E.Dehillerin, a Parisian heaven for kitchen utensils
This Paris institution in the Les Halles neighbourhood has been delighting home cooks (and professionals) for more than two hundred years and is famous around the world. Cocorico!
I’ve been an adult for quite some time now, but I’m still not allowed to buy my copper preserving pans anywhere other than E. Dehillerin (my Mom is very strict on the subject, and we do not joke about kitchen utensils in our family, nor about cooking, for that matter…). And honestly, it would never even occur to me to buy them anywhere else, as this shop holds such a special place in the heart of anyone who loves cooking.
What is rather funny is that foreigners often know this place better than Parisians themselves, even though it really is something of an “institution”, one of those wonderful addresses that has the great merit of having remained wonderfully unchanged. After all, the shop has been here since 1820.
For anyone who loves food, it will be difficult not to fall for this legendary address, or to leave without buying a little something. Kitchen equipment is piled high on tall wooden shelves, in an atmosphere that is quite rustic and a little dark, but incredibly charming. It feels rather like stepping into an old-fashioned country hardware shop.
Whenever my Mom and I go there (it would be unthinkable for either of us to go without the other), we come away either with a copper preserving pan each for our jams (you can never have too many), or with some small and very useful kitchen gadget.
As for the copper preserving pans, they are expensive, but you will keep them for the rest of your life and may even pass them down one day. You should also know that these pans only work if you cook with gas, so you cannot use them on an induction hob (I believe there is a trick to get around this problem, although the result with your jams will not be quite the same).
Making jam in a copper preserving pan rather than a stainless-steel pot (which I do sometimes anyway for practical reasons, as I do not have gas at home) is quite simply the best and most authentic way to make, and successfully set, homemade jam.
And let’s be honest, a copper pan also happens to be a beautiful decorative object in a kitchen. Just imagine a charming rustic country kitchen with terracotta floors, blue-and-white tiles behind the cooker, a farmhouse table, beautiful wooden shelves or a dresser displaying a few copper pans in different sizes… I’m getting carried away, but wouldn’t that be bliss?
Of course, the shop also sells stockpots, frying pans, saucepans, canelé moulds, knives (they have some excellent ones), whisks… you get the idea: everything you could possibly need for cooking. I can guarantee you will find something to make you happy at Dehillerin!
The little shop with its green frontage is located in the Les Halles neighbourhood of Paris. You can also order from their website, but nothing quite compares to the pleasure of visiting in person.
