<
https://theconversation.com/how-paris-working-class-dining-experience-is-reshaping-restaurant-economics-in-france-273503>
"In cities across France, a number of new
bouillon soup-kitchen inspired
restaurants are opening for business. Dating back to the 19th century and
designed to feed Paris’ working-class masses, for some time these cheap and
cheerful places to eat fell out of fashion. Why are they making a comeback
today? What makes them so special and what’s the history behind these ‘old
school’ eateries?
Offering nutritious, affordable meals to Paris’ many labourers was the
avant-garde brainchild of the Dutch East India Company in the 19th century. In
1828, the firm opened a chain of small restaurants in the French capital to
serve boiled beef bone broth (or “bouillon”) to a burgeoning working-class
population. And thus, the bouillon concept was born along with an early form of
the inexpensive ‘set meal’. In 1854, the company went out of business and it
was at that moment in time that Baptiste-Adolphe Duval made History by becoming
the founding father of the bouillon phenomenon.
In the 1850s, Baptiste-Adolphe Duval owned a butcher’s shop on rue Coquillière
in Paris’ 1st
arrondissement. Since his customers only bought the “prime
cuts”, Duval looked for a way of using up all the poor cuts that he couldn’t
sell. He came up with the idea of concocting a top quality broth with boiled
beef and the cheaper cuts of beef. Hence, in 1854, he went on to open a place
on rue de la Monnaie in the historic heart of the city. It was here that he
dished up comforting yet simple, hot meals that wouldn’t burn a hole in even
the most cash-strapped wallets of the likes of the workers at the local
Les
Halles wholesale market – formerly known as the “belly of Paris”, named after
the title of the Emile Zola novel. Baron Haussmann’s citywide urban planning
and renovation works drew thousands of labourers from across France to the
capital for work. With all the more mouths to feed, Duval’s initiative was an
instant success!"
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
