La cuisine

France is known for being one of the best places in the world for delectable food. For those of you who know me and my picky eating habits, you might be wondering how I'm handling this shift in cuisine.

In all honesty, it's been good and bad experiences. I've tried to be open and try new things (which in itself is a new concept for me). Sometimes I surprise myself with what I enjoy. And other times I feel the urge to run around the corner to the little American cafe for some good old French fries. (ironic?)

First of all, bread. I've always said that I don't really like bread. This was true. But I've recently come up with a revised statement: I don't like American bread. (Sorry Dad)
Baguettes are the most delicious thing of my life. I can't get enough of them! I just eat whole plain baguettes all the time. It's really a problem. They do obviously sell ones in the form of sandwiches, with things inside them. But those aren't as fun. Although good for a quick lunch. And for taking cliche Paris pictures:

eating baguette sandwiches with Rachel and Jillian in front of the Eiffel Tower!

Another famous French delicacy is the crepe. Now, technically, I had tried a crepe before I came to Paris. But it was from Crepeaway in DC, which is not the same at all. The crepes here are AMAZING. I never thought I would like Nutella, but it's very delicious. Such a great sweet snack.

trying my first French crepe - with Brian in front of Notre Dame

International cuisine is actually a big component of the food culture here. It's surprising how many Asian restaurants you see everywhere. Most of them are "traiteurs," which is literally French for "caterers." That just means that they have food for you to buy by the weight and take to go. Honestly though, none of the food they serve is ever that great. It sits on the buffet all day and they warm it up in a microwave for you when you order. So I'm definitely still craving some good Japanese food.
However, there are also many Italian restaurants, which are very delicious. You can never fail when craving some pasta. There are a lot of fancy sit down places you can go to, or you can also find good choices at take away stores.

One of my new favorites is falafel. On Sundays, pretty much nothing is open for food. So the place to go is the Marais, a cute little neighborhood with a very Jewish culture. Therefore, they close shop on Saturdays and are actually open on Sundays, unlike anywhere else. Their staple food product is the falafel. There are at least five stores in a row on any given street selling the so-called "best falafel." It all tastes the same to me: delicious. For those of you who don't know, falafel is fried chickpeas shaped into round balls, in a pita shell. It sounded a bit odd to me at first and I was hesitant to try it, but I'm glad I did. Most places serve a lot of vegetable toppings and sauces on top, but I like to stay basic with just falafel and the basic sauce topping. (Honestly, I'm not sure what the sauce is.)

mmmm, falafel

Of course, there are the traditional French dishes that are necessary to try at least once while in France. So far I've had une creme brulee (not bad, a bit too sweet for me), un croque monsieur (basically a grilled cheese and ham sandwich with cheese on top - too much cheese for my taste, but otherwise good), and french onion soup (delicious, hands down). I've also tried tartare de boeuf (this is basically a glob of raw meat with some seasonings - I don't recommend it) and lobster bisque (I had never tried lobster before this and realized I don't care for it - but the broth was tasty).


Then you have times when the French try to serve American foods, but just don't get it quite right. Best example: hot dogs. First of all, they're made of actual meat, which is just weird. Then they are served in a baguette, most of the time with cheese on top. I really just don't enjoy them. I'll wait until I'm in America until I eat a hot dog again, thank you.

Luckily for me, there are still some American products sold here in Paris. The grocery store near my place, Casino, has a separate aisle dedicated to international foods - complete with an American section. There you can find marshmallows, peanut butter, cream of mushroom soup, Oreos, and (my favorite) skittles! among other things as well.

my night was made when I discovered these

A bientot!