European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 14, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Set is photos by Peter Jaeger something perilously close to butter Shock. There Are major reasons for this. For one thing the butter of Normandy is at least three times Richer than Normal butter with a consistency even when warm approaching that of firm pudding or soft cheese. For another not Only is the amount of butter in a croissant eaten Here sizable but it is just minutes from the cow. Cows hold a unique and revered place in Norman culture. What the bulldog and the lion Are to Britain what the Bald Eagle is to the United states what the crowing rooster is to the rest of France the cow is to Normandy. And they Are everywhere More than a million of them Bear Irig beneath them Cream filled udders with the dimensions of wine vats. Norman cows Are impressively sized All Over in fact and carry with their bulk an air of Placid but confident authority a the authority perhaps of knowing they provide la Belle France with 25 percent of her Dairy products. The literature of world War ii holds More than a few cases of nervous Cis mistaking them at night for German tanks. Even during the Day they appear to fortify the Norman Fields reinforcing the Lush landscape like weighty spotted chess pieces on a Board of hedge rowed Green. So Rich and famous Are the butter Cream and cheese they provide that they appear to be ruminating on the cultural and spiritual poverty of those doomed by life to know Little More than land o takes Borden and Kraft. A just As some dog owners grow to resemble their pets. Moreover Norman Farmers can take on the Aura of condescension projected by their livestock historian Samuel Eliot Morrison in his official history of . Naval operations during a Day remarked on the Quot Bovine disposition of the Norman peasantry Quot and cited several cases of Farmers sanguine at the deaths of their neighbors from bombardment of the invasion beaches but indignant at the loss of their cows. To breakfast on a croissant in Cherbourg is to understand their priorities. Death after Ali is inevitable. Great butter in t. Thus instead of concentrating .-style, on potentially life endangering things a like alar in apples or sulfite in wine a the French concentrate on Rich desserts and Calvados Are the House specialities in a Bayeux restaurant. Regulating known life enhancing things like the Quality of bread. Concern Over a potential epidemic of less than rapturous tasting baguettes for example has led to the Labelling of bakeries. Only those whose bread meets certain standards May display the distinctive graphic certifying them a . This sort of attitude has prevented food Here a even Norman butter and Cherbourg croissants a a from acquiring the Aura of forbidden fruit that burdens it in the United states. That absence of guilt and of its accompanying stress May have More to do with both French paradoxes than any of the other theories yet advanced. A. Just How far from guilt cuisine extends in Normandy May be seen in the cult of the Trou Normand or Quot Norman Hole a without which no diner hereabouts a would tuck in his Napkin. Some centuries Back according to legend an unknown Norman discovered a Way around that unmanly inability to finish an eight course meal due to feeling overstuffed. By Downing a Small Glass of Calvados a Normandy s famed and fiery Apple Brandy a in Mideast the legend goes one is Able to Quot Burn a Hole Quot through the food already in Quot the stomach and keep on eating. This is a very Norman concept. The ancient romans faced with the same problem simply retired briefly to throw up. The exact requirements for the True Trou Normand vary with the experts one consults and every Norman is an a expert. Some say the Calvados should contain a Small scoop of Calvados sorbet. Others say the sorbet alone is enough. Still others say store bought Calvados won t do it specifying instead one of the thousands of illegal homemade varieties described proudly by their makers As personnel it its requirements the Trou Normand is famous enough to be celebrated on Trou Normand postcards sold throughout the Region each of them boasting a sizable Hole. It May be that the Trou Normand is the secret ingredient in All the French paradoxes and is employed. Under other names elsewhere in the country. Determining this will require , for which a Grant application is currently pending with the National institutes of health meanwhile the intricacies of Norman cuisine have been discovered to have their defense policy aspects As Well. During preparations for the 50 the anniversary of a Day an army Public information officer explained the presence of some 2,400 american troops in Normandy for the occasion As Quot an exercise in strategic thinking for the a Quot the whole lesson of the world War ii Normandy Campaign Quot he said Quot is that we should Only liberate nations with Good food and great restaurants. Who wants Back in 50 years and eat in Somalia Quot july 14f 1994 stripes Magazine 73
