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Shopping for Arcane Ingredients and Cookware in Paris

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The more you cook, the more you encounter recipes that call for ingredients you just can't find anywhere. You also realize that some culinary operations would be a whole lot easier with the proper tool. Well, if you're in Paris, here is where to go.

where do you find bergamot extract? Crystallized violet petals? Couverture chocolate? How about a cut kitchen whip to make caramel nets or a copper bowl for egg foam successes? If you're in Paris, here is where to go:

I already told you about De Hillerin in Rue Coquillère at Les Halles. Well, everything seems smaller after Kappabashi-dori, but it's the first place in Paris I'd check for cookware. They also have an impressive range of copper utensils - if you have the budget. My dream of bring back a beautiful copper daubière/braisière vanished when Mr Kim told me it costs €320. Since 1820. I left with a manual czech meat grinder that will meet any military specifications.

But even Dehillerin has not everything. Fortunately, three competing shops are less than 5 minutes away - if you know where to look.

My favorite must be Mora on Rue Montmartre (picture above). It's everything Dehillerin is not. Clean, modern and polite. They specialize in professional French pastry equipment. Very knowledgeable and affable staff. Many Japanese clients who get a resounding 'Arigato Kosaimas' - 'Goodbye' when they leave the shop. But don't let this deter you, this is the real thing and the Japanese are just well informed. Since 1814.

Mora's nemesis is Simon just down the road. Watch out, they have two shops in a row with two separate entrances at Rue Montmartre number 48 and 52. One deals mainly with restaurant china and accessories, while the other is centered on pro cookware. They have the best selection of tools I've seen for sugar workers. Not machetes, mind you, but sugar lamp and thermic gloves to work melted sugar into candies, refractometers and my dream - a cut kitchen whip. If it's any confort the shop was closed when I visited and I still haven't bought it. Since 1884.

I don't like La Bovida all that much, but you sure can't miss it with its prime location on the corner of Rue Etienne Marcel and Rue ?. They sell spices by the kilogram on the ground floor and copper ware upstairs. Since 1921.

For arcane ingredients, there is only one address: G. Detout ('I. Haveall') in Rue Tiquetonne. Such nice people and a real mom-and-pop feel to it! I love this shop. They don't sell any cookware but only intriguing ingredients used by professional French pastry chefs. If they don't have it you can give up. According to François Schmitt from Lenôtre, the founder's name really was Gilles Detout and thus the pun, if intended, is better than it sounds. Tell them Lenôtre pastry school sent you and they'll give you a 10% discount.

Last year I had bought them a largish box of Dried Ceps and one of Premium Dried Morels, pictured above. What a treat! All you need to do is immerse them in as little water as possible for 30 minutes. I had very pleasant results with my Foie gras tagliatelle with morels. They also sold me a huge 2.5kg bag of Valrhona couverture chocolate which, surprise, surprise, I have not yet finished. The bergamot extract is used in my delicious chocolate sauce served over thyme ice cream.

This time I bought a box of Dried Mousserons mushrooms, marasmius oreades in Latin.

For the decor of my thyme icecream, the recipe called for Sugar-coated violet petals which G. Detout sells by the box. Prices are quite reasonable in this shop geared towards professional kitchens and I couldn't resist the Sugar-coated Verveine petals.

Finally, two chemicals rarely discussed with clients in pastry shops but ubiquitous in professional sorbet and pastry cookbooks, cream of tartar and sorbet stabilizer.

You really don't need to need nor buy anything to enjoy visiting these shops. And they all are within 5 minutes of each other in the center of Paris.

Dehillerin
www.e-dehillerin.fr
18-20 rue Coquillière
75001 Paris
+33 (0) 1 42 36 53 13

Mora
www.mora.fr
13 rue Montmartre
75001 Paris
+33 (0) 45 08 19 24

Simon
www.simon-a.com
48 + 52 rue Montmartre 75001 Paris
+33 (0) 42 33 71 65

La Bovida
www.labovida.com
36 rue Montmartre
75001 Paris
+33 (0) 1 42 36 09 99

G.Detout
58, rue Tiquetonne
75002 Paris
+33 (0) 1 42 36 54 67


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40 Comments

  • #1
  • Comment by Andrew Grenier
A wonderful article. Just found your site and am delighted. I look forward to becoming a regular visitor. By the way, am also a photographer, so your blog and your perspectives appeal to my own inner cook.Am off to Rome and Paris in a few weeks and look forward to continuing to scour your site for related culinary info.  Thanks so much for all.Be well.Andrew
  • #2
  • Comment by Monica
We are off to Paris this weekend to stock up on needed cooking supplies.  Your fantastic www helped me remember where exactly to go.Fantastic articles! Thank you.
  • #3
  • Answered by fx
I am glad my blog helped you plan the trip to Paris. If you have a chance visit also Rungis, buy a macaroon at Pierre Hermé or take a pastry class at Lenôtre (see the other articles on my site). Have a good trip!
  • #4
  • Comment by Roxana
Superb! Pics and info are very user friendly. Look forward to shop at this places next week in Paris.
  • #5
  • Comment by mingyi
Would you please give me how much to add stabilizer for ice cream.
  • #6
  • Answered by fx
Stabilizer is not needed for homemade ice creams, it is required if you are going to store it for more than a few days to prevent the formation of ice crystals. But homemade products are best served on the same day and you won't need any stabilizer.
  • #7
  • Comment by suzy dickinson
I was lucky enough to stumble across De Hillerin in the late 70's. After a number of visits carting back copper pots,wooden rollng pins, knives, I managed to get my kitchen up to par. Is has now been over 30 years ... and not a day goes by that I don't use something from this store! The funny thing is ... .they had an attitude even back then. I am so happy to have found your site. Your pictures are fabulous ... and De Hillerin looks just the same. AMAZING. Too bad the Dollar is not! Thanks so much! Suzy
  • #8
  • Answered by fx
Suzy thanks for your comments, indeed DeHillerin sells things that can last a lifetime! The store is utterly outmoded but that's part of it's charm. I am not surprised they were rude already back then. Don't worry about the dollar, it will come back up some day.
  • #9
  • Comment by Cheryl
Just found your wonderful website!You and (and your readership as well) are like kindred spirits. I am so happy to have found you!I will be returning often.Cheryl*Does Dehillerin carry metal Financier pans?
  • #10
  • Answered by fx
Cheryl, thanks for visiting! I think Dehillerin is the place to visit first for metal Financier pans, or go to Mora at Rue Montmartre or check on the Mora website.
I'm in heaven and already (well, almost) on my way to Paris.Thank you for your good advice.
  • #12
  • Answered by fx
Jutta, have fun in Paris!
  • #13
  • Comment by Gerald
Excellent article.

Can you tell me where to go in Paris to buy a slide-out pots and pans storage caddy?





Gerald
  • #14
  • Answered by fx
Gerald, you should start on rue Montmartre near Les Halles, there are 3 shops there selling such things, otherwise check DeHillerin.
  • #15
  • Comment by Peter Best
We spent a month in Paris and found Dehillerin to be charming though mad. I suppose Americans might feel as if they deserve a lot of respect given their Imperial position but while the people in there in my experience don't behave any differently towards foreigners compared to locals they might seem a bit terse to people who are accustomed to obeisance and humility. They take their stuff very seriously and will make it clear that you're making a mistake if that's their opinion. And their stock pays no lip service to fashion, but concentrates on things that are useful and well made.  We lived around the corner from A Simon, Mora and  La Bovida and they're not serious in the way Dehillerin is.
  • #16
  • Answered by fx
Peter, indeed the people at Dehillerin are great examples of Parisian in-your-face rudeness, and if you can't answer them in accentless French there is just nothing to do but take it. For all my fondness for this shop I must say that many of their wares are a bit old-fashioned and not really the best you can have nowadays. I'd really recommend asking at Mora for more courteous service and more recent stock.
Wow,nice collection.Next Monday I will go to Paris,thanks for your good introduction.
I realy realy wants to thank you soooo much for the excellent blog and information, especially nice photos which describes step by step
You didn't forget and not miss any pages or item
Hugs & kisses
Mona
  • #19
  • Comment by simone
Hi I would like to know if there is any place in the USA that I could buy the mold for the lemoine canele? thx
  • #20
  • Comment by DL Day
Excellent information.  I knew most of these shops but not all and am happy to have their contact information all in one place.
DL Day
  • #21
  • Answered by fx
DL Day thanks for visiting and have fun in Paris! Don't miss Pierre Hermé's pastry shop out there on Rue Bonaparte.
The Detout shop is just lovely. We once got lost on our way to the Comme des Garcons-shop in Paris and found Detout instead. Their assortment beats everything I've seen before! And they are not that expensive either.

/Anders
Umeå, Swede
  • FX's answer→ Yes, a most lovely shop!

Hi, great article & pictures, thanks for all the info. We spent a month in Paris early in the year & I was sooo excited to go to Dehillerin, but what a disappointment! Yes I did manage to spend a fortune & get some great stuff, but even though I speak French I was still ignored, they were SO unfriendly & unhelpful. When I asked for specific items they just pointed to the opposite end of the store for me to find it myself, & continued standing around in a group doing nothing! There were so many staff who didnt seem to be doing anything, certainly not helping their customers. There was a lovely Vietnamese chap though who couldnt have been nicer, but he was run off his feet, of course. They also didnt have as much as I expected & were out of stock of most of the Demarle products I was after. Simon was a cleaner, lighter, nicer shop with better prices & Demarle & Silpat in stock. I will definitely check out your other suggestions next trip.
  • FX's answer→ Yes Mr Kim is the nicest of them all, isn't he? Now you should have started by reading my article "Paris Oldest Cooking Equipment Shop" and you would have been forewarned. Ah, the great evils that can fall upon you when you don't read FXcuisine.com hard enough...

  • #26
  • Comment by Len Straw
Thank you so much, a wonderful article! I live in Cape Town, South Africa and would like to purchase some sugared violet petals to use on cupcakes with violet flavoured icing in our coffee shop, "la Petite Tarte".  Fortunately I have a friend visiting Paris this week so I will be able to contact her and let her know where to shop! Thank you again.  Len Straw.
  • FX's answer→ But Len you can do your own, just find some edible flowers, covers then with egg white, sprinkle with sugar and let it dry. End of story!

  • #28
  • Comment by Cynthia A. Ty
Hi there!

I'd like to find out where in the USA West coast, particularly, in LA, one can buy the canele molds.  I prefer tin rather than silicone or copper which are so expensive.  Thanks so much.  Take care...

Hugs & kisses,
  • FX's answer→ Cynthia, I wouldn't bother with anything but proper cannelé molds - that is, copper. While I can see the appeal of the notion of baking good cannelés using convenient plastic mold, there is not reality to it. You'll just end up having to buy the proper molds and beeswak in the end. How would that save you money?

I went to Paris yesterday specifically to buy a flan ring, and this post was a great help, thank you so much!  I have recommended it on my blog :)
Happy cooking!
Green Apple Sorbet
  • FX's answer→ Thanks a lot, Green Apple!

Hi,
I'm looking for a weird thing. In a book by E. Nignon, he calls for a "moule a coulonne". Well, I assume it's shaped like a column but I've never seen or heard of one. Are they still available? Has anybody ever heard of them? Does anyone sell them? In any case, I'd like to put an annotation at the base of my translation explaining what it is.
Thanks so much for your attention,
best,
jim peterson
  • #33
  • Comment by claudia
me gusto y me gustaria ver las tienda los productos mandame la website
  • #34
  • Comment by Alex Casey
Dear FX

   Great articles on Kitchen Shops in Paris. Will be going to Paris for my first time in May and can't wait to check out the kitchen shops. Was wondering if you know of any used kitchen/restaurant shops where I might find some interesting old restaurant items.

Cheers
Alex
  • #35
  • Comment by Dale Coghlan
I visited Dehillerin looking for a porcelain creme a la coeur mold. No, they don't have them any more. Yes, chefs still make them; but obviously they don't break them so we don't need to stock them. I bought one on the internet from USA! Thank you for the list of other shops, so I don't have to visit Dehillerin again. I'll be there in June this year and can't wait.
Dale, Melbourne, Australia
  • #36
  • Comment by Sara
Super article. I'm looking for the cuit vapeur en céramique et bambou by JIA which I saw in Merci, but was hoping not to pay Merci prices. I don't think any of the above will have it, but I think I read there was a shop in Rue Lamartine, but can't find the link now. Can you help?
Thank you
Sara
  • #37
  • Comment by Jack McCord
While I agree that Dehillerin staff can be gruff, that has not been my experience most of the time (granted, I have native level French...).

Mora, on the other hand, is merchandised in a more modern way but last month they could not be bothered to get off personal phone calls to see if the verrines I had ordered were in. I went straight back to Dehillerin and bought some hardware. Tant pis!
  • FX's answer→ Yes I think at Mora they like to chat between themselves but the conversations are really nice, sometimes out of a Tarantino movie almost (without any criminal element of course but colorfoul!)

  • #39
  • Comment by charlotte
Thank you for this great guide. just been to Paris and I found this guide invaluable. Its funny how the size of queue really tells you so much about how good a store is.

G. Detou a tiny gorgeous pearl of a shop it was so crammed with Parisians when I went that I didn't get a proper chance to look round. staff where helpful and tolerant of my dodgy French desriptions of ingredients I wanted if a little brusque.

Mora was also similarly delightful and packed I even found the individual portion sized tart rings I'd been searching for all over the internet. Very nice and surprisingly amateur friendly shop.
  • FX's answer→ Yes these are two shops made mostly for the French and very interesting!


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