i have now been successfully unemployed in france for three months. vive la france! vive la revolution! but i still refuse to become a country wife who spends her days doing cross-stitch and making jam...i do however, need to think about supper for the evening which brings me to this carence alimentaire-induced post. i feel like i have lived on nothing but cereal, yogurt, zuchinni, and tomatoes for the past 90 days.
i am still desperately trying to remain a vegetarian in france (despite duck filet *drool*, free-range local meat, etc.). i've read "eating animals." i have a social conscious. i feel that i am doing the right thing for the world and for animals. however, i'm hungry. and i am constantly met with comments like "yeah, i knew a guy who was a vegetarian for 25 years. then he moved here. now he eats meat. it just turned out to be easier on everyone." or better yet, the wild-eyed look i received from the woman in the supermarket the other day when i asked if they carried tofu. "quoi?" she replied, looking at me as though i had just stepped off of an alien aircraft carrier. i then tediously explained to her that tofu is a soy-based product often used in eastern cuisine as well as being a meat substitute for vegetarians. MEAT SUBSTITUTE? VEGETARIAN? the look of contempt and suspicion was all over her face. my quest was to no avail (in this particular shop).
furthermore, vegetarianism appears to be some sort of strange line that is walked in europe and acknowledged semi-knowingly by fellow europeans. in a restaurant a few weeks ago, after having ordered a vegetarian platter, i was brought the same amuse-bouche as my convives: foie gras. when i offered up said platter to my fellow table mates, raised brows and wrinkled foreheads looked at me as though i were yet again some crazy alien being. "you don't like foie gras?" i was asked. i then had to mention (again) that i was vegetarian. long pause. silence. "i don't eat any part of a dead animal," i said to clarify. blank stares. "it's just the liver," someone said. just the liver. this is like my good friend who lived in spain (also a veggie) being served some spanish salad with crispy toritilla bits in it. only she found out that the crispy bits were in fact pig skin. apparently in europe as long as no muscle (?) is being consumed it is a matter of no-harm, no-foul. this is at least my assumption thus far.
this is not to say that my veggie ways have been scrutinized by all here. some family and close friends are enlightened enough to realize that i am doing this for reasons other than my waistline or simple calorie-counting. it is therefore, quite enjoyable to sit down and have a meal with them. nonetheless, i find that i am struggling with being a vegetarian here in the land of 400+ cheeses (thank god i am not a vegan!). life (and produce) tends to be much more seasonal here, which is a big change from supermarkets in america where virtually anything was available almost virtually anytime. i am not, however, attempting to mold france to follow my lead, but perhaps just to fit my needs slightly more than currently.
i intend to bend and not break under pressure. as for tonight, it'll be boiled artichokes and pasta with tomato and mozzerella salad. we'll see how this gois. to be continued...
Wow...that's an interesting part about living abroad that I had never considered. Being a veggie is super simple in Chicago. Looks like I made the right choice! Anyway, good luck. Your dinner for the evening sounds great. Just have that for every meal from now until eternity.
ReplyDeleteI also live in France and unfortunatly I bent. I was a veggie for 25 years. I do still eat mostly veggie and almost totally at home,but sometime I eat meat or fish when I'm invited to eat at other people homes or restaraants!
ReplyDeleteIt is just easier.
At a party we had at our house some people who know I am veggie brought me large pieces of blood meat and thought it was funny!
For some reason this post reminded me of something I'd see in a David Sedaris book...that's meant to be a compliment!
ReplyDeletei figure that as long as people live vegetarian the majority of the time, we are helping out the earth/animals immensely. i'm with you though ethically in that i don't touch the stuff. oh my GAWD this weekend we drove through arkansas (don't ask) and came across a bunch of slaughter houses and "farms" that were just a bunch of metal buildings stuffed to the brim with chickens and turkeys. i about lost it when we drove by one building with a small window and i saw a bunch of turkeys looking desperately through the glass trying to get out. it killed me. i miss you!
ReplyDeleteI am just feeling as though this extra challenge here makes it all the more worthwhile to be vegetarian. The simple fact is that it IS just easier to eat meat; however, this tends to be the case everywhere. I didn't choose to be a vegetarian simply because I felt it was convenient. Therefore, I feel like it should be all the more rewarding to me to manage eating veg while here (which is likely going to be indefinitely). Lots of things in life are easy, but this doesn't necessarily justify doing them. Looking at this situation from the bigger picture, my guess is that coming from the U.S. or the U.K. or Canada (or anywhere else) where "convenience foods" are readily available means that as consumers and cooks we might tend to be more lackadaisical in our eating habits. Therefore, I think that the "problem" for vegetarians in Europe comes from within ourselves. It has got to be a matter of living more locally and more seasonally in order for vegetarianism to be successful here. I will keep you posted as to how this struggle works out for me. Please feel free to continue contributing your thoughts and ideas as well.
ReplyDelete