Nutrition + Culture | Paris 2018
One of my biggest loves when it comes to nutrition is exploring all the different cooking styles and CULTURES of food! I mean it is absolutely NOT a coincidence that my husband and I moved over by Nolensville Pike AND definitely not a coincidence that the majority of the restaurant highlights I send your way comes from ethnic establishments. The hubs can attest to this but there is just something so home-y and rewarding walking into someone else's culture and living their world.
I got a chance this past week to FINALLY visit one of my dearest friends, Laura, in Paris (where she has been living and working) and literally ATE UP the culture! I mean it: all money was spent on food and wine (see pics below for verification!) Talk about a FUN time. We ate, we drank, we laughed- the best week of sight seeing and lovin' on the French whom are tres chic.
My absolute favorite thing about the French culture is their ability to sit back and watch. Cafes are a place to stop, smell the roses (or drink a cafe creme or glass of vino) and just. be. I caught myself thinking constantly 'what a novel idea of just sitting and being---hmmm.' Everyone stopped on their way home from work to meet friends and hang. It was cloudy and 50's while we were there so not the best temperature to be sitting outside BUT every cafe we stopped at, had heaters under their awnings to showcase the importance of sitting at those little tables and soaking in the culture. One of my favorite days was when we went to visit the Eiffel Tower and we stopped in at a cafe with the most PERFECT view of the Tower and had a glass of wine and enjoyed a true cheese board with french baguettes.
Laura did NOT disappoint when it came to the reservations she made and places she took us! We absolutely ate the best of the best food- my top favorite dish was coq au vin (chicken braised in wine) which came in a small dutch oven type dish where you had to lift the lid to expose the smells of red wine being poured out (see pictures below). It was like a crockpot chicken in a red wine broth with noodles- YUM! One of my other favorite dishes is the infamous nicoise salad with seared tuna, haricot verts (green beans), and a hard-boiled egg. (picture below!) Laura took us to this amazing pizza place where French pizza is nothing like American but equally as yummy. We tried out their version of breakfast (petit dejeuner) which consists of a coffee of choice, fresh pressed orange juice, french baguette, and jam/butter. If you wanted to go the extra mile, they bring you a soft-boiled egg on a stand with a cut open top and little spoon to spoon out the inside. This was one of the only things that morally felt wrong and did not go okay with me BUT hey! #culture
We were there over Easter weekend and so fun to see another culture's celebrations. The biggest thing I noticed around the holiday season was their love for CHOCOLATE and macaroons. They take great pride in their chocolate creations. Every store front or candy store had their own- there were chocolate easter baskets and chocolate eggs and chocolate bunnies and even chocolate hedgehogs! (see below) Those suckers were a hit and going for 115 euros ($142!)On Easter sunday, we had brunch at this amazing little cafe where I ordered FRENCH TOAST (UH. I am still dreaming about it today!) and grapefruit with a hard sugar coating like the top of creme brûlée. Again, french food DID NOT DISAPPOINT.
Regardless, of all the amazing food we had (because I know you all are drooling at this point!), it was amazing to see the difference in how the French treat sitting around a table and how Americans do: you were never rushed and you were lucky to have anyone come greet you within the first 15 minutes when sitting down. I remember visiting my hubs in Capetown and the same goes for their culture. To me, that's a prized gem. Sitting at the table is meant for one thing: community + conversation. This is something I have brought back with me- the importance of sitting around the table and having good conversation; not being distracted.
***click to the right below to view all the pics!
