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Struck down by a "Parisite".


robert brown

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Yesterday two friends of ours arrived from Paris at our house in Nice. The male of the pair said he felt weak and couldn’t eat very much at dinner because he had become sick in Paris. He blamed it on a serving of steak tartare. My wife told the story of how she had to sit and watch everyone eat last December during a long-anticipated return visit to her favorite three-star restaurant in Paris. This morning we collected our friend Louis at the airport who had flown into Nice from Boston. At lunch we also collected another story we had forgotten about: Also last December, Louis, who had taken his wife and daughter to Paris for Christmas, became sick and had to cancel their reservations at Ledoyen and Pierre Gagnaire. While this is an admittedly small sample of those struck down in Paris in the pursuit of gastronomic pleasure, it does seem a bit bizarre that becoming sick in Paris over the past nine months been a phenomenon that has happened to a large percentage of friends and family I know. Has becoming sick or experiencing food poisoning happened to you, or someone you know in Paris in the recent past, or is it just a coincidence that has entered my life and no one else’s?

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I too got sick last week after eating for four days in Paris and I too had steak tartare. But I didn't throw up, which is the most common symptom of food poisoning. Also bear in mind that germs are whizzing around the world at an accellerating pace, and any method of transport other than one's own car exposes the traveller to a lot of infectious people.

John Whiting, London

Whitings Writings

Top Google/MSN hit for Paris Bistros

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My wife and I experienced the same thing five or six years ago after having steak tartare at a resturant next to the Ritz. Both got sick withing minutes of each other and shortly after leaving the place. We were sick - and we felt like close to death - for four days after and haven't had steak tartare since.

dave

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I know people who order steak tartare whenever they see it on the menu and those who only order it if they personally know the chef or owner of the restaurant. When you consider the fact that in certain parts of North America, it's illegal to serve a rare hamburger, it's no surprise that ordering steak tartare would bring some added risk and that if people eat in Paris what they might not order in Boston, you're going to get different figures for each city. That said, I'd avoid steak tartare in the summer, except maybe at a place like Ducasse. (I don't think he has steak tartare on the menu.) I'm with Lou on this.

I also think travelers will experience all sorts of intestinal problems at a much greater frequency than they will at home for a great number of reasons. We can start with the difference in relatively unharmful microbes in the local water. They're less unharmful to those who haven't built up a tolerance. Travelers tend to eat in restaurants more than those staying at home and they tend to eat a different diet than they do at home. Lots of bugs will give you symtoms similar to those of food poisoning. Airplanes must be about the number one place to exchange a virus or bug. The recycled air does a real number drying out mucous membranes and transmitting germs.

The best comparison would not be between a group of Americans traveling in France and a control group of Americans staying home, but between two groups of travelers -- one coming to Paris from America and one coming to New York from France.

I hear the heat is dreadful in most of western Europe. Both Paris and Madrid are reported to reach temperatures over 100 degrees F. Here, in NYC, it's been sweltering this week. I'm sure it's hotter still in Hell, but I'm willing to bet the humidity is lower.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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When you consider the fact that in certain parts of North America, it's illegal to serve a rare hamburger,

Where?

Noise is music. All else is food.

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I've eaten tons of tartare here in Paris, and never once been sick. My little girl however was very ill after eating a Happy Meal at a local McDonald's (Gobelins).

Anti-alcoholics are unfortunates in the grip of water, that terrible poison, so corrosive that out of all substances it has been chosen for washing and scouring, and a drop of water added to a clear liquid like Absinthe, muddles it." ALFRED JARRY

blog

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When you consider the fact that in certain parts of North America, it's illegal to serve a rare hamburger,

Where?

I would guess it's not illegal, but there are some restaurants in this area (West Michigan) that won't serve rare beef. Two weeks ago, while visiting Saugatuk, the restaurant we were at wouldn't serve hamburger any less cooked than medium. I assume that's a managerial decision as opposed to law.

"There is no worse taste in the mouth than chocolate and cigarettes. Second would be tuna and peppermint. I've combined everything, so I know."

--Augusten Burroughs

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When you consider the fact that in certain parts of North America, it's illegal to serve a rare hamburger,

Where?

In British Columbia, we were told it was law. I seem to recall that it was also illegal for a while in New Jersey, but I'm not sure of that. I know certain municipalities were considering laws in that regard, but BC is the place I've experienced it first hand.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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Two weeks ago, while visiting Saugatuk, the restaurant we were at wouldn't serve hamburger any less cooked than medium.  I assume that's a managerial decision as opposed to law.

Some restaurant chains have refused to serve rare steaks because they arrive partially cooked and frozen, thus making a rare steak an impossibility. John & Karen Hess documented this a quarter century ago.

John Whiting, London

Whitings Writings

Top Google/MSN hit for Paris Bistros

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A malevolent Steak Tartare in Montreux spoilt my trip to Lyon recently, meaning I missed dinner at Leon de Lyon. It hasn't put me off completely, but I shall order more tactically in future, when there isn't a decent meal on the horizon.

Ready to order?

Er, yeah. What's a gralefrit?

Grapefruit.

And creme pot... pot rouge?

Portugaise. Tomato soup.

I'll have the gralefrit.

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