A riddle for the day - Name the famous American who had this to say about E. Dehillerin

Timeless: E. Dehillerin is the same today as it was in 1949 - and perhaps the same as it was when it opened in 1820.

Due to a throat/head thing that I've been fighting all week, I'm taking the day off from writing. In my place, a famous American describes E. Dehillerin, a store specializing in professional cooking equipment:

Eventually we arrived at Dehillerin. I was thunderstruck. Dehillerin was the kitchen-equipment store of all time, a restaurant supply house stuffed with an infinite number of wondrous gadgets, tools, implements, and gewgaws---big shiny copper kettles, turbotières, fish and chicken poachers, eccentrically shaped frying pans, tiny wooden spoons and enormous mixing paddles, elephant-sized salad baskets, all shapes and sizes of knives, choppers, molds, platters, whisks, basins, butter spreaders, and mastodon mashers.

Seeing the gleam in my eyes, Chef Bugnard took me aside and introduced me to the owner, Monsieur Dehillerin. I asked him all sorts of questions, and we quickly became friends. He even lent me money once, when I had run out of francs shopping at Les Halles and the banks were all closed. He knew I'd repay him, as I was one of his steadiest customers. I had become a knife freak, a frying pan freak, a gadget freak---and, especially, a copper freak!




Can you guess the name of the author? The words, "knife freak", are a big clue!

Need another hint? The passage describes the author's visit to E. Dehillerin in 1949, even though these same words could just as easily have been written in 2012.

E. Dehillerin
18 et 20 rue Coquillière - 51 rue Jean- Jacques Rousseau
75001 PARIS

Hours Mon 9am-12:30pm and 2-6pm; Tue-Sat 9am-6pm. Closed Sun and holidays.


Big enough for a crowd!
Steak knives
Whisks
And the "must have" item in a professional kitchen - Eiffel Tower cookie cutters in three different sizes!

Comments

  1. Sounds like Miss Julia Child.

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    1. Correct! 100 points have been added to your "Riddle for the day" account.

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  2. Oh, feel better soon, too.

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    1. Thanks! It's bad enough being sick...but not feeling well in Paris is really annoying because there are so many things that I would like to be doing this week. Grrr.

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  3. How funny! i was thinking about this store today and that i need to explore it more for potential ways to make my kitchen more efficient! Thanks for reminding me how wonderful it is!

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    1. You've got to let me know whatever you find that makes your kitchen more efficient so that I can get some of the same!

      As I was on the bus heading towards E. Dellerhin, I saw your tweet about being at the Sempe exhibit and it made me smile cuz we were in the same area of town.

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    2. Just saw this :) After that I was in the Marais, near the store actually and enjoyed a glass of rose outside. Wasn't the sunshine fantastic that day? And I will let you know re: kitchen... we'll see how successful I am..

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    3. Ha! We may have passed each other on the road. If I would have seen you drinking a glass of rose, I would have definitely stopped and asked if I could join you! :)

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    1. Nothing. :( I only wandered around taking pictures while the woman I was with bought a great knife.

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  5. Sorry you have been feeling poorly. So love this store.

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  6. Hope you feel better soon. I've noted the name and address of this shop. I HAVE to have an eiffel tower cookie cutter! Caiti loves cooking so we'll fit in a visit to this shope if we possibly can when we come to Paris in Feb for her JPO.
    As to the riddle - I have to go with Joseph's answer.

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    1. Now that I know that you're in the market for one, I'll keep an eye out for other Eiffel Tower cookie cutters. I've seen them in a couple of places around town that may be closer to where you're staying -- or are you only coming for the day?

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  7. Can't wait until our next trip to Paris to explore this store. Wonderful!

    Hope you're feeling better soon. Just came off a similar experience myself.

    The upside was that it was a relatively easy way to have lost five pounds!

    Your Friends in Boston

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    1. It's a fun store to explore. I was tempted by quite a few things, especially the knives, but kept myself busy taking pictures. An added bonus is that the people who work their are really friendly.

      I hope that you're feeling 100% better now!

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  8. Thank you Mary. We'll be staying somewhere overnight, probably close to a park and ride - I need to start planning the trip. I've already told Caiti all about the Eiffel Tower cookie cutter shop!

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    1. Steph, Please let me know when you finalize your dates. I don't want to interfere with your time with Caiti, but maybe we could meet up for a quick coffee.

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  9. Damn, clever Joseph the butler got the 100 riddle for a day points before I did (back in Jan 2012), but I guessed Julia Childs, too... And yes this is where we get all of our kitchen stuff, too, despite my inability to pronounce it, EVER!

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