All language subtitles for Guillaumes.Paris.S01E03.1080p.HDTV.H264-CBFM

GUILLAUME BRAHIMI: Paris.

It's the capital of haute cuisine,

and simple pleasures.

A place you can be blown away
by the finest of foie gras

and the most delicious street food.

This is a really good day.

This is not just a city of food,

it's a city of food movements.

The godfather of bistronomy
in Paris.

I am Guillaume Brahimi.

I was born and raised in Paris

and I learnt to be a chef
in some of the greatest kitchens

in this City of Light.

Now, after 30 years,

I've returned to explore

each of the 20 arrondissements
of Paris one by one,

to discover the best cuisine

and to show you how much
food drives this city.

Today I will bake the very first
dessert I made as a chef -

an exquisite fine apple tart.

And I'll serve a French lamb stew
to some very special guests.

The 5th arrondissement is one
of the oldest districts of Paris,

first built by the Romans
as the town of Lutetia.

The 5th is situated
on the River Seine

and is dominated by many prestigious
schools and universities.

This area became known
as the Latin Quarter

because during the Middle Ages,

the scholars that filled the streets
all spoke Latin.

But these days,

you may hear very different languages
spoken in the 5th.

I'm here to visit
the Great Mosque of Paris,

the third largest mosque
in all of Europe.

Like many modern Parisians,

my heritage extends
beyond the borders of France,

to Algeria and Iran.

This mosque
is not just a place of worship,

but a hub of daily life
for Parisian Muslims,

with Turkish bath, a garden,
and a restaurant.

I'm here with the restaurant manager
Monsieur Zaidi Lalioui,

who shows me their selection
of Arabic sweets.

Monsieur Zaidi takes me
through to the restaurant,

where Muslims and non-Muslims
can feel welcome here

and enjoy their famous mint tea.

The restaurant takes on
even more significance

during the holy month of Ramadan,

when Muslims fast
between sunrise and sunset.

Wow!

After the simple pleasure
of a mint tea,

I head to the lively bistros
of the Latin Quarter.

In the 20th century,
the best restaurants in the world

emulated the fine dining experience
of Paris.

But in the last two decades,
things have changed.

The great chefs of Paris
have welcomed

a new relaxed style of cooking.

It's a food movement
known as bistronomy.

Bistroy Les Papilles,
located on Rue Gay-Lussac,

is one curator of such cuisine.

Opened nearly 20 years ago
by Bertrand Bluy,

Les Papilles is all about French
dishes cooked to a high standard.

But first, their spectacular
selection of wines catch my eye.

Bertrand offers diners a small
selection of classic French dishes.

Bertrand's story reminds me
of my own humble beginnings

as a chef here in the 5th

at la Tour d'Argent,

one of the great restaurants of Paris

frequented by royal families
and presidents over the centuries.

This trip down memory lane
in the 5th arrondissement

has inspired me to return to
the one dish that started it all -

the delicate and delicious
fine apple tart.

I'm going to share with you
my fine apple tart,

a dessert
that was very close to my heart

but is also so simple
and delicate to make.

All you need
is a disc of puff pastry.

We're going to do
some little dot in it,

but all I want
is the thinnest of the puff pastry,

but I don't want it to raise, OK?

So plenty of little dot,
nicely everywhere.

Now I'm going to peel my apple.

I love the apple
you find in the market in Paris.

I love the most simple apple,
the yellow apple.

You find it everywhere.

Why I love it?

It is the apple I used to use
when I made my first apple tart

at la Tour d'Argent,

so I stick with the good things.

For this apple tart
you're going to need

1 to 1.5 apple.

Obviously, all depends
on the size of your apple.

I'm making my little ball
to get my seed off.

And now a very important part of it
is the slicing of the apple.

I've got my mandolin.

So I really want you to make
the apple as fine as possible.

That's pretty good, but that's
still too thick for me,

so I'm going to adjust it.

I am happy.

Let's try it.

Mmm.

And now I'm going to lay
them around my circle,

just one at a time.

I love making this apple tart.

It is another dish who relax me.

And every time you think,
"I've got enough,"

trust me, add couple more.

But look what I'm going to do.

I'm going to lift

my starting apple, like that.

And I'm going to add
my finishing apple.

And what I'm going to do now,
I'm going to put them all together,

like a big family.

Like shuffling the cards.

Squeeze them together.

So, it's very important
to get your apple as tight together,

because obviously
they're going to cook

and the shape you're giving your
apple tart now before you cook it

will be the shape you will have
after your apple are cooked.

I'm just going to add
a little bit of butter into my apple

but I'm not going to put sugar.

Some chefs or some pastry chefs
add sugar.

Me, I believe my apple
are sweet enough.

And I actually love
a little bit of acidity

when I eat my apple tart.

A little tip, if you want to make
your apple tart in advance,

brush it with butter
and leave it in the fridge.

Your apple will not get brown.

Mine, I want it now,
so I'm going to put it in the oven

180 degrees for about 20 minutes.

It's been 20 minutes.

I think my apple tart
should be ready.

Look at that.

Nicely caramelized around,
shiny, ready to eat.

And look at that.

It is as good as I made it

about 35 years ago
when I was at la Tour d'Argent.

I am very proud of it

and I'm going to serve it with
a little bit of cinnamon ice-cream

and that will be
the perfect apple tart.

For me, the 6th arrondissement
is about sharing.

It's a place I come
to spend time with the people I love

sitting around a beautiful meal

on the open terrace
of a cafe or bistro,

sharing food, sharing ideas,
sharing life.

The 6th hugs the bank of the Seine,

and is populated
by gardens, chapels and cafes.

It is here that Jean-Paul Satre
and Simone de Beauvoir once came

to discuss politics,
philosophy and feminism,

making the 6th
like an early version of Twitter.

With so many new ideas surfacing
in the restaurants and cafes here,

it's not surprising
that French cuisine itself

evolved in the 6th arrondissement.

I'm here today
to meet an old friend

at Avant Comptoir de la Terre,

one of three restaurants
run by Yves Camdeborde

the creator of the food movement
called 'bistronomy'.

The godfather of bistronomy
in Paris.

- Is it...is it really?
- Yes, you are.

And, yes, it is true. He is.

(SPEAKS FRENCH)

But it is, it is a fact.

So when Yves give you some butter,

he give you some butter, OK?

So not a little bit,
you can have as many as you want.

Yves has been such a beautiful host,
I will return the favour.

No, no, no.

With Yves coming to dinner, I need
to buy the best quality ingredients,

so I will be shopping at
the biggest organic market in Paris

to create my own take on bistronomy.

Marche Raspail in the 6th

is the largest organic market
in Paris.

It is the perfect place to shop
for my dinner party tonight.

I'm cooking for legendary chef
Yves Comdoborde

and he's bringing some friends,

so, obviously, no pressure.

I need to get
the best produce available,

but I couldn't be in a better place
here, on Sunday morning -

Marche Raspail.

Everything is organic,

and the best produce
from all around France come here.

So I'm going to go hunting
for the best I can find.

Inspiration is hard to come by
on an empty stomach,

so first a pit stop.

They make it with chickpeas,
garlic, and it's just delicious,

and I think that's exactly
what I need to inspire me

for the menu today.

Delicious.

I'm writing the recipe
as quick as I can in my head.

Hey!

This is a really good day.

Bistronomy is all about
seasonal produce,

so I'm looking for the ingredients
to make a classic dish of spring,

the veal navarin printanier -

quality veal, artisan bread

and fresh organic vegetables.

Look at these amazing carrots.

Everything here is stunning.

I'm going to cook a feast.

I hope the bistronomy feast
I'm about to make

impresses my friends tonight.

Veal navarin printanier.

So obviously veal.

'Navarin' is a stew

and 'printanier' means spring.

And I'm going to seal my veal -

beautiful spring veal,
look at the colour -

in a nice cocotte.

OK, so I've got one cocotte
with my veal.

And I've got a cocotte here

I'm going to use for my garnish,

and this garnish
will go with the veal.

But obviously the carrots,
the peas, the turnips

doesn't take as long
as the veal to cook,

so I want to cook them separately.

And here we go.

Shallots.

Garlic.

I'm going to put my turnips.

I'm going to add my carrots,
beautiful carrots, into my garnish.

And I'm going to add thyme
and bay leaf into my vegetable.

Now I'm going to put
my beautiful little cherry tomatoes

I find at the market this morning.

Look at that.

My tomato,
when they going to get the heat in it

and they are going to start cooking,
they will explode.

Very happy with my veal.

I'm going to put
a touch of piment d'Espelette

we know from
the Basque area of France.

And you know what?
I love piment d'Espelette.

There is no rule about it.

If you love them, you use it.

And that's the great thing
about bistronomy.

All I have to do now
is deglaze my veal

with a little bit of beef stock.

So, you know what,
20 minutes for my vegetable,

an hour for my veal.

I'm ready for a glass of chablis.

OK, I really believe
my vegetable are ready.

It's been about 20 minutes.

Let's have a look at it.

I'm just going to pick
the biggest carrots.

Oh, yeah, it's perfect.

Nicely soft.

My turnips are ready.

I'm happy with it.

I'm turning it off.

And let's have a look at the veal.

It's been a good hour.

It smell pretty good.

And let's have a look
at how cooked it is.

All you're looking for
is for soft veal.

And that's perfectly soft.

My veal is ready.

All I need to do now
is to add my carrot puree.

I don't want to use cornflour.
I use carrot puree.

It's nice and light.

Straightaway my jus thicken.

Pretty good.

Now I'm going to put
my beautiful little peas.

We are in spring.

Just like that, raw peas.

They're just going to cook
with the veal jus.

I'm going to add my little potatoes,
I boiled before, and peeled.

Look at the colour of it.

I think we are doing
something very special.

Something you could serve
in any bistro in Paris

and especially in the 6th.

I'm going to add my beautiful
spring vegetable into my navarin.

I'm going to toss it all.

A little bit of parsley.

I am very happy with it.

I use my knowledge of all
the restaurant I worked before,

the three-star Michelin,

but I want to cook a simple dish
for my friend tonight.

Yves is bringing our mutual friends
Christian and Lionel for dinner.

This isn't
an eight-course degustation,

this is about bistronomy.

Great wine, great company

and the whole cocotte of veal stew

placed right in the middle
of the table for sharing.

Having my friends around,

with the aroma of the veal navarin
filling the air,

reminds me of why I love what I do.

Next time in Guillaume's Paris,

we leave the simple pleasures
for the high end of town

as I explore the playground
of the rich and famous.

Someone have to do it and it's me.

We will discover the secrets
of Michelin-star cooking,

and I dine at the chef's table
125 metres above the city.

Captions by Red Bee Media
(c) SBS Australia 2022