Eating is an art in France and I quickly grew fond of their ways. Some fresh vegetables, fresh herbs, good meat and a simple recipe is all that it took. If you are eating everything you just bought that day, then there's no reason to have so much space in your refrigerator is there? It is for that reason their refrigerators are so much smaller in comparison to ours. For Americans, going to the market is an inconvenience but for the French, it is part of their every day routine. The food in France is of good quality and it's not full of all these chemicals that try to make it last a lifetime, or contain less sodium. Everything is fresh and natural which means their is nothing better for our bodies! Unlike Asia and besides my lactose intolerant level when it came to cheese, my stomach was agreeing with everything I was eating. If there is one thing that I had a hard time adjusting to, it was the breakfast. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy theirs, it's just that I had a difficult time adjusting to that type of breakfast at that time of the day. Me, I like my typical English Breakfast...I am a salty kind-of-person in the morning. The French, they are all about the sweets..all the time sweet, sweet, sweet. For breakfast, someone will take a stroll to their closest neighborhood patisserie to purchase baguettes, croissants and chocolate filled pastries for everyone in the house. Those items will then be accompanied by butter or Nutella, and then washed down with either coffee, tea, or chocolate milk. Primary ingredients: bread and chocolate...yeah a lot different then my typical morning meal. Nothing wrong with it, just not my cup of tea.
Some beverages that one would often see in a household other than coffee are these cans of different flavored syrups. Similar to the grenadine that we use in our drinks except everyone mixes a small amount of this with either water or soda water. In Tristan's case, his favorite was milk with the menthe verte (mint) syrup. Then of course there is always the wine...do I even need to go there? Box wine, 2 Euro wine, free wine, it didn't matter what kind of wine, it always tasted amazing and came with no hang over! (maybe not every time)
Now for lunch and dinner, they both started the same way. While the main course is being prepared, the table is set and everyone gathers around for good conversation and apéritif.
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| Saucisson: dried meats cut thin and served with apéritif |
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| The meal before the meal. |
Apéritifs are alcoholic beverages such as champagne or white wine that are served with food items like bread, crackers, cheese and olives. The purpose of this is to help stimulate the appetite before the main meal comes out. At first, I would often find myself almost halfway full before it was time for me to eat the real dish, but I soon learned to pace myself and save room for the good stuff. What were some of my favorite meals prepared for me? Well there was Moules à la crème (mussels cooked in sauce and complimented with french fries), Galette (large and thin buckwheat pancake, folded over and filled with various items/similar to concept of a burrito), and my absolute favorite dish was Raclette (melted cheese, dried meat, and small firm potatoes.) The concept of it made it fun to eat, it was simple and absolutely delicious. Those are only to list a few of things I tried.
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| Moules |
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| Galette |
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| Raclette |
Are you full yet because there's more? Following right after a well prepared meal comes the fromage (cheese) platter. The French eat more cheese than any one in the world (or so I read) and they always leave room for the cheese. There is often a range of cheeses served and this signifies the ending to a good meal...well so I thought. The last is the offer for coffee or tea and besides the children, everyone will always say yes. It is usually offered with chocolate or some kind of French dessert. My favorite dessert were the macarons, just the right texture and the flavors to choose from are endless!
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| Macarons |
Oh, did I say that was the last part? Sorry, I forgot there is still one more thing...and this is the last I promise. Now I am not 100% sure on the names but it is referred to as either "l'eau de vie" or "la goute." If there is some of this in the house, it is then offered as a digestive (as if their strong coffee isn't enough). This strong potion is usually made by a grandpa or an uncle of someone in the house. Similar to our Moon Shine.
Voila! Dining with the French.
Just imagine me in beginning of my visit in France, I usually don't like to say no to trying foods because I feel that it's rude so when I first arrived I was always saying yes to everything. Little did I know that their meals lasted a century. You can imagine how frightened I was feeling after the cheese platter, I had no idea what was coming next! Haha, but now that I am familiar, I am in love with their way of eating and everything they eat. It's simple to remember; fresh fresh fresh, baguettes with every meal, apéritif, cheese, coffee and chocolate...I guess I could have just written that and made a long story short but that's no fun. Really though, I will continue to eat and cook like them no matter where I live for the rest of my life.
Bon appétit!
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