It is a pleasure to contemplate about eating in Paris. The choices are so great that one has the pleasure of thinking about it and choosing. There is no anxiety about Food, as one experiences in Cuba for example, since in many poorer countries, eating well is almost a luxury and at times a privilege. I am talking about Paris and it is foolish to complain about cost of food in this most expensive city on earth, but then again when you are in Tokyo, you are not thinking of cost of the food but the quality. This week, I wanted to eat Ethnic Food in Paris. Of course Breton food is not considered Ethnic but rather Regional. It is best to avoid Chinese or Chinese owned restaurants, since they have a poor reputation. Almost all Sushi places are owned by recent immigrants who are chinese. There is another large Chinese population here in Paris: from Cholon in Saigon, from Cambodia and from Laos and Thailand. They produce authentic food from the countries of their origin. There is one quartier where there is one viet restaurant after another, and it was there we headed for lunch today. It began raining and thus we took shelter at an elegant Lao restaurant, a mixture of Lao and Thai food. For a quick lunch, especially for a fan of South Indian food, nothing beats Quartier Tamoul where there are oodles of south indian restaurants all owned by recent migrants from Tamoul Nadoo. and Sri Lanka. Around the tourist areas, there are lots of Turkish kebab, Lebanese Falafal places but the safety of food at these fast food places cannot be guaranteed. I like a good falafel now and then and the best one is of course at the Jewish neighbourhood of Marais, where you can expect long lines.
so in this one week, breton seafood, masala dosai, vegetarian thali, falafel, viet neems, thai soup, lao sticky rice with fish souffle.. among other tidbits including sushi made by chinese, chirashi of salmon.
I have decided to watch out for the sodium content of the food after being warned of the high concentration of sodium in food in America, so i am begining to keep an eye for sodium used for cooking or preserving food in Paris. Will let you know later.
This weekend the Indonesian Embassy has a Cultural Programme and of course there would be food, and I look forward to a visit there.
