VIVE LE BISTRO

LEE TULLOCH returns to Paris and revisits some of her favourite bistros, reflecting on what makes the classic French style of cooking and hospitality so magical.

I have a well-thumbed and stained copy of Patricia Wells' classic cookbook, Bistro Cooking, which is packed with recipes the American writer collected over many years from France's most famous bistros.

The recipes Wells gleaned from legendary Paris establishments include mussel soup from Benoit, smoked haddock with cabbage from Chez La Vieille, roast chicken from L'Ami Louis and an almond tarte from Le Petit Marguery.

The book was published in the 1980s, but those bistros still exist, as do countless small traditional restaurants tucked away in almost every block of the French capital and its regional cities, a testament to the enduring popularity of hearty, home-style cooking, despite serious challenges from culinary movements such as nouvelle cuisine.

"Bistro cuisine is French home cooking at its best, a style of cooking that demands a minimal of technical skills," writes Wells. "Ingredients aren't exotic; they come straight from the local market. And it's a way of cooking that grew out of a need to maximise every morsel in the market basket, so it's easy on the pocketbook."

The word "bistro" conjures up thoughts of quaint neighbourhood restaurants with lace curtains, checked tablecloths, steamy aromas wafting from the kitchen, white-aproned waiters, carafes of house wine and daily lunch or dinner specials on blackboards. A bistro might be family run, or it might be helmed by a chef trained in one of the culinary institutions, but the expectation when you step through the door is warm hospitality and hearty comfort food, much of it created from what the chef finds at the market that day.