Welcome to Paris – to many, the most beautiful city in the world!
At night, the city of Paris offers many classic images to enjoy, like this look at the Eiffel Tower all lit up as we celebrated New Year’s Eve one year on the river Seine:
Paris is the “City Of Lights” indeed, but beyond the sights of Paris, there is also the food – which we are digging into today!
Behold The Pig’s Trotter!
One of gastronomy’s greatest achievements, and woefully under-appreciated, except in Paris!
And no one does it better than this restaurant:
Au Pied de Cochon – Celebrating Swine!
This classic french bistro in the Les Halles district of Paris is open until late at night, famed for their 3a pig’s feet – and their legendary french onion soup.
Their namesake greets you at the door, and just about everywhere else as well, including on the plate at your table – when they delivered me my French onion soup as a starter:
How can you tell if a French onion soup is good? Well, the “spoon and cheese” connection is one way and here was mine:
The restaurant has a classic bistro feel inside, and it is cavernous, which is why I was able to walk right in on a weekday afternoon – hungry for swine!
Onto The Trotter!
The specialty of the house is, of course, grilled pigs’ feet with béarnaise sauce – behold the pig’s trotter!
This is a full pigs foot, which has been coated in bread crumbs and cooked up nice and crisp…
and of course, it comes with a side of bernaise sauce – but to me the flavor on this was more like a sauce gribiche…delicious either way and enough to dredge your fires through as well!
As you can see, it is very thick and rich, dotted with herbs…and it provides a perfect dip for the thick, crispy fries that come with the trotter:
And…How Does It Taste?
That is a very good question. Quick answer? Delicious! The skin is crispy and the meat juicy, with an intense pork flavor…and a texture like a micro-thin strip of jerky…
Once you dig into the trotter, you realize why this is a part of the pig that isn’t served too often:
Looking inside the trotter, you will find a LOT of gelatin – that is what a pig’s trotter is made of…knowing that, you pick through the trotter for small bits of cooked meat, you devour the crispy delicious skin, and you take on the gelatin to the point you feel comfortable doing so…
As it should be, as this is an iconic home to swine – and they give you a takeaway coaster to prove it!
The “Swine Sampler”
Other specialties include a platter named after the medieval patron saint of sausage makers, “la temptation de St-Antoine”, which includes grilled pig’s tail, pig’s snout, and half a pig’s foot, all served with béarnaise and french fries – in a sense a “swine sampler plate!”
Today I was on my own, but Alex and I have had quite the food adventure in Paris already.
As I told you, Alex is a “lover of potatoes”, and if you click here you can see our journey through Paris by way of all the unique potato dishes we ate like this!
And there were many more as well – click here to see them all!
Of course, my favorite dish of all is this potato pie:
Or maybe a potato cake – either way, click here for the recipe for making it at home – it’s incredible!
And I also had a special “Blue Burger” in Paris as well…hmmmm…
So what was the deal with this “blue bun” burger?
Here’s my review:
If you like what you see, please click on my link and follow this blog as well!
If you like the story, share it with friends on social media! Thanks!
Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Chef memoirs, Fine Dining, Food, Food Travel, Food Writing, Recipes, Restaurants, Travel, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
Leave a comment