I’m not sure if my refrigerator is just old and out-of-shape (too many croissants, perhaps?), but my food spoils a lot faster here in France. When I buy things, I’m never certain that they won’t be rancid when I open them — even when the expiration date on the package is a week or more away!
D. says this is because the French put fewer preservatives in their food (by the way, if you ask a French person, don’t actually say “Do you use preservatifs in your food?” because, if you did, you would be asking him if they place condoms in their food supply. That’s a mistake you only make once).
I guess D. could be right – I’m not really knowledgeable enough about it to say one way or the other. If that is, indeed true, then great. But I’m not sure that it is – I mean, let’s not forget this is the country that somehow gets milk into a state where it can sit in boxes, unrefrigerated, for months at at time. Au naturel? I think not.
Among my most disappointing spoilage stories is The Great Champion Milk Fiasco.
When our local grocery store was changing hands (From a Champion to a Carrefour) the store was undergoing a thorough reorganization. During this time, I went to buy some actual “fresh” (a.k.a. “refrigerated”) milk from the dairy case. The date on the bottle was a week or two in the future. I got it home, opened it up… and it was curdled.
I think the grocery store workers had been moving stuff around and weren’t exactly careful enough about keeping the products refrigerated, but I guess I’ll never know for certain.
Here’s another example of what I’m talking about:
I bought these English muffins well before the expiration date listed on the package. I ate two. Three days later, I went to finish them and, as you can see, there is mold all over them. Even though I kept them in the fridge!
Then there’s just the daily stuff – my veggies seem to go bad very quickly. Lettuce has about a 2-day turnaround, and even that’s stretching it. My potatoes often are already sprouting by the time I get them home. And even the weird non-refrigerated milk (which I’ve started to buy after the Milk Fiasco) starts smelling funky after about three days.
Baguettes, and other French bread, are, by law, not allowed to have preservatives in them, so they go hard after one day. I’m not complaining about this one, though – their bread is great, so whatever they are doing, works!
I suppose one might say I should just shop “fresh” going to the market everyday for my produce and dairy. However, since most stores are open such odd hours, and close so early, that really isn’t a practical way to live here.
I’m not saying I really like preservatives… but I could say that I’m slowly developing a greater appreciation for them 😦
I’m assuming that humidity you are complaining about is part of your mold problem. That would be the case here in south Louisiana, ugh. But, the produce? Do you think it has something to do with the transportation of the food? By the time you get it it’s shelf life is short? Did you have the same problems in winter? Is is worse now that it is so hot? Curious …
Yeah, I’m not really sure what the deal is – perhaps it IS humidity, and I”ve just forgotten what that’s like, living in the desert for a few years 🙂 The veggies, however, are a different story. Actually, the winter veggies were worse – we got here in January, though, so I think perhaps they were all past their prime and just sitting around in stores too long. Now, the tomatoes are great and last long, but everything else… not so much.
Andrea,
It is very interesting to get your perspective on very basic every day life things such as grocery stores, and food and how different things are.
Having lived in Germany for a year before coming to the US, I was amazed how many differences there existed. The German discipline is just something that can’t be compared to. I was amazed that you would actually get bags for free in grocery stores, and people would actually bag your groceries. You just did that yourself there.
The huge amount of choices that exist in the US can initially get very confusing – it is great, cause it lets you try something new, but for a German, it could be a big decision making algorithm to solve. I once took a german guy who had just arrived in Boulder to a grocery store. He wanted to buy cereal, but walked out confused 🙂 He was an exchange student come from Munich. D might know him – Stefan.
Life is very different here in the US compared to other countries – and you only appreciate most of it when you leave the country. I am really surprised when people here complain about very petty things and I just feel like telling them to step out of the country, and then you will just shut up.
I enjoy reading your blogs. It reminds me of days in Europe.
I’m gonna be the Floridian who pipes up and says, “The humidity is not the problem, yo.” The mold is out of control.
But sniffing my nightly tomato for our salad is a true religious experience. Do they inject them with whiffable tomato essence?