Taste Test

The butcher takes a slab of lamb, cuts it deftly into small pieces and pares away the fat, forming a pile of almost perfect cubes. He brushes them into a bag with the flat of the knife and hands the package to me. ‘That should do it,’ he says, having not only fulfilled my request for a piece of lamb suitable for making Moroccan brochettes, but also doing half the job for me. When I comment to that effect, he winks. ‘Don’t tell madame,’ he advises. ‘She will think you are a grand chef.’

The butcher’s stall is located in Marché Cadet, my local market in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. In many ways the French capital is a more modern city than one might imagine, but it retains the timeless features that make 
it such a romantic tourist destination: the cramped cafés with their bustling terraces, the surprising number of carousels, the green advertising columns thick with theatre posters.


And the street markets. Almost every quartier seems to have one, the barking voices of the stallholders and the immaculately displayed rows 
of bright fruit stubbornly resisting the march of time and supermarket chains.

In fact, Parisian markets are growing in number. There are currently 95 in total – including bric-a-brac, clothing and antiques – compared to 51 in 1860. Of these, 82 are food markets, 13 of them covered and 69 in the open air.

Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë, known for his ‘green’ initiatives – from tram extensions to the provision of free rental bikes – believes markets make the city a more liveable place. ‘They respond to a growing demand for fresh, locally produced or organic products,’ confirms the mayor’s office. ‘Plus, they offer a one-to-one contact with the stallholder, as well as a sociable shopping environment.’

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