After a fairly long absence, which has involved a few holidays, lots of sun, (and lots of food), I'm ready to jump back on the blogging bandwagon! In this post I'm gonna talk a bit about my time in California, and what I ate while I was there....here we go!
California
I was staying in Del Mar with my aunt, which is about 20 mins from San Diego, and right by the coast. I've been many times before, and as much as I adore it, when it comes to the cuisine I feel it presents the dichotomy of American food. California is often looked upon as one of the more healthy states; with such great weather people want to be beach ready basically all year round, so they have to eat well to achieve that. In part, this is true. There is a lot of emphasis on lean meats -I definitelyate a lot of chicken and turkey, and not so much red meat. As Del Mar is by the coast, there were obviously some fantastic fresh fish restaurants, such as Joe's Crab Shack, where you literally get a whole crab to rip apart and devour:
This restaurant, however, was a perfect example 0f some of America's eating faux-pas'; the crab came with a big pot of melted butter next to it...
Obviously there were fast food restaurants wherever you turned, so if you want to eat healthy when you go to the States, you need to have a fair amount of will-power. I found that wasn't the main problem though...it was the portion sizes! Even getting a normal turkey sandwich astounded me, because just one half looked like a whole sandwich you would buy in England piled on top of itself! The best bet was tobuy one and share it with a friend, because otherwise you could easily end up eating too much for just one person. Many restaurants were good about putting calorie amounts next to foods on menus, which is something they should do more often in England, but that didn't solve the fact that it looked like I was eating enough for 3 at every meal time.
Some of the great things I had while over there were Jamba Juice (the 'just fruit' smoothies though, no yoghurt), where you could add 'energy' or 'detox' shots for example:
...fresh oysters at The Fish Market, and I also tried a great variety of breakfast cereals, one of which contained added Omega 3 - any of you who follow my Twitter will know about my fish-oil obsession! Also, although there was an abundance of fast food, I do think that it is somewhat offset by the generally healthier lifestyle in California. I found that in the 3 weeks I was there, I spent a lot more time outside, either hiking, body-boarding, swimming or just walking, so I was burning off (some of) the calories I was consuming. Moreover, the warm weather meant that I was eating less than I would athome, especially because I was busy all the time too.
There are ways to eat healthiER even when eating fast food. For example, at In-And-Out you can ask for your burger 'protein style', which means that instead of a bun, you get your patty in lettuce, cutting out the carbs and cutting down the calories. They are also a lot more accommodating over there, so you can completely cut out any fillings and sauces you don't want - it's almost like tailor-made takeaway. As with in England, if you want to be healthy, you really have to take responsibility for yourown diet and will-power, but obviously it's harder when most of the food options in the States seem to be fast food!
I'm not going to claim I was completely virtuous during my stay - I was on holiday and wanted a break from continuously watching what I eat - but I can happily say I didn't gain any weight! I say that not to brag, but because I'm genuinely surprised after the amount of food I ate! I became a massive fan of the California burrito (I won't even MENTION how unhealthy it is), and also Boba (or bubble tea) - which is milk tea, with mini tapioca balls in the bottom...MMMM!!
For those of you in London, head to Bubbleology near Piccadilly Circus, and give it a try! However, if I lived there I think it would be pretty easy to eat healthily, simply because the supermarkets are so huge that there is so much variety, and the fruit and veg is ALWAYS fresh and vibrant. Exercise is also a very big part of life in California, so you easily become wrapped up in the lifestyle, and actually want to be out in the sun doing something active.
As I just mentioned, being so close to the border meant Mexican food was very readily available, and one of the best things I had was a blackened salmon burrito (hold the sour cream, but dollop on the guac) - it was made fresh for you, and absolutely delicious! I've never been a massive fish fan, but I really began to like it. My Aunt also cooked us salmon with a mango relish which was simply divine, accompanied by green beans and cous cous, and took us out for probably the best sushi I've ever had at Sushi Ot'A.
So overall I would say that while California cuisine didn't blow my mind, there were some real highlights, and although America gets a really tough rap as being solely fast food and fat, if you try then you can easily eat healthy and have a happy holiday :) Next up is a report on Cadiz! xXx
