The tour started at 7 am (gulp) and required me to get up and out of the house by 5H30. Felt like I was back on call getting ready for a 6am raid on a drug house. I did manage to see the flour guys delivering to our boulangerie. That is how early 530 is. The Marche offers a 5am tour which also includes the fish. Didn't need to get up that early!
Included in our tour, handy hygenic outfits. We started with the butchered meats. JW, pass these next ones up. 3 am is their starting time and around the time we got there, 8am, they were closing up shop. Yawn!
Funny story about tripes and my aunt. Like most rustic peoples, the Croats will eat everything from the cow. My great grandma had the tripe in the fridge and my aunt asked her why she had a towel in there.
"Can I get everyone to listen up?" Nico our tour guide with a pig's ear. Soon it will be off to be a dog treat.
Do you think they would notice a case of the duck breast gone? Favorite food in France. The canard or duck.
Check it out. ASHBY meats. Sweet, I should contact them for some samples.
Entire foie gras. Just not my thing.
Beef, it is what's for dinner.
Sweet little what are these. With the head on, imagine giant ears on these bunnies.
The famous Bresse poulet or chicken. Got to keep the feet and head on to let you know you are getting the best.
I don't think I know anyone younger than my parents that actually still eat beef liver.
The famous blood duck. Costs a bit more since they smother it instead of giving it the ol' chop.
Non offensive cheese. Just some huge wheels of brie. Yummy raw milk cheese.
The chevres. These are good and stinky but tasty and delicious when served warm on toast with some greens. Yummy. I am getting hungry!
Comte (with accent on the e) is the most popular cheese in France. Makes for a tasty good gougeres (cheese puffs). Might need to get some at the store.
Yuck, mushrooms. Je deteste les champignons. Even the Champignon de Paris is cultivated in Poland. You can keep those for yourself. None here.
Ah, the most exported cheese and my friend's favorite after her stay at Chez Nickell. Chad just found out what a pie chart is called here, a camembert. Hee hee.
Had to get at least one tacky photo of me and my purse with a huge stack of parmesan cheese.
On to the veggies. They had mini veggies that were so cute. Wonder where those get served? On a mission to find out.
After the butcher, the fromager, the veggies and fruits, it was time for some girly time. Flowers!
Crazy what they can get flowers to do. Party roses for sure.
Even some in blue.
Our tour ran over, of course, by an hour and a half. I was exhausted, hungry and a bit grumpy. It was very interesting to see and hear how the Europeans do things. Still a bit crazy about the food in France so very interesting to see this Marche Rungis. The old location was Les Halles right in the heart of Paris. I can totally see why they went outside of the city to expand the operation.
The funniest comment was from a woman who had never seen a slaughtered cow. She didn't realize how large they are. Pretty big but I have lived in Texas so not that staggering for me.
Lots of fun snippet facts: yellow chickens are entirely corn fed. German and Belgian beef has more fat. veal facial skin is a delicacy. chickens for roasting are typical 90 days old. flowers from the south of France get shipped to Holland for auction then shipped to Rungis. Only 10% of cheese in France is AOC meaning it meets the highest standards for location, company and rules. No slaughtering is done on site in Rungis. Naps are entirely necessary after returning to Paris from a morning at Rungis.
2 comments:
Aha! That explains why you were up so early this morning. Looks like it was an interesting tour. I am sure that there are still people other than your parents that eat beef liver but I am definitely not one!
NEAT!!! My friend's husband's family company sells their seafood/scallops at that market and I always wanted to see what it looked like. Thanks for the tour!
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