Parisian love: Tartine Beurré
Anyone heading to Paris again soon will have their pick of dozens of cuisines and hundreds of restaurants and eateries. And Marjan will certainly visit them all. Someday. But one thing will never disappear from her must-eat list: tartine beurré (irreverently: baguette with butter).
Paris is more than ever a versatile foodie destination. The list of must-eats that comes along on a city trip gets longer every time. I dutifully work my way through them all. In stages. But with the current boom in new and interesting places, that list never gets shorter—quite the opposite. It could send you into a panic.
Crazy cheap
But however fully I plan my Paris trips, I always leave room for one thing that never comes off my list. Something I can get at hip as well as classic places, at expensive and incredibly cheap spots. But which always leads to an instant feeling of happiness. Like last time, on that sunny terrace by the antique market. I’m talking about tartine beurré. Irreverently: baguette with butter.
Now, the chances of a bread blunder in Paris are virtually nil anyway, as I wrote earlier. Even the most ordinary place will bring a basket of fantastic baguette to the table.
Tartine beurré, along with its half-brother jambon-beurre, is the best way to experience that superb baguette: one half of a so-called ficelle (an extremely thin, crispy baguette), cut open and spread with a thick layer of salted butter. Along with the croissant, it’s the ultimate Parisian breakfast classic. You shouldn’t try ordering either after about eleven o’clock, because they’ll already be sold out. Perhaps that’s because the ficelle has to be eaten ultra-fresh—it’s so thin that the crumb dries out very quickly after baking. So speed is of the essence.
That crust
What makes that baguette with butter so special, besides the fact that it has remained so wonderfully simple? The smell, the color, the crumb, the crust and the thick layer of salted butter that the staff spread on it for you in advance, so you can sink your teeth into it right away. Or dip it in your coffee (yes, really!). Simple comme bonjour. Put it on your list and never take it off again. It’s Paris in a nutshell.
Also read:
- The best wine bars in Paris
- These are the very best baguettes in Paris
- The most beautiful markets in Paris
