Paris - crunchy pork foot at La Billebaude

As you would expect, we had a lot of great food in Paris.  Some of it wasn't necessarily unique though so I am not in a rush to post on it.  We'll see whether I get back around to it.  We were in Paris for over two weeks.  We did a week in the St. Germain area, a couple days in the Vendome area, and a week by the Eiffel Tower.    My favorite area was the Eiffel Tower area as it was close to lots of small food related stores and neighborhood restaurants.

As we were walking around the neighborhood looking at menus, La Billebaude caught our eye.  The place looked quite gourmet, but with a prix fixe menu for only 20-33 euros.  Sometimes when I see odd items on the menu, I run.  Sometimes, I decide to order them.  

On this menu I saw crunchy pork foot.  I was definitely going to order that.  I used to avoid the pig's foot as I thought it was too fatty, but it has grown on me over the years.  I now find pig's feet more gelatinous(a good thing) than fatty.  I was expecting a pork shank to come out (thinking there might have been a translation error) or a fried pig's foot with hoof showing.  It isn't the most pleasant thing to gnaw on something that looks like a foot, but I have seen dishes delivered that way before and if it tastes good, it tastes good.

What came instead was the French version of pig's foot.  So much more civil than the items I am used to eating.  Meat, some skin, and other crunchy parts are taken off the bone and bundled neatly together (in what I guess is stomach lining), then sauteed.  It was smooth, fatty, meaty, gelatinous, and delicious!  I don't expect everyone would like this, but I am definitely ordering it again next time I find it on a French menu!

I think it looks pretty appealing to any meat eater if you don't know what it is.

Here is a view of the stuffing which should give you an idea why it tastes so good and how the different textures and flavors are created from the pig's foot.

white asparagus browned with parmesan cheese

crawfish tails with beet vinaigrette over salad

roasted duck breast with sesame seed

bitter chocolate cake

grand marnier ice cream souffle

English version of the menu showing all the options

La Billebaude

29 Rue Exposition, 75007 Paris, France