What can you cook for $20 in Paris, France?

Today’s video is simple, what can I buy and cook for $20 in Paris, France?

📚 Videos & Sources mentioned:

USEFUL KITCHEN GEAR

⏱ TIMESTAMPS:

MISC. DETAILS
Music: Provided by Epidemic Sound
Filmed on: Sony a6600 & Sony A7C
Voice recorded on Shure MV7
Edited in: Premiere Pro

Affiliate Disclosure:

[felix]

French here living in Paris. To answer the "grocery store ranking", here is how I would rank the grocery stores. Monoprix is definitely on the higher end of the scale with some premium brands and premium products. Franprix and G20 are called "supérette" which basically are compact supermarket. Because they are smaller than your regular supermarket, they have less economies of scale and therefore can be expensive. Carrefour is more tricky because there is Carrefour City, Carrefour Express (both supérette), Carrefour Market (which is supermarket so less expensive thanks to the economies of scale), and many other. In recap, Monoprix is nice for premium products, supérette are nice because they are usually in every corner, but can be more expensive, and supermarket are cheaper but not the easiest to find.

[chimaydo]

I love that you mentioned the social anxiety involved in filming. I actually was already wondering about how you guys handled the across the street shots, but obviously doing it in a crowded market is another level.

[andriadariuspancrazi]

Funnily enough, in my French town growing up, that sandwich was called “un américain” - Very fitting for Ethan’s new adventures in Paree! Keep up the amazing content!!

[soundwave]

You actually just made a fancy version of a French fastfood thing called 'Sandwich Americain'. Not sure if by accident, but very funny. As a Dutchie travelling to France my whole live, I always get my sandwich americain fix in the south. I go for sauce. In Belgium they call it a Mitraillette.

[flutechannel]

ALSO! I remember in those open markets at the end of the day around 2-3pm you can get some deals. We got a whole case of avacados for 2 euros! so sometimes it worth waiting till the end of the day to bargain! Enjoy Paris you'll love it!

[bullezinga]

As a european, or more specifically swede, it's great to see you cook with similar ingredients to which are available here. Some of the things which you seem to be able to get at every local grocery store in the US may not be the same to say the french or swedish. Great video as always and keep the euro videos coming!

[timnnorman]

What I love about this video is how you've embraced your vulnerability. For someone who I respect as somewhat of an expert of cooking from America, I love to see you discovering cooking of other cultures from a fresh perspective. I have been to France a dozen times and have been through the same "wow" moments you are showing on camera, and it's at the same time innocent, inspirational, and strangely opiniated. Keep your open mind, abandoner les supermarchés, et continuer à inspirer!

[wylhias]

For the baguettes with special names, it's pretty much just branding from whichever store you're buying from. You've got to learn what they have, and differentiate based off your knowledge of the place and the look of things

Also, places that have the name "boulangerie" are obligated to make the bread there (mixing, kneading, baking). Doesn't apply to pastries though. There are some laws regarding what name stores can use. Usually a good boulangerie make their own bread and it's worth it

Last but not least, comté is a really good cheese (it needs to pass a quality test to "deserve" the name) with a lot of flavor. It does cost quite a bit especially if you go for a more aged one.

[brucewayne]

The difference in marbling in steak is due to the difference in diet. In France cattle is primarily grass-fed and thus the meat is less marbled, whereas US cattle are primarily grain-fed.

[Koboldmensch]

Compté is actually a really strong cheese-just the supermarket one has almost no flavour. Try one from the market next time :)

Also, good to note is that France in general works like that, not just Paris.
French people have food as their status symbol, not cars or houses. I have yet to fond a single place that has bad food. Heaven for foodies!

[ChrisMurphyHub]

Ethan, thanks for bringing us along for the ride. It’s cool to see someone who knows what they are doing get out of their comfort zone and learn new customs, experiences and possibilities. Well done.

[cinemaocd]

I lived in London when I was in my twenties and I was really trying to be thrifty to save up for further travel and the thing that saved me were the open air markets and small ethnic deli shops. I didn't know how to cook then, so I was relying on a lot of pre-made dips and sauces and fresh baked bread, cheese and produce. England gets a lot of produce from Spain as well and I loved the tomatoes I got there. A simple sandwich of flat bread, hummus and sliced tomato was one of my favorite meals.

[beingthesalt]

I took 3 years of French in high school, my dad's been learning it his whole life too so it's a big bonding thing for us, anything "Parisian"...plus we have relatives were trying to plan a trip to visit soon. It's super cool to see you shop & make budget meals in Paris!! Bon Appétit!

[TheoriginalBMT]

So fun. When my wife and I went to Paris for our honeymoon. She had previously lived there when younger for six months. So we made a point of renting a place with a kitchen. Walking to the little shops and picking up a few good items to cook for dinner. Couldn't be beat.

And that sandwich... Ahhhh. I can't wait to make it.

[xyphan]

Man, I'm french and I follow your channel for 1 year already, and you can't know how much is fun for me to see you in Paris :') so happy to follow your new series

[LostTheGame]

For grocery stores, basically you have the low end (lidl, leader price, and a few others), and then everything else. Franprix and Monoprix are kind of a separate category since they only exist inside cities, and thus usually more expensive compared to the bigger carrefours/Geants/Leclercs and so on.

[curts]

Ethan, you rock. Few others would follow their passion as you have. Congratulations on the move in the courage to do it. So many people look back at their lives and ‘if only I would have . . . while I was younger’

Continue to learn, grow, and inspire.

[Auxilor]

If you're in france, you need to try the french veal from a butcher there - It's completely different quality-wise to anything I've seen anywhere else, I find outside of france it's always patchy and underwhelming

[heyitsnovabound]

When I was in Germany, I noticed specific stores were common, and buying groceries for the week/2 weeks was uncommon (or at least it was for the family I stayed with). They bought dinner ingredients every day. The result was dinner every night was obscenely fresh every time.

[masondevries]

Definitely enjoyed the exploration at the beginning! Knowing where to look for food is often confusing in a new country, so it was cool to see you explain the different types of shops and where they're located!