Food

I've been a dreadful blogger, haven't I? This past week has been quite a doozy. Having two 8:30 and one 9:00 class has hit me hard, especially since sleeping, or at least attempting to sleep, involves some oblong thing posing as a pillow that yields so much it only leaves about 2 cm of support for one's head (none for the neck; it's too narrow for that). I also keep getting randomly charged money. Amongst other things, I had to take something to the secretariat because I was being asked by them to pay almost 300 euros for I don't know what. Thankfully, she was almost as perplexed as me, looked up my file, and crumpled the paper up. My personal experiment that I mentioned two posts ago has been messing with my head a little bit also. Thankfully I'm ending it.

But I want to discuss something more light-hearted: FOOD! Because eating is my favorite.

Some typical French foods. Also, I was recently informed of the existence of beignets filled with Nutella?! Il faut qu'on cherche!

While French cuisine is considered some of the most delicious in the world, I have not been indulging. I'm the kind of person who blots pizza with a napkin before I eat it and forces myself to eat the vegetables on my plate before anything else, even though I hate vegetables. The very first thing I ate here was a salad. Also, I don't want to go through my funds too quickly, so I've been being very careful about what I buy to eat.

However, I have allowed myself this. Who can resist Nutella crepes? Who can resist Nutella, period (aside from those with nut allergies, bless your hearts)?

With this mindset, I've explored my grocery options and pared down my choices accordingly. It's really interesting to see what foods you really love when you have to be picky and do without a lot of things. I've found that I can't live without chocolate, tea, and cheese.

An extremely greasy grilled Gouda cheese sandwich that I had the nerve to make. I got a second-degree burn making one of these (from flying hot butter). Never again. Tasted great, though. 

When I first got here, I got bread a few times. Everyone was talking about how fantastic France's bread is before I got here. Also, other international students around me have been gushing about it. First, I got a baguette, which are fresh for maybe half a day. Later, I was looking for some plain bread to make sandwiches with and, when I couldn't find wheat bread, I compromised and grabbed what I thought was white bread. It was actually some sweet, dessert-y sliced bread. Tasty, but not great with cheese and chicken sandwiches. Great with off-brand Nutella, though. I did track down wheat bread, but the sandwich fixings I had tasted terrible on it. My verdict on the bread here? My exact quote to my mom: "It tastes like bread to me."


Tea is a staple in my diet. I honestly start to get cravings for it if I don't have it for a few days.

So I've stopped getting bread. It makes me bloated anyway. Exploring the vegetables here has been fun. I grabbed a cucumber, which is way smaller than an American one. I figured that was the only difference. Then I tried eating it. First of all, the texture is completely different. Not in a good way. Secondly, it tastes... you know what? I'm not going back to that place. I'm trying to erase that particular memory. I'll just say this: I miss American cucumbers.

Sugar for my tea. Look how pretty the container is! My favorite color. ♥

There are lot of things you don't consider when you go abroad, and the differences in basic grocery store items is certainly one of the things I didn't think of. I tried some grapes and just couldn't get past the massive seeds. Also, mayonnaise here tastes like Miracle Whip, which is not mayonnaise, but salad dressing. I made myself swear off getting jars of Nutella because I don't want to get sick of it.


Grapes and bananas at Shopi. I love going to Shopi.

After all of these fun discoveries and lots of trial and error with what I can and can't cook or keep for long without it spoiling, I've ended up with a diet that consists of yogurt, cheese, salad, tea, cocoa, a little bit of chocolate flavored coffee every now and then, carrot and tomato juices, and fruit. Also, my wonderful, self-sacrificing mother sent me three entire not-so-easy-to-ship boxes which I received the other day, and along with a bunch of other things I'm super relieved to finally have again, she sent me some delicious instant miso soup packets which I had in my room at home. The seaweed and soy will do me good.

Off-brand cocoa. My first taste of this had me cringing, but by my second cup I was hooked. Now I have to keep a backup in my room, ha ha ha.

This may sound like no way to live for some people (no meat, potatoes, or flour-based products, oh my!), but it's a surprisingly tasty way to eat. For instance, I've discovered that if I take some of my cocoa powder, add just enough water to make it about syrup texture, and drizzle it over banana slices, it's way better than ice cream. The only cheese that I will eat is down right addictive as well.

This is the cheese. You can get it in America, but I never would have noticed it.

It has a nice, soft texture. I have to have some everyday.

I could talk about food forever, but I'll stop here. I guess my main thoughts about eating here haven't so much been about discovering France's cuisine as they have been about discovering what exactly my personal relationship with food is and what sort of foods I actually like and which ones can I do without. I wasn't expecting that. You really do learn a lot about yourself when you go abroad!

Salad that I make. I have some everyday; it's so good. I was delighted to track down grilled chicken strips and actual salad dressing that isn't viniaigrette. Sadly, it's pricey!