Rilettes, pate and other duck and goose products

[dfunghi]

Besides Divay is there a shop or two that Parisians swear by for their Rilette and other Duck and Goose products? I have seen Bon Marche talked about. Is there by any chance a shop that specializes in the products of SW France? In addition I am hoping to find some amazing pate` both to eat and to travel home with. Is there a particular shop or are there so many wonderful shops they are too numerous to name? I am going to be sleeping in the 6th but will be all over the city, including a trip to the 18th for bread http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/viamichelin/g...-paris-2008.htm

David

[robyn]

Can't help you with the names of places to buy things - but I strongly recommend against trying to bring food home to the US. If it is legal to bring it home - you can almost certainly order it on the internet for delivery at home - and not have to worry about taking proper food precautions when you're traveling. If it isn't legal - reasonably good chance you will be detained going through customs (those dogs really have good noses).

I have forgotten how long your trip will be. If you have the time - and you like foie gras - I would take a trip down to the Dordogne (foie gras and trrufle and Armagnac region of France). I would take that trip instead of going to Antony's (I am sure he has great cheese - but the Dordogne is a very special food area of France IMO).

FWIW - this is probably our 6th or 7th trip to France. Have probably spent 75% of our time in the country outside of Paris (when we were younger and more mobile - more willing to drive - etc.). Robyn

[Dave Hatfield]

I have forgotten how long your trip will be.  If you have the time - and you like foie gras - I would take a trip down to the Dordogne (foie gras and trrufle and Armagnac region of France).  I would take that trip instead of going to Antony's (I am sure he has great cheese - but the Dordogne is a very special food area of France IMO).

  Robyn

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I heartily agree with your advice to head South, but why stop in the Dordogne? You will be better off to keep going just a bit South into Quercy.

Truly the country of truffles & foie gras. Visit Lalbenque for the truffle market or better yet go to Limogne on Friday morning (after October when the season 'officially' starts.) There you can watch the small truffle collectors having their finds weighed, then hear the day's price set. After which you can approach a collector who has only a modest find & usually buy it at the wholesaler's price. Great fun and a bargain.

You can also near both Limogne & Caussade go on a truffle hunt. There are couple of farms that offer this.

Foie gras is available all over the place as are many other local specialties. Cahors had some good restaurants as well as super wines.

Nothing wrong with the Dordogne mind you, but it is a bit overcrowded with Brits which has upset many locals.

Try the Quercy its only another hour down the A20. If you decide to try PM me for more detailed advice.

[dfunghi]

Robyn, Dave,

The trip to Anthony will be from Torino (which is why the trek through the Suisse border) if I do go, not from Paris. By the time I arrive in Paris I will be sans auto and avec wife (who does not like racing around the countryside in search of, well, in search of anything). The Paris portion will be AFTER a two week trip to Italy with a business friend and we will be covering 1000's of K's. So a trip to the SW of France is not in the cards. I have ventured into that area before from a trip to Spain I had a few years ago and I did buy the most magnificent (preserved, canned, jarred) fois and rilette which travelled back to the USA with no problem. Like many on these boards I have been traveling for decades including many, many trips to Europe including France, but mostly to the South and Lyon. This is just my first foray into Paris. So the traveling part is not an issue for me. While I was in SW France I found small producers whose products are most definitely legal (as is most canned goods) to bring home yet are not even remotely sold in the USA, in fact many are probably not sold outside of the town in which they reside. I was hoping to find a shop or a market seller that treks up weekly from the SW to Paris and brings an assortment of these tiny producers wares or maybe even a producer themselves that comes to markets in Paris. The quality of the items for sale in the USA is not great and 98% of it is Rougie brand. I have zero desire to buy mass produced, carelessly made "duty free" shop type of products.

I am sure someone here has a place they prefer for these types of items over other places. For instance PTI where do you shop for these items?

[Ptipois]

  I am sure someone here has a place they prefer for these types of items over other places.  For instance PTI where do you shop for these items?

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Oh, that's easy. When I am not physically in the Périgord or Quercy, I buy my duck and goose products from my local Champion, aiming for the generic brand "Reflets de France". They are manufactured by Larnaudie, a high-quality traditional brand, and are quite good.

For foie gras, after trying all sorts of stuff at all sorts of prices, I always go back to Labeyrie's bloc de foie gras de canard avec morceaux.

Canned cassoulet by Spanghero or La Belle Chaurienne is pretty much the best this kind of product can offer. Available in most supermarkets.

[dfunghi]

As with the cheese shops I suppose I will be forced to purchase and sample many different items form all over the spectrum, including the supermarket brands. I have had Larnaudie products before and I agree they are quite good. A bit above mass produced like Rougie but still short of these types http://www.best-of-perigord.tm.fr/gastro/a...s-dordogne.html of which http://www.lembertfoiesgras.com/ is supposed to have a shop in Paris. I have also decided to research some of the producers in the SW and have product shipped to the owner of the flat I rented as they have offered to accept the shipment and hold it for me.

So any tips from any of you on top tier producers you may have encountered in your travels to the SW of France? Perhaps one or two on the above linked list?

[PhilD]

I have seen Bon Marche talked about.

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David - Bon Marche is worth a visit, it does have a wide range of Foie Gras so you may find something you like. It is a good one stop shop for lots and lots of interesting products (it is big). The quality may not be the best of the best but it is pretty close in most departments.

It is also very good for fashion so worth heading to the clothing store across the bridge that connects the two stores if you or your wife get time.

If you head up to Bon Marche pop around the corner to 51 rue du Grenelle and visit Barthelemey, it is tiny, but is in the top echelon of Parisian cheese shops and IMO one of the best . Very, very good for goats cheeses and Roquefort.

[robyn]

FWIW - I wasn't talking about buying things in the US - but ordering things from France and having them shipped to the US. I realize that the goods of small producers of many things frequently don't travel very far from home - but I can (and do) buy some high quality products here from larger producers. Robyn

[dfunghi]

A friend in Paris said this is her favorite place for rilette and lunch. Sud-Ouest Monceau in the 17th. ANyone know it?

[Felice]

In my "Guide des Gourmands" which lists where you can get the best products throughout France, including Paris, only lists 2 places for Rillettes and Rillons, neither in Paris, but they both deliver so you may find them elsewhere.

Boucherie Charcuterie Traiteur Michel Bréhault

27 rue de Paris

Connerré

02 43 89 01 05

and

Hardouin

Julien Garnier

L'Etang Vignon

Vouvray

www.hardouin.com

I would agree that the Bon Marché would be a good place to try.

For foie gras they list Christian Languque Solandi, 248 rue de la Convention, 15th. 0148 28 11 47

And Chantal Larnaudie, 8 rue des Volontaires, 15th 01 47 83 52 97.

And incidently they mention that this place is also a "paradise" for mushroom amateurs.

[dfunghi]

Thank you "Felice". I was wondering if there was a book that listed such things and if so how accurate and what the popular opinion of the book is. I will definitely look into having some product from all those you listed and visit the ones in Paris. I also did a bit of searching on the web for that restaurant mentioned to me and they seem to have glowing reviews and are considered The place for SW cuisine in Paris.

John do you know this place (Sud-Ouest Monceau) and have you eaten there?

BTW for those that have not checked Johns food blog (maybe I was the last one to do so and you all go regularly?) do so. It is chock full of info and well written. With all the strolling and eating John does where does he find time to write? John do you sleep? I want to be John when I grow up.

[John Talbott]

John do you know this place (Sud-Ouest Monceau) and have you eaten there?

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No, although I've been by it many times and like what I see; I try to explore the unexplored, probably to my detriment. As for

I am going to be sleeping in the 6th but will be all over the city, including a trip to the 18th for bread

I'd be curious where, since I live there and Felice and I did a tasting last year and we're not blown away by anything - defined as we've not gone back anywhere, although I had great bread the other day at La Table d'Eugene from Au Pain D'Antan at the five corners - 2, Eugene Sue (I'll be posting my report on October's eats tmrw.) Edited September 8, 2008 by John Talbott (log)

[dfunghi]

Bread in 18th

Anis Bouabsa

Au Duc de la Chapelle

32, rue Tristan Tzara

75018 Paris

Tel: 01 40 38 18 98