THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 16, 1994 TAG: 9410130072
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
IT'S A MYTH that European food is better than American food. With the large exception of French and Italian food, much European cuisine is rather coarse and unadventuresome.
There's a reason the streets aren't filled with German, Dutch and Spanish restaurants. I would match a good Carolina barbecue against Dutch meat and potatoes or a Spanish potato omelet any day.
But if Europeans don't actually eat better than Americans, they do know how to eat in a better fashion. They know how to sit down at a table for an hour or two with friends or family. They take pleasure in what's on their forks and in the people on the other side of the table.
Despite changes in languages, weather and temperament, one common denominator during my trek was the sight of people taking relaxed pleasure in a meal. Maybe the United States would be a happier place if we did the same.
Here are some quick pointers for how we can be more European. Not in what we eat, but how we eat.
Take longer lunch hours. Tell the boss you are doing what you can to improve society. While this is more true in southern Europe, many Europeans still take an hour or two for lunch. In many cities, I would sit beside tables of office workers going out to lunch together. They laughed and ate big plates of food. They were having a meal, not just a bite.
Have a glass of wine with that lunch. There's something about wine that says, ``Relax, enjoy the moment.'' It is a comforting sight. It sits in its fragile glass bowl held aloft by a thin stem, the deep red highlighted by the clear glass. It tells the world there is time, at least for a few minutes, to savor something.
I remember seeing a harried, full-suited businessman in Brussels, quickly eating a sandwich at a lunch counter. But it added just a hint of calm to his meal that in front of him was a long-stemmed glass of red wine.
Perhaps people here would make better decisions in the afternoon with one glass of red wine under their belts. Now, it would help if wine were closer to the cost of a Coke rather than the cost of the main dish. Maybe the restaurateurs can work on that.
Eat out more. Cancel cable, forgo the kid's college fund, keep the car a few years longer.
People in Europe eat out more, I'm convinced. They spend more of their income on it, and expect to. In Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Brussels, Lyon, Florence and Barcelona, often more than half the restaurants would be filled with big parties, 10 or more at a table, sharing a night out with friends.
Avoid fast food. These hyperactive food joints are designed to sluice customers through their glowing tubes of neon-colored plastic in the quickest possible fashion. They are the antithesis of leisurely dining.
So that's my advice on how to eat right. Remember, you don't have to learn French to eat European.
Next time you settle down to that plate, whether it be quiche, grits or a hamburger, relax, eat with a friend, and take your time. by CNB