Every study abroad student’s experience may be different, but there is one element that is inescapably important for all — the food.

France’s passion for gastronomy is well-known, and the image of French food usually conjures up ideas of pricey restaurants and elaborate garnishes. But for students studying abroad, the experience is somewhat different — escargot and foie gras are about as far outside a student’s daily budget as a bottle of Dom Pérignon is.

As in any major city, Strasbourg offers food from around the world. Since arriving here, I’ve eaten my share of pizza, pasta, sushi and even a McFlurry from McDo — the French shorthand for McDonald’s. While many of these familiar options are attractively cheap, it is possible to eat French on a student budget.

The biggest staple of affordable French food is the classic baguette. Yes, baguettes are just as prevalent here as the stereotype dictates. And for good reason — you can buy enough to make lunch for only about a euro. The smaller demi-baguettes are even cheaper.

Even if you don’t set out to buy one, living in France means you’ll inevitably end up eating a healthy dose of the golden, crunchy bread. Most sandwiches are served on baguettes, and breakfast for many French families consists of toasting tiny slices of day-old baguette and serving them with butter.

As temptingly cheap and efficient as baguettes are, I soon learned that there was only so long you can go eating plain baguettes for lunch. Luckily, the almost equally ubiquitous baguette sandwiches are not much more expensive at four or five euros a piece. The most basic and most popular is the sandwich parisien — a sliced, buttered baguette with ham.

Another cheap, substantial staple is the kebab. These aren’t the shish kebabs that are popular in America, but rather, these are doner kebabs, lamb cooked on a vertical spit, shaved in thin slices and served in a pita with vegetables and sauce, which is almost always accompanied by fries. A gift from the large Turkish community in France, these quick and easy lunches are a regular fixture in Strasbourg.

Luckily for abroad students, sweets and pastries are also popular and cheap. One flavor trumps all other dessert crepes: Nutella. Whatever differences exist between our two nations, Frenchmen and Americans can agree on the perfection of a crepe filled with warm, gooey Nutella.

Another sweet-tooth cure is pain au chocolat, a buttery, croissant-like pastry filled with dark chocolate, which costs less than a euro.

But Strasbourg’s culinary scene does fall short in one capacity — the lack of Mexican food. For a girl hailing from the land of Chipotle, this is a serious problem. After three weeks in the city, I’ve only seen one Mexican restaurant and it was closed.

The last French staple for a student budget is, of course, wine. Even quality wine is much more affordable in France than in the States — you can pick up a decent bottle for eight or ten euros. But if, like me, you can barely taste the difference between fine wine and old grape juice, you won’t need to spend even that much. Gas stations and bodegas often sell bottles of wine for as little as two euros.

Such cheap wine is, no doubt, an affront to much of the population of this wine-obsessed country. But that’s a concession most abroad students — and even many French ones — seem willing to make.

One recommendation: invest in a corkscrew when you pick up your bottle of wine. I once managed to get the proprietor of a kebab shop to lend me hers, but only while giving me an extremely judgmental glare.

Somehow, I think I’ll be able to survive the loss of Mexican food in a city full of fresh-baked bread and cheap chocolate pastries.

With so many choices, I’m guessing that my remaining three months in Strasbourg won’t require many more trips to McDo. Still, I can’t help hoping that the French will discover what a truly fine culinary experience a plate of nachos can be sometime in the next few months.

 

 

Maggie Cregan is a sophomore history and magazine journalism major. From Cleveland to Syracuse to Strasbourg, she enjoys rocking out and getting hopelessly lost. If you want to talk to her about this column, or are Keith Richards, reach her at mmcregan@syr.edu and follow her on Twitter at @MaggieCregan_SU.

 

 

Published on February 3, 2014 at 10:04 pm