La Nourriture Chinoise

A French child is raised with a great appreciation for food. The French take their food very seriously. It seems as if there are unending aisles of cheeses and wines in the every day grocery stores. The Boulangerie is constantly cranking out fresh baguettes and it's one of very few shops open on Sundays. Cuisine is an integral part of this culture, and a part that I am coming to love more and more each day.

This child was raised with a great appreciation for Chinese food. I could very easily at this moment type up pages and pages describing Chinese food, what makes it so fantastic, and why it is such an integral part of Chinese culture - perhaps even more so than food in France is to French culture! For now, let's just say that the mere combination of the words "Chinese" and "Food" are enough to make my mouth water.

Now it's not all rosy and glowing. I will openly admit struggles in my relationship with Chinese food at times. Much as I adore certain staple comfort foods such as pork buns, pan fried noodles, bamboo rice, tofu, fried rice, jiaozi, etc., certain dim sum dishes such as tripe and chicken feet just never really appealed to me. However, Chinese food was an undeniably large and important part of the first eighteen years of my existence, henceforth solidifying it to be a large and important part of the remaining years of my existence. 

Needless to say, Chinese food was certainly something that I missed while I was in Haiti. Don't get me wrong - the Haitian food was delicious and I didn't spend my days pining away for a taste of fried rice, but still. Many of the other volunteers in Haiti missed Starbucks, McDonald's, and Olive Garden. I missed Chinese food.

I decided the best perspective to have in regards to availability and quality of Chinese food here in this land of cheese and baguettes was to go into it with very low expectations which would lead either to accurate expectations or expectations exceeded. 

After purchasing a variety of different brands and types, there was only one clear conclusion: the rice is bizarre. Here in France, it's an extremely dry, brittle, long and starchy sort of a substance. Not recommended. 

The Chinese food section itself at the grocery stores are approximately 1/700th the size of the cheese section, and they don't have normal rice, and they don't have kikkoman soy sauce. It mostly consisted of ramen-type noodle packages for 5 € a pop! Ridiculous. These comments are, of course, not at all meant as a slam on the French and their cuisine and their grocery stores. I have truly appreciated the French cuisine greatly this past month! It's just not my roots...

One of the first things I checked in the community kitchen was whether or not they had soy sauce. Well they do, but it's Vitasia Indonesian Style Soy Sauce. Um....quoi? It's also really weird. Really weird. Never tasted soy sauce like that in all my life.

Today was a splendid day - the sun bright, the air balmy. When class ended this morning, I meandered down towards the river, breathing deeply of the fresh air.

Breathing deeply can sometimes be a very good thing, and as I walked down the street, I heaved in another breath, only to stop mid-breath. And to stop mid-step. The tune I was humming froze. The thoughts I was thinking dissipated. 

For lo and behold I had breathed in the undeniable smell of a Chinese food grocery store. I whirled around, retracing my steps, and a few yards back there it was. A real, live, honest to goodness Chinese food grocery store, and the first thing I saw? A 1 Liter bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce. Oh happy day.

I did not have my money with me, but I carefully noted the location of this priceless spot, and returned as soon as class was over for the day. I was the only customer in the tiny little store, and I had a conversation with the owner that went something like this:

Store owner - "Bonjour." (I must say, it was slightly jarring to hear perfect French coming out of the mouth of a old Chinese man)

K - "Bonjour! Je voudrais acheter sauce de soya" (thank goodness I learned how to say soy sauce last year to answer a question on the final exam that told us to describe how to cook our favorite dish) "et je voudrais sauce de soya de Kikkoman... Mais ça" (pointing to the 1 Liter bottle of Kikkoman that was a whopping 10 €) "C'est plus grand pour moi. Est-ce que vous avez sauce de soya de Kikkoman moins grand?"

Him - "Nous avons ça" (gestured towards a nice sized bottle of soy sauce that was decidedly not kikkoman and that had a rather French sounding brand name).

K - "Uhhh...je ne sais pas cette type de sauce de soya....vous n'avez pas le kikkoman moins grand?"

Him - "Désolé, mais non."

K - "D'accord." (Kathryn picks up smaller, suspicious bottle of soy sauce and examines it carefully.) "Et ça? C'est bon sauce de soya?"

Him - "Non. Non, Kikkoman est vraiment le meilleur."

K - "Oui. Je suis d'accord."

After great deliberation, I determined that at least today, I was not going to spend 10 € on a bottle of soy sauce. But I made some most phenomenal other purchases, including the one and only Lee Kum Kee Oyster Flavor Sauce. At least they had this in smaller bottles, for which I was very thankful. They also had rice. Kathryn will no longer purchase her rice at places like Carrefour or Géant. Ever. They also had a small but nice selection of hot dishes to chose from. It was, undeniably, a little bit odd to say, "Je voudrais le pâté cantonais, s'il vous plaît" and the springroll I bought and subsequently consumed had a bit of an odd flavoring to it, but still. 

It was a happy day.

Upon arriving back at home, I discovered that the Vitasia Indonesian Style Strange Sauce was almost gone. Probably my fault. It may be strange, but at least I can pretend it's kikkoman, and I used it frequently. Tomorrow, I plan on returning and purchasing the 10 €, 1 Liter bottle of never fail Kikkoman.

There it is. The best. The solution to otherwise unpalatable vegetables. The one and only.

A satisfying dîner for only 1.20!

Fake rice and real rice.

I've noticed that people like to edit photos and make them black and white and blurry on the edges when they're feeling sentimental about the moment captured. I am no exception.