chicken stock in france?

[abgilliam]

We have just moved to a suburb of Paris. I use a lot of chicken stock , and don't have the fridge or freezer space to store large homeade batches. in the UK and US, I was able to buy canned or fresh stocks easily, but haven't seen any in France. Am i looking in the wrong section of the market, or do French cooks just always make their own?

Thanks.

[juliadevi]

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned it, but you can buy frozen stock (chicken, veal, veg) in cubes (galets de bouillion) from Picard. I usually make and freeze my own stock, but sometimes run out and then I turn to them. They're quite concentrated, you only need a couple of them for a half liter of stock (adding water to make up the volume). Useful for those of us with tiny freezers...

http://www.picard.fr/Modules/LaBoutiq...

[sunshine842]

Thanks for that, Julia - I didn't know!

[Rio Yeti]

Yes thank you ! I also didn't know, and judging by the ingredient list, it's all natural !

Cool, I'll grab some next time I go.

[sunshine842]

With the weather we've had this weekend, wandering through a Picard with your head buried in the freezers sounds like a good idea, anyway!

[Rio Yeti]

Yes I went there recently to buy some icecream... and I don't know why but I was really not sure what flavor I wanted, so I went and looked and looked some more... and took a chair, and waited for inspiration, then opened my book and read a while....aaaah they should do Paris-Plage inside Picards ! :)

[Parigi]

There's one across the street from me. I mean Picard. The only time I went in was to buy an insulation bag. Now I want to move in.

[mangeur]

(I remember one blistering hot afternoon a couple of summers ago when my husband suggested we go shopping. At Bon Marche. Once inside, he slowly checked out every island and counter. I think we were inside for an hour. A very comfortable hour.)

[Rio Yeti]

I knew it was weird I never saw the Picard frozen stock... they don't have it at the Picard near my place...
There's another one not so far where I will try my luck, but if they still don't have it I'll have to pass... no one wants to walk around Paris with frozen stuff in a bag...

[The Chowhound Team]

We've split off some off-topic discussion of making chicken stock in a pressure cooker. You'll find it on the Home Cooking board, here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/863350 .

[kerosundae]

I've never looked for it or paid very much attention, but I distinctly remember seeing in a supermarket 40 minutes outside of Paris, that the butcher section had little tubs of gellified chicken stock and thought, "oh! if I'm ever at my in-laws with no chicken bones, I can buy some!"
So maybe try to butcher or poultry seller?

[deadstroke86]

Hi, I am wondering if there is any updates on this thread about the hunt for chicken stock in Paris. I am visiting for a week in January and am keen to do some cooking in my apartment!

[sunshine842]

There isn't any ready-made chicken stock in Paris. If you stumble across it at a volailler somewhere, consider it your lucky day, as it's typically simply unavailable.

You have to make your own or buy bouillon -- since this post was started, Maggi has come out with a gel product called Coeur de Bouillon in 8 or 9 different flavors -- IME far more flavor than cubes, without tasting like a salt lick. (still plenty of sodium, but not as much) Knorr has a gel, also, but it's not as good, IMO, nor available in as many flavors.

[Rio Yeti]

Good to know the Maggi ones are better than the Knorr... I sticked with Knorr for now, but since I don't often use them I haven't have the chance to try the other ones.

Both of them are better than the dry cubes though, which is already a big improvement considering how long those dry cubes have been around here...

[sunshine842]

the flavor just seems deeper with the Maggi - the Knorr tends to (for me, anyway) fall back on the old "lots of salt to cover the lack of flavor" mindset.

The array of flavors is amazing -- just in my cupboard, there's beef and vegetable, legumes du soleil, garlic and parsley (which makes awesome rice and couscous), chicken, and champignons. I know they also have a Thai flavor (no idea what "Thai" actually means...), a pot au feu version,and they just introduced a Pesto flavor, which I'll probably have to try one of these days for pasta or vegetables when I'm short on time.

My favorite? Probably the legumes du soleil - I use them heavily in the winter to add lots of flavor to soups and stews.

(As much as I'll admit it looks like it, this is not a shill post -- I'm not connected with them in any way, and don't even get a thank you for telling people it's a good product.)

[ChefJune]

This is my problem with bouilon cubes... see the ingredients of the "superior" Maggi: Iodized Salt, Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Wheat Flour, Flavor Enhancers (Monosodium Glutamate, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate), Chicken Fat, Sugar, Yeast Extract, Onion, Spices (Turmeric, White Pepper, Coriander), Parsley, Caramel, Chicken Meat. I don't want (and indeed have adverse reactions to) some of those ingredients in my food.

[Rio Yeti]

Although I still would like to taste them to see if they're really better, your list is scary indeed...

Just to compare here is the list for "Marmite de Bouillon - Boeuf" - Knorr:
Water, salt, beef fat, vegetables (carrots and leeks), yeast extract, sugar, flavors (including milk), beef meat extract (1.7%), vegetable fat, xantham gum and wheat flour, caramel, parsley, maltodextrine.

Not the 100% natural ingredient list, but a tad bit better than the Maggi one... at least there is no hydrogenated oil...

Anyway, I still have one chicken stock, one vegetable stock and one fish stock (oh no wait, that went into the Paella...) in the freezer... so if (and when) I can, I'm not using the gels.

[sunshine842]

June, that ingredient list doesn't look anything at all like the ingredient list of the Maggi product that's in my kitchen.

The Maggi ingredients are here: http://www.maggi.fr/nos-produits-vos-...

No hydrogenated oil in the Maggi gel product, either -- very similar to what Rio Yeti listed.

[GabiZ]

Hi, Chiken stock in France is "FOND DE VOLAILLE" you can buy it at every grocery stores. It's with the spices in a round box and it's in powder. You can also have stock beaf "FOND BOEUF" Veal "FOND DE VEAU" and fish. Good luck. Gabi

[boredough]

The brand (of Fond de Volaille & Fond de Veau) we use is MAGGI and the round box is yellow (with some red & orange-y). Probably got it at Intermarché or Auchan.

[DeppityDawg]

If you can find a kosher grocery store (or maybe in the kosher section of a big supermarket) you might find some canned stock, or at least a larger/different variety of stock cubes.

[souphie]

I'm not aware of non professionnal chicken stock available in France. Most people certainly don't make their own. One thing you easily find is dessicated stock, in little cubes. It's mostly crap. The one called "jus de roti" is useful, and the ones you find in Italian stores named Star is what I use when I have to.

[abgilliam]

thanks souphie. that's what i was afraid of.

[anakalia]

Yeah, I don't know much about chicken stock, but I'm used to buying veggie stock (from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, generally) and the stuff here doesn't compare. I have to buy it in gross globs of slime in little containers and, if you look at the back of the container, it contains lots of chemicals, etc... but people have told me this is the only choice... sorry! :)

[abgilliam]

i just found and tried the Knorr version of the little pots of congealed stock. you dilute with 1/2 litre of water. they are a definite improvement over the cubes. still not in the league with homeade, or even good canned/bricked, but an improvement nonetheless!

[Rio Yeti]

I agree with abgilliam. Since I finally got a proper freezer a few years ago, I try to make my own stock, but when I don't have it, the new little gelatin stocks by Knorr are way better than the "bouillon cubes" (dried), their flavor is more subtle and natural, and will not overwhelm a dish with the "fake" flavor most bouillon cubes have.

[Parigi]

Ahhh, Soup. Actually the carcass from your chicken recipe makes excellent broth. Yes I make my own stock on spec. Other friends do too.
Otherwise, indeed all those bouillon cubes sold in supermarkets have MSG and other chemicals that I do not recognize, no thanks. Rose Bakery sells a bouillon powder that has no MSG. I don't buy it regularly and don't recall the name.

[vielleanglaise]

"Rose Bakery sells a bouillon powder that has no MSG. I don't buy it regularly and don't recall the name."

It's called Marigold, It's Swiss, but very common in England , where I stock up on it - rather than going to Rose Bakery.

[Parigi]

C'est ça. Merci !