Dire that at one time charcuterie was all that was most old-fashioned. The term alone evoked a string of other ungraceful words (boudin, pâté, ham, andouille…) and outdated images of strings of sausages, pig’s ears or transparent jelly both attractive and repulsive. Charcuterie products, which were neither really starters nor main courses, were synonymous with fatty and meaty snacks.
Today, charcuterie has moved into another dimension. What could be more fashionable than a pie? Not much, except maybe a washed coffee from Ethiopia or an unconched chocolate from Peru. Chef Alain Ducasse, who is always trying to be in on the action, is now tackling a seafood charcuterie project (after having opportunistically launched chocolate shops and coffee shops).
A confusing elegance
Honest terrines and pâtés in keeping with French traditions are not hard to find these days. But, if you’re open-minded and don’t mind a bit of fantasy, one name rules the roost, that of Verot. The family charcuterie launched in Paris in 1997, which has largely contributed to making the discipline attractive, continues to explore the field of possibilities in terms of pork.
The window of their pretty little historic shop with an almond green facade, near Montparnasse (they have three others, in the Marais, on 8e borough and the 9e), gives an idea of the diversity at work: in the middle of the classics of the genre, there is a galette des rois “bitch”, a pie with Kalamata olives, a terrine “migratory mallard” made with duck, Tasmanian berries and smoked soy sauce…
And, as Maison Verot has grasped the importance of presentation when it comes to selling pork, all these creations are astoundingly elegant: the shiny, golden puff pastry, the perfectly layered terrines, the elegantly speckled sausages …
“The meat is silky and melting, brightened up by generous pieces of foie gras or a burst of acidity sent by a candied apple, unless the tooth falls on a crunchy hazelnut. »
Among the seasonal products, one creation particularly attracts attention: the “cubist head”, a terrine in shades of pink, punctuated by polygons (of apples) and circles (of hazelnuts), as organized as a painting by Delaunay. We buy it all the more willingly as its days are numbered: in March, it will be removed from the menu to make way for “the spring-summer collection”.
It will be very sad to part with it, because, in memory, we have rarely felt so much pleasure with charcuterie: the meat is silky and melting, brightened up by generous pieces of foie gras or a shot of acidity sent by a candied apple, unless the tooth falls on a crunchy hazelnut. A celebration of textures, fat and sugar that nothing can disturb, not even reading the composition of the head, the main ingredients of which remain the pig’s head and tongue.
3, rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Paris 6e. €55 per kilo. maisonverot.fr