Paris Bookstores

Much has changed in the world of books since this article was written in 1999. La Maison Rustique no longer exists. La Librairie des Gourmets was sold to a new owner who moved it across the Seine and radically, in my opinion, changed the feel of the store. Gibert Jeune and fnac each have a strong online presence. And of course, Amazon is a major player in the French market. For readers looking for older books, Abebooks, Alibris, and even EBay have changed how many cookbook collectors aquire their treasures. I have left this article in place to reflect how I started with French cookbooks because I have changed along with the stores.

They Don’t Get More Authentic Than These...

I’m fortunate enough that I can travel to Paris once or twice a year to catch up with my shopping. Not for the latest fashions, but for cooking ingredients that either I can’t find in the United States or that are not available in the form or quality that the French expect in their food. Recently, I’ve started shopping for another important ingredient that is hard to find in the U.S. — good French cookbooks.

As I travel more in France and thus eat more French food, I find that French cookery books “à la Américaine” are often more American (or English) than French. Many “American” French cookbooks seem to be stuck in time — describing the post–war haute cuisine that America “discovered” when ethnic cooking began to replace TV dinners in the 1960s. Differentiation between classic, traditional, nouvelle, and post–nouvelle cuisine is hard to find. Plus many books are full of recipes from French restaurants in America with all their modifications to meet the current American taste for a lighter cuisine.

There are some notable exceptions to my representation of the dismal situation of French cookbooks in America. Linda Dannenberg and Michael Roberts have succeeded in presenting modern cuisine bourgeois in collections of well-tested, workable recipes. Patricia Wells’ book of recipes from France’s many bistros is available in English and French — although I don’t know which version came first.

For me, the curse of modern English-language French cookbooks is the growing plethora of books translated from the original French by someone in England with home cooking experience. Most of these that I’ve had the misfortune to buy combine two errors: poor translation of ingredients and poor conversion of units of measure. In their attempt to convert restaurant recipes whose preparation requires multiple sets of hands into something that can be put on the table between picking the kids up at school and sitting down for an evening in front of the “tellie”, too much is lost in the translation. Thus, for me, the search is on for French cookbooks that help me prepare dishes like those I can readily find in France.

Anyone who has walked the streets of Paris’ 5th and 6th arrondissements in the neighborhood of the Sorbonne will attest to the fact that the French certainly seem literate. Bookstores of every kind abound, and bookstores with cookery books are no exception.

Upon finding a decent size cookbook section in a bookstore one fact is immediately obvious. Cookbooks are a big business in France just like the United States. If there’s a subject that one can write a cookbook about, there’s probably a half a dozen tomes on the subject to be found. Do you want a book about a single ingredient such as potirons (pumpkins) or orties (nettles)? The French have it. Do you crave a book of santé (healthy) recipes? The French have it? Do you want a book of microwave cooking? The French have that, too! There’s also books on the cooking of France’s many unique regions with their local styles and ingredients.

And then there’s the books for which I’m searching — those written by the current kings of post-nouvelle cuisine — the chefs of France’s Michelin-starred restaurants. The books by masters such as Bernard Loiseau, Alain Ducasse, and Guy Savoy. I don’t want someone else’s translation, either. I want to do my own.

Books of this type are available at many bookstores throughout France. There are three stores in the 5th and 6th arrondissements of Paris that I’ve found where anybody with a strong interest in French cooking can spend an afternoon browsing and reading. And they’re all quite different from each other.

Gibert Jeune is the Paris equivalent to a U.S. superstores such as Barnes and Noble or Borders. This megastore — a must for bibliophiles — is spreads its 300,000 titles across a number of buildings near Place Saint-Michel. Gibert Jeune augments their substantial collection of new books with a significant number of recent used books. The price reduction on the used books is not as great as I expect in the U.S. for previously-owned books, but the quality is usually quite good. This is not a place for rare editions, just books recently available. There are other shops in Paris that specialize in antiquarian books.

The cookbooks at all three stores are organized by subject, but there appears to be no organization within a subject. This can add time, but also interest, to the browsing.

The next shop, La Maison Rustique, specializes in books related to the countryside. i.e. gardening, animal husbandry, etc., but in one corner there’s a substantial number of cookbooks. The variety of cookbooks on display is slightly less than the other two stores, but still worth a visit. In contrast to the congestion on the streets near Gibert Jeune, Maison Rustique is situated on a quiet street near the famous Marché au Rue de Buci — an ideal spot to shop for the ingredients you’ll need to prepare the recipes in the books you’ll purchase.

La Librairie des Gourmets is just as the name implies — a bookstore entirely devoted to wine and food. They carry more than 2,500 titles, so there’s plenty of selection. There’s a chair to sit in while browsing — which can take substantial time with so many books from which to choose. If I only have time to go to one store, this would be my first choice.

Now as I sit on the high-speed train from Paris to Besançon writing this narrative, I’m reflecting back to my visits to all three stores yesterday. I found five books — all by master chefs dealing with their unique cuisines — and I’m only 619 francs (about $100) poorer. All-in-all, my idea of a great day.

Postscript: A friend a few days later suggested I check out an additional store and I feel compelled to add it to the list — the Fnac store in the Forum at Les Halles. Many Fnac stores only handle music and video, but this venue, located 4 stories below street level, has a generous section of cookbooks. I especially like their section of Cuisines des Chefs — especially since it has the chefs listed in alphabetical order. This visit cost me another 200 francs!

Gibert Jeune, 5 place Saint-Michel, 75005 Paris,
telephone 01 4260 2750
Open 9:30am to 7:30pm, closed Sunday

La Maison Rustique, 26 rue Jacob, 75006 Paris,
telephone 01 4325 6700
Open 10:00am to 7:00pm, closed Sunday

La Librairie des Gourmets, 98 rue Monge, 75005 Paris,
telephone 01 4331 1642, fax 01 4331 6032
Open 10:30am to 7:00pm, closed Sunday, Monday and August

Fnac, Centre Commercial Forum Des Halles - Porte Lescot, 75004 Paris
telephone 01 4041 4000
Open 10:00am to 7:30pm, closed Sunday