I was hoping to save some precious euros by buying food and preparing it in my dorm. I%26#39;m assuming this would be cheaper than going to a resturaunt for dinner every night.
I don%26#39;t want to fall back on familiar things, though. I will probably buy fruits, vegetables, etc.... but what can I get that gives me a taste of Paris? I don%26#39;t want to feel like I%26#39;m missing out on French food just because I%26#39;m not eating out.
Things that can be eaten with little/no preparation would be preferred.... I don%26#39;t know if this kitchen in our dorm comes with cooking supplies.
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Rotisserie chickens can be very delicious (more delicious than anything I%26#39;ve had in the US) and are often sold in the outdoor markets or at the doors of butcher shops fresh %26amp; hot (especially towards the late afternoon).
Quenelles is available in cans at the stores. They%26#39;re uniquely French. They%26#39;re far better, but of course much more expensive in restaurants (you%26#39;d want to go to Lyon for them anyway). They%26#39;re stuffed fish rolls plastered in cheese. You%26#39;ll want to heat this up somehow.
There are many delicious terrines (meatloaf like items) available at delis. You can spread these on baguette slices, etc. I enjoyed a rabbit terrine. French eat lots of rabbits. That%26#39;s not common in the US.
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More uniquely French food for college kids:
Baguettes are subsidized by the French government and are always yummy when fresh.
You can easily find great 750mL bottles of wine for 2€ in French grocery stores.
Thinking about these things is making me really hungry right now...
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Hello,
You might try the frozen fish area in their markets..........Fish with nice sauces and a generious portion....IMO very good and quite French. Their frozen veggies are different though usually a huge amount in a package.......(maybe you have access to a freezer). They have cordonblu in the frig section.........interesting for a quick meal and some different sausages/hot dogs. Oh and do eat lotsa cheeze....very good over some farm fresh steamed veggies. We also like spagetti with a canned sauce.............(especially Bolongase). There are also dried packages of French soups and sauces and some interesting liquid ones too. Great slices of ham other cold meats in trhe frig section.
Try looking over the different sectons and if it seems as if it would be something you would like, try it....watch what the locals are buying too. They have many small size portions which may be of value to you. We find the prices generally to be less than our markets
Often we have a table than looks like a nice restaurant, with great bread, nice food ,a bottle of pretty good wine from the market (and cheap) and a lovely dessert for a fraction of the cost of a restaurant.
Have fun and enjoy
Bon appeite..........(or whatever).
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I have to say I was a bit shocked to read those suggestions about frozen this, canned that, etc. Surely the idea of a market is to buy things FRESH and not canned, dried, pasteurized, processed and/or boiled to a pulp. There are lots of street markets where fresh produce is sold everywhere in Paris.
If you can%26#39;t do much cooking yourself, there are always traiteurs which sell ready-made meals.
The french are more or less used to eating a warm meal twice a day; but you could also have lunch (which is usually cheap) with your colleagues/co-students in a café, and just eat a cold sandwich or something like that in the evening.
BTW, there are many kinds of quenelles, certainly not only with fish and cheese; like quenelles de volaille (fowl), quenelles de veau (calf) or even quenelles aux abricots (apricots).
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Just wandering around a market will give you some great ideas. There is always a meal with cheese and fruit. There is often an Italian booth with fresh pasta and Italian ham. As said before, it is hard to beat those chickens browning in front of a grill dripping their juices on potatoes below. I often see people with huge pans of paella and other dishes, such as chicken in a tomato sauce. Visiting a French grocery store-Monoprix, Franprix-is an interesting experience and you will probably spend hours just looking at what the French eat. I see many familiar things, even Mexican food items, and cereals but they taste different and have less sugar.
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If you go to an open air market you will be temped by crepes, middle eastern flat and stuffed warm bread, baguette and other breads to have with cheese or pate, some excellent take out food, paella, sauerkraut, chicken and potatoes cooked together in the rotisserie etc etc. You can even eat there, some markets have small tables or benches.
It is a delicious experience and my problem when I go is not what to eat but how to stop eating all the good stuff.
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What happened to the charcouteries?
When you get yourself into your dorm, go for a walk and see what there is to find. You should be able to find a bakery for baguettes, and pastry shop for pastries, etc., a cheese shop, a butcher shop and a French style deli. There will also be a super market - Monoprix or the other one, I can%26#39;t think of the name right now.
You should be able to find prepared main courses to take home and reheat. The %26quot;cheap%26quot; wine in Paris is much better than the price would indicate. And if you have some good bread and a fresh vegetable to steam, you%26#39;ve got a great meal. I am presuming, of course, that you will have bought either a pastry to go with everything else, or some fresh fruit.
I%26#39;m confident that you%26#39;ll find favourite merchants within a few days and will enjoy the shopping for food in Paris as much as you enjoy the food in Paris.
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If you go to any cheese shop you will find an entire world of cheeses that don%26#39;t exist in the US. Combine this with a crusty country loaf and a bottle of wine and you will have a gourmet, traditionally french plate without the need for a kitchen.
A seafood platter from your local fishmonger, bistro or Monoprix is another option.
At the traiteur (caterer) you will find all kinds of meals in puff pastry. Delicious, affordable and again, no kitchen required.
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Shellfish (particularly oysters) Its been a cold May, so they should still be at their peak (assuming youre going soon)
Salad leaf. You will see a lot os beautiful looking lettuces. You will probably find a stall where they have loose leaf greens and you can do your own pick and mix.
Cheese, particularly Chervre (goats cheese). IMHO the French arent great on hard cheeses, but the soft/rind cheeses, particularly the unpasteurised ones, are great. Dont eat too much of these those.my brother was eating 2 cheeses a day until he got a bug.
Saucisson. Sausages, but more like Salami than the flabby things most of us can get at home.
Veal. I know people object to veal, but that is on completely vaccuous grounds unless they abstain from all dairy products.
One of the easiest meals (if you have the necessary in your Kitchen ) is raclette. There is a recipe here; cuisine-francaise.com/recette-les-farcis-nlc…
I would have a look around the area of your dorm and speak to otehr students. There are usually cheap but good restaurants in the area where dorms are. Although you will buy french ingredients, the meals you cook will taste like the ones you cookat home (for the most part) because you are the same person.........
Oh - yeah - Onions and see if you can buy a cube of fresh beefstock (maggi make them, and so do knorr, I think). French onion soup is easy
If you want to be REALLY French, try a WW era feast. Horse steak and cabbage. My friend%26#39;s neighbour eats this once a year just to remind herself that the good old day%26#39;s, in fact, weren%26#39;t.
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Your guys%26#39; ideas sound great, but in a dormitory?
When I studied at Grenoble back in the dark ages, my dormitory had (a) no refrigerator and (b) no way to warm anything up. Hopefully, SallyBlue%26#39;s situation will be better.
Those two conditions really put a damper on things. Even the chicken, you%26#39;d need to find somebody help you finish it off because there%26#39;s nowhere to put the leftovers. Same with the cheese. The high temperature pasteurized milk was a helpful item. It could survive at room temperature without spoiling for at least a few days. Juice could be done economically by combining water and the cans of juice syrups that are available. I made a lot of sandwiches.
Hopefully, the dorms are better these days.
The cafeteria food was yechh. Baguettes were always a wonderful standby. Orangina was fine cafeteria juice. It was funny returning to the US to see people all hoity toity over Orangina. Spaghetti was ok. Chicken in wine was bland. The lamb was horrible.
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