All language subtitles for Guillaumes.Paris.S01E07.1080p.HDTV.H264-CBFM

Paris.

For many, it is the cultural capital
of the world.

This city gave birth
to art movements,

literary masterpieces,

and, most significantly,
bistro culture.

But the food and flavours of Paris
are always evolving.

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, one of the first cafes
in Paris

inspires a sole meuniere dish,

and I make a spicy king prawn ravioli

for legendary chef, Ken Hom.

A mix of old and new,

the 13th arrondissement
is full of surprises.

This was once an industrial suburb
on the Left Bank of the Seine.

It was the heart of
the Paris textile industry.

Today, the skyline is shaped by
modern apartment blocks,

which are used as giant canvases

for local artists
to paint colourful murals.

It has become known as
the Quartier Asiatique,

as it is the biggest cultural centre

for the Asian community in Paris.

This makes it
the arrondissement to visit

if you want authentic,
delicious Asian cuisine.

The streets are brimming with
markets and eateries,

serving Chinese
and south-east Asian delights.

Joining me on my exploration
of the 13th

is the legendary Ken Hom,

a Chinese-American chef
who now calls Paris home.

Ken, thank you so much
for being with me

in the 13th arrondissement of Paris.

I am blown away with the quality
of the Asian produce

I saw at the market.

I don't think it...
Was it like that always in Paris?

No. I remember,

when I bought my first flat
in Paris in '86.

'86, yeah.

It was in the 9th,

and you would have to come
to this area...

- Yeah.
- ..if you want anything Asian.

Which is really far away,
I mean, just...

- From the 13th to the 9th, yeah.
- Yeah, really far.

Did you know that Paris
has the biggest Chinese population

in Europe?

- More than the UK.
- No I didn't know that.

Which, this surprised me, too.

But what I find also amazing is,

the cuisine, like, the cuisine
of the 13th, it's unbelievable.

You can eat the best
Vietnamese sandwich,

the best delicatessens,

like, we're talking about the
serious cooking, the serious shops.

But you know why? It has to be good,

because the people
who come and shop here...

They know, they know.

..they demand high quality,

because you cannot survive
if you're not good.

- Everywhere.
- Yeah.

GUILLAUME: The Vietnam War
brought over many refugees

from the former French colonies
of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam,

some of whom set up shops
and eateries in the 13th.

Ken and I stopped for lunch
at a delightful little bakery

on Avenue d'Ivry,
called Patisserie de Saison.

Tanoy, the owner of the bakery,

offers some of her sweet
and savoury specialties,

which truly reflect the combination
of French technique

with Asian flavours.

When the French colonised Vietnam,

they influenced the local cuisine

by introducing European ingredients
and cooking techniques.

The most well-known example
is a French baguette,

which became the base
of the banh mi sandwich,

found in Vietnamese bakeries
across the world,

including Australia,

and here in Paris.

Delicious.

I need to know what this cake is.

And it's not to everybody's taste!

- Good.
- Ah, oui?

I like it.

"It's inedible,
it's an horrible food,"

I was little bit worried,
I have to say.

I said, that's a very interesting
marketing campaign.

- But it's delicious.
- And very expensive.

- I love it.
- Pleasure.

My tastebuds are alive after that.

I really enjoyed my morning with Ken,

and I don't want it to end,

so I invite him for dinner,

and I'm challenging myself
to create a dish

with a fusion of French and Asian
influences.

Today, I'm making ravioli of prawn
with a lemongrass vinegarette.

It is, for me, a dish to really
showcase the 13th arrondissement,

the Asian influence
of the 13th arrondissement,

right in the middle of Paris,
with all my French technique.

And what I do is I use this wonton,

so this beautiful wonton paper,

who are perfect to make a ravioli.

To fill my wonton, I use prawn.

I love prawn, and here in Paris,
there's an abundance of prawns,

coming from the coast of Brittany.

And, of course, the flavour
I'm going to use.

I made a lemongrass oil.

So all I did is put my lemongrass
into olive oil,

bring it to the boil,

and let it rest for 24 hours.

That gives you a beautiful olive oil,

infused with lemongrass.

That's going to be the cornerstone
of my vinaigrette.

Very simple, first, we're going to
put little bit of lemongrass,

my oil, into the pan.

I'm going to put my shallots in it.

And now I'm going to add
my beautiful tomatoes.

I'm going to add them to my shallots.

Little bit of chilli.

That's it.

And now I'm going to make
my ravioli. Very simple.

I love using this wonton.

Look how fine they are.

They're just perfect to make
a very simple ravioli.

So we're going to make
three per person.

I think that will be a nice entree.

I'm using the eggwhite as my glue.

You're brushing the four corners
of your wonton.

Just like that, Guillaume.

And now I'm going to put my chopped
prawn that I chopped this morning,

about one prawn per wonton.

Here we go.

Gently with your finger.

So delicate, so beautiful,
and look what I'm doing now.

Just gently make sure there is no air
left between my prawn

and my wonton.

And now I'm going to use
this one to cut it.

Allez. We'll do all of them.

Look at that, eh?

Not bad.

Ready to cook.

Let's try my dressing.

I am so excited about trying
one of these tomatoes,

who's been infused
with my lemongrass.

Mmm.

An explosion of flavour.

The right amount of chilli,

the right amount of lemongrass,

it's just perfect.

What I'm going to do now,

a good handful of cucumber.

Look at that, look at this colour.

My dressing is ready.

I'm going to put one
of my ravioli portions,

so three pieces,
two minutes in boiling water,

that will give you ravioli
perfectly cooked.

Beautiful, and what I love
with the wonton is,

before it's cooked, when it's raw,
you don't see anything.

But after two minutes
in the boiling water,

look at the colour of your prawn,

the nice orange of it.

Beautiful.

I've got my vinegarette,

my dressing, beautiful.

All I'm going to do now,

little bit of parsley,

a pinch of chive...

..some coriander, but what I want to
do is I want to put a little bit

of lime juice into my dressing.

Touch of salt.

We're nearly there.

I'm going to put my very delicate
prawn ravioli into my bowl,

and now I'm going to put an abundance
of my lemongrass vinaigrette.

Look at the colour.

So, my mint.

I just want to now shave some lime.

The freshness of it.

A little bit of drizzle
of Piment d'Espelette.

This prawn wonton ravioli
is a perfect fusion

between the Chinatown of
the 13th arrondissement in Paris

and my French classical training.

And I can't wait to share it
with my friend Ken Hom,

who is visiting me.

- Ravioli du prawn.
- Oh, wow.

Looks fantastic.

- Oui, bien.
- Wow.

KEN: Mmm.

This is what I love
about your generation,

and you combine the best
of the two worlds.

I mean, two of the best cuisines
in the world

are the French and Chinese,

and when you combine that...

Mmm.

The texture of the cucumber,
which is great,

which is, you got it right,

and also the, the tartness
of the lemongrass.

Yeah. Such a beautiful flavour.

- Perfect with seafood.
- Yeah.

Actually, this is a diet dish,

because you're not going to get fat
eating this.

Well, you know, we in Paris,
this is a marathon eating in Paris,

we're not doing a sprint,
we have to pace ourself.

(CHUCKLES)

- Cheers.
- Cheers, mon ami.

Yep.

While the 13th absorbed influences
from the outside,

the 14th arrondissement exported
its influence to the world.

It is the birthplace of a keystone
in Parisian life -

bistro culture.

The 14th is one of the largest
arrondissements,

and, in the 1920s,
was a cheap place to live.

The Bohemian community of Paris
migrated to the 14th,

because of the lower cost of living.

Artists like Picasso and Modigliani
both called the area home.

But the cliche of the starving artist
they were not.

The 14th was teaming with bistros,

serving delicious meals at all hours.

At the centre
of this great bistro culture

was Boulevard du Montparnasse,

where so many of these infamous
bistros are still serving customers.

Today, I'm dining at Le Dome Cafe,

founded as the first cafe
in Montparnasse in 1898.

Today, it is one of the best
seafood brasseries in Paris.

To better sample the menu
and history of Le Dome,

I am joined by Thomas Dufresne,

a local painter and historian,

who knows this bistro and district
very well.

His father and grandfather were
both artists, living in the 14th,

and Le Dome cafe became
part of their daily routine.

The artists may no longer be here,

but the seafood plates served
at Le Dome are like works of art.

The chef's masterpiece
is a French classic,

the sole meuniere,

which is prepared
and presented with great respect.

This is a dish I want to make
in my kitchen today,

and I know a wonderful street
in the 14th to buy the perfect sole.

The food in the 14th arrondissement
used to attract the artists.

Today, I've come to Rue Daguerre,

a lively market street,

where French produce is painted
in a very good light.

The Poissonnerie Daguerre Maree
is a proud stall for French fish

of all kinds.

I'm here looking for sole,

a fish similar to flounder
in Australia.

So, my friend...

Quite a thick fillet.
I'm very happy with that.

He's going to get them ready.

It is so easy.
I'm going to try to do one.

Watch it.

Et voila. I've done my sole.
I'm ready.

Let's go for lunch now.

Huh?
Merci beaucoup, Henri.

(LAUGHTER)

With my sole prepared
and ready to cook,

I leave the 14th
with the inspiration and ingredients

to cook my own take on sole meuniere.

Meuniere. What is meuniere?

Well, meuniere is very simple.

It is the fish,

flour all around it,

in the pan, with some butter.

There is nothing more simple
than the sole meuniere.

OK, so I've got my sole, very simple,

I've got my little potatoes here,
I already put them in water.

I'm just going to bring them
to the boil.

I've got salt in it.

OK? So I'm going to put that here.

So I've got my sole,

my flour.

Et allez, Guillaume.

Why am I using flour?

Well, the flour will give you
a nice crispiness of the fish,

and I don't want too much flour, eh,

so don't be shy to give a little bit
of a "fesser" to your fish,

if you know what I mean.

There we go.

There is not such a thing
as no butter in a sole meuniere.

We all agree?

Let's do it.

OK. Voila.

And I'm going to put my sole.

(PAN SIZZLES)

Can you hear the noise?

The butter is talking to you.

Actually it's not talking,
it's singing to you.

I'm very happy here.
What I'm going to do now,

I'm going to flip
my sole into my butter.

Exactly how I want it.

What I'm doing here,

exactly what I did before.

I can remember, in my mum's kitchen,

when we used to have
the sole meuniere,

we used to eat probably
once every two weeks a sole at home.

The sole meuniere like that,
but the highlight for us

is when we used to be able
to go to a brasserie,

and all my brothers and sisters,
we used to say,

"Can we have the sole meuniere?"

That was a big deal.

And each of us would have one sole.

You don't share your sole.
It's one per person.

Yum.

That's ready.
My potatoes are ready.

I'm going to drain them.

I know, I know, you're going to say,
"They're hot, Guillaume."

I know they're hot, trust me,
I'm peeling them, very quickly,

and I just, I don't want
the skin on this one.

Look at this colour.

They look like the colour
of the butter.

Now I've got my lemon,
and what am I doing?

Well, I'm peeling the lemon.

And what I'm doing here,

I'm putting my lemon segment,

so no skin on it,

all of it, just like that.

And you know what?
I'm going to squeeze my lemon...

..a little bit of chopped parsley.

My sole is ready,

and now, look at that,

I've got my beautiful sole,
it's not breaking it up.

Voila.

That, I'm going to add
a little bit of butter.

Little bit of my potatoes,
just like that.

You love the contrast
of the potatoes' colour.

Of course, a little bit of salt.

And you know what?

It's got all the smell I want it to.

Obviously, the butter,
the lemon's coming in,

the parsley's coming in.

I don't know if it's as good
as Le Dome

on the 14th arrondissement of Paris,

but that's bloody good enough for me.

Bon appetit, mes ami.

Next time in Guillaume's Paris,

I sample the spectrum of cuisine
available in the city,

from fine food to fast food.

Might have to do a couple of laps
of the field after that!

Yeah, absolutely!
(LAUGHTER)

I will forage on Europe's
biggest rooftop garden,

and feast with the great chef,
my friend Christian Etchebest.

Captions by Red Bee Media
(c) 2022 SBS Australia