Four years ago, I moved to Paris, the City of Love and the City of Light, thanks to a great opportunity at work. I still remember my first weekend in the city. It was a glorious sunny September weekend and I was exploring my neighborhood-to-be. I moved into a cute little apartment on the left bank with a tiny kitchen. Honestly, the kitchen was a big disappointment. No fancy stove, no dishwasher, barely any working space. It’s impossible for two people to be in it at the same time. I was so disappointed that it took me almost six months to turn on the stove! And I love to bake and cook. So this was a disaster, a real tragedy. But ever since, I’ve gotten used to my tiny Paris kitchen and most of all, I’m so inspired by this beautiful city. Walking by the lovely “patisserie” windows, admiring the esthetically breath-taking desserts, tasting cheeses, wines and other French delicacies and just taking in the entire experience is a daily creative inspiration. There are two things that I’ve learned from observing French people: (1) you don’t need a special occasion to treat yourself and indulge in good food, you deserve it every day AND (2) it’s not about quantity, it’s all about quality. French people don’t deprive themselves, they eat everything (bread and butter are the basics of their daily diet) but they’ll only eat quality food and in small portions. A little bit of everything without overdoing it. Just enough to truly enjoy every bite!
My mom is an amazing cook. Whatever comes out of her kitchen is just simply delicious and most of the time also deliciously simple. I’ve always loved baking. And eating sweets and pastries! It was actually my grandmother who taught me to make my first cake, the yoghurt cake or as they say in French “gâteau au yaourt” when I was about 10 years old. I baked something almost every weekend after that. But I was quite picky when it came to savory foods, my mom didn’t have it easy with me. Well, it turns out that most of the foods I didn’t like as a child actually are not good for me. I’ve recently developed many food intolerances and IBS, so I had to change the way I eat quite drastically. To be honest, as much as I love food and creating with it, some days, I hate it just as much because it makes me feel very bad. So, my challenge is to eliminate all the “nasties” out of my daily diet and eat as clean as possible, but not miss out on the taste. Because I love to eat, I really do.
When it comes to pastries and desserts, the challenge is even more exciting! Living in Paris has opened up a whole new sweet heaven. French “patisserie” is rigorous, technical, recipes must be respected to the dot but the result is oh so beautiful and delicious. The techniques can be very complicated but at the same time, the pastry chefs are true artists. The best ones are very famous and truly appreciated. When asked why I like to bake, the answer is very simple… I love to see the expression on people’s faces, children and adults, the twinkle in their eyes and the smile that appears on their faces when they see a beautiful dessert. Observing people in cake shops and patisseries, they get so immersed in the desserts behind the glass counter, so concentrated in trying to make an impossible choice… too me, this is simply beautiful!
Paris awoke new creative passions in me, like the love for photography, especially travel and food photography. So I decided to start learning more about this and sharing my passions for food, Paris and photography by starting a blog and an Instagram page entitled Tiny Paris Kitchen. This is the beginning of an adventure for which today, I still have no idea where it will lead me. I’m still searching for “my voice” among all the talented food creators and photographers that I encountered on my journey mainly on Instagram, such a lovely community that inspires me every day. But no matter where this adventure will take me, I’m loving every step of the way.
My very best to all you wonderful women out there, just remember to follow your passion!
Author: Tiny Paris Kitchen
Email: [email protected]
Author Bio: Someone dear to me once said that passion is the most important thing in life. I’m not a chef or a photographer or a health-expert, just a baking, cooking and picture-taking enthusiast who’s trying to eat healthy, wanting to share these passions with people with similar interests.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinypariskitchen/
Link to social media or website: https://tinypariskitchenblog.wordpress.com
