my friend E and i had dinner at the Quartier Latin (Latin Quarter) in a little restaurant called La Petite Hostellerie. for €15, you could have a set meal with an entrée, main course, and a dessert. (i got confused when i was first in France because entrée in the US always meant "main course", but it's actually the starter).
they placed us at a little table inside with some baguettes (yay!) and a jug of water. the baguettes tasted like they had been cut earlier in the day and left to sit .. the edges were hard and the insides weren't really soft anymore.. so sad..
i chose to order escargot as the entrée, even though there was an option to get formage et jambon crêpes. i figured that since i was in Paris, i might as well go all out, especially since i'd never get the nerve back at home.
it arrived on a little platter with tongs and a little fork, and my, was i freaked out!
in my head, i had imagined them to be .. well, out of the shell, chopped up, and cooked so that you can't recognise they were once snails..nope! apparently, the way you cook them is to take them out of the shell, boil with butter, add sauce and seasoning, and then pour it back into the shell..
i had to take a couple of deep breaths before even attempting to try them. first of all, i didn't know how to use the little tongs they gave you, and i spilled all the butter stuff everywhere on the plate. then, when i first poked out the meat, i saw the little antennae things and freaked out some more. finally, i decided to just go for it!
the green pesto sauce looked quite radioactive at first and made the experience just that much harder. i didn't know if it was green goop from the snail, or if it was added sauce. thank goodness it was just pesto! the meat was kind of chewy, and very soft. in a way it almost tasted like a clam or mussel. i quickly finished off the whole thing and gulped down a lot of water..here's the proof of my empty shells!
(notice the sauce everywhere - i hope that's not considered rude / bad manners..)
the main course for me was confit de canard (duck confit). i've always been a fan of duck, and it was what i had been looking forward to all day while walking around and looking at menus!
it arrived with some chips, and i eagerly dug in. they left bits of duck fat on it, which were so bad for you, yet made it taste soo good! the meat was falling off the bone and the skin was crispy as well. yum!
the only problem i had with it was that the meat could've been a bit softer. i'm not sure if that's how you're supposed to cook it, but parts of the duck got very hard to chew. still, it was very delicious!
the taste was perfect - not too salty, but not flavourless either. i think part of me was just glad that i was eating something that i was familiar with. i kept getting images of snails crawling around during the entire dinner.. heh..
i thought the chips were very amusing. they were u-shaped, like i was supposed to put something on top or dip it or something?
i finished off the meal with a serving of tarte aux pommes (apple tart)!
it was actually a lot better than i had thought it would be. i expected something similar to apple pie, but it was very different. the bottom was a thick, buttery pastry crust, and the middle layer was frangipane, which is a type of almond flavoured filling. the top was covered by thinly-sliced tart apples, and finally there was a sweet glaze. it was really, really, really good. better than an apple pie, that's for sure.
i felt like the restaurant gave us quite a good deal; the meal was rather delicious and the portions were huge as well - completely dispelled the myth of French food being tiny. or perhaps it was aimed at tourists.. hmm. either way, i wouldn't mind coming back here to eat (especially that tart! yum!), though i don't know if i'd ever have the nerve to eat escargot again.
La Petite Hostellerie
25 rue de la Harpe
75005, Paris
