I was asked by a friend of mine, to blog the experience of feeding yourself (as in literally speaking…. Cooking what you can and then eating it J)
I’m documenting something so emotional, its FOOD!
I Can’t Cook! I never have made progress in a lot of things…. Like playing music, like playing field sports, like dancing…. Cooking until recently was one of those things I’d rather shy away and never try because all my little experiences have been so bad in the past.
Then came Paris, for the starters I’ll justify the need to cook, at 2.85 Euros (cheapest-student rate) a meal even the most ardent followers of No-mess-only-dhaba regimen have to bend. It’s simply impossible even for the average Parisian to go without cooking for more than a few days.
The supermarkets are good, except for liquor almost everything would seem overpriced from Indian standards but then it is not India. The French have a good taste of breads, jams, pastries and bakery stuff, at Rs. 110 for 6 cans, Coke comes to your rescue too!!
At first we had rice, microwave cooked rice fried with chopped onions in ghee showered generously with stir-fried vegetables…… whoa!
Lets get to reality, Microwave cooked rice always has some water remaining or not fully boiled until you get the precise idea of how much rice, water and time should be given. Vegetables, who knows how to ‘stir-fry’ them…?
Rice Day One: We put some extra ghee and some extra watery half boiled rice in the pan, poured almost every masala and ready-to-eat paste we had. It was sludge, slimy thick thing which we’re yet to name. We boiled potatoes (pomme de terra in French), peeled of the skin and and gulped it. Lots of salt to normalize the taste, lots of lemon juice.. believe me helps you gulp!
Rice Day Two we bettered the rice, Rice Day Three was even better, Rice Day Four the Rice smells like Rice, Rice Day Five the Rice is tastes like Rice…. OMG!!! We are master rice cooks! Day Six: Rice Over.
Adventure Day: So its difficult to shop here, even more difficult to read French, you tend to get you almost got the meaning of the word you read and dang...it means something completely different, guess it’s the same with every language so we can skip discussing it!
The most economical supermarket here is LIDL (lee-del as the Indians call it). We were scanning through the section ‘Riz’ or Rice, the best decorated big box had this camel thing drawn over a big bowl of rice with a Tuareg (I know it as I watch Discovery ‘ends of the world’) Desert Tribesman on it. The size, the price was good. We got it! Praised the company Golden Sun Couscous on the way back. And just before we were to inaugurate the nice new box of Golden Sun Couscous rice for dinner, a veteran in our block who shares the kitchen stood there giggling, happy as he was to see our bag of Golden Sun, he asked and this is one of those times you can never forget!
“What are you cooking today”, the matter-of-fact me jumped…What do you think am I cooking with a box of rice, noodles I guess, hahahaha!
Well I see no rice, do you mind letting me taste the couscous* (pronounced khus-kus) came the response.
*couscous is a very popular North African dish, resembles upma, largely tasteless.
Thus began the couscous days, and believe me you can add Indian masalas to everything and everything tastes like chat corner delicacies J
Week two has just ended, have mastered Aloo-Pyaz ki Sabzi and scrambled eggs. Breakfast goes good with toasted bread, nice jams, cereal and milk and eggs, enough to keep you going for the day. To less monotonize dinners we have the less remaining Maggi soups and until recently the Indian snacks. Biscuits and general fillers and Coke help us get by each day.
P.S.: Goodness and genuine help is not all dead! Quite regularly we get tips, treats and guidance from India House residents.
Will keep adding as I progress,
Days are passing by and its so far so culinary divine!
