Tomorrow is Labor Day and the big demonstration announced for May 1st. With necessarily a historical slogan dating back to 1968: “Under the paving stones, the beach.” Emblematic of this great protest movement, this cube carved in granite which weighs its two kilos cheerfully made its mark in urban guerrilla warfare from the 19th century during the so-called “Trois Glorieuses” revolution of July 27, 28 and 29, 1830. In his study the era of barricades, 1827-1851, history through images, Luce-Marie Albigès analyzes an engraving representing the fighting in rue Saint-Antoine on July 28, 1830: “In the narrow streets of Paris at the time, a barricade was quickly installed: a vehicle put across, a few trees or ladders were enough to block the passage. The insurgents complete the construction with pieces of wood, barrels and especially cobblestones torn from the street. These improvised constructions prove effective obstacles to trap the armed force in the street fight. On July 28, 1830, the cuirassiers of the royal guard, overwhelmed by a hail of tiles, cobblestones, furniture thrown through the windows or from the top of the roofs of the rue Saint-Antoine, gave up trying to reach the Hôtel de Ville. The whole population participates in this confrontation. The engraving shows the tactical and even comic effectiveness of furniture and utensils of all kinds against horsemen who are nevertheless armed and disciplined.
A lot of bitumen has flowed in Paris on the cobblestones of May 1968, just to make them inaccessible to the fight. But you’ve probably seen them reappear with the blows of a jackhammer. The City of Paris is honored to recycle them on the site of Bonneuil-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne). You could get them for 40 euros instead of 120 euros per ton of new granite, according to an article published in 2018 on the site of the Ministry of Ecological Transition. We are a long way from the 70 euros per granite cube “certified made in Paris”, offered by the smart guys on the site My Parisian pavement. The barricade and the insurrection launch are expensive. Especially since on this weekend of May 1, a question burns our lips: will we rather be paved or saucepan or other stove, just to remind us of our anger against macronie? Well, both my general. Because the pavement of bidoche can melt in the pan like granite on a squad of the Brav-M. The comparison does not come from us but from a former “moblo” (mobile policemen), who used to say when the meat was good: “It melts like a stone in the mouth of a CRS.” He knows what he is talking about. He did his law enforcement “classes” in May 1968. At the time, the mobile gendarmes did not resemble the current robocops. They worked in jackets, shirts and ties with their useless and ineffective MAS 36 rifles. Unless you take a nasty shot in the jaw with the butt.
For this weekend, we therefore suggest that you combine pavé and casserole in the kitchen with the recipe for “Pavés de foie de veau” by renowned butcher Hugo Desnoyer (1). For four people, you need four 180 g veal liver steaks (peeled by your butcher), 1.5 cl of raspberry or sherry vinegar; 15 g of fresh butter; 1 drizzle of grapeseed oil; 1 crushed garlic clove; 1 sprig of thyme; fleur de sel; ground pepper.
Salt the calf’s livers on both sides. In a frying pan, heat 10 g of butter with the drizzle of grapeseed oil, add the thyme and the crushed clove of garlic and sear over high heat until the butter foams. Then place the calf’s livers, and brown them for two to three minutes on each side, then set them aside on a wire rack. Remove half of the cooking fat and return to low heat, deglazing with raspberry or sherry vinegar. Add the remaining 5 g of butter and brown your liver steaks for two to three minutes on each side. Adjust the seasoning of the sauce to your liking. Arrange your livers on a plate or dish, cover them with a spoon of juice each and serve directly.
Hugo Desnoyer suggests accompanying these veal liver steaks with mashed fingerling potatoes to enhance all the flavors.
