Equipment to buy in Europe

Mauviel comes to mind in Paris and IIR there is a large Masamoto knife dealer there as well.

Spain...Just bring the Jamon!  

Dave

I'm not familiar with Canadian Import law and the US is a lot different. I've made the mistake of forgetting that more than once coming back from Me through Canada. Getting into Canada with goodies...no problemo. Getting back into US,  Grooooooan.

LOL

Maybe look to see if your national or provincial Government has a web site or ask PetalsandCoco.

The cookware shouldn't be any problem and yes Mauviel cookware is very nice. I wouldn't want a bunch of it but with select pieces it really is a joy to cook with and would make a nice gift.

Dave

Mauviel makes a lot of small pieces so I would just pick something that fits your style (and a suitcase). The crepe pans, butter pans and small windsor pots are nice as well as the bowls and sugar sauce pans.

Dave

E. Dehillerin

http://www.e-dehillerin.fr/index.php

You can also Google the full Mauviel PDF catalog.

Dave

If I were going to Paris, a priority stop would be E Dehellerin.

http://www.e-dehillerin.fr/en/index.php

I have quite a few pieces of Mauviel copper cookware; most of that is M'Heritage 250, and I like it more than any other cookware I've ever used. 

It's beautiful and extremely well made.  It's also very expensive (even in France), and very heavy.  Be aware thought, that the world's best copper cookware -- and if ours isn't, it's pretty darn close -- doesn't cook better than decent tri-ply.  The same is true for Mauviel stainless. It's beautiful, extremely well made (none better!), and -- in my opinion -- also overpriced. 

Every cook should visit E. Dehellerin as a tourist destination.  As a place to buy expensive cookware, it runs expensive, although you can get pretty good prices on their own brands -- think of it as a sort of uber Sur La Table, and you won't be far wrong.  If -- for whatever reason -- you want top of the line, European cookware (like the best Mauviel), there are probably better places to buy.  For instance, I understand that you can get great deals on Belgian stuff in Belgium; discounts good enough to make buying without a US guaranty worth it.  There may be some places in Paris as well, but I can't give you specific recommendations.  I vaguely remember some old threads here, perhaps you can find one.

Tell your GF, "bon voyage."

BDL

I don't agree with the previous poster that Mauviel at E dehilerin is expensive. Yes, it's expensive but not as much as buying say Al Clad or Mauviel in the states. 

Here's the trick to Mauviel from E dehilerin. 

Figure out what you want. I swear by the 11" fry pans and any of the sauce pans. I have a 9.5" saute pan and a smaller fry pan and neither ever get used. They were a waste of money. 

Then go to E dehilerin with an extra 21" rolling suitcase to make sure they fit and buy them. They'll package it up and you can pick them up the next day. 

They will give you a receipt for customs. Go to the airport and take that receipt to the customs window and they'll give you resulting paperwork which you drop in the mailbox in the airport and e Dehilerin will refund to your card your sales tax which is quite large (around 18%).

Then check your bag with the pans in it. Perhaps you should take half the pans out and distribute them with your other bag of clothes and check both so they're under the weight limit.

There is no problem entering the US with copper pans up to $1200 I think. Canada I don't know about. I can't imagine it would be different. 

The other alternative is to have them ship it to you but then you have to pay for air freight which has run me about $100 for a few pans. Still worth it over buying local but I'd rather keep the $100.

If you do this you will pay 1/2 the cost of Al Clad or buying Mauviel from Sur la Table or Williams Sonoma and unlike the latter you actually get the real stuff.

I use my 11" fry pans most. Enough so that I bought a second one on another trip. I use my 9.5" sauce pan and the medium one second most but I think I could probably use other types of cookware for those purposes. I'm sure either of my enameled cast iron dutch ovens would suffice in most situations where I use my sauce pans. 

Sur la Table has their own copper cookware for cheap, don't buy it. To work well copper has to be thick (otherwise heat transfers too fast and your pan gets really sensitive). If they make the pan lighter for home cooks then you lose the benefit. If you make it heavy you need to have a nice long wide handle like Mauviel so you can support the pan with your arm.  Sur la Table makes a cheap pan with a small dainty handle. Not only is it not as thick but the handle is hard to grasp. Williams Sonoma has their own design of Mauviel cookware that's thinner and has lighter brass handles with the idea that they're cutting down on weight everywhere. Same problem. In their case they charge as much as the original. 

I recommend going with Mauviel extra thick (not table service pans) and getting it from e Dehilerin. Every time I go to Paris I pick something up. I've bought from them just about every way possible now.

I wouldn't pay full price for the Williams Sonoma Mauviel but I still have one of those and if you can find them on close out then GRAB them! They are a great value on sale if you can still find them. AFAIK that series was discontinued. I don't own any of the SLT Mauviel but it's heavier than the WS stuff. I'd still suggest waiting for a sale and SLT has had some smokin deals on their Mauviel in the past. SLT does have free standing stores in the US.

 What series of Mauviel I would buy would be based on the use of the product. The heavier the better on sauce and larger stock pots. For butter pots, sugar pots or small sauce pots the thinner series are more cost effective and function perfectly. I trust your trying to be fairly reasonable when you are asking for a gift from your GF. While Mauviel is expensive (the better stuff usually is) I would think it's not all about price as much as getting something unique from Paris that shouldn't break the bank if you choose the right piece. Mauviel is not the most expensive copper ware but no copper is exactly cheap today.  I'd avoid the house brands as you won't be there to see the item unless you want to give her the suggestion for a small copper sauce pot and leave her to her best judgment. Sometimes the best gifts come with out any expectation.

I would suggest sticking with SS lined pots with any series if at all possible. 

Dave

I'd swear I said you could get a good deal on Dellerehin's "house brand" products.  I don't know if their 2.5 mm Cuprinox is worse, better, a re-branded version of  Mauviel L'Heritage 250, or anything else.  They certainly look the same on the net; but I don't have enough information to speculate. 

Assuming the pieces are the same or equal, including my 15% professional discount at SLT, and subtracting 18% VAT from, Dellerehin's, Dellerehin's prices are better by around 15% -- not including shipping or any weight penalty you might have to pay for bringing it back in your suitcase.

Not counting lids, we have (I think) eight pieces of Mauviel 250 "Cuprinox" copper, including three skillets, a straight sided "saute," a splayed sauce pan, and three other sauce pans.  We also have other pieces of Mauviel copper, including a paellera, an unlined beating bowl, a couscouserie, etc., although from different lines.  Which reminds me, I want -- nay, must have -- a copper butter warmer.

If you do decide to go with stainless lined, 2.5mm copper, be aware that it's VERY heavy.  The weight makes the skillets challenging to toss turn -- probably impossible for most women -- and they're also comparatively slow (aka "unresponsive") to preheat and change temps compared to lighter cookware.  Don't get me wrong... I love ours for their quality, beauty, as well as the way they work; and wouldn't trade trade for anything else I've ever used.  But (a) I've got very strong hands; and (b) you should be aware that heavy, stainless lined copper has its drawbacks.    

By way of comparison, we have three De Buyer "Mineral" skillets (going from 8" to 12.6"), which are heavy (ugly) carbon steel.  They work as well as the Mauviel for most things, and can be better or worse than the Mauviel for a few others.  They're considerably more responsive than the copper Mauviel, lighter, and about 60% less expensive.   

Most of our really big skillets and sauce pans are All-Clad, for the weight and price savings.  And again, they function as well as the heavy Mauviel copper, are more responsive and are easier to manipulate.  From a purely practical standpoint, the Mauviel does nothing better than the All-Clad.  Ours were all purchased on sale, but I believe the retail difference is something like 30%.

If I were looking only for value and performance AND if I were free to disregard my wife's opinion; I'd probably have gone for Vollrath Tribute for the core set of stainless cookware.  But beauty does count for a lot, and thank God my teammate's opinion is a very important part of the decision making.  In a universe which didn't include joint, matrimonial enabling and impulse purchasing we might have ended up with 2.0mm stainless lined copper from Belgium.  Quien sabe?

If you're only buying one piece, it might be a good idea to buy something with presentation value (i.e. goes "stove to table") to really take advantage of copper's beauty.

Bottom Line:

Highest recommendation for the Mauviel, but know what you're getting into. 

BDL

Dehellerin has their own house brand.  I have heard that Mauviel currently makes the Dehllerin, but I could not verify.  I have both, and they are very similar, but all of mine are old.  Dehellerin has been around for way over 100 years.

As for which piece to buy, since this is a semi budget purchase, I would look for whatever appeals and represents the best buy,  Any high quality cookware is useful for me.

Another option might be a set of Laguiole steak knives.

http://www.laguiole-en-aubrac.fr/anglais/sommaire.htmlAnother

http://www.aveyron.com/parisien/boutik_marais.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ntosaj 

 The Cuprinox does look rather nice, and it's actually affordable for a small piece!

If it fits your budget better then that's the way to go. Even the thinner WS copper is nice. Just beware that once you start down this path with copper it's a slippery slope!

The Laguiole pocket knives are very nice. Perfect for a sunny day with a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine and some Salami and cheese!

Dave

ciao tutti!

 as to mauviel's s/s line of cookware.....hmmm, gender biased cookware. interesting marketing strategy considering that the majority of home coooks are women, don't you think? who are they selling to? who's buying? maybe when the french wake up from their naps and realize the huge loss of revenue, they will create a woman friendly line of cookware. or not.  there is no joy in cooking when you're wrestling  heavy cumbersome pots and pans. i have yet to have the pleasure or opportunity to cook with mauviel's copper pans. they are truly a work of art, in a league and class of their own along with the people that buy/collect them.  they look beautiful hanging from overhead racks with their shiny little bottoms all gleaming....i'm just not in that league as yet...

bdl,

a couscouserie? for real? wow, who knew?  seriously, what is the difference from a regular mauviel sauce pan, or is there...and don't just say it's the price!

joey

make friends with the people at the resturants and find out where they shop.  i live in salzburg austria now and the places that are well known to the home cook will have fancy pretty tools but the resturant places have the ones that work and at a cheaper price.  in austria they are open to the public if you know where they are.