Not wasting pastries from Patisserie des Reves
Lately I've been busy with some random maintenance on the blog, and now I'm going to finish up the Paris posts since they've gotta be written. I want to talk about this idea of food waste too, and I'll get to it at the end of the post, but keep that in your back pocket for now. Let's talk about Patisserie des Reves. If you want pastries in Paris and you're short on time, you would have no regrets placing this patisserie at the top of your to-eat list. It is simply one of the best pastry places in Paris.
Steph and I only got two pastries because we actually were really good about portion control while eating in Paris. Don't ask me how, but I gained exactly zero pounds in France. It's kind of unbelievable considering I ate bread all the time, but there you have it. You walk around enough and don't go crazy, you end up being OK on the scale. We got the Paris Brest and an Orange Tart. I don't remember the prices exactly, but they were like 5.50 or 6.50 Euros? Whatever, pay that shit if you're on vacation. It's worth it.
The orange tart was actually kind of a lucky thing because Steph asked me to pick between orange and chocolate. Usually I like chocolate, but you know, sometimes you gotta brighten your life a little bit with some fruit. This really was a delight, since the custard innard was creamy and beautiful. Remember that movie, American Pie? Yea, you would never do that with an orange tart from Patisserie des Reves, since that would just ruin such a perfectly crafted piece of pastry, not to mention the tart is not warm.
See, look at the insides... yum.
This was my first time eating a Paris Brest. This is basically like a cream puff, where the cream is praline mousse and with a bit of hazelnut cream in the center of the ball of mousse. This is so good that Patisserie des Reves could just make this one thing, and they would probably be successful. The whole thing was super soft, and it was like someone constructed a pillow out of cream. You know when you're on an airplane and you look at the clouds beneath you, and you're like, "shit, I bet that tastes like cotton candy." I mean, this was like that. Sorta. Basically go to Patisserie des Reves, and get this.
Obviously Steph and I finished the desserts from Patisserie des Reves. But I have been thinking about food waste lately. On my most recent trip to my parents house, my family and I had ordered too much at a Japanese restaurant in Detroit, and there was some rice left over. We took it home. One the surface it might be like, "Cheap Chinks take home rice." Here's the thing though... The restaurant is just going to throw it away. To them, it's waste. How much perfectly good food do you throw out in a year? I don't know the exactly number, but it's POUNDS AND POUNDS of it. Just like that. Edible food that poof, goes in the trash.
I get that if the restaurant gives out a Styrofoam container for the rice, there's some resources required to make the take-out box and the plastic bag. And overall, it might be better for the environment for us to just waste the rice, and have the restaurant buy less plastic bags and take-out containers. But if you're reading this now, you probably like eating, care about food, and maybe care about where your food comes from. Who really talks about where our food goes though? You go to a restaurant and you don't finish your plate for whatever reason (too full, too nasty), and that shit goes in the garbage.
Two things about food going into the garbage. For one summer in high school, I worked as a busboy in Tennessee, and we used to eat the stuff off of people's plates after we bussed them. Had no idea if shit fell off the table onto the ground and was put back on the plate, or if someone sneezed on that shit. But bussed plates = free food. And you don't gotta tell me twice to eat free food. The second thing about it is that you consider there's 6 billion people on this planet, and at least 1 billion of them, wouldn't throw away food on their plate because they're hungry more often than not. With that in mind, what kind of an assholes are we in America to be able to throw food away and then go read about food blogs. Seriously. WTF?
Patisserie des Reves
93 Rue du Bac.
Paris, FR 75007
01 42 84 00 82
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I'm with you on this one. Their PB is slamming!
FN
October 7, 2011 8:07 am
@FN,
indeed! We need this in NY.
Danny
October 7, 2011 1:57 pm
Patisserie des Reves was my favorite patisserie that I visited when I was in Paris this summer. The Paris Brest was amazing, but, as hard as it may be to believe, their Saint-Honore was even more incredible. Pricey, but oh so worth it. And to top it off, their shop's super futuristic design, with the dishes covered by glass covers suspended from the ceiling, is pretty cool.
Kevin
October 7, 2011 6:36 pm
Ooo man that looks amazing! They were closed for the month when I visited August, at the top of the list for next year!!
Kathy
October 7, 2011 8:48 pm
You might want to look at the November-December, 2011, issue of _Cook's Illustrated_ magazine. They have a great article on making Paris-Brest.
Harvey
Harvey Fishman
October 9, 2011 12:49 pm
@Kevin,
Agreed, the futuristic design of the place is pretty cool. Next time I'll try the Saint-Honore. It's hard to believe that anything can top the Paris Brest, so my mind will be blown next time probably.
@Kathy,
That's what happened to us last time! We only had Sunday and Monday as available days to visit the place, and they close early on Sunday and don't open on Monday. And I guess they close in August! France is so crazy like that.
@Harvey,
Ooooh thank you so much for that tip. Right now I'm in the middle of trying to make croissants. We'll see how that goes first... haha
Danny
October 9, 2011 8:02 pm