Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Simple Pleasures found at the French Grocery Store

Stacks of fresh tortillas sat on the grocery store shelf, starring at me. I looked at them
like I had found, at last, my long, lost soul mate. The tortillas were
made by a Lebanese baker. In my mind I said out loud, "Lebanese baker, bakes Mexican tortillas, sells them in France, to an American woman… the world is getting smaller."
I felt a guilty pleasure… twenty some years without tortillas ready made at the grocer. Of course, my mouth watered as I bought a few packages.
I have been reunited: Life will never be the same.

Comments

42 responses to “Simple Pleasures found at the French Grocery Store”

  1. Barbara Sydney Australia

    Read by an Australian women, indeed a small world.

    Reply
  2. Hasmin Cannon

    Corey, have you tried home made flour tortillas?

    Reply
  3. Cath

    Corey, I’m in Paris Wednesday to Friday, and I couldn’t be more excited!! I’m going to climb the eiffel tower, walk along the seine, and even partake in some escargot (perhaps!). Because life is there for the living, something that you show me in small ways and big! Glad your life has been enhanced with tortillas!

    Reply
  4. Jeanne

    How fabulous my wonderful friend.
    It is the sweet simple things in life that are surely the best.
    Love Jeanne

    Reply
  5. Jend’isère

    Sustituting ingredients seems to fill a craving or be frustration!
    An India woman who lives in France substitues her bread with storebought Mexican tortillas. But when a friend from Madagascar tried Mexican chili peppars in Paris she shreeked!

    Reply
  6. Jend’isère

    Just occured to me that the tortillas are part of your Diner Presque Parfait. Hmm…a California theme, perhaps?

    Reply
  7. Julie Evins

    Yes but how will you dress them ? Will it be a pure Mexican experience or given the global feel to this post and your imagination in the kitchen, perhaps a petit surprise ?! jx

    Reply
  8. Jojo

    Corey, I don’t mean to burst your bubble but my guess is the Lebanese baker created a variation on a theme. I am married to a Lebanese and he takes great pride in doing everything “the Lebanese way.” My guess is that you will be getting a Lebanese tortilla! Please let us know how the results.

    Reply
  9. Jill Flory

    Woo-Hoo! Make sure you show us pictures of how you fill them!!
    Jill

    Reply
  10. Vicki

    Sharing my cup of coffee every morning with an American woman in France….5 years ago it never crossed my mind!!! It certainly is a small world!! Enjoy your tortillas Corey.

    Reply
  11. JulieKP

    Pure joy when you find something small that you have wanted for so long. I remember finding Nutella for the first time after I moved home from England. You would have thought you had given me the Hope diamond. I was so excited I nearly skipped out of the grocery store.

    Reply
  12. Mary

    Start up a pot of silky midnight black beans. Shred crisp lettuce, finely grate good cheese, gently peel and mash, but keep chunky, semi-firm avocados; squeeze cool limes; add a smidgen of Harissa for heat – you’ll be on your way to Mexico before you know it Corey. Ola!!!!

    Reply
  13. Dixie

    It’s always the little things that reminds us of home… blessings. Dixie

    Reply
  14. Candy

    I can just see you getting excited standing there in the store. It’s the simple things that give us great pleasure. Don’t you know that made God smile?

    Reply
  15. marlis

    and I cry when I find a baguette that is authentic…. enjoy. Hope they were what you expected.

    Reply
  16. AmandaMay

    hooray for tortillas! what will you make – enchiladas? quesadillas? yum! (And Hasmin Cannon is right, you should try homemade, especially if you try the thicker, little Guatemalan style (here is a recipe – http://www.culinate.com/recipes/collections/Culinate+Kitchen/Vegetarian+Main+Dishes/guatemalan-style_sopes)

    Reply
  17. Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife

    One of the problems of living “away” is that you crave foods that are not available. When I lived in Texas I had all the delicious handmade tortillas you could ever hope for but not a molecule of the fresh Italian food from my childhood.
    I love how you always jog a memory or a thought that’s just lying beneath the surface.
    – Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife

    Reply
  18. Suzanne

    “Lebanese baker, bakes Mexican tortillas, sells them in France, to an American woman”… whose blog is read by a portuguese girl 😉
    Love*

    Reply
  19. becky up the hill

    From one California girl to another I say thank God! lol..one time on a trip to the North East..I had to resort to Taco Bell. Let me tell you, after a week of no Mexican food, it tasted like a gourmet feast! I’m happy for you.

    Reply
  20. Cristina

    Corey, I read every morning but seldom have a minute to post. I had to comment on the world is getting smaller thought. In October We were in Folrence waiting in line to get into the Duomo and I purchaced a beautiful scarf from an asian girl that was made in India. An asian girl in Italy selling an indian scarf to an American girl. go figure.

    Reply
  21. Marilyn

    I can completely understand your excitement in finding this unexpected treasure. Sometimes it’s the simplest of pleasures that creates the greatest joy.
    Enjoy those tortillas!
    Marilyn (in Dallas)

    Reply
  22. Rosemary

    This made me smile!!
    I can’t imagine being without some of your favorites, but it is what it is.
    Enjoy!
    Rosemary

    Reply
  23. sheila

    My favourite lunch..salmon salad wrap made with a soft tortilla, and a side of cucumber sticks.
    Global Fusion food can be simple..
    what will you do with your tortillas..?

    Reply
  24. Alina

    This is amazing news! I am surprised you haven’t made them yourself – your culinary skills are pretty impressive!

    Reply
  25. Shelu

    I love Tex-Mex food. I know what you mean I have faced struggles internationally when looking for good tortilla’s. I was in Switzerland and couldn’t find them anywhere, until I saw them on a shelf in the small UN store called SAFFI (sp?).
    Enjoy them and maybe you can make some homemade salsa.

    Reply
  26. Sarah

    I spent my Junior year of college living in France and the best package my mom sent me included tortillas, and cans of refried beans, I missed burritos more than anything.
    Sarah

    Reply
  27. Marilyn

    How exciting! 38 years ago my husband, baby son, and I moved from San Francisco to Kansas. It was a shock when I realized we could buy tortillas. I tried making them, but wasn’t very successful. I would have my mother send them to me or buy them when we visited Denver. It is those little things we don’t realize we enjoy until they are no longer available. I am so happy for you.

    Reply
  28. Antigona

    Funny, here in Peru if you ask for tortillas, they’ll give you something similar to a crab cake, except instead of crab is whatever kind of ‘tortilla’ you are asking for, so there is potato tortilla, spinach tortilla, shrimp tortilla…
    From living in California, I have learned that a tortilla is never the same thing all over the world.

    Reply
  29. Paula

    HA ! Your life will never be the same and neither will your hips !
    I love living here in New Mexico but I gotta tell you, the diet is really tough on the waistline!

    Reply
  30. beachy

    Refried beans and some drippy cheese and you’re all set now, Corey! =) Oh yes, and salsa, but I know you can make better salsa yourself. =)

    Reply
  31. Deirdre

    Warm tortillas and butter – yum.

    Reply
  32. Marci Larsen

    I know what you mean. I could not live without them. They are a staple at our house.

    Reply
  33. Cathy J.

    How funny, I never thought about getting excited about a tortilla. Living here in So. CA, Mexican food is official food of choice. Around here if you’re not eating Mexican at least once a week, there’s something seriously wrong with you. Here’s to a great Mexican meal, salute!

    Reply
  34. annie

    Your story is so funny and boy do I identify. In the early 70’s I was a guest at a home in Rye, NY. I said I would make dinner and everyone wanted to try my enchilladas. Off I went to the latin market looking for flour tortillas. The woman in the store thought I was out of my mind and the only tortillas they had were corn ones – in a CAN no less. I was baffled. Finally I asked her, aren’t you Mexican? No. She said it like I had insulted her. She was CUBAN. As far as I know, she is the one and only Cuban I’ve ever met. I got the canned tortillas. The dinner was a failure.

    Reply
  35. Nancy

    Love this! On our first trip to Paris, every morning we visited a patisserie right across the street from our hotel.
    We spoke hardly any French and yet communicated with the Greek owners, in French and English, and bought French food.
    It was so amusing and included lots of hand gestures.

    Reply
  36. Kimberly

    Fresh Tortillas are the best! What a find. Blessings, Kimberly

    Reply
  37. Amy

    now if you could just find Mexican beer……
    When I was younger, I used to think the store bought tortillas were so good…..and then we went to Mexico. Oh, the bliss!
    I know you will relish your tortillas!

    Reply
  38. Courtney

    Lebanese baker, bakes Mexican tortillas, sells them in France, to an American woman”… whose blog is read by a portuguese girl, read by an Austrlaina woman living in Canada with a French Canadian husband!

    Reply
  39. Merisi

    Global Economy coming to a village near you! 🙂
    I can so feel your joy.
    A few days ago I found Orange Marmelade with Whiskey from Scotland at a market here, a treat I have been missing since my days as a student in Rome, when I had work relations with the Vatican and my employer was able to shop in the Pope’s huge, very international supermarket below St. Peter’s. The butter on my bread back then was from Upper Austria, from the same source – so closes the circle.
    Small world indeed, once you get moving around a bit in it.
    Enjoy your treats! 🙂

    Reply
  40. Merisi

    Oh, I spelled Whiskey, but that was truly Scotch Whisky, without the “e” – may my Scottish friends forgive me for my spelling sin.

    Reply
  41. Colette

    What a treat! I once saw a cooking programme featuring an Italian chef exploring Mexico but speaking English (the global village again). I was fascinated to see that he visited a woman who made tortillas from scratch, by grinding corn into a dough. I wish I could taste a tortilla made like that!
    Colette

    Reply
  42. Stacey Snacks

    There is a Lebanese baker in Brooklyn that also sells some sort of round flatbread, I think there may be a different name than tortillas, but who cares? they are delicious whatever they are called!

    Reply

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