Learning to cook in Paris has been an American dream ever since Audrey Hepburn failed her soufflé lesson at the Cordon Bleu. Eternally inspired by the 1954 film, Sabrina, a lot of people who know theyll never become professional French chefs still try to take in a class or two.
What they may not know, however, is that in Paris there are numerous casual and more personal options to the venerable Cordon Bleu. Namely, tiny, informal schools run by chefs in their very own kitchens. Lessons, private or in small groups, consist of cooking and then eating a three-course French meal. A session can also include a visit to an open-air market, introductions to specialty gourmet shops, tips on setting your table à la française, and lively discussions about French etiquette, culture, and customs.
These mini-schools are relaxed and friendly. Its more like making a new friend and being invited over to help cook lunch than attending a school.
Still, despite the congenial atmosphere, the chefs who run these classes are knowledgeable and experienced. They combine a love of cooking with education at some of the best schools in France. Equipment, ingredients, aprons and recipes are provided fun and laughter come free of charge. These French chefs even speak fluent English.
Promenades Gourmandes with Paule Caillat
One of the best of these intimate schools is Promenades Gourmandes operated by Paule Caillat out of her apartment in the Marais. Paule makes a day of it. You start by shopping for the ingredients for the lunch youre going to make. Paule takes you through the lively market on boulevard Richard Lenoir, introducing you to the merchant who sells mushrooms that he grows in his cellar a dying French tradition or to the butcher who markets the best free-range, milk- and corn-fed chickens from Bresse. Your last stop is the bakery for a fresh baguette or pain de campagne.
Then its over to Paules apartment on the rue du Temple. Her kitchen is enormous by Paris standards: numerous cabinets, two electric ovens, a professional-quality gas cooktop and an unheard-of expanse of granite countertop. Lunch will be the standard three courses, perhaps a cheese soufflé as an appetizer, then a main dish such as poulet au vinaigre chicken with a dash of vinegar and a complex sauce of crème fraîche, tarragon and tomatoes. The meal will be topped off by a typically French dessert maybe tarte au chocolat or that famous apples upside-down cake, Tarte Tatin..
No need to worry if you dont eat meat or if youre allergic to peanuts, when you sign up for the course Paule asks you if you have any food preferences or restrictions. My classes are small and can easily accommodate special requests, says Paule, a Parisienne who was college-educated in the US. I try to find out what my students are interested in making.
While youre grating cheese or chopping onions, youll pick up all sorts of culinary tidbits à la Paule. For example, she says that for best results the ingredients to any recipe, even meat, should be at room temperature. And, to wash mushrooms add a splash of lemon juice or vinegar to a bowl of water and then throw in the mushrooms for a minute.
When lunch is ready you and your classmates take your places at the large antique oak table set with Paules yellow Provençal porcelain, and eat! Since this is France, lunch naturally includes wine, maybe a Côtes du Rhône or a white Beaujolais produced by a friend of Paules and not available in stores.
Youll be tempted to sit there all afternoon but theres more to your day at Promenades Gourmandes. That would be, naturally, a promenade. Are you addicted to cooking gadgets? Paule will take you over to Dehillerin, a warehouse-like store near Les Halles (18 rue Coquillière) offering everything from the perfect paring knife to the latest in silicon madeleine molds. Do you want to spice things up in the kitchen? Paule knows a superb condiment shop open only when the owner, an expert in spices, is available and then only on some afternoons.
Im not competing with the large professional schools, Paule says. People come here for the experience, to learn something about French culture and food, and to have a good time.
Paule Caillat's Promenades Gourmandes: 187 rue du Temple, 3e, tel: 01 48 04 56 84, fax: 01 42 78 59 77, email: paule.caillat@wanadoo.fr. Fees are 1,400F for a half day (including market visit) and 2,000F for a full day.
Cours de Cuisine with Françoise Meunier
A fresh clean apron awaits you in Françoises sunny kitchen, as well as personalized recipes and everything you need to prepare a complete French meal. You might make cream of asparagus soup for the first course, salmon filets or beef bourguignon for the main dish, and strawberry charlotte for dessert. Along the way, youll learn how to tell when asparagus is old look at the cut end, if its woody, the vegetable is past its prime or, how to bone salmon easily (nifty fish tweezers have been created for this very purpose). And if complicated charlotte recipes have intimidated you in the past, they wont any more after youve helped dip the ladyfingers and layered the ingredients in the pan yourself. Doing is learning.
Françoise, a graduate of the Ecole Hôtelière de Toulouse, believes in demystifying French cuisine. The larger schools tend to teach very stylish recipes that most people are incapable of reproducing at home, she says. I stick to the simple and elegant classics, and try to be practical in the techniques I teach and the equipment I recommend one has. Françoise, for example, will never insist that you own a special asparagus pan when a simple soup pot will do.
Françoises classes are delightfully international. A typical group includes American, Israeli, Japanese, Dutch, South American and even French students. Shes herself fluent in French, English and Spanish, and knows a smattering of German and Japanese. So, no matter what language you speak, you'll feel at home. Françoise also offers lessons for children (12 and older), theme classes (for example, how to make tarts and quiches or tips for mastering sauces), and visits to food markets.
Once the meal is ready, you help set the table and sit down to lunch. Here youll learn that in France forks and spoons are placed face down, explaining why French flatware is monogrammed on what to Americans is the back! The simplest task is an opportunity for learning with Françoise.
Lunch will be friendly and relaxed. You have mastered three new recipes, gained confidence in your cooking skills, and made some new friends in the bargain. Like Sabrina, youve learned that life can be beautiful in Paris.
Françoise Meunier's Cours de Cuisine: 7 rue Paul-Lelong, 2e, tel: 01 40 26 14 00, fax: 01 40 26 14 08, email: fmeunier@easynet.fr Website: www.intiweb.com/fmeunier . One morning class is 500F and a five-morning course is available for 2,000F.
Other Cooking Schools to Explore in Paris
At Home with Patricia Wells. Three times a year Patricia Wells, author of The Food Lovers Guide to Paris and a longtime restaurant reviewer for the International Herald Tribune, hosts a weeklong cooking class in Paris. Sessions include lunch, instruction, tastings, and visits to bakers, cheese and wine shops. Tuition is $3,000. For information consult her website at www.patriciawells.com or contact Deborah Orrill, 7830 Ridgemar Drive, Dallas, TX 75231, fax: (214) 343-1227, email: cookingclasses@patriciawells.com.
Marie-Blanche de Broglies La Cuisine de Marie-Blanche, Afternoon classes teaching three-course menus, as well as six-week and three-month diploma courses, are offered at this small private school in business since 1975. A series of five classes is 3,500F. Write: 18 av de la Motte-Picquet, 75007 Paris. Tel: 01 45 51 36 34, fax: 01 45 51 90 19., email: infocmb@CuisineMB.com website: www.CuisineMB.com