Poubelles and Patisseries

Today, it’s back to the poubelle. Which is still littering the streets of Paris. A strange twist of fate for the people who live on or near demonstration routes, their garbage is collected regularly. As the government tries to avoid trash cans being set on fire by demonstrators. Some amongst you will be relieved to see that I have spelled poubelle correctly, which I did not do last week. Thanks to those who brought the error to my attention. In my defense, it is because I currently communicate mostly in a gendered language. And because I am such a feminist, it just seemed obvious that garbage was male, thus the masculine spelling. Forgetting briefly, but long enough to get myself into trouble that ‘Poubelle’ like ‘Crapper,’ got its start by association, an association which eventually came to define its function.

Let’s begin with crapper which is an American slang word for toilet. This is how that happened. Toilets in England during World War I were predominately made by one company, Thomas Crapper’s company. And the toilets all displayed the company’s logo. (Figures 1, 2) US soldiers stationed in England during the war to end all wars, started referring to the toilet as “the Crapper” Along with their English Rose brides, they brought that term back with them to the United States. Although as I did further reading (as one does) it seems as if what I assumed was an abbreviation - crap, actually has medieval English roots and means offal - the parts of the animal which people have often, sometimes still do, throw away. The English apparently don’t call the toilet a crapper, they call it a loo and that word actually derives from the French phrase 'guardez l'eau', 'watch out for the water.’ As in after you flush? No, it’s much worse than that. It was what people shouted to pedestrians below when they were about to empty the contents of their chamber pots onto the street. Delightful image, right? Of course we all know that the French word toilette has nothing much to do with the English word, toilet.

Figure 1. English toilet made by Thomas Crapper & Co.

Where was I? Right, garbage.

In the same way that Thomas Crapper gave us the word crapper to toilets, so Eugène Poubelle (Figure 3) gave the French language a word for describing where one should put ones household refuse. The year after Poubelle became Préfet of the Seine, (a position equivalent to mayor) in 1894, he decreed that the owners of buildings had to provide the residents of those buildings with containers into which they could put their household refuse.The newspaper Le Figaro, began to call the containers Boîtes Poubelle. Parisians followed suit. The introduction of garbage cans wasn’t without controversy. Nothing in Paris is. Building owners grumbled about having to pay for the containers and the chiffoniers, the rag-and-bone men, (Figure 4) saw the containers as a threat to their livelihoods. The bits and bobs that people discarded would no longer be on the streets for them to scavenge, salvage and sell. The embarrassing thing, for me, in having spelled poubelle without the extra ‘le’ is that I have written about the chiffoniers and their nemesis, the poubelle a few times. More embarrassing still is that when I lived in the moribund 16eme, I lived right down the street from the tiny, sweet smelling rue Eugène Poubelle. (Figure 5)

Figure 3. Eugène Poubelle, phtograph, Nadar studio

Figure 4. Chiffonier, photograph by Eugène Atget

Figure 5. Rue Eugène Poubelle, Street Sign, 16eme Arrondissement, Paris

On to more palatable news… Last summer I told you about one of the two patisseries with which I was then obsessed. Both are affiliated with grand hotels and both have stand alone boutiques where those of us who can’t afford or who don’t want to stay at either the Meurice or the Ritz, can still enjoy their sumptuous patisseries.

Last summer, Ginevra and I went to Le Comptoir, the patisserie at the back of the Ritz where the hotel’s Chef Pâtissier, François Perret, sells his creation. We went because in an article she wrote in the New York Times (December 2021) Dorie Greenspan showered, heaped, maybe since this is about cooking, I should say, spooned praise upon Perret. Dorie celebrated his madeleines, his croissants, his cookies. And she provided us with a recipe for those cookies. Which Ginevra and I baked. (Figure 6) We loved them. So we were eager to try the real thing when she got here last summer. She hadn’t been to France in 3 years. She missed summers, but mostly she missed having anywhere to wear her summer frocks. It was a big mistake, one she won’t be repeating anytime soon. Climate change really did mean global warming last summer here in Paris. Hopefully, if it’s as hot this coming summer as it was last summer, the garbage strike will be over.

Figure 6. Cookie that Ginevra & I made following the recipe provided by Dorie Greenspan, NYTimes

Anyhow, we tried a croissant, a madeleine and a pain au chocolat (on which Ginevra is an expert). We weren’t thrilled. The croissant was in the shape of a churro and without the essential airy/buttery vibe, (Figure 7) the Madeleine brought back no memories, the pastry to chocolate ratio in the pain au chocolat was off, according to Ginevra. The tart was mostly fruit, good fruit to be sure, but fruit … (Figure 8) The cookie was the biggest disappointment, not just because it was so small. It was because it was so ungenerous with the toppings. (Figure 9) Dorie had explained that French cookies are all about the toppings. You don’t, for example, have to search for the chocolate chips in a chocolate chip cookie. In France, all the chocolate chips are on top, ready for you to peel off and eat immediately, if you wish.

Figure 7. Croissant from Le Comptoir, François Perret

Figure 8. Le Comptoir fruit tart, all fruit

8a. Section view, Le Comptoir tart, all fruit.

We didn’t get to the other patisserie last summer, Cedric Grolet’s boutique at the Hotel Meurice. Maybe because we were too hot after two weeks in Venice. Maybe because we didn’t want to be disappointed again. But when I got back to Paris at the end of January, I couldn’t wait any longer. Blame it on Instagram. I do. Every so often, well actually nearly every time I scroll through Instagram, there is an image or a video (story) of Cédric Grolet creating something fabulous in one of his two patisseries. Grolet is a wanderkind. (Figure 10) He completed his CAP training as a pâtissier-chocolatier-glacier in 2002. He was 17. Two years later he obtained a Brevet technique des métiers à l'École nationale supérieure de la pâtisserie (ENSP). By 2006, he was working with fabulous gourmet company, Fauchon. He moved to Le Meurice Hotel in 2011, he was 26 years old. He’s been there ever since. He’s not what you think of when you think of a pastry chef. He doesn’t wear a chef’s toque or a a white outfit or even a white apron. He wears khakis and a white tee shirt. (Figure 11) When his hair gets too long, he puts it in a bun. His sleeve of tattoos is exposed. He’s an accomplished media star who makes making patisseries and eating them seem cool.

Figure 10. Cédric Grolet in front of his patisserie on Avenue de l’Opéra

Figure 11. Cédric Grolet with his creations

In his stories (he has over 2 million followers on instagram and over 4.5 million followers on TikTok), we watch him prepare patisseries and we watch him take them out of the oven, after which, depending upon whether we are watching him prepare a a patisserie or a croissant, he either 1. pulls it apart and takes a bite or 2. pulls off a bit and dips it into a perfectl café creme or 3. brings it out to the adoring masses gathered in front of his boutique.

Every time I have walked by his patisserie on Avenue de l’Opéra, (the other is at Le Meurice, 10 minute walk away) I have seen people in front, in a snaking line, a Disneyland line. (Figure 12) Not a line that makes you think that it is shorter than it is, but a line that is a form of traffic control. So people who just want to walk by, who aren’t prepared to spend a week’s worth of grocery money on a patisserie, can walk by.

Figure 12. Line in front of Cédric Grolet on Avenue de l’Opéra, before snaking lines began

Since I don’t wait in lines to get into museums, I couldn’t imagine waiting in line to buy a patisserie. Click-and-Collect was the only answer. Click-and-Collect is pre-ordered pre-paid pick up. It’s a term that was invented by a British retailer who had already come up with "Ring and Reserve" and "Text and Take Home”. Both of which have the advantage of alliteration, both of which have the disadvantage of slowing things down at the pick up site because the customer hasn’t yet paid for his order. With Click and Collect, payment is made online, the process is fast. It flourished during the Pandemic and now seems here to stay.

The price of what’s available on Click-and-Collect at Cedric Grolet is not for the faint of heart. The least expensive item, a patisserie for one person, is 17 euros. Yes, I should have forgotten about it. But I decided that I am worth it. Ginevra was with me in spirit. She chose and ordered the patisserie for me. When I went to pick it up, there were about 100 people waiting in line, either to get in or to get a sample. There was nobody waiting for Click-and-Collect. (Figure 13) Alas, there was no organization. I was told to wait outside (it was drizzling, I wasn’t pleased). After a few moments, I just walked in. I was finally acknowledged by a young woman who eventually found Ginevra’s order and boxed my patisserie. Then she asked if I wanted anything else. Rather than saying no thank you and walking out - I asked that fateful question - what else was available. How unlike me! Impulse buying leads to buyer’s remorse. Such an unpleasant sensation. But when she said cookies, my research self clicked in and I said, yes please, knowing that I would then be able to compare Cedric Grolet’s cookie with François Perret’s cookie and the cookie Ginevra and I made following Dorie Greenspan’s recipe based upon Perret’s cookie. Yes, 20 euros is expensive for a cookie, but it was research! My 17 euro patisserie, a Fleur Forêt Noire (Figures 14, 15) was beautiful, it was elegant, it was delicious. This is what was in it: Pâte sablée chocolat, praliné vanille, crémeux chocolat, confit de griotte, biscuit chocolat moelleux, ganache vanille de Tahiti (Chocolate shortcrust pastry, vanilla praline, chocolate cream, morello cherry confit, soft chocolate biscuit, Tahitian vanilla ganache). It was a delightful combination of flavors which all worked together perfectly. If you can accept ‘baby bear’ portions, it’s big enough to share, so I did.

Figure 13. Middle lane, the empty lane, the click-and-collect lane

Figure 14. Fleur Forêt Noire, Cedric Grolet Opéra

The cookie, called XL was indeed large. (Figure 16) I cut it into 4 pieces. With four 5 euro cookies, my conscience was eased. The cookie had a cookie dough consistency, there were chocolate chips throughout. It wasn’t too sweet but it was plenty buttery and the large salt crystals scattered through the cookie made each bite a symphony of tastes and surprises.

Figure 16. XL Cookie, Cédric Grolet, Avenue de l’Opéra

So, now that my research is completed, here is my report. If you like patisseries as much as I do, then Cédric Grolet on Avenue de l’Opéra or at Le Meurice is for you. If you value your time as much as I value mine, Click-and-Collect is the way to go. When you pick up whatever you’ve ordered, you can let whimsy help you decide if you want something else or not. To know: you have to click and collect at least 48 hours before you pick up your purchase. There is a salon de thé but those reservations go quickly. On the other hand, if you do get a reservation at the salon de thé, the patisseries are only one euro more than if you take them home. But then you won’t get the fabulous packaging. Don’t go without a reservation, no one likes to be disappointed. And one more thing, if you’re in London, there’s good news, a Grolet Patisserie is now at The Berkeley.

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