Noa Moussa 06:22, May 30, 2022
Due to inflation, food is one of the biggest increases.
To reduce the amount of your receipts, Romain Bergaud, chef of the Papa Poule restaurant in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, has some good ideas for bringing less noble products up to date.
REPORTAGE
Standing in the center of the kitchen of his Parisian restaurant, chef Romain Bergaud oversees all the dishes being cooked.
Among them, a pot of rack of veal, an inexpensive piece of meat that the chef has only been using for a few weeks because of soaring prices.
"There are products that we no longer use because they were too expensive. We tried to make this lower rack of veal more refined by cooking it longer. With less noble products, we manage to have very nice results,” he says.
One tip among others for this chef who recommends several at the microphone of Europe 1.
Find alternatives to expensive products
To lighten his bill, the chef advises finding alternatives to bypass overpriced foods by replacing them with less noble products but just as good.
Sunflower oil, for example, which has become almost impossible to find, can be replaced.
"For a very simple mayonnaise with an egg yolk, a little mustard, whipped with oil, salt, pepper, grapeseed oil or rapeseed oil, it works very well", declares- he.
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The chef also recommends replacing expensive cuts of meat such as beef, lamb or veal with more accessible ones.
"Poultry, of course, will remain the least noble product. Saddle of rabbit is also consumed a little less so it's a product that will be less expensive," he says, stirring the sliced down rack of veal.
As another inexpensive, seasonal source of protein, mussels are a good alternative, he says.
"We count 500 grams per person for a dish of mussels, we have a two-euro portion with a few small baked potatoes. In fact, for 2.5 euros you have a meal at home".
Go behind the stove
To save money, chef Romain Bergaud is formal: you have to go behind the stove.
It is, for example, possible to make your own chocolate cream dessert.
"We boil the milk then we'll make what we call a roux, it's a mixture of butter and flour. It's like a béchamel in which we'll add sugar and chocolate. We take it to boil, we cool and we have our house Danette", he explains.
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Reuse leftovers
Chef Bergaud's last piece of advice is to avoid waste at all costs by using leftovers.
"Take for example the end of your pancake batter, add prunes, cook everything in the oven and you have a delicious homemade far Breton".
A simplicity that can also be found in his "antigaspi" recipe for tzatziki: "we have a natural yogurt left in the fridge, we add a little cucumber and a little mint and that's it. For the aperitif with friends, it's going to be more fun to say "it's me who made it", right?" he adds, smiling.