Is there a Mother on the planet who didn’t say “Finish your plate, if you don’t eat your broccoli, if you don’t finish your plate, there’s no dessert. There are starving children in China?”
Background: I also grew up in a household where books were semi-sacred, where I got a pitiful allowance, but could earn decent money by clearing the South-40 of rocks or shining shoes but I was encouraged to buy any book or record I wanted, no matter how expensive. As I result, even though it was never directly said – I knew I had to finish every book I picked up,…..until home from Viet Nam service with time on my hands as I tried to build a practice, I took Evelyn Woods’ speed-reading course and the world tilted. One of the first lessons was “If you don’t like a book, don’t set it down for later, don’t set it aside, abandon it. Freedom from the tyranny of finishing books.
As I get older and my stomach shrinks and I no longer run marathons or even 6 K’s, I eat less, American portion sizes overwhelm me so I often eat two starters and I leave much of Colette’s carefully prepared food untouched. She’s gotten used to it and is no longer offended, but in the US waiters ask if I “didn’t like it” and in France ask “C’etait?” with a pleading tone.
A few years ago both Gilles Pudlowski and Francois Simon wrote books that discussed how critics could maintain their weight eating out so much. Some of the tips were sensible – exercise, moderation and ordering wisely, but some were ridiculous – instead of food drink a few liters of mineral water or nap.
I’d suggest leaving something on your plate is perfectly acceptable so long as you make it clear to your anxious wait-person the food was indeed acceptable.
Where I didn’t finish my plates but the food was more than acceptable:
Le Petit Marché
9 rue de Bearn in the 3rd, (Metro: Chemin Vert)
T: 01.42.72.06.67
Open 7/7 and in August
Lunch menu 14.50 E, a la carte 40-50 E
