Horse Show Food, France vs US
I consider myself something of an expert on horse show food. After all, I’ve been sampling it for the better part of 30 years. But at no time do I see the contrasts more clearly than when I dash directly from a show in France to a show in the US.
Now, there are some things about life in France that can confuse me. Like the plumbing thing. If you’re going to outfit a hotel bathtub with a shower wand, why not take the last step and install a wall bracket so the bather can actually enjoy the benefit of showering, instead of juggling the wand and trying to keep the thing from pointing out past the half-shower-door with one hand while lathering up with the other? And perhaps provide a towel which is slightly larger than the standard wash cloth? Oh, and about that wash cloth: are they not used in French hotels?
But the cool stuff about France, of course, is the food. Especially in the small towns, most of the produce is local grown, so if you order a salad, it probably came from just down the road. The cheeses too, because they, like the wines, are usually produced and consumed regionally. A food supply like this does not need a barrage of preservatives, because it isn’t going to sit around in a truck or a warehouse.
Having what Axel lovingly refers to as a “sensitive stomach” I have a list of foods that I tend to avoid, mostly those that are over-processed, stuffed full of artificial what-nots, and anything made with soybean oil. I keep a supply of Rolaids in my purse just in case. The joy of being in France for ten days was that I didn’t reach for them. Because the bread is … bread. And the cheese is … cheese. And the salad dressing is made with olive oil.
And then I headed for Devon, where the cheese at the food stand came out of a pump bottle (no, I did NOT order anything with it!!) and the tuna salad that I had for lunch made me not want to eat anything else for the rest of the day. The food at Devon is usually pretty good, so I would have been disappointed even if I hadn’t been coming directly from Food Heaven.
But I have to say that the coffee at the Devon coffee stand was wonderful (and kept me going through jet lag and my French designer head cold) and the sweets at the sweet stand were … sweet!
So what are your favorite “foodie” horse shows?
I am so jealous I am drooling! You see the difficullty I would have being in France is remembering I am there for a horse show and not eating my way through the country.
I live in a small midwestern city and with a 2 year old horse attend small local shows, so forget about gourmet food I enjoy what my husband and I call “4-H Mom pie”. It can be found at most small horse shows and is occasionaly replaced by “church lady pies”.