Entre Les Murs

Frigo

Our second-hand fridge kicked its castor-clad feet in the air last weekend and slipped this mortal refrigeration coil. A bit unexpected, given we’d only had the thing for a month, but it was not a young fridge and I guess it had been stressed in the move.

Living without refrigeration, while not the worst possible urban privation, was awkward. There was initially a push to eat everything possible, but we lost a lot of good food before we could consume it, including some nice French cheese and chicken soup I’d made myself from scratch. Naturally, one doesn’t like to chuck anything until it has convincingly expired, so the week has been one of “How about this? Ew, yuck ”, as things were progressively discarded. Eventually, everything edible was in plastic bags on the counter, and dinner was purchased daily. Consequently I was elated to take delivery of a new appliance this afternoon. We had debated finding another one second-hand, since we’d be more likely to find one in American dimensions that we could afford; but fearing a repetition of the week’s difficulties we ordered a new one from Darty (it’s kind of like Future Shop, plus). It’s large by local standards, but we’ll have to manage our groceries a little more carefully than we’re used to doing.

Its European provenance is revealed not only by its size. There is a handy little guide printed on the door of the freezer that uses pictograms to indicate the maximum length of time that one ought to keep different types of food frozen before consumption. The common food items shown include rabbit and duck (4-6 months and 7-9, respectively), and the four examples for 10-12 months are pears, aubergines, artichokes and deer. Clearly we’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. (Say, can anyone explain why it seems to be okay to freeze a chicken for 4-6 months whereas turkey drumsticks should not be kept for more than 2-3?)

posted 4.11.05