Food Preferences Here

Today I had another day off, as generally we get two days off in a row – so it’s almost like a weekend, regardless of what day of the week it actually is, which is nice as one day passes by too fast. I relaxed again today, and ended up exploring the estate. There are so many paths on the estate, around the rivers and through the forest that one could walk for hours! But I will be here for a few months, so I will definitely get another chance to explore. The estate grounds are by far larger than the entire village.

For my entry today, I will talk a little bit about some of the food preferences I have noticed here thus far. First of all, I thought where I used to live was crazy about potatoes, but I guess even more so here! I feel like that is all they eat here, and they must consider it to be both a vegetable and a starch, as they hardly prepare any vegetable side dishes either. Of course I am basing this mostly on staff meals and the menus I have been working with. The menus here seem ok – most plated dishes do have vegetable, starch, and protein components. Salads do appear on menus as well, though usually drenched in creamy dressings. However, I find the portion sizes of meat and protein to be huge, and one thing I noticed with the wedding menus was that there weren’t always vegetables on the plate either, just meat and starch. Emphasis on the potatoes. Vegetarian options exist, but certainly aren’t first and foremost, merely an afterthought. Of course meat-free options have to exist at weddings, but are only prepared begrudgingly. To be fair, most dietary restrictions at weddings, though usually catered to, are a pain in the butt. Having to prepare one special dish when you have 200 other guests to feed is sometimes a challenge. Dairy-free, gluten-free, and of course vegan guests, there is usually a few at each wedding. The issue is when these requests are not genuine. I heard one chef mutter something about a supposed vegan guest who arrived late, then did not want the dish specially prepared for them, because they said the vegetarian option was ok with them, even after being told the vegetables were cooked slathered in butter. So when vegetarian options exist, they are not always healthy or protein-rich choices as they should be, but something like goat’s cheese in puff pastry, which isn’t unusual. Even fish dishes seem lacking when compared to meat dishes. Vegetarians are a minority. I am by no means a strict vegetarian, but not a huge meat eater either, and tend to lean towards vegetarian options, as I do love my veggies. Although I was told staff meals would have vegetarian options, but that rarely seems to be the case here. I would like some options. 

Creamy, fatty, salty potatoes - loads of butter and cream!

In addition, all the food here is so, so, so salty! I am used to salty meals from culinary training, but these are excessively so, so much that it’s difficult to eat, and you are always thirsty. Also the dishes are quite fatty – mashed potatoes loaded with cream and butter, globs of cheese, whole milk, etc. But strangely, dessert is not a huge thing! Not even fruit. At least give me some sugar to go with that fat, or dark chocolate to lower my blood pressure from all that salt. Today’s staff lunch was chicken in creamy white sauce, garlic toast with globs of mozzarella cheese, mashed potatoes, and roasted potatoes. Supper was meaty, cheesy lasagna and fries. So in conclusion, excessively salty, fatty, and full of potatoes. I don’t know how they can eat like this every day.