The co-owner of Epicerie Generale picks out a beautiful Vietnamese teapot, “the best bread on earth” and a very good cookbook for pastries
OBJECTS
Cast-iron teapot »
Maud pours her breakfast tea out of a really nice red cast-iron teapot. “We got it when we went to Vietnam nine years ago. I think it was from Hanoi but I can’t remember the name of the shop.” – Maud
Glass wine decanter »
“My dad bought this for me a few years ago. I always use it for dinner because it really changes your wine. We sell a lot of organic wine, which is really alive, and it change a lot when you expose it to oxygen, it’s much better.”
Coffee set
Maud takes down a pale-blue box from a high shelf in the kitchen. It contains a coffee set from Tunisia: small cups and saucers and a little Turkish-style metal pot with a handle. It’s very pretty, but, as Maud doesn’t really drink coffee at home, she seals it up again and puts the box back on the shelf.
INGREDIENTS
Aiguilles d’Or tea »
“I have a black tea in my shop called Aiguilles d’Or by Les Thés de Constance. It’s really special and it smells like leather – I love it.” – Maud
Patibio bread »
“Patibio make the best bread on earth. They have a cute little stall at the organic market in Saint-Germain [see Address Book] but actually the bread is made in a big organic factory in the suburbs of Paris.” We try their fruit-and-nut bread at Maud’s place – it’s extremely good.
Doumbéa-Sojadam ham »
“This is the last real ham that’s still made in Paris. The company works from a normal-looking building in the 11th arrondissement and they make the ham in the old-fashioned way without preservatives or additives of any kind.”
Barthouil salmon »
“This is wild salmon from a farm in the southwest of France, close to Bordeaux. The salmon swims from the Atlantic to the Garonne and up a small river called L’Adour, so it has lots of muscle.”
Marou chocolate »
In her kitchen Maud has a bar of this superb (and beautifully designed) chocolate produced by two French chocolatiers in Vietnam.
BOOKS
The Silver Spoon, Phaidon »
Classic Italian cookbook originally published in 1950, collecting recipes from all over the country. The revised Phaidon edition contains more than 2000 recipes. “I don’t cook very much but my boyfriend does and this is one book he uses a lot.” – Maud
Breakfast, Lunch, Tea, Rose Carrarini »
“I do sometimes make pastries – and you really need a cookbook for pastries.” We spy this book by the owner of Rose Bakery on Maud’s kitchen bookshelf – it’s a good place to start.
Nature, Alain Ducasse »
Also on Maud’s bookshelf: simple, healthy recipe collection from the titan of French fine dining.
Vintage Cocktails, Brian Van Flandern »
Van Flandern is a renowned cocktail maker who has created drinks for snazzy bars around the world, including the Carlyle hotel in New York.
