The Itsy Bitsy Spider

I’m growing accustomed to the food in Paris. I’ve learned to find substitutes for what I thought was irreplaceable. I’m even venturing out of my comfort zone to try new things. But when I found a spider in our fresh lettuce leaves I purchased from the open market, I almost lost my 5:00 p.m. snack.

Last nigth, I had prepared a beautiful salad filled with purple and green lettuce, beets to compliment, radishes and tomatoes to add color and a tangy dressing I discovered a few weeks back. But as I dished the salad onto Chris’ plate, a lettuce leaf moved. What crawled from beneath was an eight-legged protein additive I hadn’t anticipated.

Yes, I squealed. It wasn’t a high pitch monkey squeal. It was quite subtle. None-the-less, I no longer felt like eating salad. Chris, however, decided to pull the nuisance from the side dish and continue with his plate’s preparation.

Later, he asked if I washed the salad. “Of course I did,” I replied. Apparently, he found a bit of dirt. “It wasn’t dirt,” I said. “How about some spider eggs with your salad?”

So it may be a bit longer before I once again purchase fresh lettuce from the produce stand. I’ll take my chances with the packaged variety found in the local Monoprix. This way, at least I know it’s gone through some type of processing. Then again, it’s France.