A Taste of France (and India and Spain)

An American in Paris

Paris is an interesting place when it comes to food. It's harder than you might think to find something really good to eat. Like many other European cities, it too has busy people who want to feed their families quickly. Yes, there are those who take lengthy lunch breaks, but there are also those who eat plain sandwiches. And you'd be surprised by the number of teenagers who, when they're hanging out with friends and catching a movie, do a poll of the group and decide on McDo for dinner. It's not all farmers with live chickens and unpasteurised cheeses.

This makes it hard for the visitor to stumble around and find good quality food. Just like in any other city, if you don't know where you're going, you could end up somewhere less than scintillating (much less). But when you do make a find in Paris, it can be stellar. And it is this which makes treasure-hunting in the City of Light totally worth it.

On a recent trip to Paris, Frangelico and I stumbled upon Lafayette Gourmet. It was a Monday, dinner was a long way away, and the markets were closed, but we wanted to have a tapas-style pick-and-choose snack. Galleries Lafayette is a big department store in the city, located on one of the famous Parisian boulevards, Boulevard Hausmann. The brand is a familiar name in South East Asia too. (Well, it was in 1980s Singapore anyway, and that's where all the South East Asians came to shop in those days).

I'd heard a mention of a food hall in this place and we decided to investigate. We rushed along to Boulevard Hausmann, thinking: "This is Paris, the place would have shut at 5pm". As we came up to the building, we saw a sign announcing that Lafayette Gourmet would be open until 9pm. Allez, les Bleus!

Plane Food

Before I report on the wonders organised by Cinnamon for my visit, could I just take a moment to talk about airplane food? Seriously, here I am setting off on an exciting adventure – Carolinian barbeque, French crème bruléed by Le Chef and what not else – but before I can get to all of that, I have to be put through a trial. Panicky taxi driver to Victoria station, being asked for extra ID in the check-in queue (“purely routine”, she assured me twice – that’s what made it so suspicious…), and a Cantonese wayang diva at the check-in desk. When the meal service started, having laughed and cried at this comic strip that describes all too well the dining options on Transatlantic flights, I expected “beef or pasta” to look not very different from each other. However, I was surprised.

The last time I flew this airline, the pasta was overcooked and limp, drowned in a watery tomato sauce, and served alongside sugar-high inducing processed carbohydrates. This time, though, the pasta looked attractively liked it had been cooked in an oven, and the beef was juicy (and also free of fat and those weird tendony things that you normally bite into). Both dishes even came with – gasp – a salad! So, things looked like they’d improved. Until I took a bite into the carrot. I should’ve known when my husband said he was putting the salad aside for it to defrost…

So, the veggies didn’t pass my standards. But if you’ve read about my vegetable addiction before, you might suspect that I’d have come prepared. Last night, instead of going to bed early to recover from my cold, I spent a fair bit of time sautéing carrots, courgettes, asparagus and peppers, all in a little bit of olive oil. Together with some brown bread and a fillet of soy sauce salmon from Dr Oz’s book, I’m pretty much covered for this flight. Yes, I’m a bit sleep deprived from all the prep last night, but eating this way has its advantages. First, I’m not feeling overwhelmed by salt in an environment that’s pretty dehydrating as it is - I read recently that airlines add a lot of salt to the food, because taste buds don’t function so well at high altitudes, and they want passengers to think the food tastes good (although you wouldn’t have thought that was an objective airlines had in mind...). Secondly, I don’t have to wait the hours it usually takes the meal service to start. And finally, I feel like, with the prelude of all these veggies, I can enjoy that delicious Southern barbeque and crème brulee with that little bit less guilt!

Can’t wait, Cinnamon!

Love

Truffle

Going with the Seasons

Hello dear readers! So, my darling sister Cinnamon has been complaining that I'm too hesitant to reveal anything about myself and my life on this blog. My initial thought was, well, living in grey old London, in a little flat on the top floor of a building (i.e., no garden and no kids), what am I supposed to share? ;)

So let me share with you a little of my day today (don't worry, there's a recipe at the end). I'm learning to play the guitar, and I had my weekly lesson this morning. The reason I'm learning guitar at this ripe old age is that I've always loved music and, since I changed the course of my life last year, I've started to write songs. And being able to play the guitar helps a lot with the songwriting. The song I learned in today's lesson is Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours", and it's a beautiful song, with very meaningful lyrics. I'm sure most of you have heard it already. Some of the lines really spoke to me this morning, and I wanted to share them with you.

"I've been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror
And bending over backwards just to try to see it clearer
But my breath fogged up the glass
And so I drew a face and I laughed
I guess what I be saying is there ain't no better reason
To rid yourself of vanity and just go with the seasons
It's what we aim to do
Our name is our virtue"

And so in the spirit of just going with the seasons, here is a dish of simple pleasures. This made up part of lunch today.

1. Toast two thin slices of millet bread. You can substitute your favourite bread, but I like millet because it has a dense nutty, crunchy flavour and texture when toasted. I'd recommend using a bread that's not too light and airy, because something heavier will go well with the smoothness of the next ingredient.

2. Layer the bread with slices of freshly cut avocado.

3. Spritz some good quality olive oil onto the avocado slices. (Spraying on the oil instead of pouring it gives it a lighter flavour and a more even coating.)

4. Add some pepper from a pepper mill.

5. Sprinkle some flakes of parmesan cheese.

And there you have it! A yummy Italian-inspired dish to have as part of lunch (with soup, for example) or as a snack on its own.

Love

Truffle