Thursday, March 15, 2007

Pied de cochon


This may look absolutely disgusting to some of you but it's one of my favorite dishes: le pied de cochon pané (breaded pig foot). If you want to try this while you're in Paris there is ONE place to go: Le pied de cochon! near Saint Eustache church, in les Halles neighbourhood (6 rue Coquillère to be exact) where I took this photo. Also, it's one of the rare restaurants in Paris to be open 24 hours. (Visit the Web site here)

58 comments:

  1. Actually, it doesn't look bad at all from this angle, especially pané, but I can't say I'm too tempted by eating anybody's foot.

    Come to San Francisco and we'll introduce you to ... chicken feet pané in Chinatown, if you want ;)

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  2. I might do that sooner than what you think Tomate... Will keep you posted, my plans have been a little delayed.

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  3. Fried pig trotteres...WITH FRIES?

    I'm going back to the sex!

    LOL!
    ;)

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  4. Eric - Looks good. I am going to French75 this weekend and I think they have this dish. If they don't I am having flatiron steak and frites.

    Nice shot!

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  5. Does that mean a that a trip to the City by the Bay is in the works Eric?! I hope so! Tomate, KP, Manu, Rickemmanuel, and I will have to show you around!

    I've only ever had pickled pig's feet - never fried. In my book, just about everything is delicious fried, so I'm willing to try it!

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  6. Just in time then as i can't sleep. Let's go there now! I've never tasted pig's trotters but i'd give it a go, if you say so Eric, i trust you. Looks quite yummy.

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  7. Tomate: I can't say I'm too tempted by eating anybody's foot. ROFL. Nicely put.

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  8. Isn't it funny how hungry you get after sex (see previous post) lol

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  9. Eric, is there much meat in le peid? I mean, I'm trying to imagine how you would go about eating it.

    I've tried the Chinatown les peids de poulet. Basically, they are fried first and then cooked in a delicious sauce. There is not much meat. Just the skin and sauce. :-)

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  10. Lynn you are too beautiful for sex only. You have to be made love to the way snow loves mountain peaks; the way the sun loves the earth and the way Romeo loved Juliette..er...I'll stop here. You are trouble! Good trouble! Eric your turn.

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  11. Eric get that pig's foot out of your mouth. Lynn awaits your serenades.

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  12. So Eric, was it good for you?!

    The pied I mean!!! You people with those nasty minds... ;-)

    No pied for me thanks. Can I get a macaroon instead? I'm a simple girl and I have such a sweet tooth.

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  13. Aaaaaah! Oh, Eric please tell me that you did not eat that!!! Is it crunchy??? No matter how thorough the washing, I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about where the little cochon's foot had been! While I love the giant piggy who drinks a glass du vin on the outside of the restaurant, I can't say that I'd want to dine on his foot!

    Thanks for the power point from hier, I'm sure it took you quite a bit of time - much appreciated.

    Lynn - looks like you have quite the admirer today!

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  14. If you're into foot (!) Eric, you might consider coming to Rio someday. Our national dish - feijoada - is made of beans and pork parts. That's right, there's enough feet there for you!!! Everybody who comes here loves it, it really is delicious (I put away the pig part when I eat eat)

    And you've got to try it with the national drink, caipirinha. Ask Michael about it, he sure loved it when he came down here.
    Well, since you don't drink alcohol I guess it's just pork for you then!

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  15. From this angle it almost sorta looks like a turkey leg! Viva la Ren Faire!

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  16. Pieds de Cochon are great, but the restaurant itself suffers from a lack of constancy (which is quite understandable as they are open 24/7). It used to be a beacon in Les Halles, today it's just another Brasserie!

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  17. à Bastia avec les pieds de cochon nous faisons un plat avec des poids chiches oignons tomates ail,cela cuit des heures et l'on appel cela "u tianu" pronnoncez dianu avec l'accent...
    enfin des pieds de cochons panés panés ou en vinagrette moi je prend...

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  18. Goodness, Pont Girl, quite the admirer yes.

    Thank you Anonymous, beautifully put if i might say so, lovely images there. I'm very flattered. Do i know you already or are you new here?

    Barbscoot, what organisation is the house swap thing through please?

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  19. That's one dish that I love too!

    Instead of fries, in Singapore/Malaysia, we eat them with 'a-char' - vege spicy and sweet pickles made from gerkhins, carrots, pineapples and cabbage.

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  20. Well, I'll certainly give it a try next time I'm in Paris. If there's one thing you French people know how to do, it's COOK! How much is this unusual plate of food going to cost me though? (Sorry, South African habit - our lives are driven by the exchange rate :))

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  21. Louis la Vache has eaten le pied de cochon à Le Pied de Cochon! .

    Louis, naturellement, encourages the consumption du porc in whatever form over (ahem) the consumption du boeuf.

    For you cooks, especially if you like copper pans, you MUST visit E. Dehillerin, which is very near Le Pied de Cochon. L'église de Saint-Eustache, also nearby, is well worth a visit. The funeral of Mozart's mother, who died in Paris while on tour with the young Wolfgang, was held at Saint-Eustache.

    http://louisrecettes.blogspot.com/2006/10/e-dehillerin-lendroit-pour-acheter-le.html

    http://louislavache.blogspot.com/2006/06/lglise-de-saint-eustache.html

    http://louislavache.blogspot.com/2007/01/la-connexion-de-paris-de-mozart.html

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  22. Hmmm, it looked nice until I realised it was Babe's foot!! Think I'll pass thanks....
    Tel Aviv Daily Photo

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  23. Hmm. I'll take your word for it.

    I used to live in Washington, D.C., where there is a restaurant called Le Pied du Cochon, which is also open 24 hours a day. Not sure if they serve their eponymous dish, but it was a fun place to eat!

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  24. We have passed that restaurant many time when we go to the movies at Les Halles. The architecture is interesting and so is the size of the place. My family (German extraction) used to eat pickled pig's feet. Ugh! Just one of few things I won't try. It reminds me of some kind of biology specimen....especially packed in a huge jar. Things I would try in my 20's have changed since I have gotten older, much older. Bon Apetit!

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  25. Well if a pig's bottom (bacon) is SO good; then I'm up for trying some feet! (I think going to Paris will be the biggest challenge)

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  26. Eric, Thanks for making my day. I sur miss Paris.

    Olive. Bacon comes from the belly and side. Ham comes from the rump/top of leg

    "Sancere" Now I am really want some and it is only 8:00 am here

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  27. Mmmmh, looks delicious. I wish I was there !… Oh but I WAS there ! It even was MY plate ! Eric, how dare you show my pig foot to the entire world ?!!!

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  28. Pied pané is also on the menu at Brasserie Balzar, R. des Ecoles, Veme. Or it used to be -- now that Balzar is part of the Flo Empire things may have changed. There's nothing nasty about it, but not a lot to eat either. Just gristle.

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  29. I'd try it. Be all right to put someone else's foot in my mouth for a change.

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  30. I'll try to sheild this from the subject of the photo I published today!

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  31. lol Luggi! Haven't seen you for a while. Good to see you.

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  32. Just got around to reading yesterday's comments. I find it sad that so many women choose louts for mates and then complain about it. There's a lengthy menu: read it before you order. When you get what you order, don't complain.

    As to pigs' feet, pork is not my thing, especially the part that walks around in the stuff on the bottom of the sty. But, I suppose cochon is cochon...is cochon. (Wasn't that Gertrude Stein?) People should eat what they like, and let others do the same.

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  33. Unfortunately sometimes, Jeff, what you've ordered in good faith, arrives too small, undercooked, burnt or just plain disgusting. What appears in pictures and words on the menu can taste foul from the plate.

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  34. I read somewhere that the pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes. Does anybody have any information about that?

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  35. And perhaps Lynn, one will choose several itens from the menu before deciding which one ´tastes´ better.

    I think some men will be angry that we´re comparing them to dishes... well, hope they can take a joke!

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  36. Monica, of course you should sample several menu items before settling on one as your favorite. Who can know if you favor the first dish at a restaurant without trying the others? That is different from not reading the menu, n'est-ce pas?

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  37. Oui Jeff, c´est vrai.
    But you know, we all make mistakes now and then right? I´m mean, haven´t you ever chosen a dish that didn´t please you very much after all?!

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  38. Jeff, Monica: When you grow up in a city like Paris (San Francisco, New York, etc.) you are gonna be exposed to all kinds of different cuisines from all over the world. I think it's nice to try to keep an open mind and try out various .. ahem... cuisines. You never know, you might surprise yourself discoverning that you like ahem.. different kinds of cuisines than the one you grew up with. Ahem.

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  39. Tomate, you´re right. That´s pretty much what Lynn and I were talking about at yesterday´s post. For instance, we said it might be interesting to try.. say, french ahem.. cuisine!

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  40. I have eaten here and it is indeed hog heaven. They also have very good oysters. Around the corner from it is a fabulous kitchen shop that's worth a stop.

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  41. ah "le pied de cochon" c'est un monument de Paris. bel hommage pour cet endroit où j'ai finit pas mal de nuit....

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  42. The art of cooking is universal and we tend to like some cuisine more than other.

    Le menu de degustation is always the best way to go.However, Monica once you have decided on your favourite dish, you have to stick with it and not complain too much if at times it comes out overdone. I am sure this isn't alien to most involved.

    On the other hand it hard to think that cooking with you or Lynn one would go wrong with the ingredients.

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  43. LOL wow i've been missing some dialogue here! Very funny.

    Anonymous: No i don't, but i'd like to know! lol

    Monica: They say that french cuisine is the best in the world?

    Stick with the dish to a point, i think, Clo. Once you realise though that the meal just isn't going down your throat that well, then it's time to give it up. If the bad cooking is down to the chef then it is surely not our fault and we can have a little complaining before moving on.. to ... dessert.

    Clo, your last comment is so kind. In the summer, Monica and i hope to be eating together by the Seine. We could have a barbecue and cook together then! LOL over to you Mon', my partner in crime.

    Clo was it you who left Anon. comments of much earlier today?

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  44. LOOOOOOOOL!

    Come on girls, now we want to know about your recipes...

    Jeff "There's a lengthy menu: read it before you order. When you get what you order, don't complain." do I hear bitterness?

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  45. Eric, as my partner in crime was saying, maybe you guys will have to wait till our feast by the Seine to discover our recipes...!

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  46. Here's an interesting sidebar about the Pied de Cochon restaurant in Georgetown, Washington DC (a place I know well and thoroughly approve of). It was from there that Soviet defector Vitaly Yurchenko escaped from his CIA handler when they were both having dinner one saturday evening a few years ago. The way I heard it, Yurchenko excused himself to go to the toilet, then dived out of the toilet window into a back alley. Egg on face of CIA.

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  47. Eric: au contraire. I'm saying that people should not be bitter if they made a choice with eyes open. Now, 'hunger' can veil our vision, c'est vrai, but nonetheless, eating too much of the wrong food--after knowing it's making one ill--cannot be blamed on the food. Of course, I've had indigestion, if that's what you mean, but I learned to avoid that dish. (Sent it back to the kitchen!)

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  48. J'adore "Le Pied de Cochon" Eric...and that photo is making me soooo hungry right now!! I think I would be happy with just a taste...and a few of those "Fries"!!!

    Do you like "Petit salé aux lentilles" also???? My Grammy used to make that for us...Delicious!! I'm ready to get on a plane right now!! Stop Teasing!!! LOL! ;-)

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  49. lol sent it back to the kitchen ! I laugh in spite of myself. Reminds me of the joke my son (15) likes to say; "why do you not need to buy a woman a watch? Because there's a clock on the oven."

    Yes i distinctly heard bitterness too Eric. lol.

    Our recipes? Well that would be telling but suffice it to say there would be plenty of spice, it would be hot and very, VERY, well done.

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  50. I ate outside on the terrasse of the Pied du Cochon about 10 years ago... in March. It was about 10 degrees out (C) and the serveur couldn't figure out why we were outdoors. He didn't seem to understand that 10 degrees was a balmy night to eat outside in Paris, wherein at the same time back in old Canada, it was minus 20!

    Needless to say, the patio wasn't crowded- but the meal was magnifique.

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  51. Eric - Looks good. I am going to French75 this weekend and I think they have this dish. If they don't I am having flatiron steak and frites.

    Nice shot!

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  52. simply..artistic... yammie :-)

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  53. Thanks Barbscoot i'll have a look. I live in Cheltenham, UK. Have a look at my blog to see the area!

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  54. As for food and sex, are the non-francophones on the site familiar with the expression "prendre son pied"?

    I can't eat stuff that rich any more... Fortunately there is so much choice in Paris that it isn't a problem.

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  55. Yum...I'm salivating. Not disgusting at all. We have a quite similar dish in my home country. :)

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