The Worst Of America Comes To France
I don't think it's an accident that they have "no limit" in English.
In France, for those who don't know, people eat small portions of really tasty, high-quality food. The amount of steak that, in America, is often served to one person, in France, would be food for a family of five.
I really don't understand why Americans stuff themselves, and with really mediocre or horrible food. People must feel sick afterward, again and again. My parents used to applaud us for finishing our entire dinner, but I realized, after a while, that my dinner didn't care whether or not I finished it, and that my parents were really cheering us for overeating. Ick.
These days, in America, a restaurant dinner typically comes home with me, and usually becomes at least another lunch, and maybe even a lunch and a dinner. I'm the cheapest date on the continent.
methinks it is a product of both maximization, and show...
food is really viewed no longer as a whole, with enjoyment, but as fuel for a fast lifestyle. It's something to point out that this is mostly perceptual... prepping and cooking food is often an annoyance that you wish not to make time for, so you go the more convenient route of something premade... after a while you don't actually know what tastes good, which is why we use sweeteners in premade food that are 400x more sweet than sugar. A hint of taste is no longer enough.
all this so you have more time to sit and watch TV. all this because in addition to maximizing the time watching TV, everything else is maximized... a food maker figures out how to make the food you like to taste, and then figures out how to fill that so they can make a good profit, AND have a good shelflife as a premade.
All bound together, if you don't see cooking and eating as a worthwhile expenditure of time, you will simply choose the quickest, easiest food, that tastes reasonably. On this value base of fuel, the biggest bang for the buck is what is desireable, and so when you go out to eat you also want the most food for the least money... hence the all you can eat buffet.
Now I think I'll go have my twinkie and cuppa joe on the way to work where I will eat lunch at my desk and fight the good fight for 10 hours... OK, so halfa joke, I actually just ate oatmeal, the real kind, tossed with cinnimon while cooking, and nice grade b dark amber maple syrup. But I'll still eat lunch at my desk with the phone ringing, and 3 people who tell me "sorry to interrupt your lunch." Yeah? then don't bug me during lunch...
SwissArmyD at February 25, 2008 6:15 AM
One of the best things my parents ever did for me was to refrain from forcing me to clear my plate. Oh, I couldn't leave the broccoli alone and then demand extra dessert or anything, but I was allowed to stop eating when I stopped being hungry.
And yes, restaurants are the gift that keep on giving, aren't they? I used to bring home leftover nabayaki udon, but a few spills convinced me against that. Now I just don't order anything else and find a way to eat the whole thing.
marion at February 25, 2008 6:16 AM
Well, I still like to cook, I made a chicken and sausage gumbo last night, served over long grain and wild rice. I made a nice roast beef the night before, with enough left over to make a stew. I prefer, and serve more often, fresh vegetables, as opposed to canned (yuk!) or frozen (a little less than yuk,but still). I also like to make cookies for my kids to bring to school; instead of paying 3 bucks for a package of 2 dozen cookies, I can make 4 dozen for less than half that. It doesn't take all that much time. o_O
Flynne at February 25, 2008 6:46 AM
I really don't understand why Americans stuff themselves, and with really mediocre or horrible food.
Have you ever heard that old joke? Two women are at a resort in the Katskills. One women says at dinner: "This food tastes terible!"
And the other woman replies: "Yes! And such small portions!"
Restaurants in the U.S. have learned that it makes economic sense to give patrons the idea that they're getting a deal by raising the portion size; and what they lack in flavor due to cheap ingredients and lack of skill, they make up for with cheap pacifiers like lots of salt, sugar, and oil.
Quizzical1 at February 25, 2008 8:39 AM
"I'm the cheapest date on the continent."
Me too, but in the other sense of cheap. And that means we're perfect for each other. Gimme a call when you get back to the US!
Todd Fletcher at February 25, 2008 8:40 AM
I enjoy cooking - I have put some time and effort into perfecting a couple of original recipes that usually leave my dinner guests foaming at the mouth for more. Cooking makes my place smell wonderful, and I think it's fun to prepare something and then share it with friends. But having said that, I admit to a terrible weakness for fast food. I am trying to get in shape for biking season, which means I have to leave that stuff alone for the time being. But I sure could shovel down a Big Mac and super-large french fries right now. I just love that crap!
Pirate Jo at February 25, 2008 9:32 AM
Oh, but P.S. - here's a funny. A new Champps restaurant opened here a while back, and I went there with a friend to try it out. He asked the waiter what was good on the menu - what they were known for. The waiter replied that they are known for their portion size - PORTION SIZE! So for all we knew, their food was totally nasty, but they'd give it to you by the wheelbarrow-ful. I thought it was hilarious.
Pirate Jo at February 25, 2008 9:35 AM
Cooking in the US is a lost craft. The French style with its rich, nutritive sauces, reductions and other potions, serve two purposes. They enhance the foods nutrition, thus making you less hungry over both the long and short term. They are made from food products that are often wasted in American kitchens. For example, glace and demi-glace are made from bones left over from cooking. Reductions add a lot of nutrition and texture to foods.
My grandmother used to make such potions. Various kinds of fatty reductions in the German style, sometimes with bones and-or bone marrow, that were added to smallish meat portions along with a few fresh vegetables and a slice of salted-buttered bread. That was our basic meal. No one was fat. Admittedly, I was raised in the country, so we were all very physically active, but still the food was delicious and we didn't eat loads.
I really think the government dietary recommendations have caused people to forget what real food is. This makes people hungry, and so they overeat. Also, I've noticed that fat people are often in a kind of denial. The first law of thermodynamics is pretty clear: one has to eat less calories to lose weight. Most of us are not active enough to get rid of 3,500 calories a week in exercise. A 3,500 calorie deficit is required to lose a pound. By and large, exercise alone won't get you there.
In defense of Champps, they serve pretty good food. They have a chicken pot pie that is delicious. It has a hearty egg pastry top filled with shredded chicken and vegetables cooked just until crisp. It is however, three meals not one.
Jeff at February 25, 2008 10:23 AM
I think I recall the food at Champps being pretty good, as well. (But that waiter's response was still damn funny!) And yes, the portion sizes were huge - I took most of it home.
I also agree with you about the state of denial in a lot of fat people. Are there really THAT many people running around with thyroid problems, or are a lot of them simply refusing to admit to themselves how much they are eating? It really does come out to calories in vs. calories out. A person could lose a pound a week by burning an excess of 500 calories a day, which isn't THAT hard to do. But it requires brutal honesty with regard to how many calories you are taking in. I have found fitday.com to be an essential tool.
Pirate Jo at February 25, 2008 10:44 AM
Me too, but in the other sense of cheap. And that means we're perfect for each other. Gimme a call when you get back to the US!
Sorry, I already have man who not only feeds me very well (among other things) he made an extra stop yesterday to get me some really awesome baby carrots. (Trader Joe's, the organic ones in the package with the tops on.)
Amy Alkon at February 25, 2008 11:02 AM
You also have to be honest about how sedentary you are and make up for it. I ride 20 mad minutes on my bike (with arm movey things) a day. And if I miss a day, I owe me. And I'm a stern taskmaster. Which does wonders for the buttocks.
Amy Alkon at February 25, 2008 11:04 AM
Him: "It won't stick into a loaf. I put in an egg and bread crumbs and squished it around, but it's just a soupy mess."
Me: "Start at the beginning and tell me step by step what you did because something's wrong."
Him: "Well, first I browned the hamburger..."
SeanH at February 25, 2008 11:16 AM
Ah worsh maf-sef wit a rag on a stick.
Snoop Diggity-DANG-Dawg at February 25, 2008 12:08 PM
I'm not the world's greatest cook, or even a great cook. I wish I had time for it, but there's an assload of work that goes into making a proper meal. Menu planning, grocery shopping, preparation, chopping veggies, following the recipes, mixing the food, making the side dishes, setting the table, choosing and pouring the drinks, eating, clearing the table and doing dishes afterward, all that takes time and lots of it. With a full time job, a part time job on the side, and about an hour and a half of commuting a day, there's just not enough hours in the day to do it all. I ain't superwoman. Weekends are for cleaning, catch up, and maybe making two or three meals total.
When I do take the time to do it right, the food does come out great. But that much time is a luxury that I and many other Americans just don't have. Nowadays if it doesn't come already cooked in a paper bag covered with brand logos, I consider it home cooked.
Bad Kitty at February 25, 2008 12:29 PM
Bad Kitty, ever use a crock pot? Those things are great for making soups, stews, cassaroles, and all like that. Prepare everything the night before, put it all in the pot in the morning, plug it in before you leave, and you come home to a great supper.
And shrimp scampi is one of the easiest, fastest dishes to make when you're crunched for time. You have to use pre-cooked shrimp though. But you put on the water for the pasta, cook some chopped garlic (about 2 TBSP) in a skillet with about 1/3 stick of butter, a little ground black pepper (if BF is home he chops up red & green peppers to throw in, maybe 1 cup of each) for about 10 minutes over medium heat, when the water boils toss in the pasta; about 5 minutes before the pasta is done, throw the shrimp (if it's frozen be sure you thaw it first; I take mine out of the freezer in the morning and put it in the fridge before I leave for work) in the skillet, let the shrimp get heated through, drain the pasta, put it in a pasta bowl, dump the shrimp scampi on top, voila! If you're feeling adventerous, you could even throw a little pinot grigio (about 1/2 to 2/3 of a glass should do it) in with the shrimp, and let the alcohol burn off before you pour it over the pasta. Takes all of about 20 minutes, and it tastes great. Even my girls will eat it! o_O
Flynne at February 25, 2008 12:46 PM
Crock pots rule! (Flynne, I'm cutting/pasting your recipe for future use. Thanks!) I got a great recipe from the little booklet that came with my crock pot. Put in a pork roast along with a bay leaf, some garlic, and a few onion slices. Pour a little soy sauce over it and plug it in. That's it!
Pirate Jo at February 25, 2008 1:35 PM
Aw, let's not be too hard on American cooking. Sure, there are TONS of all-the-crap-you-can-stand-to-eat buffets, but in most reasonably-sized towns I've been to, there are also a good number of restaurants serving delicious, intersting food in reasonable portions.
I still get a little steamed when I remember the first time some friends of my Parisian husband's came to visit us in Austin. They were genuinely stunned - I mean really, truly amazed - to find that was in fact quite possible to eat well in America. Our grocery stores actually have fresh fruit & veg! Nice cuts of meat! Fresh fish! Whole grains! Who'd have thunk it? Obviously they are only getting the bad news about us porky Yanks in their media.
BerthaMinerva at February 25, 2008 2:28 PM
I am quite fortunate to live in Seattle where there are dozens of excellent non-chain style restaurants which don't rely on portion size for their reputations. All use fresh ingredients and there is a wonderful array of vegetables in addition to the seafood. And the Pike Place Market is not the only farmer's market one can patronize--they are scattered about the city.
moe99 at February 25, 2008 10:03 PM
I'm a full-time grad student with 2 jobs (30+hrs a week.) But my husband is a diabetic, so I *make* the time to cook healthy from scratch meals. We do a lot of veggies from the farmer's market. You don't need a full spread of main course + side dishes to have a delicious homemade meal, you can have something with fewer ingredients that is really fast and easy to cook. We don't even buy processed/pre-packaged foods. If we can find the time, anyone can.
aarahkahak at February 26, 2008 7:53 AM
I was, in Super-Size Me terms, a "super user" or something to that affect by eating at burger chains breakfast, lunch, dinner & drunk. After abolishing fast food (all but for the most drunken moments) I have been organic and vegetarian over 3 years and the energy level and balanced mood have opened my eyes to the destructive crap sold as edible food.
I don't want to come off as better than thou because it was an immense battle within me to overcome the conditioning of an American diet and the cravings...OMG. After getting through the hard times, it is very easy to simply not eat anything versus eating what is available. The taste of processed food is very repulsive after you purge your body.
kbling at February 26, 2008 12:46 PM
Gluttony. Along with feminism (gender war), another "benefit" we are bestowing on the rest of the world.
Jay R at February 26, 2008 5:17 PM
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