European Cuisine

Earlier this week my mother sent me an email outlining some of the family travel plans they've made for an Easter Holiday excursion to come visit me in Europe. At the base of the email she included a few side notes and anecdotes outlining some happenings from back home. One such reference talked about how they had just finished dining on a gourmet meal based off of a custom recipe by yours truly. The thought of home cooked food got me going and I was instantly watering at the mouth.

I don't know how you do things at your house, but where I come from we eat well, and we eat a lot. Anyone who has ever been extended an invitation to dine at the McGuire household will attest that my family, majorly my mother, does a good job in going above and beyond with the meals (although my little sister will argue that since the 'big eater' of the family has moved away from home, the frequency of such feasts has decreased marginally). Regardless of the corner of earth the cuisine originates from, I think its safe to say, my family does it right. Whether we're chowing down on a 3 course meal of Mexican or we're frying up some beer batter onion rings to go with our venison steak burgers, its all homegrown/killed, its all fresh, and its all good [all the time].

Europeans do things a bit differently thought. They eat much smaller portions and tend to have many meatless meals. By my definition, its just a snack if there's no meat. ('Wheres the beef?') Also, the selection of restaurants in Europe isn't nearly as diverse as back home. In the states you can walk down pretty much any strip and bank on finding some sort of Italian Pizzeria, San Jose (or the equivalent), China Wok I, II, or III, Average Joe's Burgers, and a 'snack' restaurant for all the vegan and veggie lovers. Over here, your options are limited. You're pretty much stuck with either kebabs, french fries, or a local pub that has their own select recipes.

I speculate that the smaller portions, higher food prices, and lack of nutritional variety account for parts of the reason that on average 90% of Europeans are smaller than the average American (I'm not talking width either, we'll get to that another day).

However, that limited selection in Europe isn't exactly bad. Since being here, I've grown to love anything grilled and smothered in andaulouse (a spicy mayo based sauce). Although I do miss my "all you can eat chips 'n' salsa" and 5 guys burgers and fries patty with EVERYTHING on it, the cuisine isn't all too bad once you get used to it.

Just a heads up though, I'll be checking a big appetite on my return flight home so yall best go ahead and get the charcoal burning.

All good; all the time,

Thomas