A year in a French market: Autumn
A year in a French market: The great pumpkin
Thursday, December 10th, 2009How much would you pay for a can of pumpkin? You know, a 16 oz can of Libby’s solid-pack pumpkin? A lot, it turns out, if you live in Paris.
I don’t like to complain about Parisian prices too much, because Paris is a world capital and world capitals are expensive. But, tasked with making a […]
A year in a French market: Conversation exchange
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009I’d been feeling pretty confident about my French. I know it’s silly, but we all have our petty vanities. And I’ve worked really hard to learn this fickle language. Don’t get me wrong — it’s far, far, far from perfect. But considering that eighteen months ago I couldn’t even count higher than 69, and now […]
A year in a French market: Cèpe-tacular
Thursday, October 8th, 2009When it comes to French vocabulary, there are two areas that I don’t think I’ll ever master: 1) fish and/or seafood names, and 2) mushrooms.
French fish names remain exceedingly slippery, especially if one (ahem, me) is not that familiar with fish terms in English. For example:
Cod is cabillaud, except when it’s salted, when it’s morue.
Sea […]
A year in a French market: Across the cour
Friday, October 2nd, 2009In my Paris apartment building, there are the neighbors who I greet in the hallway, and then there are those who I’ve never met, but who I know a lot about. I’m talking about the guy who lives across the cour, or courtyard. His kitchen window faces my kitchen window, and we often prepare dinner […]