June 16, 2003

Julia's wayward child

Living here in the land of fine foodiness, you'd think all my gastronomic needs would be satisfied. Well, I suppose they are, and I adore all the rituals surrounding mealtimes in France. I love wandering through the market with my wicker basket, stealing olives and sneering at tourists.

Although I have to say I've yet to adopt the French's penchant for innards. I was once sent by a friend to buy lamb's brains for lunch. I stared and stared at eight little blobs on a plastic tray in the tripe shop, wondering whether I was meant to choose the ones that looked smartest.

(And the sight of canned tripe on supermarket shelves still makes me cringe... conjuring up images of lonely old men, naked light bulbs and hot plates.)

All this healthful fare is well and good, but I sometimes miss favourite old junk food. I miss greasy take-out and peanut butter cups, frozen lemonade, hot dog stands, a certain thick mayonnaise that would clog an elephant's arteries and respectable chocolate chips... Not junk food, but now that it's summer, more than anything I miss fresh corn on the cob, sweet and dripping with butter. Here in the home of Michelin stars, it's considered pig food.

Posted by Gail at June 16, 2003 02:38 PM
Comments

When I lived in Hong Kong, I used to do a little happy dance whenever I found a place that sold Twizzlers. I'm a simple girl.

Now that I'm back inthe US, I do the same happy dance when I find someplace that sells Hobnobs.

Now I need to find somewhere that sells Pimms.... Ah, Pimms.....

Posted by: Sarah at June 16, 2003 03:06 PM

Ah, corn. Until recently, I had to steal ears of corn from fields where it is grown as silage here in Austria, which made for fun outings in summer. Now overripe ears are available in one of the local supermarkets, in the exotic foods section.

Posted by: Mig at June 17, 2003 08:52 AM

We actually do get real, honest-to-goodness corn on the cob here, but I have trouble convincing people that one should boil it for only a couple minutes, just to warm it up, rather than cook it to death or grill it, which makes it tough. They complain a lot about it getting in their teeth, too. But, I keep working on them, and they are pretty game.

Posted by: francis s. at June 17, 2003 08:59 PM