Chez Clément Celebrates Martinican Cuisine

The Comité Martiniquais de Tourisme (Martinique Tourism Committee) and the restaurant chain Chez Clément are hosting the first celebration of Martinican cuisine in Paris! From February 7 through March 1, 2015, the French dining public will find a Martinican menu at each of the restaurant’s seven locations in the French capital.

My partner and I recently dined at Chez Clément in Montparnasse. This establishment is located along the stretch of sidewalk that extends between two of the quartier’s most famous café-restaurants – Le Dôme and La Coupole. A banner above the entryway announces the 20-year anniversary of the chain.

Chez Clément Montparnasse
© Discover Paris!
A display consisting of a basket of limes, bananas, and oranges; several bottles of Clément rum; and dried slices of citrus fruits arranged on a large madras cloth dominated the bar and commanded our attention upon entry.

Martinique Gourmande display
© Discover Paris!
A waitress greeted us and issued us into one of the dining rooms adjacent to the sidewalk. There we were able to watch passersby while we savored our meal. And savor it, we did!

The Martinican menu consists of Ti’ Punch (white rum, lime, and cane syrup), a platter of accras de morue (cod fritters) and miniature boudins noirs (blood sausage) to share, Colombo de poulet (chicken stewed with curry and coconut milk), and flan de coco (flan with grated coconut). My partner and I elected to order everything on the menu.

Martinique Gourmande menu
© Discover Paris!
Our waitress placed a small basket of bread on the table after she took our drink order. The thick slices of baguette had a slightly yellowish crumb with small alveoli. The crust was golden brown but not especially crispy. The bread was fresh and quite good.

A man emerged from the kitchen with our ti’ punch, which was served in big rounded tumblers bearing the Clément rum label. Though traditionally served without ice, our server had taken the liberty of adding a single ice cube to each glass. As he set them before us, he hastened to explain that he had done so because the cocktail had not been previously chilled. He brought the bottle of rum over to our table to show us that it was 40° rhum agricole made by the centuries-old rum producer, Clément. (Although the name is the same, there is no relationship between the manufacturer of the rum and the restaurant chain.)

Ti' Punch with Clément rum
© Discover Paris!

The main ingredient
© Discover Paris!
A few minutes later, the same server came to the table bearing a wooden chopping board covered with crispy fresh accras de morue, mini boudins noirs, wedges of avocado and lime, chile peppers, lightly dressed lettuce, warm plantain chips, and a mildly spicy, salsa-type tomato sauce. We devoured these as we coaxed the last drops of our ti’ punch out of our glasses. While not peppery hot, the boudin was wonderfully perfumed. I increased the piquancy to the level I desired by pairing each boudin with some of the chile pepper that had been served alongside.

Accras and boudin noir
© Discover Paris!
Then our main dish arrived. Each of us received a plate of rice sprinkled with chopped chives, three thick morsels of cooked plantain, and an entire cooked cherry tomato. But where was the chicken?

Rice and plantains
© Discover Paris!
Once again, our server hastened to assure us that we were not to worry – he hadn’t finished serving us. He returned to the table moments later bearing cast iron crock pots containing chicken and sauce for each of us. Cautioning us that the pots were extremely hot, he removed the lids, releasing tantalizing aromas of curry and coconut milk.

Colombo de poulet
© Discover Paris!
My partner and I ordered another round of ti’ punch to accompany this course.

We tucked in, serving ourselves morsels of chicken from the pot (still on the bone) and ladling sauce over the rice and fowl. In general, I never finish the rice that I’m served in restaurants because I find it too filling, but on this day the sauce that accompanied this dish was so good that I ate every single grain and used the wonderful bread we were served to absorb every last drop of sauce in my crock pot.

Like the boudin noir, this dish lacked the spiciness that comes from using fresh chiles or chile powder in the preparation. But in my opinion, it was perfect in every other way.

The flan de coco provided a fairly light and satisfying finish for our meal. It was basically a crème caramel dusted with shredded coconut. Because I had eaten all of my rice, I couldn’t finish my portion, so my partner happily took it upon himself to eat it.

Flan de coco
© Discover Paris!
Our server brought my partner an espresso and placed two digestif glasses and two squares of chocolate in front of us. He then brought over the bottle of the amber Clément rum that we had seen displayed on the bar when we entered the restaurant. The complimentary after-dinner drink was a lovely surprise to top off an excellent meal!

Aged Clément rum
© Discover Paris!

Our after-dinner drinks
© Discover Paris!
The entire meal – one platter of accras and boudin, two chicken dishes, two desserts, and four ti’ punches – came to only 81.90€

Diners who want a gentle introduction to the flavors of Martinican cuisine should waste no time in getting over to Chez Clément before the end of the week!

Chez Clément
106 boulevard du Montparnasse
75014 Paris
Tel. : 01.44.10.54.00
Metro : Vavin (Line 4)
Open 7 days a week

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France's Overseas Departments Well Represented at Paris' Annual Agricultural Fair

Over 700,000 people visited the 51st Salon International d'Agriculture (International Agricultural Fair or Show) in Paris this year. This hugely popular event features the finest farm animals, dogs and cats, produce, flower and plants, and other agricultural products from France, its overseas departments and territories, and other countries of the world.

The show occupied six of the seven pavilions at the Parc de Versailles. The entire second floor of Pavilion 7 was devoted to France's regions and overseas departments and territories and there was no shortage of black business owners and agricultural professionals in this part of the show.

My husband Tom represented Discover Paris! at the fair and decided to spend his time exploring the regions with which he was least familiar - the Overseas Departments. He gives the following report:

France has five overseas departments, and I found all of them there: Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Reunion Island, and Mayotte. I also found New Caledonia, a French overseas territory.

One of the first persons I met was Janine Salomon who had flown in from Martinique to display her beautiful flowers. I purchased a bouquet and took them home to present to my wife, Monique, in advance of her birthday. Madame Salomon has a flower shop in the town of Ducos in Martinique called Panier des Iles.

Janine Salomon of Panier des Iles
© Discover Paris!
Nearby was a stand called Tropicales Fleurs, attended by Daniel Ambroise from Guadeloupe. He looked quite dapper the way he was dressed, so I asked if I could take his photo.

Daniel Ambroise and his tropical flowers
© Discover Paris!
At a stand touting the benefits of bananas from Guadeloupe and Martinique, I met Anne-Sophie and Joan. They are both from Guadeloupe and live in Paris. Note the image of a banana to the right of Joan—it’s sporting a beret! Yes, Guadeloupe and Martinique are part of France, just as Hawaii is part of the U.S.

Sophie and Joan
© Discover Paris!
I met five lovely ladies at two different stands that represented French Guiana, a French overseas department located on the north Atlantic coast of South America. All five women hail from Guiana and live in Paris.

Florence and Christ-Laur
© Discover Paris!

Aurelia, Paoline, and Gwen
© Discover Paris!
Marie-Hélène, from New Caledonia, represented that French territory, which is located in the southwest Pacific Ocean east of Australia. She is currently a student in the town of Limoges in central France.

Marie-Hélène
© Discover Paris!
Naoilou Yahaya is manager of fruit promotion at the Chamber of Agriculture in Mayotte, a French overseas department located in the Indian Ocean between the African continent and Madagascar.

Naoilou Yahaya
© Discover Paris!
I walked over to the Reunion Island stand where I met several young men from that far-away land, located east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The three men in the photograph were there to give information about the plant extracts (essential oils) that were on display.

Guillaume, Dany, and Yannis
© Discover Paris!
And over at the cooking stand, Thierry Elie, president of Les Toques Blanches de Martinique, and Babette de Rozières, popular television chef and author of several cookbooks, were engaged in animated conversation about the dishes that Chef Elie and his staff were preparing. Elie hails from Martinique and Babette, who moved to Paris at the age of 17, from Guadeloupe.

Thierry Elie, President of the Toques Blanches in Martinique,
chats with Chef and TV personality Babette de Rozières of Guadeloupe
© Discover Paris!
Later, I caught Chef Elie and his staff as they were posing for a photograph. I didn’t get a chance to taste the food that they were preparing, though, because I wanted to keep moving from stand to stand.

Thierry Elie and His Staff
© Discover Paris!
My most memorable experience was at La Bonne Crêpe stand where Chef Janick Ancete whipped up a rum and banana crêpe for me. The crêpe is a traditional pancake from Brittany, but here at La Bonne Crêpe Chef Janick gives a Martinican twist by making them with banana flour. He uses Clement rum from Martinique on his rum-flavored crêpes. Delicious! In fact, so delicious that I decided to order a second crêpe, this time made with Elot chocolate (a locally-produced chocolate). Delicious again!

Chef Janick making Martinican crêpes
© Discover Paris!
Nearby, I purchased a bottle of Darboussier – Rhum Vieux – Hors d’Ages from Raymond. Hors d’ages is a blend of very old rums that have been aged in oak casks.

Raymond and Darboussier rum
© Discover Paris!
I left the agricultural fair with good memories of the people I met and the products that I tasted there. I look forward to returning next year!

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Caribbean Square Dancing in Paris - Part 2

Last week, I presented Part 1 of a blog posting on the Caribbean band, Caribop, written by Paris blogger Ilan Moss for his blog called Gangs of Paris. Ilan is a freelance journalist and amateur ethnomusicologist who has worked for non-profits in Paris and spent lots of time exploring (and playing for) the "ethnic underbelly" of the city. Read Part 2 of his article below.

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A Night of Creole Square Dancing with Caribop
(Original publication date: May 18, 2010)
Caribop’s Music

For years now, Caribop has been holding Bals Creoles in Paris and its suburbs, bringing Kwadril and other styles to a new audience. Like square dancing further north, French Caribbean traditional dances require a caller to guide the dancers. To make the dances more palatable, Marc spent time hanging out at French traditional regional dances throughout Paris and has integrated some of their moves. Might not be “traditional,” but it allows your average French folk dancer to pick up the dances without hard-core schooling in booty shacking (his words, not mine). After all, cultural fusion is at the essence of Kwadril and mixing some steps from Breton and Auvergne dances just adds to the historical funkiness of West Indian music.

Marc has decided to do his calling in French and not in Creole – to the chagrin of some of his band mates. “Imagine if you had to translate James Brown songs into French,” percussionist Gilbert told me. Yet Gilbert obliges... And has a chance to belt out some Creole song when the occasion calls for it:


Caribop’s music is also a fusion of different Caribbean styles. In Guadeloupe, Kwadril in the 19th century was accompanied by fiddle and percussion. Since then, accordion has taken over from the fiddle. The last Guadeloupe fiddler died a few years ago, a certain Elie Cologer (his wonderful music can be heard on this CD, highly recommended for fiddling nuts). Marc will play button accordion on a few tunes, but Caribop mostly incorporates a bit of Kwardril music with a strong brassy Biguine style.

After all, Caribop is not the first time Caribbean music has come to Paris. Biguine is another funky West Indian mixture (between slave bèlè chants and the polka) and was brought by the first wave of Caribbean immigrants in the 1930s. Biguine orchestras were all the rage in Bohemian Paris in the 1930s. The Bals Creoles were legendary in Paris counterculture until WWII and definitely merit further research for this blog…

Caribop is pretty much the only band in Paris playing old-style Caribbean music. Might be some other stuff lurking around and I’ll have to gather up some fellow weird music buddies to go check it out. (Paris music blogger extraordinaire cocoringo has also blogged about Kwadril and we will be hitting the scene soon). More to come, check out some Creole accordion à la Caribop:

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Caribbean Square Dancing in Paris - Part 1

I recently learned of an excellent Paris blog called Gangs of Paris, written by Ilan Moss. Ilan is a freelance journalist and amateur ethnomusicologist who has worked for non-profits in Paris and spent lots of time exploring (and playing for) the "ethnic underbelly" of the city. I am pleased to present his story about Caribop, a Caribbean band that is devoted to spreading the culture of traditional Antillean dance, on the Entrée to Black Paris blog. Read Part 1 below. Part 2 will follow next week.

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A Night of Creole Square Dancing with Caribop
(Original publication date: May 18, 2010)
A square dance rages deep in the suburbs of Paris and a mixed crowd of French and West Indian locals shake their booties and toss partners to the sounds of funky mazurkas, quadrilles and waltzes.

Caribop Square Dancing
Photo courtesy of Ilan Moss
“Dos-à-dos, promenade votre partenaire…” The dance calls and partner swinging might be familiar to your average American folk dancer, but this is no Appalachian square dance. We are at a “Creole Ball” and both the music and dance – a heady mix of African rhythms and 19th century European dances known as Kwadril – come from the French West Indies.

On stage, the house band Caribop maintains a pulsating tropical dance groove with saxophone, accordion, tuba, tambour (long drum), triangle and other assorted percussion. At the same time, bandleader Marc alternates between explaining the dances, calling out the steps (assuming the role of a “caller” or commandeur) and playing saxophone and diatonic button accordion.

Caribop does the whole song and dance (literally) and it is testament to their dedication to playing and teaching the disappearing musical traditions of the overseas French “territories” of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Marc, like most of his band mates, was born in France but is of Afro-Caribbean origin. He is an ardent traditionalist, but with the younger generation of Guadeloupians and Martinicans both on the islands and in France losing interest in their musical traditions, Caribop has been reaching out to other folk music enthusiasts. As Paris has a vibrant folkdancing scene, Caribop has found some new fans of old-school Kwadril and Biguine.

This particular night, his biggest challenge: getting folk dancers, used to dancing “straight” dances à l’européen, to biguiner (swing) like it’s done in the French Caribbean. Just imagine shaking yer booty while doing a ballroom waltz. Not too easy, but it’s at the essence of French Caribbean music. Check out some footage:


The Dances

Behind the traditional dances of the French West Indies is a tangled transatlantic cultural conversation. Most North American musical forms have their origins in the marriage between African rhythms and European melodies – country music, blues, jazz, rock, etc. French Caribbean music is similar and the dance traditions reflect this.

Starting as early as the 16th century, the urban European upper classes began to adopt and “refine” wild rural peasant dances, such as the “country dance” (contredance). By the 18th century, these had evolved into new forms, such as the Quadrille or other “square” dances, which quickly became all the rage in ballrooms throughout Europe. These dances made their way – along with French colonists – to the plantations of the Caribbean. Lost yet? It gets more confusing.

Over time, the contredance and quadrille were “Creolized” by African slaves, who initially adopted the dances to mock their masters. After the abolition of slavery in 1848, Afro-Caribbeans took the dances and music to whole new levels, adding a bit of tropical sultriness into the genteel and courtly dance patterns. Quadrille became Kwadril, and other new Caribbean styles emerged out of European dance forms. Yet the dances still kept some of the aristocratic trappings from Europe – curtsies, bows etc.

Take the “Mazurka,” a popular 19th century ballroom dance that actually comes from an ecstatic triple meter dance form in Poland. Along with other courtly European dances, it was taken up and altered by Afro-Caribbeans. In Europe, it’s a stately waltz, while in the Caribbean it is at the essence of many musical forms. Marc breaks it down here how the triple meter Mazurka (a waltz in Europe) became a penultimate Caribbean groove (video in French):


For those familiar with modern Caribbean music, “zouk,” probably the most popular style in the West Indies, has its root in this dance. Mazurka became “mazouk” in Creole and was eventually shortened to “Zouk.”

Next week: Caribop's music

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