How to survive everything-free life?

Gluten, Meat, Milk, Supermarkets, … Whatever you had to give up? How can the French make it? Or At least, try to … 

‘Did you forget to take your vegs?’ I told you how I was now and that’s my new motto. But by the end of the year, you have to say bye to your daily food routine to embrace festive excess. My relatives, thanks to them, were kind of tough-minded and opted for sane celebrations and traditional meetings.

But each lunch and dinner on our way to 2017 was a fight against French essential foodstuff and habits. I though it was much easier to follow my alternative diet but chatting with my friends still living on the hexagone, I realized how hard it would be. And as you know how the French are obsessed with food…. This will be a big issue!

Gluten: 

How crazy French people react abroad when you talk about the opening of a bakery! Well, I can see the obsessive back and forth of my dad to get the best croissant of the area (which is not at the same place of the best baguette.) Well in the 2nd biggest country exporting cereals, and half of French farmers working on it, why do you want to refuse this local ingredient?

Maybe, for medical reasons. My Gluten Free friend is one of them. And her new cooking style influences her life everyday. What for? For a light sensational feeling. (Those who never tried to end without pasta, pizza, bread, pastry, cake and pie can’t understand it.) But I also witnessed her gluttonous behavior in front of sliced gluten stuff, I mean, finishing my French Toasts pack… We are not living in Asia after all …. 

Meat vs Fish?  

This is the trick and shocking point for some English-speaking people. When you sit at a French restaurant table, you have the choice between meat main or fishy dish. Vegetarians are still too exotic for a lot of mainstream restaurants.

But since viral videos of abattoirs, awareness is awakened, helped by vegetarian celebrities, spreading their animal love on late TV shows.

Christmas was a questionable point as others can’t give up their meat juicy turkey for you. Some decide to lead the plate with heavy mash or gratin tastes. But others have to suffer the meat traditions with their own dishes in the kitchen while others are enjoying theirs. (It sounds a bit tragic but that how I felt the story of my friend.)

Milky value? 

With his 1200 types of cheese, how could we rub out milk from daily feeding? Wellmany challenge the legendary habit, coming from the 50’s ; when kids have to drink glass of milk a day to make up for World War Two deficiency. Who? Producers, cancer specialists or politicians wonder if it is useful for calcium. Even for the World Health Organization, the countries that have most bone issues are to consume the most milk.

Now Nuts invade our food closet but even if Almond or hazelnuts are new vegan friends. Milk is everywhere. Oh Vegan people from France, how brave are you! I won’t dare talking about raw food diet…

But the best followed trend is definitively locavore and home made cooking. So when all these friends gather on bank holidays, we meet in a gluten/dairy/vegetarian restaurant to speak about root vegetables at our favorite markets and about our current favorite gym, even boys. Or maybe just because we are all turning into our thirties. Life was better when it was Sex, Drugs and Rock’n Roll than Gluten/Lactose-free, Vegan & CrossFit. 

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