Skip to main content

Convenience food

My NYC friend Leslie just came for a visit here in Paris. It was the first time someone has come to see me here and it was lots of fun. I had a chance to show her my life here in Paris and find out what is happening back in NYC. As I thought would happen, I am beginning to have different opinions and feelings about living here as opposed to NYC. This was part of the reason I wanted to start this blog so I could capture how I feel at this very specific moment. 

One thing absolutely stood out for me is how I feel about food. I am very much a "foodie" and I feel very strongly about what we eat and what is considered good. When I have had bad food in a restaurant or just out of the house, I usually have to do something about it, which usually entails remaking the dish the way it is supposed to be. I remember once having followed someone's recommendation on a restaurant's banana cream pie. "It is marvellous" someone told me, so, of course I had to have it. It was probably the worst thing I have every had. Not only was there not one banana, but the "crust" was a thin layer of cake. The "banana" layer was artificially flavored "creme" (and I use the commercial word here instead of "cream" since that substance was not found in nature) and then more "creme" on top. My ex and I went home the next day and created a banana cream pie from scratch: real crust, bananas, vanilla pudding and whipped cream. It got the horribleness of the other one out of my mind. Of course six months later, I fell for the same situation with someone else's recommendation of a banana cream pie.

In my wanderings with Leslie around Paris, we stopped in at a random cafe for some hot chocolate and I was struck by how easy this was. In NYC, the quality of a "hot chocolate" varies tremendously. It can be a delicious experience to be savoured, or it can be a packet of Swiss Miss instant cocoa and some hot water. Here it was a sumptuous drink, arriving as a coffee would, with sugar on the side. It is intensely chocolate and slightly thick. In restaurants (and especially diners) in the US you need to give them the third degree before even thinking of ordering it. Is it made with milk? What kind of chocolate do you use? Powder? Marshmallows? And even then, the person you ask could not know and just give you the answer you wanted, so you still may get something unpalatable. Yes, the one here in Paris was not cheap (I think it ended up being 6 euros each, about $7.50) but well worth it. True, you can get a cheaper hot cocoa in the states, but it is never even close to what is the "normal" hot chocolate in any bistro or cafe in Paris.

This experience reminded me of how often convenience trumps taste in the US. We have companies advertising how something is "convenient" before talking about the taste. Instant cocoa, instant pudding, instant coffee: how many of us think these things taste good? It is somehow a placeholder for something delicious instead of the actual item. And these placeholders have, in some instances, taken the place of the actual item in our minds. How many people have had a well-made piece of pie or remember what that is like? Getting a slice of pie from the diner or getting a pre-packaged pie from the grocery store is what people think of when they think of pie, whereas a real pie, from scratch is an amazing thing. Does anyone remember what homemade pie tastes like? Madison Avenue has convinced the country that baking is hard, so most people have abandoned it. I think we are very worse off for it. One example is the cake mix. In the 1950's Madison Avenue convinced America that it was so much more "convenient" with a mix, but what is in a "cake mix"? Just some dry ingredients. Cakes are so easy. You measure the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet in another, combine. Baking is the same for both the mix and the one you make from scratch. The taste cannot compare. Try making a vanilla cake from a box and one from scratch and taste them side by side. The package cakes have a very specific aftertaste that is really terrible, once you know.

If you don't bake or cook and want to try your hand at it, I highly recommend The New Best Recipe (this is a link), by the team that does the America's Test Kitchen. It is pretty cheap ($21.00) and tells you why the recipe works and what they tried to make it better.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chronomically challenged

Parisians are ALWAYS late. I think New Yorkers run the gamut, but Parisians are late. They always have a good reason: traffic, the weather, kept at work, the Métro, the dog, the kids, garbage truck. But late. I am in a period of adjusting to this. My tendency is to be on-time. I call it the German in me. Helmut, who was born in Germany, is Parisian now and so I am alone in this bit of frustration. For the most part, people are 15 to 30 minutes late but for some it can be a bit extreme. For instance, meeting my friend Laure means scheduling a 1/2 hour (at least) for this arrival time. I want to emphasize, this is my issue, not Paris'. BUT There are extreme cases. One time Helmut and I were supposed to meet someone for dinner at (let's say) 8 (16h). She called and was going to be late. About an hour and a half after our original meeting time, we left for dinner. She knew where we would be, so she could meet us. At this point I had my doubts if she was going to come at all....
3 comments
Read more

A Toast

Wine is very important in France and, from what I have witnessed, a part of Paris social life. New Yorkers share a bottle of wine or have a glass together, or even a cocktail, but there is something a bit more about sharing wine in Paris. It is first of all, much more prevalent. In NYC, I will sometimes have one glass of wine. If two others at the table want wine, we may discuss getting a bottle. Rarely have I gone through more than a bottle. In Paris, if two people want wine, it is almost automatic that you get a bottle. If more than two people are at the table, there is a strong likelihood you will be getting more than one bottle. It is less of a special occasion in Paris. Not that it is not special, but it is more part of the meal than something "special." Never ordinary. When the wine is poured, there is a special moment where we all toast. This is like in NYC, but not. In NYC, when you are all served, we hold up the glasses and everyone moves them to the center, mak...
Post a Comment
Read more

Five to Seven

A very French concept: cinq à sept or in English a "five to seven." This refers to the time you spend with your mistress or perhaps second-level significant-other. It is perfectly admissible to miss an unimportant meeting at work with the excuse, "Sorry, I have a five to seven." Late for dinner? Sorry, my five to seven ran over. Drinks after work? Sorry, I have a five to seven. I do like the fact it is all out in the open. Of course I doubt you can use this with your wife or partner. But this is France, after all; maybe you can.
Post a Comment
Read more