The best crispy pig's ears in Paris
Farm pig's ears simmered slowly in stock, pressed into a terrine, rested three to four days in the cold, then cut thick and pan-fried until crisp. Served on a market-garden salad with a mustard vinaigrette, black pepper and fleur de sel. Soft and crisp, in every bite.
Where to eat crispy pig's ears in Paris?
At Café Max, a bistro in Paris's 7th arrondissement founded in 1941, Chef Frédéric Vardon serves farm pig's ears simmered in stock, pressed into a terrine, then sliced and pan-fried until very crisp, on a market-garden salad with a mustard vinaigrette, for 23 euros. They are on the menu of classics, served all year round, at lunch and dinner.
Address: 7 avenue de la Motte-Picquet, 75007 Paris, 40 metres from La Tour-Maubourg métro. Monday to Friday, lunch from 12.15pm to 2pm, dinner from 7pm to 9.45pm.
How they turn crisp.
It all starts with farm pig's ears, simmered slowly in stock until meltingly tender. A long, gentle cooking that softens the meat and releases the collagen.
They are then moulded into a terrine, laid one on top of the other, and pressed. Then comes the step nothing can replace: three to four days resting in the cold, long enough for the collagen to bind them perfectly together. That is what lets them be sliced cleanly, without falling apart.
At service, the terrine is cut into generous slices, and each slice goes into the pan until it turns very crisp on the outside. Inside, the texture stays soft. That is the whole point of the dish: the contrast, in every bite.
The slices are laid on a fine market-garden salad, with a mustard vinaigrette, a good turn of the black pepper mill and a few grains of fleur de sel. Nothing more. The same spirit as our œufs mimosa, the other classic our guests recommend most often on our Google listing.
Fleurie “Face Nord”
Domaine Chapel · 2020 · Beaujolais
A Gamay from Fleurie, fine, fresh and fruity, chosen by the house for this dish: its freshness answers the richness of the pork and the bite of the mustard vinaigrette, and its fruit goes with the crunch without weighing it down. It is the bottle you can see in the photo.
See the wine listFour steps, four days.
Frédéric Vardon has described his method. It calls for no rare technique and no hard-to-find ingredient, only time: four days between the stock and the plate.
- 01
Slow cooking in stock
The farm pig's ears cook for a long time, gently, in stock. This is what makes them tender and releases the collagen the next steps depend on.
- 02
Mould and press into a terrine
They are laid one on top of the other in a terrine, then pressed. The layers stack up like the pages of a book.
- 03
Three to four days in the cold
Resting in the cold is essential. Over three to four days the collagen sets and binds the ears perfectly together, which is what then lets them be sliced cleanly.
- 04
Slice thick, fry hot
At service, the terrine is cut into generous slices and each slice is pan-fried until very crisp outside while staying soft inside.
The whole ear, the pressed terrine.
Braised, breaded and grilled
In the French tradition, in the Sainte-Menehould style, the ear is braised, breaded and grilled whole. The crunch then comes from the breadcrumbs, and the texture changes from one end of the ear to the other.
Pressed, sliced and pan-fried
Pressed into a terrine and rested in the cold, the ears give even slices in which softness and crunch meet in every mouthful. It takes four days and cannot be done at the last minute.
Four days of preparation for a bistro classic: the price of a texture that has become rare on Paris menus.
Nothing goes to waste in the pig.
In French cooking, nothing of the pig is wasted. The ears were among those humble cuts that charcutiers and bistros knew how to turn into a treat, with time and skill, like the snout, the head or the trotters.
Little by little they disappeared from Paris menus. The product needs a good supplier, the preparation is counted in days rather than hours, and some diners are wary of cuts they no longer know.
At Café Max, a house open since 1941, they belong to the menu of classics, the one that does not change with the seasons, alongside the œufs mimosa and the hand-cut Salers beef tartare. It is the bold bistro cooking Chef Frédéric Vardon stands for: simple produce, worked on for a long time, served straight. The same attachment to classic offal runs through the veal kidney à la normande.
« The simple pleasure of softness and crunch in every bite. »
27 Google reviews mention or recommend our crispy pig's ears, with an average rating of 4.6 out of 5.
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« […] absolutely delicious crispy pig's ears, not to mention a stunning dessert. One to repeat! »
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« I tried one of the specialities, the grilled pig's ears, and it was a pleasant surprise! Delicious and generous. »
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« Classics of French gastronomy: the museau, the pig's ears and the kidneys are perfect. »
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« The grilled pig's ears, excellent. »
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« The snails, the truffles and the pig's ears were delicious […] »
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« I recommend the pig's ears… »
Average Google rating : 4.7/5
Frequently asked questions.
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Monday to Friday, lunch and dinner, 40 metres from La Tour-Maubourg métro. The crispy pig's ears are on the menu all year round.
Pig's ears Paris · French bistro cooking · Bistro Invalides · Paris 7th · Farm pork · Frédéric Vardon
