Food culture à la française

Another tribute to last year’s summer exchange program through another person’s lens. This will be the last time we discuss how amazing France is, promise!

Food culture à la française

I never understood why French food is so revered all over the world. Why, in every discussion relating to cuisine or Michelin star restaurants, is it absolutely imperative to mention France? And then, finally, one day I travelled to France, only to realize that’s there is so much more to French food than just wine, cheese and garlic. Last July, I spent a month in Strasbourg (East France at the German border) and to say that the trip was the most enlightening journey of my life (gastronomically and otherwise) would be an understatement.
What was absolutely amazing was the simplicity of the meals. Even a simple baguette sandwich seemed like the most satisfying and exotic meal one could eat. The way the French people treated food, the way they ate each mouthful as if it were a bite sent from heaven, still amazes me. Being in a summer exchange program, I had the luxury of sampling a variety of food and alcohol the region had to offer. The schedule was tight and we never had enough time to finish whatever was planned. Yet, each and every day we spent at least 6 hours (that’s right!) in total enjoying our meals.
When I came back to Bombay, the first thing I really missed was mealtime. Also, I noticed that I would eat much more quantity-wise but despite of that, I had managed to lose weight and go down a dress size. Better food quality, never skipping meals and having healthy, happy conversations as opposed to being in front of a laptop or TV could perhaps be some reasons for this shift.
A month after my trip, I had a job interview with a French organisation in Bombay. While discussing some issues relating to timings with my boss (who is French in case you haven’t caught up), I enthusiastically offered to give up half an hour of my mealtime to catch up on work and not surprisingly, my suggestion was met by a puzzled and almost shocked reaction from his end. He went on to explain to me how important it was to remove one hour off work to eat a meal.
I do believe that us Indians are also very passionate about our food and that eating slowly and enjoying a meal is particularly important and always has been to us as well. However, I wonder whether with the fast paced lives that we are living now, have we forgotten the significance of taking time off to eat a decent meal? Most working professionals I know either wolf down their lunch in 10 minutes or worse, skip it altogether only to then indulge in a ‘heavy’ and ‘real’ dinner (in front of the television on most days).
Are we so deep in the process of westernisation and development that food has become secondary? Is the west now catching up to eastern ways and adopting our culture? The culture, which we seem to be letting go off so easily.