A beautiful sunny Saturday morning, and the organic market on the Boulevard des Batignolles is busy with shoppers buying chestnuts, crepes, and fresh goat cheese. But that's nothing compared with the mob scene across the street at a small corner store with a familiar blue snowflake on its window—and a long line outside to get in. But don't expect fresh produce on display, because everything Picard Surgeles sells is—gulp—frozen. Improbable though it may seem, Parisians are mad about frozen food. And Picard, which began in 1962, just as home freezers became widely available, has some 600 stores all over the country.
The woman in front of me is buying pizza, hamburger patties, scallops, asparagus, chopped herbs (chives, tarragon, and parsley), a chocolate cake, and some chestnut puree—all frozen. A look into the panier (wire shopping basket) of the young man behind me reveals preassembled dishes, including escargots in garlic butter, chicken stuffed with foie gras, and quinoa with baby vegetables. For desert, he's selected individual pastries filled with apples and figs. All he has to do is pick up some cheese, bread, and wine to host the perfect dinner party. And guess what? None of the guests would ever guess, for the quality at Picard is nothing short of superb. If only it could get the cheese-bread-wine thing down.