A Student Foodie Recalls The Village
Jennifer W.
As anyone who knows me can attest, I am a self-proclaimed and proud foodie. What exactly is a foodie, you ask? My best definition is that a foodie is someone who loves high-quality food (both preparing it and eating), and who is generally aware of new food trends and restaurants around them. For me, whenever I’m not working in a biochemistry lab or studying, I’m at my apartment cooking up something new — and I love my food gadgets more than may be socially acceptable. But seriously, without an immersion blender, kitchen blowtorch, or stand mixer are you really living?
Anyway, going to France for three months was an absolute dream — especially being in the Loire Valley, where the most sumptuous chêvre and delectable wine are produced. Let’s start with breakfast: just a short walk up the street was the boulangerie, where 1 Euro pastries were always a good idea for breakfast — I can still almost taste my favorite pastry, the chouette, which was apricot and cream on top of a croissant dough (and it is the BEST in Pontlevoy).
Every day for lunch, Julien at Le Commerce prepared some fantastic meals, some of which are below — and of course, as with any French meal, they came with several loaves of way too addictive bread — but I think we walked to the boulangerie enough to burn those calories off, right? Well at least that’s what I think we kept telling ourselves. And when classes started early, there was just no way we weren’t going to head to the bakery to fortify!
For dinner, we were on our own — which always led to some interesting creations in the kitchen, depending on who was cooking that night. I got a taste of some fantastic Southern cooking some nights, while other nights I would ask François, the owner of the Coccimarket (the only grocery store in Pontlevoy), what foods were good and what spice combinations went together — and I learned a TON of food vocabulary there. Truthfully, I think the majority of any of the languages I know revolves around food, so you know where my priorities are. Other nights still, I would join my amazing host family for totally unforgettable meals like raclette, a Swiss dish that’s sort of like fondue, but individual: everyone melts cheese in their own little pans and pours it over potatoes, meats, bread, and/or vegetables. I got so hooked on it that I bought one with A.V. while I was in Europe (thanks A.V. and Dad for schlepping it all over for me!) and then, realizing that the converter would be super expensive in the US, I bought an American raclette grill, which I’ve already used a few times, and can’t wait to break out again this winter!
Anyway, that was just the food in France — I’m not even counting the other places I traveled, but if you look at my instagram, I literally ate my way through western Europe — and I can’t wait to do it again!
Happy eating!