Three-star chefs cook up a treat in Paris subway

Top French chefs Tuesday took their art into the Paris underground, cooking up a treat for a crowd of commuters in a bid to prove haute cuisine can be cheap and simple.

"Sharing our cuisine with people is so great," said Eric Frechon, who runs the kitchens at President Nicolas Sarkozy's favourite Paris haunt, the top-end Le Bristol hotel.

Frechon was the first of a trio of gourmet chefs, each graced with three-star status in the famed Michelin restaurant guide, to come down to the people with his pots and pans in a makeshift kitchen set up for three days at Mirosmesnil station in the Paris subway.

Carrots were Frechon's dish of the day, "to show people you can cook simple and cheap food."

His were boiled in orange juice with a dash of honey and a little fennel, then patted dry with paper and rolled in gingerbread crumbs.

"Mmmmm!" said office worker Jane Germiz as helpers handed out the finished product. "What a great idea this is! It's a simple recipe and interesting to see what a top chef can do with a basic vegetable."

Next up at the railway station is Patrick Bertron of the celebrated country inn, the Relais Bernard Loiseau, one of France's 26 three-star establishments, with a recipe for cabbage.

Potatos are to get star treatment on the third and last day of the commuter cooking treat Thursday when Patrice Caillault of the Domaine de Rochevilaine throws them into the pot.