French Cuisine
I acquired my interest in cuisine from working at Arcaro & Genell’s in Old Forge, Pennsylvania, known locally as the “Pizza Capital of the World.” I have worked there since sophomore year in high school and it has become my second home because of the fast pace, deliciousness, and relationships among coworkers or as I like to say, family. I fell in love with the movie Ratatouille and have been interested in French cuisine since, so I was extremely excited to finally make it to Paris and try some new dishes. Over the course of my five weeks in France, I have enjoyed saumon fumé, escargot, and of course, ratatouille.
Before coming here, I was unaware that the French eat so much fish but once I acquired the confidence to consume it raw, I instantly became a fan. I was very skeptical about it at first because I only know of the Japanese serving raw fish as I am aware of the process they go through to make it consumable for humans; I was relieved when I didn’t wake up with food poisoning the morning after eating saumon fumé. Escargot on the other hand, was an exhilarating experience. I told myself I was going to eat it during my visit to Paris but I waited for the last three days to finally build up the courage to order it. I sat down at the Bistro Dupleix, asked for six snails and a Parisian salad and immediately acquired a sense of anticipation and eagerness to just get the experience over with. It felt like I was sitting in the locker room of my high school football team, ten minutes before kickoff to a big game. The waitress brought over salt, pepper, bread, a bottle of water, Bordeaux, and tools to eat the snails. I had no clue how to eat the things with the instruments given to me so once I got the shelled creatures I winged it and went in for the kill. I was scared to use the salt on them because I thought about all the times I would put salt on snails as a kid and watch them disintegrate in front of my eyes so I stuck to pepper. The taste is unlike anything I have ever eaten before with an overwhelming garlic taste and the consistency of calamari. I enjoyed it but I don’t know if I could handle any more than six snails though. Ratatouille was a delightful experience with the amazing combination of spices, vegetables, and a touch of tomato sauce. Unfortunately, it was diced into small cubes instead of a thinly sliced pile of eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash as depicted in Disney’s film. French cuisine is unlike anything I have ever experienced in my twenty years on earth.
Unlike most cultural foods, French cuisine is not as easily accessible in Scranton, Pennsylvania, or the United States as a whole. You can walk though just about any town in the US and find some sort of cultural food ranging from Italian to Japanese, but French food is not on that list, which is why I had such a curiosity for the food here. I now understand why it is not as popular as Italian food as it may seem unappealing to most people. Most people are scared to eat sushi in America, never mind snails.
My apartment location could not have been any better for what my interest in cuisine entails. I live less than five hundred yards from multiple patiseries, bucheries, fromageries, boulangeries, cafés, and bistros. I have had multiple experiences with picking up what I needed for a small meal for lunch and dinner by stopping in these shops instead of a grocery store. The food these shops sell is fresh and cheap. I find it fascinating that they are still in business because, at home, small shops like these will open and close yearly since they cannot maintain an adequate amount of sales. I love not knowing what I will eat for dinner when walking into a small shop and seeing what they are selling at the moment as I get to think of recipes in my head with the ingredients they have available.
Going out to eat in Paris is an experience in itself because of how packed the restaurants get around happy hour and dinner time. I have met some amazing people from France inside, hole-in-the-wall restaurants. They are so interested in our American culture as we are to their French culture as our conversations are mainly in broken English and French. I have received the common “how do you like Trump” question as I reply with “how do you like Macron” or “why didn’t you vote for Le Pen?” Our question sessions always end in laughs and a “nice to meet you” goodbye. I was under the impression that I would make no French friends due to the common conception that they are rude and hate everyone and everything but I am glad to be wrong.
The lifestyle I have lived here in Paris for the last five weeks will be a memory of mine forever because it has been delicious, fast paced, and full of new relationships, just like my time at Arcaro & Genells restaurant.