Marché Dejean

Stock up on plantains, available in varying degrees of ripeness. Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura

Brilliantly dyed batik fabrics are also on display at the Marché Dejean. Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura

A woman shops for produce at Marché Dejean. Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura

Many shops cater to Paris's Cameroonian diaspora. Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura

Vendors arrive early with their wares. Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura

Look for exceptional fresh produce at Marché Dejean. Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura

The shops here are stocked with pantry essentials. Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura

Goat feet add tons of collagen and flavor to long braises. Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura

Members of Paris's sizable West African diaspora search for hard-to-find ingredients from home here. Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura

The Château Rouge neighborhood, in Paris’s 18th arrondissement, is colloquially known as Little Africa, and the heart of this microcosm is tiny Rue Dejean. From Tuesday to Sunday morning, after municipal workers have cleaned the cobblestone street, halal butchers, fishmongers, and fruit and vegetable vendors fill it selling a variety of goods associated with Africa. Most of the commerce is done from stalls or shops, but the strip also draws a number of informal vendors selling African ingredients and prepared dishes from crates or suitcases.

Rue Dejean may be the heart of the district, but streets on either end—Rue Poulet and Rue des Poissoniers—are home to Cameroonian and Senegalese groceries, pan-African dried goods shops and tiny street-side stalls selling imported vegetables and herbs. A particular specialty of the area is “wax” or “super wax” shops that specialize in batik cloth, a commodity brought from Indonesia to Africa by Dutch colonists.

It’s great fun to explore and pick through exotic produce such as oil palm fruit, cassavas, plantains, dried fish, chilies and much more, but leave your camera at home, as street vendors and shop owners alike dislike being photographed.