Bar à Veloutés, Take 1

Yesterday was the first session of the Bar à Veloutés that Marion Chatelain and myself are hosting at the Printemps de la Maison department store during the Invasions Gourmandes event.

Visitors had a choice between three savory veloutés (a velouté is a thick velvety soup), three toppings to sprinkle on, and three edible accessories to dip in : twenty-seven combinations which were all designed to work equally well.

We arranged each serving in tiny transparent tumblers with a small wooden spoon, assembling them as we went, according to what our guests chose. I was happy to see that people really took to the concept, intrigued by the various elements, and eager to experiment with the different pairings.

And while I busy myself preparing for the second session tomorrow afternoon (which will offer sweet things this time), pictured above is a little sample from yesterday : Velouté à Pois, Raisins Granités et Allumette noisette-thym -- Pea soup, Frozen grapes and Hazelnut-thyme matchstick!

And here are two other combinations!

The three possible veloutés were :
- Velouté à pois (pea velouté)
- Velouté lacté (a mix of fresh cheese and olive oil)
- Velouté orange (carrot velouté)

The three toppings to sprinkle were :
- Maïs grillé (ground grilled corn)
- Tomate poudrée (powdered sundried tomatoes)
- Raisins granités (frozen grapes)

As for the dippers, the choice was between :
- Pistache isocèle (a tiny samosa with a pistachio filling)
- Eskimo coco (coconut icicle)
- Allumette noisette-thym (a hazelnut-thyme matchstick)

[Our next session is on Saturday 6th, 2004 from 3:30pm to 5:30pm, at the 3rd floor of the Printemps de la Maison, 64 bd Haussman, 75009 Paris]