Dining With the French

As promised, I've dedicated an entire post about the intricacies of a true French dinner and all of the rules that go along with one. Meals usually take at least an hour because the French love to drag things out much longer than needed. Meals are something to be enjoyed here, not rushed through. Because of this, there's no market for "on the go" food. Of course, there's McDonalds' here and there, but that and crêpe stands are about your only option if you want to eat somewhere other than where the food is prepared.

1. There is never more than one type of food on your plate at a time. If dinner is meat, veggies, and salad (by the way, salad is usually eaten after the main course. Not as an appetizer), you don't pile them all on to your plate and alternate between them, having a bite of this and a bite of that. You always take one food at a time, finish it, then move on to the next item

2. Don't alternate hands when using utensils. You hold the knife in your right hand, cut the food, then keep the fork in your left hand to bring the food to your mouth. I used to still be eating after everyone was finished because I had no left-hand-eye coordination. It took me a couple weeks to master eating with my left hand. However, if you're eating food that doesn't require cutlery, it's perfectly acceptable to use the fork with your right hand.

3. Eat cheese when you're done. All French people eat cheese once the salad has been eaten. Monsieur just about had a coronary when I said that Americans find it interesting that the French eat cheese for dessert. Apparently it's not dessert, even though it comes after the main course. Dessert is dessert. Speaking of dessert, they have it after both lunch and dinner here. A meal isn't done unless everyone has had something sweet to finish (after the cheese, of course). My host family has little dessert cups in the fridge, so I usually have chocolate mousse or a parfait-type thing that has caramel, vanilla pudding, and whipped cream. Americans don't typically have dessert every night, and I have no clue why we haven't jumped on that bandwagon yet. It's awesome.

4. Absolutely everything on your plate must be gone. I'm not exaggerating. If you totally finish your salad and there's nothing left but a few spots of dressing, you grab a piece of bread, wipe the plate clean, then eat the bread. When there are dishes in the washer, it's hard to tell if they are clean or dirty because the dirty ones show no trace of food ever being there. Garbage disposals aren't necessary because food going down the sink isn't an option. All sinks have a permanent drain cover on them so that nothing larger than a pea can be washed down.

5. Use different plates for the main course and dessert. This is the one that really throws me for a loop. If I eat my dessert out of a little plastic cup, why do I need a plate underneath me? Much less an entirely new plate than the one I just got done licking clean. I understand tips 1-4, but I don't think I'll ever grasp this one.

As you can imagine, dinner is a long process. After the main course, salad, another helping of each to show my appreciation, cheese, then dessert, an hour has easily passed. I don't mind how long meals take, because I thoroughly enjoy dinner conversation with my host family, even if I can only understand half of it. 

Affectueusement,
Katie

 
 P.S. how can I not post a picture of this delightful little pastry I had today? It's called a fraisier and reminded me of a birthday cake my mother has made on a few separate May 12ths. The brown stuff on the sides is just part of the wrapping, but it's a white cake with some type of custard / cream and strawberries. The glazed top was my favorite part!