Dairy, Dairy, Me!

Dairy, Dairy, Me!

Originally shared by Meg L

"Oh my god, they don't have low fat anything. How the hell am I supposed to stick to my diet in this country?"
~plump, distraught American lady complaining to her Belgian daughter-in-law at our local supermarket

How I adore overhearing conversations while grocery shopping, especially when the person speaking in a loud voice is not from around here. The pic on the left shows about a quarter of the cheese counter. The pic on right shows a few of the creams on they have on offer. I remember being completely overwhelmed the first time I had to buy fresh cream for a dessert I was trying. This was a long time ago and my French was as poor as my cooking skills were basic. There was plain crème fraîche, there was crème fraîche épaisse and crème fraîche fermentée, there was crème fraîche liquide or fleurette, and there was the truly evil stuff from Isigny-sur-Mer in Normandy -the jar in the photo on the right. Then there's cream for cooking. The lighter stuff for cooking has 20% cream, and it goes up to 30%, 35% and finally 40% for whipping cream. Does madame want cream in a jar or in a carton, pasteurised or not? Stop. Madame just wants to sit on the floor and cry. Anyway, that's just for starters. Don't get me started on the butters.

Having remembered all this, I now feel sorry for that American lady at the supermarket. Sorry, missus, this is Belgium. Kiss your diet goodbye.

Incidentally, when you ask for half and half here, you will get a cocktail made out of half champagne and half white wine. 

Comments

  1. Meg LSeptember 17, 2015 at 4:10 AM

    Moo!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Drew McCarthySeptember 17, 2015 at 4:16 AM

    Thank you for an udderly wonderful post!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Meg LSeptember 17, 2015 at 4:20 AM

    You're welcome. You should probably moove here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Drew McCarthySeptember 17, 2015 at 4:37 AM

    Too far to hoof it. Plus, Belgian Biscuits and Gravy returns no hits.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Meg LSeptember 17, 2015 at 4:38 AM

    You could sail it. What are Belgian biscuits and gravy, pray tell?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Drew McCarthySeptember 17, 2015 at 4:44 AM

    Heh. My point exactly. Ain't no such a thing as Belgian Biscuits and Gravy. Nor, one guesses, Belgian Chicken Fried Steak. I would pine, terribly, for those dishes, among other things.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Meg LSeptember 17, 2015 at 5:14 AM

    For a moment I was worried there was some Belgian dish I hadn't heard of, and it's my life's mission to try everything at least once. No chicken fried steak here, but we have mind-blowing frites and many other other artery-busting goodies. You wouldn't be disappointed.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Tim O'BrienSeptember 17, 2015 at 7:48 AM

    One of my fondest memories is visiting a grocery store in Antwerp and returning to our hotel room for a mega-calorie picnic of cheese and chocolate.

    ReplyDelete

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