What to eat in Paris? Pain au Chocolat
When I moved to France, I wasn’t sure what to eat in Paris for one of my very first breakfasts [petit dejeuner].
I was introduced to a heavenly delight – the ‘pain au chocolat’, which loosely translates to ‘bread of chocolate’ or ‘chocolate bread’.
Wowie zowie – imagine the texture of a croissant, but folded into a different shape after someone has placed one or two thick streams of chocolate along the centre of the croissant. Then baked it! Oh boy! If you get one of these babies when they’re still warm and the chocolate is slightly runny, you’ll really think you’re in heaven! I found I had to limit myself to one a week because they were soooooo good :-)
Croissant aux Almondes
Almond croissants are another of my favourites – delicious flaky pastry, filled with a taste sensation, a light creamy custard, dusted with icing sugar and toasted slivered almonds.
So yummy!
Paris Brest
Paris-Brest is a pastry which is shaped like a ring, filled with cream, then sprinkled with almonds and the final touch is a sprinkling of powdered sugar.
First created in 1891, the Paris Brest was designed to resemble a bicycle wheel, to commemorate the annual Paris to Brest bike race.
The Parisian pastry chef who came up with the design, had a pâtisserie [pastry shop] located along the route of the bicycle race from Paris to Brest. This great reat marketing idea became so popular it is still being baked today, over a hundred years later.
PS – The Paris to Brest bicycle race was a precursor to the Tour de France which started in 1903.
Buy one today and make a silent toast to all those cyclists – enjoy!
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