French Food is Fattening

French food has had its day in my opinion. I find anything on a typical French menu in France a little disheartening. It’s the same menu everywhere you go and it’s always butter, cream, cheese in practically every dish. The dishes are very retro [aka been there & over done that] and most come with potatoes in the form of fries or are smothered in butter or cream and not a green vegetable in sight. Do they do this to fatten up the tourists and keep the good stuff at home?

French Onion soup covered in grated cheese!! Muffin top delicious

A recent trip to the mountains was proof of how dull the food options are for those who pay for expensive ski trips. Apart from the usual tourist fodder of Burgers, Chips, Pizzas and Pasta, it is the smell of melting cheese that is the predominant smell all over the mountains. Every restaurant there offers a fondue or a raclette – a tradition of dipping cold cuts, boiled potatoes and cornichons or pickled onions [so everything out of packets and jars and I wouldn’t call boiling some potatoes a skill] into already melted cheese or cheese you melt yourself at the table.

Raclette cheese ready for melting

 

 

Another typical dish is Pierrade, sliced raw meat that you grill yourself on a hot stone [again – you pay to cook your own food] served with fries and green salad. Well, they say a green salad – what they mean is tired old bitter lettuce leaves smothered in mayonnaise.

Don’t get me wrong the meat is delicious. Their steaks have great flavour. The cheese is amazingly tasty but once in your system you will never scrape that fat off your thighs. The bread is too tempting– freshly baked everyday baguettes are a vehicle for the cheese and to mop up the cream sauces and is totally addictive. You have to buy fresh bread everyday & you end up eating more not just because it’s delicious but also because it doesn’t keep till the next day – in fact it goes so hard it can be used as a weapon of mass destruction the next day.

And don't even get me started on the desserts - mouthwatering temptations with more cream than you can shake a stick at!

 

 

 

 

Perhaps the reason why French women are so thin is that they have to exercise an iron will power everyday to restrict their intake of such fattening ingredients, because the only way to eat this stuff everyday and not be the size of a house is portion control & serious daily exercise.

However, this level of control & discipline required only dampens my spirit and my soul feels beaten down. I need food that is healthy and that can be eaten with abandon - as much as you like, when you like, without having to contemplate [if not actually do] tonnes of exercise or starve yourself the next day!

When I got back to the UK I was adamant to find something French that wasn’t loaded with calories and guilt, and perhaps had vegetables other than potatoes in it. Rick Stein’s series on French food was on repeat on some food channel and as if on cue it had the recipe for a French Soup called Pistou. A seasonal vegetable stew for spring, made more interesting by a garnish of a garlic and herb paste. I made this version to restore my faith in French cooking and balance out all the calo-hor-rific foods I consumed in France. You can use whatever Veg is in season or needs using up in your fridge.

Ingredients:

2 leeks

2 carrots

2 onions

Handful of ripe tomatoes

Courgettes

Tinned beans: e.g. Haricot, Borlotti, etc. [Drained and washed in running water]

2 pints of veg stock or chicken stock or just water if you prefer

Pistou paste:

Bunch of Basil

Garlic

Olive oil

About 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese [optional]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Method:

1.       Wash and chop up all the veg

2.       Blitz the basil, garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, cheese [if using] in a blender and set aside for later

3.       Gently fry the veg in a little rapeseed oil or olive oil

4.       Add the drained beans

5.       Pour over 2 pints of veg or chicken stock [or just water] and simmer on a low heat

6.       Add the herb paste and then season to taste

This soup keeps well in the fridge and is a great filler upper when starvation strikes and it is so healthy you need not worry about exerting any self control over portion size or the frequency of consumption!

If the veg soup is a little too virtuous for your taste you can always jazz it up with some grilled French sausages chopped up and added to the mix. Just say no to any bread. Or butter. Or cream.