I think I've written about French grocery stores before. I'm revisiting this fascinating subject because I can't help it -- they're so . . . bizarre. Maybe it's just European grocery stores in general, but I can't really say because I haven't been to all the groceries stores existent in the EU. I'm making a post-it note as I type to do that before I die, but it's not the highest on my post-it priority list.
But oh yes, French grocery stores. I don't know, I sense a sort of animosity towards grocery stores in general here. As though it is the representation of a new, modern, processed era. Here, they're called "supermarchés" and if it's a big grocery store with anything more than groceries, i.e. shampoo/conditioner, they're called "hypermarchés." Then of course, there are the regular "marchés," the "épiceries," the "marchés en plein air," and the "marchés couverts." In France, you have to go to like 4950 specialty stores to find exactly what you want. In the US, you go to a damn Costco and you can get your 5 pack of Honey Bunches of Oats, your 30 lb package of fertilizer, and purchase a coffin on your way out. Here, in order to get ibuprofen or even cough syrup, you can't find it at the grocery store, you have to go to the "Pharmacie." If you want fresh meat, you have to go to the "Boucherie," however if you want deli meats, you go to the "Charcuterie." Of course, for bread and other sweets, you go to the "Boulangerie." However, probably since the French realized that we are indeed in the 21st century and we can't spend all day running around the entirety of Paris doing errands, they've begun to globalize a teeny bit, selling machine-made baguettes at the grocery store and at times if you're lucky, you can even find light bulbs. George and I spent like 4 hours trying to find pebbles to put at the bottom of his bamboo vase. No dice, though. Where's a Michaels' when you need one? What would it be called here? Chez Michel?
There are a couple well-known chain stores throughout Paris of which I will describe in accordance to my personal opinion.
E.D. : I'm not sure what this stands for, perhaps it stands for "Évidemment Démunis" (Obviously Poor) because this is like the French Equivalent to like . . . Stater Bros. Possibly even cheaper.
Simply: Their slogan at Simply is "Simply Market. Be Simply. Be Happy." I don't really get it. How do you "be" simply, exactly? There's one across the street (literally) from my résidence, so this is my most frequently visited market, but it's decent & serves it's purpose.
Franprix: Franprix is like the Albertsons of France. It's the largest chain here, I think. I like them because a lot of their chains have been upgrading and they also give you free plastic bags. Yay. Their store brand is called "Leader Price" and they're cheap as hell.
Carrefour: There is a Carrefour right across (literally) from my bakery and it's HUGE. It's the closest rendition of an American market I've ever seen -- complete with bouquets of flowers in the front and air conditioning (imagine that.) No plastic bags though. And you have to weigh your own veggies.
Champion: I've only seen this chain in Montmartre, so I guess it doesn't make it a big chain.
Monoprix: I love Monoprix. It's like Target, but more food-based. There is a 3 story Monoprix by my résidence, about 3 blocks, and they have everything! School supplies, gourmet food, not-so-gourmet food, ready-to-go food, and clothes. Lovely.
Monop': A mini Monoprix that only sells basic groceries & ready-to-go food. Really convenient!
So that's my short introduction to French grocery stores. Always plan ahead, always bring a large sack/backpack/French tote, be ready to stand in line for 6 hours while the cashier is filing his/her nails, and be ready to frantically bag your own groceries while the groceries of the person after you are flying your way.
I'm a firm believer in the theory that you can never learn enough about a different culture, and I want to push myself to keep learning -- even if this summer I've learned more than I ever have about the French, just by working alongside them and listening to their conversations and observing how they act by themselves and around other people. I decided to take my antics further into food. I'm trying to pick out 5 strange things in the grocery store that I've never seen before each week to try so I can, well, expand my "palette," I guess, and see what's readily available here.
Filets de Harengs (Herrings)
This product I found next to the smoked salmon. Which, by the way, is ridiculously cheap here. I was familiar with salmon of course, but smoked herring? What the hell? When I ate this with my Wasa cracker, it tasted like I had put a spoonful of salt in my mouth. It was disgusting.
AND it still had bones.
How the heck are you supposed to eat that thing? It was also drenched in oil. . . preservative... stuff.
Diabolo Menthe
What the hell? This looked worse than Mountain Dew. I first tried it on its' own. Tasted like drinking mouthwash, and then I diluted it with some Badoit (sparking water). Tasted like. . . carbonated mouthwash.
Trésor Cereal
This didn't look weird, it just looked interesting. The French aren't huge on breakfast, like Americans are. Or seem to be. Their cereal section has a selection of like 5 cereals, and 4/5 of them are American brands. This was the only prolific French cereal (I guess, under the Kellogs' name) I've seen. It was like a thin captain crunch filled with chocolate. It was okay. I didn't have it with milk though, so I don't know.
You know it's truly French when it has no English translation. Just Arabic. HA!
Kiri Fromage de Lait (Milk. . .cheese?)
I found this when I was trying to look for cream cheese to make cream cheese frosting with, but this was the closest thing I got to cream cheese. They came in little blocks like that about the size of my thumb, and I guess they're directed towards kids. I tried a block and it's actually really yummy. MmmMmm
Mousse de Canard & Mousse de Foie
I know. I'm brave. These looked questionable, but what's more French than mousses of ... meats? I tried about a teaspoon of each. The mousse de canard tasted like socks, and the mousse de foie tasted alright, I wouldn't have eaten more than I did though.
So those are my 5 items for this week. Stay tuned for the next 5! I've already got them :)
One last note.
Apparently I look pretty apt in grocery geography, because I was asked twice within 3 days at different grocery stores by strangers where they could find random items. I think the first one was "buerre sans sel" and then the second one was "sauce aux tomates."
I don't know why of all the people in the store, they would choose to ask me, but I'm still deciding whether or not I take that as a compliment.
à tout.
These little guys began popping up everywhere around Paris a week or two ago, and like the shrewd shopper I am, I never go around any fruits that are bright green because that sets off an alarm in my head that the said produce is either sour, unripe, or ... a vegetable. Oh how my instincts have failed me. While I was at the Marché Bio Raspail, a man shoved one into George's face (no doubt he was hitting on him -- perhaps these are an aphrodisiac?). George proceeded to cautiously bite into one -- the juice nearly spilling from his mouth. I swear I'm not trying to write an erotic novel. He then handed it over to me and when I tasted it, it was like . . . pure juice. It was like the type of wine that Chicco would order.
At the same marché, I stopped by the fromageur (or geuse, I should say) and perused the many moldy chevres, the oozing bries, and the giant blocks of cantal. I stumbled upon this little thing! Hee. It's a heart! * claps * It's called Le Coeur de Neufchatel (de Normandie) and believe it or not, I've never seen it before! I'm so excited to have discovered a new cheese that I like. Not like it's hard to like cheeses, but the texture and the taste of this cheese is perfect with some fig spread or even simply a baguette. The texture is not too creamy, but not too crumbly, and the taste is like a Tomme de Savioe + Gruyere with a little kick to it as well if you eat it alone or with something acidic, like fruit.
This was really bizarre when I saw it in the grocery store. It's literally a giant bowl of rice pudding... about 6 inches in diameter. When I ate it, it was still defrosting, so it tasted like paper --- I think I will wait to give a real critique on this one, but it's definitely a strange one.
At marché Maubert with Chicco we saw lamb brains at the butchers'.
Oh I know, pear juice.
