Categories: uncategorized
Date: 10 March 2006 11:50:24
I lost my appetite.
You know what canteen food is like - the problems of mass catering leading to everything being under-prepared and over-cooked and then left on a hot-plate to dry out completely before getting anywhere near your plate. And you know how exquisite French food is, requiring very careful preparation, cooking and serving.
I was forced to eat a three-course lunch, every day, at a University canteen in a dingy suburb of Paris. Eating the canteen version of French food.
At least in a British canteen you know they are not aiming for a high standard of cuisine, so when they fall flat on their face, well, at least it doesn't hurt too badly. But in France if you cook you aim to produce the most delicious food ever. And when you reach for the stars and then fall flat on your face, well, it is really rather painful.
So somewhere during the year, and without my noticing, I lost my appetite. Before then I would eat immense quantities given any opportunity. Whatever was served I would have space for seconds, thirds ... at an all-you-can-eat buffet I remember having five full platefuls of lasagne. But then in Paris I lost my appetite, and could hardly stand to eat a single plateful. From loving food I went to hating it, gaining no pleasure from it, and resenting the energy that I had to spend moving my jaw in order to eat.
Fortunately, 8 years later I've mostly got over the experience, but it really has taken that long. And when I see someone who really enjoys their food and can eat like a horse, I realize that I've still not recovered completely, because that's how I used to be, and not how I am.