Issue No. 14

In two minutes, he reduced it into various
delicacies all wrapped and ready to be sold
to the restaurants and butchers shops of
Paris… it was enough to make me want to
turn vegetarian.
The meat pavilion was wall to wall with
carcasses of pork, lamb and venison. There
were crates and crates of poultry and
game. Huge joints of mouth-watering ribs
of beef caught my eye making me forget
my vegetarian musings.
Rungis is a working market and you get the
impression that for some who work here,
visitors are to be tolerated rather than
welcomed. No surprise, these people are
working their socks off while everyone is at
home sleeping. You need to keep on your
toes to avoid being run over by a horn
blowing mini truck or worse still - falling
into a bin of pigs entrails.
cheeses of all shapes and sizes from
mouth size portions of Cabachou to wheels
of Ementhal weighing 175 kilos. You can
taste some, though at 5.30 in the morning it
takes a bit of getting used to.
Next up, fruit and veg. Stunning produce
from all over the world including stuff that I
have never heard of and one fruit that
looked positively frightening. A bit of
French humour was on show at a stall of
French beans from a producer whose name
was “Larry Cover” , a clever play on “Le
haricot vert” (French beans).
Organic fruit and vegetables also now have
a place in Rungis albeit a smaller pavilion
but with over 40 different operators. There’s
also a Fresh Flower pavilion where a truly
stunning kaleidoscope of colours and
perfumes from all over the world wowed.
If you’re a fromage fan you will love the
cheese pavilion, it’s the world biggest
cheese shop. Everywhere you look are