I went on a girls' trip to Paris a couple weeks ago, and one of the highlights of the long weekend…read morewas a lunchtime cooking class with Françoise of Mercy Fanny. It was only the second cooking class I've ever taken, and it made me feel like I should seek them out wherever I travel. In one afternoon, we learned how to make five foundational French sauces while drinking champagne in a chic Paris apartment. And of course, we ate marvelously well.
My friend Ava B. booked the sauce class for the three of us through a site called EatWith, a week or two in advance (here's the link to our class: https://www.eatwith.com/fr/events/23502; and here's her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mercyfannyparis/). Françoise offers other classes too, as well as just fully hosted meals where you show up with your friends and she feeds you.
On a cold Friday in January, Ava, Maka E., and I made our way to the 17th arrondisement and to Françoise's apartment. Her place was advertised as a "gorgeous and typically Parisian home," and this is what it felt like, a cozy apartment up a winding stairway (there were also very tiny Parisian elevators), beautifully decorated by a long-time resident with excellent taste.
The kitchen was small by US standards, and it was kind of remarkable how much amazing food came out of it. Little stove, little fridge, all put to good use. Françoise must go to the market and cook every day (this is impressive to me, a very lazy American). She had a basket of fresh eggs sitting out at room temperature (though to be fair, she did seem to keep it brisk in there). I didn't even know you could leave eggs unrefrigerated. I buy six at a time and watch them march in place past their expiration date.
Françoise welcomed us at noon with a bottle of blanc de blancs, a lovely champagne that added booze and bubbles to what would already be a wonderful afternoon. She was super nice and friendly, as well as very fluent in English. I felt immediately comfortable, especially with that glass of sparkling wine in one hand. She had her table set up already, with the tools and ingredients neatly laid out, and put us right to work.
We made five sauces, with Françoise (thankfully) steering the ship. She also provided everything else for a decadent lunch incorporating our sauces, with top notch victuals procured from a variety of gourmet vendors. We had little sandwiches inspired by the "croissant du Palace," with velvety béchamel, some ridiculously good ham, and quality comté cheese on fluffy milk bread. The aioli was the standout sauce for me, as I'd never actually made mayonnaise before. It was cool to see it come together, and it tasted delicious, thick as pudding and pungent with garlic. We ate it with slices of crusty brown bread. For our main course, Françoise cooked up some gorgeous filet mignon, which we ate with our sauce béarnaise, rich and redolent with fresh tarragon.
We had two luxurious desserts with our two sweet sauces, which we actually made and chilled at the beginning of our class. We had chocolate merveilleux, a delicate cream and meringue cake coated with chocolate shavings, floating in crème anglaise. Then delicate shortbread tartlettes with orange slices and Grand-Marnier crème pâtissière.
Françoise emailed us all the recipes, which I may or not make at home (they require such technique!). Either way, I'm so glad we took this class and would recommend it to anyone visiting Paris. We learned a lot and ate like royalty.