to take home they charge less…but they will also shuck them for you so you can eat them right there. These were oysters from the isles of Charente-Maritime, and Fines de Claires oysters.
How about a little squid?
Hake, squid, pollock, salmon, sole, and dorado were also available.
Turbot, cod fillet, and haddock.
You can get all different kinds of rillettes: sardines, mackerel, and white tuna. If you haven’t tried a rillette, they are is similar to pâtés. Traditional rillettes are made with pork, which is cubed, chopped, salted heavily and cooked. Rillettes are now made of many ingredients as you can see on the picture above. They also have jarred goodies such as calamari in olive oil, falvored salts, and grissinis.
If you happen to get hungry, there are plenty of Poulet Roti stands to pick from.
My favorite snack at the marche were these potato & onion cakes (or as those of us on the UWS call them – Latkes). They were served plain, and were super warm. Suddenly I was craving creme fraiche and caviar.
Did I mention it was 37 degrees. These were the perfect treat.
It would not be a French market without amazing bread…we took quite a few of these home!
And these 🙂
The Batignolles market is situated between Place Clichy & Metro Rome. If you can’t make it there, try the Raspail Market which is open on Sundays or Marché d’Aligre.