29 December, 2005 | Leave a Comment
As you may know (and how couldn’t you, given that I blather on about it so much), I abstain from eating dairy (and lots of other things) because of food intolerances that cause me problems. But it’s not like I have a deadly allergy or anything, so I can consume dairy at my own risk. Going dairy-free in Paris is, well, a near-impossible task. If there are any vegans in Paris (doubtful), I pity you, you poor anorexic bastards. And if you’re actually allergic to dairy? Well, you probably didn’t reach the age of five.
Even in an English-speaking country, it is a huge pain to order dairy-free in restaurants because surprisingly, most people really don’t know what “dairy” products are. Do eggs count? Mayonnaise? Without being fluent in French (or having the willpower to just eat very bland food) I couldn’t be uptight about my eating. I did the best I could, but it was inevitable that I’d consume some bovine sludge. And I willingly ate crepes. I threw caution right to the wind because I couldn’t resist those little delights, though I did skip the Nutella filling because that was just asking for trouble. Then I ate an almond-filled croissant type thing. It was the best pastry I’ve ever tasted. Why does French pastry taste so much better than pastry made anywhere else on earth? Perhaps it’s best I don’t know the secret. One night I ordered roast chicken in a cafe and it was divine, like chicken from another planet.
I do wonder about something, though. With the exception of ethnic cuisine and fast food joints, virtually every restaurant I saw in Paris was a café, brasserie type establishment that had almost the exact same menu. Not much variety, n’est-ce pas? Not sure what’s up with that. How many omelettes and plates of coq au vin can one nation eat? And what about all those damn French fries? I ate so many fries I almost barfed. I would have killed for a baked potato or even some steamed veggies. I mean, come on, people!
By the last day of my trip, I was feeling, not surprisingly, quite ill. My body was in shock from all the rich food. It’s not that I’m some kind of health-food fanatic at home. Far from it! But I’m very careful about the kinds of food I eat. On the last day, I went all day without eating and finally discovered a glorious Chinese restaurant near the train station when I was killing time before my departure. I had hot and sour soup, steamed rice and chicken. My body breathed a sigh of relief. I think I am now recovered – I’ve been eating oatmeal and bananas and hard-boiled eggs since I returned from France. But I don’t regret my crepe and pastry eating. I have the memories and they’re sweet.
