Paris in the Springtime

Hello and welcome to this weeks blog entry for Exotic Foods Catering. I would like to invite you to view our website as well as enjoy photos from my recent trip to Paris, the city of lights. It was truly a beautiful city with a rich sense of culture and cuisine. Some highlights were a visit to Le Relais de l'Entrecote restaurant located right off of the Champs Elysees. The main attraction here folks is the Steak Frites. They split the portion into two servings in order to give you the sense that you are eating twice as much. The house wine was a perfect accompaniment to this sumptuous meal. On my way to the palace of Versailles the view of Paris was even more magnificent than when I stood on the second floor landing of the Eiffel Tower. Though located about 45 minutes from central Paris, the market in Versailles is a worth wild stop. This beautiful market takes up two squares and also boasts indoor food stalls filled with fresh meats, fish, specialty cheeses. The outdoor portion is dedicated to spices from around the world and produce. This is a real foodies paradise.
If in Paris a must see spectacle are the gourmet food courts of Galleries Lafayette and Le Bon Marche. Here art meets functionality. I think some of the pastry in these food halls give the art housed in the Louvre a run for their money. If you have any questions, comments about Paris feel free to drop us a line. Be well, eat well and enjoy!

Children benefit from exposure to 'exotic' foods

According to psychologist Patricia Pliner at the University of Toronto, food neophobia -- or the unwillingness to try new foods -- is a survival tactic left over from the days when our ancestors foraged in the woods at mealtime.

"It stopped them from eating things that might have killed them," she explains. "But now we forage at the grocery store, so a fear of eating new foods isn't really that useful."

But while food neophobia may no longer be necessary, any parent of a picky eater will agree it is still a major problem.


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Exotic Foods: A Kitchen and Garden Guide

This book is a collection of short articles drawn from Living off the Land Subtropic Newsletter. The book covers all kinds of rare fruit, ranging from calamondin and kumquat to jaboticaba, carob, jujube and other trees. The articles are contributed by a variety of authors and rare-fruit growers mostly located in Florida and are a mix of fact and personal anecdotes from the writers. Some other fruits covered include: macadamia, lychee, loquat, mango, papaya, guava, sapodilla, nogal, Surinam cherry and carambola as well as domestic apples, peaches and pears.

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