• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs/Events
  • About
    • Published Articles
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

Ripailles by Stephane Reynaud

May 25, 2009 1 Comment Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized


I lived in Paris from 1990-96. I’d wanted to live there since I read ‘A moveable feast‘ by Hemingway. Seemingly he spent his whole time in Paris moving from café to restaurant scribbling works of art on napkins. My dad loves his writing but I’ve never been a fan. ‘A moveable feast’ however is different. It’s full of heart. The prose is not terse, pared down, modern. He writes naturally, sensually, clearly influenced by his gastronomic surroundings.

On Sunday mornings, my daughter’s father and I would travel by metro (I love the smell of the metro in the mornings, an assault of damp fur coat and stale expensive perfume) to Porte de Clignancourt. From there it is a short walk to the flea market, les puces de Saint Ouen, passing the ‘merguez’ vendors, tall blue black men holding long thin sausages over charcoal. 
Inside the labyrinthine market there was a little restaurant with oilcloth red and white checked tablecloths, Chez Louisette. We would order wine in Duralex beakers. A kids game in France is to see if the number on the bottom of the glass corresponds to your age, a lucky thing. (I’ve just discovered there is even a facebook group ‘Quand j’etais petit, je regardais mon age sous les verres Duralex’  dedicated to this).
I’d generally order ‘soupe à l’onion’ or ‘moules marinieres’. Baguette would arrive guillotined into slices.
A lady of indeterminate age, with auburn curls, would get up and sing ‘Piaf’, accompanied by someone on an accordion. 
I would breath a sigh of relief.  This restaurant, a ‘guinguette’, a bar or restaurant with musical entertainment, incarnated the elusive Paris I was trying to capture when I moved there.
For the reality of Paris is very different: hostile bureaucrats, staring men on the metro, endless paperwork, no green spaces, no gardens, tiny flats, hissing neighbours, armed police. There is a typical Parisian, who interferes and snoops, enjoys regulations and rules, that I grew to loathe…’collabo’ I called them, the slang word for collaborators, those who sided with the Germans in the war. On a depressingly regular basis I would have to queue at the ‘mairie’ for my ‘fiche d’etat civile’, a form that they have now done away with in this era of biometric data. It was a piece of paper which did nothing more that state that you exist. You needed this piece of paper for everything. It could not be more than three months old. So you had to renew it. You needed this to pay a bill, book a place at a nursery, go to school, apply for an evening class, get a flat, get a telephone, get medical treatment, everything…
The women at the ‘mairie’ were horrible harsh creatures.
‘Ripailles‘ by chef Stephane Reynaud is a ‘guinguette’ in book form. A hefty piece of work, worthy of pride of place on the bookshelf, it has typical French brasserie recipes, witty drawings and evocative food photography presented on enamel plates, earthenware, cast iron pans, heavy spoons, the kind of French tableware I lust over in ‘vide-greniers’. The memories of France this book evokes are textural, tangible. 
Certainly there is a preponderance of meat dishes but we will forgive that. After all, France is a country where, if you announce that you don’t eat meat, they say “just a little bit of chicken then?”
One page is very funny: drawings of different ways you can order your eggs. There is a drawing of two tiny flat eggs called ‘Jane Birkin eggs’ after the flat chested English singer who was married to Serge Gainsbourg, and who become a French institution. I remember her once on a French tv show talking about her breasts…

“Excuse me” she defended herself laughingly “when I had my children I had lots of milk from these tiny breasts. Gallons! Sophia Loren…”she holds  her hands further away from her body, imitating large breasts “she had nothing, not a drop, pas une goutte!!!”

Recent posts

Soup recipes for a broken arm

February 26, 2025

The future of farming

January 20, 2025

Poppy seed kifli pic: KERSTIN RODGERS

Hungarian poppy seed pastry ‘Kifli’ recipe

November 5, 2024

Previous Post: « Food Packaging I like
Next Post: Marmite Menu »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. canelvr

    May 26, 2009 at 12:24 pm

    That's such a beautiful evocation of what Paris can so easily be imagined as! Instead, as you say, it's full of 'collabos' and needless paperwork. No amount of street-side hire bikes or state-funded art squats is ever going to change that I don't think!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover

msmarmitelover

@camille.osullivan @camilleosullivanpics and @grah @camille.osullivan @camilleosullivanpics and @grahnort @wiltonsmusichall god this woman is talented. She did a solo show of The Rape of Lucrece. Her voice! #theatre #shakespeare #london
My latest article on Hungarian cuisine, a unique m My latest article on Hungarian cuisine, a unique meeting of east and west, for @ckbk It's a blend of Ottoman, Eastern and middle European, Austro-Hungarian empire and cowboy food. #food&travel #foodanthropology #hungary
Made Fermented Cucumber dill pickles from @nickvad Made Fermented Cucumber dill pickles from @nickvadasz book The Pickle Jar. At @katzsdeli in New York they sell half sours and full sours. I reckon these are 3/4 sour. The white mould is fine btw. These are delicious #pickleperson #fermentation #guthealthy
London in bloom: wisteria, cherry blossom, lilac, London in bloom: wisteria, cherry blossom, lilac, plum blossom, 🌸 you don’t need to go to Japan for the Sakura season- it’s all here- london at its most beautiful. #london
Bluebell walk on Wanstead flats. The scent is incr Bluebell walk on Wanstead flats. The scent is incredible: similar to lily of the valley. These are actual English bluebells - a deeper colour & more delicate than Spanish bluebells which are rather invasive. #london #walks #april #bluebells
Snapshots from portobello rd market. Portuguese fo Snapshots from portobello rd market. Portuguese folar de pascua bread from Lisboa patisserie,  a gorgeous mosaic table from Fez, my favourite antique shop @muirshindurkin, Alice’s shop, an Easter hat, the best wisteria I wrote a substack on portobello road: https://open.substack.com/pub/kerstinrodgers/p/where-to-go-in-portobello-road-the?r=3873k&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true #london
I visited @tokyobagellondon with my granddaughter I visited @tokyobagellondon with my granddaughter yesterday to try one of their viral wobbly bunnies. We also tried the multi layer Oreo pancake cakes, the onigiri shaped croissant. My sister had the black sesame latte and I had yuzu tea. I spent £35 in a short space of time as each dessert was £5 but it was a fun experience. Ophelia said ‘lovely flowers’ which shows a degree of sophistication for a 2 year old. I preferred the strawberry to the coconut flavour . #londondaysout #grandmacore #easter
A quick high protein lunch of ratatouille with smo A quick high protein lunch of ratatouille with smoked tofu.  @pomoragoodfood olive oil then an aubergine cut into thick slices then quartered. Fry till translucent then add the chunks of red pepper. 2 fat garlic cloves sliced thinly, a block of smoked tofu in chunks, 2 bay leaves, a small handful of maldon salt. A courgette cut into thick half lengthways- then sliced into half moons. I might chuck in a handful of pantelleria capers in vinegar to give some acidity. Serve hot or cold. #sololunch #protein #vegetables
Inspired by @nickvadasz book The pickle Jar I used Inspired by @nickvadasz book The pickle Jar I used his dill pickles to make one of my favourite recipes for lunch - a potato, sour cream & pickle soup. Recipe on the blog. #soup #pickles
One of my favourite ways to eat mushrooms. Cook wh One of my favourite ways to eat mushrooms. Cook whole button mushrooms in olive oil, lemon juice, a little white wine vinegar, salt, bay leaves, whole coriander seeds, thyme, and white wine if you have it to hand. I used @pomoragoodfood olive oil. You can eat it straight away or leave it to marinate longer and eat the next day. #vegetarian #vegan #mushroomrecipe
Table side Caesar salad @maisonfrancois for @sienn Table side Caesar salad @maisonfrancois for @siennamarla birthday 🎂 #london #restaurants #caesarsalad
I went to sheffield to visit the @reclaimedbrickco I went to sheffield to visit the @reclaimedbrickcompany to look at their hand cut, wire cut and tumbled bricks for a herringbone patio. I love the historical aspect of bricks, the different quarries from different parts of the country. #patio #englishhistory story
Made brussel sprouts with pistachio pesto. The pis Made brussel sprouts with pistachio pesto. The pistachios came from Brontë in Sicily- they are the best pistachios in the world. You can make pesto with any nut: it’s usually with pine nuts but I’ve used hazelnuts, almonds (trapani), walnuts. #vegetarian #pesto #bronte
Bathroom palette: @firedearthuk scallop tiles @top Bathroom palette: @firedearthuk scallop tiles @toppstiles honed white marble skirting and dado @paintandpaperlibrary paint @sanderson1860 wallpaper this is my first rodeo when it comes to bathroom design. Follow my progress
Yesterday I cooked ( needed help with heavy pans a Yesterday I cooked ( needed help with heavy pans and pouring) pesto alle genovese. Made pesto in the vitamix: fresh basil leaves, 4 cloves garlic, 100g pecorino, 100g pine nuts, 150ml olive oil, salt, and juice of half a lemon. Whizz up.  Then cook the pasta - traditional shape is trofie but I only had fusilli. Top with small boiled potatoes and steamed green beans. Douse again with olive oil and more pine nuts. I served this with green salad with cucumber, avocado, pumpkin seeds and a mustard lemon olive oil dressing. #familylunch #sundaylunch #pestopasta #pestgenovese
Unstyled food photos no.4: butternut squash soup. Unstyled food photos no.4: butternut squash soup. Peel and cut up the butternut squash. Discard the seeds. Roast with olive oil, salt, smoked paprika in the oven for 30 minutes. Soften 2 brown onions in a deep pan with olive oil, add 3 cloves garlic minced, 3 bay leaves. Then add the veg stock powder and 1.5 litres hot water to the pan. Stir. Pour in the roast butternut squash. Cook for 10 minutes. Then remove the bay leaves and blend. Add 3 large scoops of natural yoghurt or skyr. Season to taste. Transfer back to the deep pan and serve with grated cheese, pumpkin seeds, chilli. 🌶️ #vitamix #soup #winterfood #agacooking
Unstyled food photos #3: roast cauliflower & garli Unstyled food photos #3: roast cauliflower & garlic cheese soup. Roast the cauliflower florets, unpeeled garlic cloves, one chopped brown onion in olive oil. Once golden, tip into a saucepan with a potato chopped small, 3 tbsps veg stock and 1.5 litres hot water. Boil till soft the. Add 100g cheddar. Stir then blend in a blender. Serve with grated cheese on top. #soup #vitamix #winterfood #cookingwithonehand #simplerecipes
Unstyled food photos: whole roast cauliflower with Unstyled food photos: whole roast cauliflower with ground almond crust, yoghurt, cumin, lemon juice and tahini sauce using @pomoragoodfood olive oil. First I parboiled the cauliflower then roasted it for 30 to 30 minutes with salt and olive oil in the oven. Add the ground almonds and bake for another 10 minutes. Then serve hot with the sauce. #highprotein #lowcarb #vegan #vegetarian #glutenfree
Unstyled food photos: carrot and preserved lemon s Unstyled food photos: carrot and preserved lemon soup. I’m eating a lot of soup as it’s easy to make with one hand and a vitamix. I roasted the carrots ( 1 kilo) in olive oil. Then boiled them with 2 tbsp veg stock, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground cumin and 2 litres hot water. For a thicker soup, add 1 tbsp of cornflour mixed with the stock juice and add. Once tender, I blended this with 2 whole preserved lemons, adding a little of the juice from the jar. Blend on medium then high. Serve with yoghurt. It’s a way of effortlessly eating a lot of vegetables in one meal. #winterfood #soup #vegetables
So hard to cook with one hand- screwing off lids, So hard to cook with one hand- screwing off lids, pouring, scraping, lifting pans. 3 more weeks with a cast. I’ve made a vegan mushroom Paprikash with cashew cream and acacia smoked paprika from a Hungarian paprika farm that I visited in October. #comfortfood #vegan #mushroom #paprikash
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2025 msmarmitelover