Books |
French Women for All Seasons
Mireille Guiliano
By
Published: Jan 01, 2008
Category:
Food and Wine
What will probably destroy America is not misguided foreign policy, crushing debt or our insistence on building bombers rather than schools — it’s fat.
Go to any mall and you’ll see what I mean: people wandering about who look like escapees from WALL-E. You’ll see whole armies of plus-sizes — and if they don’t have diabetes now, they’re well on the way. Sadly, there’s little evidence the victims are doing much to turn their condition around. Michael Pollan’s grim assessment: A third of our citizens is likely to develop type 2 diabetes before 2050.
What I hadn’t realized: how many of the overweight are female.
Now comes Olivia Judson, an evolutionary biologist, in The New York Times, to offer confirmation: "In the United States, more than a third of women between 20 and 39 are obese, some of them extremely so.”
And here I thought French Women Don’t Get Fat — millions and millions sold, published in 37 languages — was a one-off, a novelty item. That would make French Women for All Seasons the usual dreary sequel: a padded, repetitious exploitation.
In fact, “Seasons” may be the more valuable book.
Oh, not for the ongoing snippets of instruction on scarf tying. And not for the recipes for frogs’s legs, rabbit or pigeon. But for the other recipes — tucked into these 350 pages is a chic little cookbook. And, even more, for the reminders.
“French Women Don’t Get Fat” was a bitch-slap to Americans. Cut portion size in half, Guiliano decreed. Make your own yogurt. Drink less wine, but more often. Reject deprivation as a way of life.
This time out, she presents us with more personal stories: scenes from a marriage. Hers is a privileged life — she presides over a champagne company — and she seems to have residences in New York, Paris and Provence. But she doesn’t come across as an elitist — more like a sensible older sister.
Spend more money on better food, get satisfied faster, she says: “Change the way you eat, and the pounds will take care of themselves.” Sounds mad, but if you have ever weighed yourself before and after a trip to France or Italy, you’ve seen the truth of that for yourself.
No miracles here: If you’re living in America, the promised turnaround will take a year. Again, the first step is portion control. This is especially crucial in American restaurants, which serve you as if you had ordered your Last Meal. (Really, you must defend yourself. Even in New York, where we’re all said to know better, my wife and I routinely share entrees; I can’t imagine what we’d look like if we didn’t.)
Then it’s on to specifics:
— Eliminate high fructose corn syrup, and cut down on sugar. Honey burns slower; make it your sweetener of choice. Add strawberries to other fruits to sweeten them.
— One or two glasses of wine a night is good for you, but if you’re sharing the bottle with one other person, the temptation is to go for three glasses and drain the bottle. Better to pour half of the bottle into an empty half bottle, cork it well — we use the Vacu Vin Wine Saver — and save that for tomorrow night’s glass or two.
— Drink your first glass of water before breakfast.
— Toast bread for breakfast; it’s more digestible. And use real butter, not some low-cal chemical substitute.
And then make good meals, not home-made substitutes for coffee shop fair. Being French, she proposes smart combination. Roast chicken with endives. Potato gratin with sliced Granny Smith apples. Sauteed scallops with grapefruit. Stewed chicken with Pastis. Braised carrots with ginger. And an easy lunch dish….
ASPARAGUS AND CASHEW OMELET
Serves 4
2 ounces unsalted raw cashews, chopped
6 eggs
2 tablespoons water
4 ounces grated cheese (Swiss or Parmesan)
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
8 ounces boiled asparagus tips
salt, freshly ground pepper
Roast the cashews for a few minutes in a dry frying pan over medium heat, stirring frequently.
In a bowl, beat the eggs with the nuts, water, cheese and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
Warm the same pan over medium heat. Add oil and butter. When the butter melts, pour in the egg mixture and cook, letting it sit until it’s softly set but still moist.
Add the asparagus tips, cook 4-5 minutes longer. Serve immediately.
To buy “French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, and Pleasure” from Amazon.com, click here.
To buy “French Women Don’t Get Fat” from Amazon.com, click here.
For Mireille Guiliano’s web site, click here.
