The Paris of gourmets since the Middle Ages at the center of an exhibition at the Conciergerie

The exhibition invites us on a gastronomic journey spanning more than six centuries. Paris, capital of gastronomy, from the Middle Ages to the present day, which has just opened at the Conciergerie de Paris. Although it does not have a monopoly on gastronomy, the capital has some great feats of arms: the restaurant was born there, as well as the baguette or the croissant. Above all, Paris is the cradle of an unparalleled culinary and pastry repertoire, fueled by agricultural know-how and a “belly”, that of Les Halles, transferred in 1969 to Rungis and considered the largest food market in the world.

Talking about gastronomy also means talking about diplomacy, agriculture, society, commerce, tableware and art, and even architecture. Using objects, rare documents, paintings, photos, videos and reconstructions, the tour, which takes place under the splendid Gothic naves of the Conciergerie, brings to life all the pleasures of the Parisian palace, from the banquet given on the spot by Charles V in 1378, to the surreal whims of bread by Salvador Dali. As an appetizer, here is an overview in seven questions of this exhibition where you learn a lot but where you also have to read a lot.

What was eaten at the table of King Charles V in the Middle Ages?

When King Charles V received a visit from the Germanic Roman Emperor Charles IV, for whom it was his first visit to Paris, he pulled out all the stops. For the feast of January 6, 1378, Epiphany Day, which takes place at the Palais de la Cité, on the very premises of the exhibition, it is Taillevent alias Guillaume Tirel, who is in the kitchen and directs the royal kitchens . He whose collection of recipes, the meat maker, is undoubtedly the oldest culinary manuscript in the French language, treats the 800 guests with a menu, the details of which can be seen at the exhibition. During the three services, were served in particular the “Coyster ivet“, of the “White mash and sunken peas“, of hismud noodles“, of the “Roasted meats of several kinds” and “C’speregrine hapons at the Dodine“. We also delighted in “Sweet pies stuffed with hot sauce“, of “Stuffed figs covered in gold leaf“, without forgetting the very chauvinistic “Bspinning wheel in three colours: dark blue, white and red“. Appetizing, isn’t it?

How does the restaurant, born in the middle of the 18th century, innovate compared to inns?

It is to the entrepreneur Mathurin Roze de Chantoiseau that we owe the birth of the first restaurant, which he inaugurated around 1766 in the Louvre district. So far, the aristocracy eats at home, thanks to domestic staff or caterers, while the more modest classes and foreigners frequent inns, whose hygiene and reputation leave something to be desired, we learn. at the exhibition. The restaurant is a game changer. He guarantees comfort, quality of food and cleanliness. It also offers, and this is one of its great innovations, a personalized service: the customer sets the time of his meal, what he will taste (thanks to the first menu cards as we see at the exhibition) and with who. A little later, the concept of a grand restaurant for an urban elite emerged, where one tastes, in a sumptuous setting, gourmet cuisine, under the impetus of former kitchen managers of noble houses who found themselves without employment after the French Revolution. A century after the birth of the restaurant, other types of establishments are appearing – brasseries, broths and bistros – aimed at a more popular clientele.

What had Salvador Dali ordered from the baker Poilâne in 1971?

Never short of extravagance, the great Catalan painter one day wanted to offer his companion Gala a room made entirely of bread, in order, he said, to ensure that the Hôtel Meurice, where he had had his regular suite for years , was not infested with mice. To do this, he ordered from the famous baker Lionel Poilâne an 18th century Spanish sideboard in unleavened bread (except metal hinges) 1.65 m high, a replica of which can be seen at the exhibition (and partly seen in the picture below). The original was filled with cutlery, also edible – in case of cravings ” It can be useful“, underlined the baker. But the master of surrealism had also ordered a four-poster bed from him, a sideboard as well as a bread chandelier decorated with edible rosettes, which was still working a few years ago at his daughter Apollonia Poilâne’s.”We can make everything in bread“, assured Lionel Poilâne, except for a television: ” I’m running into some technical issues here.“, explained the artist baker with a smirk in a delicious television report devoted to this extraordinary order.

Who is the great tutelary figure of modern pastry?

The one we nicknamed ” the cook of kings and the king of cooks“was Parisian and was called Antonin Carême (1783-1833). He first became known at the dawn of the 19th century for his incredible mounted pieces presented in the windows of his first employer, the pastry chef Bailly, rue Vivienne near the Royal Palace, where the dignitaries of the Empire got their supplies. With gourmet ingredients – sugar, honey, creams, almonds, meringues, candied fruits – he painstakingly represented monuments and landscapes. His inspiration, this child born into a family modest inherited it from his other passion: that of drawing, which he studied in architectural treatises at the Imperial Library. The Royal Pastry Chef And The Picturesque Pastry Chef, are richly illustrated, as can be seen at the exhibition. Later, he codified the great French cuisine, and gave it international fame in all the courts of Europe, before inspiring future great chefs like Auguste Escoffier.

What French dish did Queen Elizabeth II particularly appreciate?

Crowned in 1952, Queen Elizabeth II made her first official trip to France in 1957, under the presidency of René Coty. At dinner, served in the Salle des Cariatides at the Louvre, in the presence of 210 guests lit by huge candelabras, the Queen enjoys, between the Delight of guinea fowl and the Glazed Peaches, a dish in particular, the Hérisson périgourdin at the nest. It is a ball of foie gras bristling with slices of truffle accompanied by a foie gras brioche. On each of her four other state visits to the capital, she had each time the opportunity to taste foie gras, a dish which she was known to be particularly fond of. Seventy years later, no foie gras was on the menu of the banquet, finally canceled, which was to be served at Versailles at the end of March for his son King Charles III.

Baguettes, croissants, brioches: when were these Parisian specialties invented?

The Parisian loves bread. And that’s not new: in 1730, there were around 800 bakers’ shops in the capital and its suburbs for 500,000 inhabitants. If the diversification of breads was notable from the 17th century, it was not until 1904 that the word ” baguette“to describe this jewel of Parisian gastronomy as we know it. Concerning the Parisian croissant in puff pastry, the first recipe dates back to 1906 and the success of this ” pastry“that the world envies us was obvious from 1920, the exhibition tells us. As for the chubby Parisian brioches topped with a head, they appeared in the 17th century in the capital and were improved in the following century thanks to the use of brewer’s yeast instead of sourdough.

Which foreign cuisine was best represented in Paris in the 19th century?

Although a few delicatessens already made it possible in the 18th century to buy specialties from all over the world, the presence of foreign cuisine remained very limited in the capital until the 1920s and 1930s. In fact, in the 19th century, the best represented foreign cuisine in Paris was English. At the exhibition, we have fun with a caricature by Daumier which mocks the enthusiasm of Parisians for it. It is accompanied by an article published in 1842 entitled ” On the invasion of roast beef in France“, in which the author counts” no less than eight almost all newly opened English taverns“. And ironically: ” For six weeks, the strollers of the boulevard Montmartre have only known English cuisine with its three-course dinners. First course, roast beef with potatoes; second course, roast beef with a spicy sauce; third course, roast beef with jams.” In the next window, a caricature by the Englishman George Cruikshank shuts his mouth: it depicts three Englishmen seated in a Parisian restaurant who are presented with the note: 1,500 francs, an astronomical sum while at the same time a Beefsteak sautéed with mushrooms cost 1.50 francs at the Trois Frères Provençaux…

Exhibition “Paris, capital of gastronomy from the Middle Ages to the present day”
until July 16, 2023 at the Conciergerie de Paris
Schedule : Every day from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., last access at 5 p.m.
Saturday night until 8 p.m., last access at 7 p.m.
Prices : adult €11.50, free for children under 18 and EU nationals aged 18-25