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Bunnies, eggs, fish and bells
By Ann | April 7, 2010
Okay, so Easter was a few days ago, but I can’t resist sharing these photos. First up, the radish rabbits created by my favorite produce vendor at the boulevard Raspail market. I love the teeny-tiny radish that’s perched there, like a snack. A cannibal bunny!
I went shopping for Easter chockie at the venerable chocolatier, A la Mère de Famille. Their store in the 9th at 35 rue du Faubourg Montmartre dates to 1761! The shop is full of old-fashioned details, like these tiles on the floor.
Or this display case, which still offers sugarplums.
In the window, I spotted a multitude of chocolate chickens in chocolate pots, waiting for their chocolate eggs to hatch.
I find the intricacy of these hollowed, chocolate-filled eggs, amazing.
Crack open the egg, remove the shell, and you’ll find a fudge-like mixture of chocolate-hazelnut praliné.
(That chunk of chocolate in the photo above is a quarter of an egg.)
Eggs, eggs, eggs. Very popular Easter shape. But no bunnies. Instead, there’s the cuddly Easter…
Fish. Okay, maybe I can accept the fish as an enduring symbol of Easter, but what about the…
Easter bell?! Désolée — bells symbolize Christmas in my book.
By the way, the small ocean-themed chocolates above are called “friture,” which usually means the fried plates of seafood eaten at the shore. Here, it’s a jokey reference to the larger chocolate poisson.
Whether you ate the dorsal fin of a chocolate fish or the ear of a chocolate bunny, I hope you had a sweet beginning to spring.
Topics: Sur ma table | 10 Comments »
10 Responses to “Bunnies, eggs, fish and bells”
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April 7th, 2010 at 7:38 am
My mom used to sneak Easter baskets into my brother’s and my bedroom as we slept on Easter Eve — we’d wake up to a great surprise every year! The baskets were filled with chocolate eggs and bunnies as well as jelly beans. I believe they were from Bailey’s in Harvard Square. Your photos are fantastic!
April 7th, 2010 at 8:48 am
oh such great selection of easter goodies! thanks for sharing the photos
April 7th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Ah, the good old Easter fish. Do you think they have anything to do with the April fish?
April 7th, 2010 at 11:41 am
Just another delicious day in Paris! I adore the radishes (but can you imagine anything crueler than stuffing someone’s Easter basket with veggies instead of chocolate?!
April 8th, 2010 at 1:50 am
Love the radishes and thanks for the egg!!!
April 8th, 2010 at 3:54 am
[...] Bunnies, eggs, fish and bells | Ann Mah annmah.net/2010/04/07/bunnies-eggs-fish-and-bells – view page – cached Freelance journalist Ann Mah has contributed to Conde Nast Traveler, the International Herald Tribune and many other publications. This blog features her articles and also discusses food, restaurants and Tweets about this link Topsy.Data.Twitter.User['annmahnet'] = {“location”:”Paris”,”photo”:”http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/502564507/Ann_Mah_author_photo_normal.jpg”,”name”:”Ann Mah”,”url”:”http://twitter.com/annmahnet”,”nick”:”annmahnet”,”description”:”Author of Kitchen Chinese, food enthusiast, blogger in Paris”,”influence”:”"}; annmahnet: “What the Easter bunny brought me! Whoops, we're in France. Make that the Easter fish. So cuddly. http://tiny.cc/6e5y1 ” 6 minutes ago view tweet retweet Filter tweets [...]
April 8th, 2010 at 10:39 am
When I was a student in France I learned that, according to tradition, all the church bells in Europe go to Rome on Good Friday. They return home Easter Sunday morning. So the bells in France are silent from Good Friday to Easter morning. Then Easter morning they all ring and ring and ring. That’s why there are chocolate Easter bells!
Thanks for the great photos!
April 13th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Those chocolate eggs are AMAZING. Something to strive for at next year’s Easter brunch.
April 14th, 2010 at 6:50 am
Chris — That is so cute! But did you ever find a real live bunny in your basket?
Lil — It wouldn’t be easter without chocolate, after all.
Camille — I’ve often wondered if they are related. Or is it because the fish is a symbol for Jesus? Or because of the loaves and fishes at the sermon on the mount? I’ll send a special bag of jasmine tea + Easter chocs to anyone who can answer this mystery!
Sweet Freak — Ha! That would be so mean… but a good April Fool’s joke.
Kim B. — Thanks for accompanying me on the chockie shopping trip!
Cheryl in STL — That is FASCINATING. Thank you so much for sharing that tidbit of Easter info. Do you know anything about the fish?
Diane C. — Or you could spend Easter brunch in France next year?
April 15th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Ann,
My best guess for the fish is the poisson d’avril. On April 1 the tradition is that French children cut out paper fish and they try to tape the paper fish on the backs of their friends wihtout the friends realizing it. When the fish is successfully stuck to the intended back, the child who taped his friend cries out “Poisson d’avril”! But I have no idea how that got started!!