Fooding – Page 3 of 5 – Rasmenian Detritus

Cheddar, Chorizo & Corned Beef…Oh, my!

March 13, 2009November 24, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

"Are you sure that there isn't anywhere that we can find Cheddar?"Olivier looked up at me, rubbing his beard. "I think the closest place is England," he said."You're hilarious," I said."Why? What is that you want to make?""Mexican food," I said. "I've had a craving for it ever since I moved here. In Colorado, I could just go to a Mexican restaurant, but there is a sad shortage of Mexicans here.""Oh." Olivier shrugged. "Well, I'm sure that we can find some sort of substitution."That was about 2 1/2 years ago. Since then, I've become an expert at fusion cooking. It started with a taco salad. No sour cream to go on top. Instead, I had to use crème fraîche. Since I had no grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, I had to use Cantal.We found some taco seasoning & salsa in the fancy section of the grocery store, where all of the imported food is kept, like peanut butter &...

13 Stinky French Cheeses

February 19, 2009November 29, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

As one might expect, moving to France required me to learn a few things. First of all, I've had to learn to speak French - which I don't do all that well. However, I've also had to learn about hundreds of stinky cheeses. My French speaking may need some work, but I do speak "fromage" very well... & let's face it - here in France, that might actually be more important. * * * 1 - Bleu d'Auvergne Bleu d'Auvergne is produced in the Massif Central between Puy-de-Dôme and Cantal. A cheese producer back in 1854 found some mold on his bread & thought to himself, "Hey, I bet this shit would be great if I mixed it with some cheese." Kind of like the chocolate & peanut butter guy, but with mold instead of chocolate & cheese instead of peanut butter.2 - Cantal Cantal is hard to semi-hard cheese from the Cantal region of France. It's one of the oldest cheeses in France...

Ketchup, Indiana & Buffalo – Hold the Eggs

January 16, 2009November 23, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

"A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually waste away, and eventually die." -Mark Twain, 'A Tramp Abroad'"Americans can eat garbage, provided you sprinkle it liberally with ketchup, mustard, chili sauce, Tabasco sauce, cayenne pepper, or any other condiment which destroys the original flavor of the dish." -Henry Miller...It's strange the everyday things you find yourself wanting when they stop being everyday things. For the past 3 years, I've found myself wanting every single day.Cool Ranch flavor Doritos. Arby's Beef & Cheddar. Sour cream. New York style cheesecake. Welch's grape jelly that tastes like purple.You know, American food.Olivier is frequently on the look out for American grocery stores & restaurants in a never-ending effort to keep me & my food cravings under control.One of the first "American" restaurants I had tried in Paris was the Indiana Café, which claims to be a Tex-Mex restaurant.Of course,...

Greed is Disgusting. Gluttony is Better.

January 6, 2009November 24, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

"I do like Christmas on the whole.... In its clumsy way, it does approach Peace and Goodwill. But it is clumsier every year." ~E.M. ForsterIt's finally over. The shopping, the wrapping, the unwrapping...the over the river & through the woods. Ugh. Finally. Over. It's not that I don't like Christmas...it's just that Christmas, like a great many things, annoys the living shit out of me.It's a time of year that is filled with stress like no other. Deadlines, travel plans, added expenses & the relatives that we've managed to avoid since last year. But the greatest annoyance of all is that greed is more apparent during the holidays than at any other time of year. At a time of year when many of us would like to be reminded of the beauty of the human spirit, I generally end up disgusted with it.People forget what's important about getting together for the holidays. It's not about the giving or the receiving...

Secrets & Sexy Stirry Sticks

December 16, 2008February 10, 2010 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

All three of us, Olivier, my mother-in-law & myself, all decided that it would have to be Thai food for lunch. Sure, there are plenty of restaurants in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, but the Thai restaurant down the street was the only thing that would be able to satisfy us. We had been thinking about it all morning & now we all had a strong craving.After we had been seated, we ordered our food & some drinks. I watched people wrapped in coats & scarves as they passed by the window, moving around in different directions, none of them paying any attention to one another.The conversation between the three of us moved in & out from English to French to Frenglish, then back to English again. I tried to follow along, but couldn't think of anything except for my nems, wondering when they would arrive.However, as soon as the waiter brought our drinks, I forgot about the nems. The...

Franks Giving

December 5, 2008November 24, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

It really didn't feel like an entire year had passed since last Thanksgiving. Before I knew it, another 12 months had passed & here we were, getting ready for this Thanksgiving.Olivier & I made the trip into Paris so that we could go hunting for exotic imported items: cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie filling, boxes of stuffing & canned sweet potatoes. You know - really fancy stuff.Luckily, there are a few American grocery stores in Paris, but in November, we get all of the necessary Thanksgiving supplies at a place called...um...Thanksgiving.So, Olivier took the afternoon off from work. Hey, this is France - people are working. It's just another day here.It was still a typical Thanksgiving day, however. There I was, in the kitchen, the combined scents of turkey & pumpkin pie wafting out toward the living room, where Olivier was lounging on the couch, watching the game.Ok, so it was a rugby game instead of a football game.Naturally, before we...