What do the French really eat? Traditional French breakfast: description, best recipes and reviews

Ecology of consumption. Life: In France, children do not have the right to open the refrigerator and take whatever they like from there ...

The French don't snack. And their children too.

According to the recollections of grandmothers, in our villages they didn’t have a snack either. “Pulling food”, “biting” was considered unacceptable and severely punished. You can often hear: “do not eat this, you will spoil your appetite!”, “you need to work up an appetite”, “eat only at the table”. All this is a reflection of the traditional folk culture, for which snacking was unacceptable. I note that there were no refrigerators, and hot dog bars were not sold.

In many countries, a similar tradition has been preserved. Unfortunately, in Belarus this tradition has been destroyed and there is an aggressive imposition of “healthy snacks”. For an ordinary person, there is no healthy snack is as absurd as a "healthy drug". A rare exception can be made for athletes, but that's not what we're talking about now.

According to statistics, 72% of women snack on chips, crackers, sweets during the working day, often explaining that these delicacies are the only thing that brightens up their working hours. Many office workers are forced to have a snack right at their desk, as they cannot afford a full lunch due to heavy workload and a large amount of work.

In the States in the 1950s, “people had breakfast, lunch and dinner. They ate at home, the whole family at the same table ... Snacks were the prerogative of children and adolescents - an additional opportunity to feed the growing body. In adults, this was not accepted, ”says Meredith Lewis, a nutritionist from Orlando. But snacking gradually became the norm, and, as statistics show, this happened in the same 1980s and 1990s. Worse still, the calories we get from snacking are usually not offset by the reduced calorie content of our main meals: we don't feel the need to reduce portions at lunch or dinner because we've been chewing all day.

To a large extent, this rule is food industry, the purpose of which is to sell more food. You can’t sell much with three meals a day, so marketing has focused on dilution traditional food and increase the number of times.

Aggressive implementation: "Don't slow down - snickers", "you're not you when you're hungry." The introduction of new behavioral habits: popcorn during the movies, chips with friends, etc. The inclusion of "liquid calories" - soda. Yes, these are also calories and also a snack!

Outside of America, cultural norms tended to reduce the risk of binge eating. Snacking is condemned traditional culture countries such as Japan, Türkiye, France.

Countless publications, based on both research and pure theorizing, have tried to explain the so-called French paradox, in which the French are less likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease and obesity than Americans, although they consume more fat. According to one theory, the whole point is that in France they cook with healthy olive oil. According to another, the secret is in red wine. The third argues that the French are healthier because their lives are less stressful than Americans, the fourth explains this phenomenon with genetic differences in metabolism. The answer is simpler: The peculiarity of food in France is that the French do not snack.

Note that according to the latest statistics, French women are recognized as the thinnest Europeans. According to the sociologists who conducted the study, they can be classified as an exceptional category. The body mass index of French women, the ratio between weight and height, is recognized as the lowest in Europe. It is 23.5, while this proportion for Irish women is 24.5.

Another food factor in France that protects French people from obesity is the historical tradition of eating two or three meals a day, with family or friends, with no snacks in between. For a long time French restaurants even served customers only at times considered traditional for lunch and dinner.

In France, we still have a very strict dietary pattern,” France Bellille, who studies obesity at the Hotel Dieu clinic in Paris, told me.

Your cultural traditions do not allow snacks between main meals? I clarified.

Yes exactly. The French know from childhood that this is not the way to do it. It is not right. Bellille often says to her students: “What, no one brought anything to eat in the classroom? If we were in America, you would certainly come with coffee, donuts and chocolate bars.

Not so in France. “No one would have thought to bring food to the audience,” she adds. “They've never done that, and they're not attracted to the idea. There is nothing in our environment that provokes the wrong food at the wrong time.”

Alas, the norms of behavior and nutrition in France that provided protection against overeating by requiring that we eat only at certain times of the day are eroding outside of America.

Even in France, snacks, fast food restaurants and other temptations are already appearing. As the concept of access to delicious food is being exported across the ocean, it is becoming clear that conditioned overeating transcends national boundaries.

Jean-Pierre Poulin, who heads the Center for Hospitality Studies at the University of Toulouse (Le Mireille), sees signs of a gradual cultural drift from structured eating to what he calls vagrant eating. He considers this movement a destructuring French traditions related to food. Although itinerant eaters still dine and dine with family or friends, they do not miss the opportunity to eat alone several times a day. France Bellille noticed the same trend. “Food-related cues are getting more numerous and more aggressive,” she says. As a result, obesity is beginning to threaten the French, and this is especially noticeable in children.

Note that the classic French education of children in the field of nutrition in France does not allow them to bite:

1. In France, children are not allowed to open the refrigerator and take whatever they want from there. They must ask permission from their parents. This not only discourages children from biting, but also helps to maintain order in the house.

2. In France, children do not decide what will be for lunch or dinner. No one offers food to choose from. All family members eat the same food. It is safer to try this method at home. If the child does not eat or barely touches something, react calmly. Don't offer another meal instead. Suppose a child is just beginning to emerge from his childhood food restrictions. Make life easier for him - cook dishes that all family members like, and then gradually introduce new ones into the diet.

3. Perhaps the main principle of the French approach to baby food is that the child should try at least a piece of what is on the plate. I am sure that not all French families consider this rule sacred, but I have not met such.

Try to present to the child the "taste rule" as a kind of natural law - the same gravity. Explain that our tastes are shaped by what we eat. If the child is nervous and does not want to try something for the first time, offer him to at least sniff a piece (maybe he will bite off some). Offer only one new product each time. Together with him, serve a dish that the child likes.

Watch this process, but don't be like a jailer. Stay calm, or better yet, turn everything into a game. After the child has finally swallowed the coveted piece, praise him. React neutrally if he doesn't like it. Never offer another meal in return. Do not forget that your game is designed for the long term. You don't want your kid to eat an artichoke once in a lifetime, and then under pressure. Your goal is to gradually teach him to love artichokes.

4. Even if a product doesn't work for your child, don't give up and offer it again after a while. Add broccoli to soup, serve with melted cheese, or sauté in oil. Broccoli may never be your child's favorite food, but every new shade taste increases its chances of becoming a familiar product. And then you will safely include broccoli in family menu. Of course, the child does not have to love all foods. But at least you give each of them a chance.

5. The French talk a lot about food. It's part of the food culture in France. These conversations help them to instill in children the idea that food is not only the source of life of the body. Food is an interesting taste experience. French parenting guides suggest not limiting the conversation about food with children to “like it or not”, but advise asking questions: “Are these apples sour or sweet?”, “How does mackerel taste different from salmon?”, “What is tastier?” : red-leaf lettuce or arugula?

Think of food as an invitation to talk. If the cake suddenly fell apart or the roast turned out to be inedible, laugh about it together. In the supermarket, walk along the food aisles with your child, invite him to choose fruits and vegetables himself.

The question is asked, I answer: because they eat differently. Not better or worse, just different. How? That's what we'll talk about.

No, how unfair! French cuisine is rich in both fats and carbohydrates. In addition, the French treat bread with reverence, and French cinema is densely “stuffed” with scenes of lunches and dinners, where no one denies themselves anything. And how, pray tell, do French women manage to maintain lightness and attractiveness? This question is of interest not only to us, but also to women all over the world.

First of all, who said that the French, eating three meals a day, eat 3 meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Don't believe!

Here is the usual diet of the modern average French woman, leading active image life.

Breakfast:

Freshly squeezed Orange juice
1 hot crispy toast with jam (preferably homemade or low sugar). Sundays - jam + butter.
Tea (a lot, most often without sugar) or coffee (not much).

1 croissant instead of toast
natural yoghurt, preferably without additives. Then the jam (or honey) will go not on toast, but in yogurt, and the toast will be spread with a thin layer of butter (low-fat, natural, French women choose it very carefully), and shrunk without jam

cereals with milk (for an amateur, which are most often children)
fruit (but juice is preferred)

The exception is the holidays, when the mere sight of a buffet in a hotel makes your eyes widen. Then the Frenchwoman simply “closes” them and allows herself both scrambled eggs (even with bacon, but rarely, they don’t like this product), and toast (with butter And jam), and a croissant (usually mini), and fruit (in addition to juice). But then she will most likely simply refuse lunch or eat a light green salad and drink a cup of coffee.

No sandwiches with cheese, ham, hot sausages, cereals and other foods familiar to us, Germans or Americans.

The most important thing is that the French do not suffer from such gastronomic "restraint" at all, because they are used to breakfast only in this way. From time immemorial, their parents had breakfast like this (with the exception of residents of the “harsh” provinces - Alsace or Auvergne, for example, where winters are cold and long). So they are accustomed to breakfast from early childhood. A special delight is a baguette with a crispy crust and a minimum of crumb in the middle, a croissant is fresh and airy, better still warm, and homemade jam. And juice is sacred. There is an electric juicer in every home.

On Sunday - the formula: breakfast + lunch = brunch (from two English words breakfast and lunch) i.e. late breakfast, flowing into lunch, with scrambled eggs and ham and other "dinner" delights and a full dinner or a good family dinner with grandparents, and then light dinner at home (cheese, baguette, wine).

Dinner:

Mineral water
In the warm season - salad composée (or grande (large) salade) is a green salad with something: warm goat cheese, seafood, fish, chicken, etc.
In cold weather - one hot dish (meat, fish) with a side dish (most often vegetables) or a small (petite) salad instead.
Espresso coffee with a piece of dark chocolate (or a tiny cookie). Of course, you can also eat ice cream, but this is not French.
A glass of wine is allowed even during working hours (no one has gotten tipsy from such an amount of alcohol, and allowable rate alcohol in the blood to be able to drive, in France 0.3 ppm is more than one glass).

Indeed, it turns out a 3-course dinner and wine to boot!

Dinner:

This is the main meal, so here the French give themselves free rein.

Aperitif. What do the French drink for an aperitif?
Entree(entre) or hors-d "?uvre (or d'evre) - appetizer (hot / cold) or soup. Dinner is often called souper (supe) - precisely from the word "soup".
Main hot dish. About traditional and favorite dishes of the French, as well as French specialties -
Cheese or/and dessert. "Or" is for women, "and" is for men. What do French women like to treat themselves to for dessert? .
Coffee, tisane - Herb tea and / or digestif (strong drinks).
Water and wine throughout the dinner, and the wine may vary depending on the dishes and the initial choice (the first bottle / glass turned out to be successful or unsuccessful)

Ref O sieve, how can you eat all this or where does all this fit into skinny French women? Yes, the portions are usually small. How more expensive restaurant- the smaller the portion. In addition, before ordering “first, second and compote”, a French woman will definitely find out exactly what size of the dish in this restaurant and if suddenly it’s too hot, too copieux - i.e. the portion is large, she will do without appetizers and dessert, or she will eat entrée, cheese, dessert, but refuse the main course.

If we have dinner at home, then everything is quite simple: a piece of meat fried in 3 minutes, a light side dish (rice, vegetables), a green salad and cheese (it is together and after the main course, the French “eat up” cheese if they are not full), fruit or light dessert (yogurt with honey, for example). "Restaurant style" is prepared on Sunday or for guests.

The art of living happily

I must admit that the French are generally not inclined to be overweight. According to statistics, only 11% suffer from overweight. Obesity statistics in France generally show extremely modest figures, in England they are twice as high, in the USA - three times.

However, it is not only a matter of genetic predisposition.

“If we followed all the restrictions and diets that are so popular in the world today,” the French women say, “then we would have recovered long ago. We do not find any contradiction in the fact that you can eat bread, chocolate and other delicious things, drink wine and at the same time maintain harmony and health. But if we want to eat chocolate and not gain weight, we have to work our heads».

What does it mean? And here's what:

Don't deny yourself your daily dose of small pleasures.. If you want chocolate - eat candy, taste, enjoy, rejoice. But it is not necessary to weave the whole box at once! You need to feel the difference between promiscuity and the desire to pamper yourself. If we make any restrictions, it is for the sole purpose of enjoying everything else in moderation. The main thing is not to lose your mind and get up from the table without feeling overeated or guilty.

« Five minutes in the mouth - five years on the hips”, - said Pierre's grandmother (the same one, one of the first professional models, remember?), Coquettishly slapping herself on her elastic buttocks. French women never forget about this, and therefore they try to follow fairly simple rules that are the norm of life.

I tried to analyze the situation and deduced these rules, first of all, for myself, but today I am sharing with you.

13 secrets of slim French women:

1. Eat Can all but a little. And this is the main point.

2. Everyone meal- whole event, unhurried ritual and enjoyment every piece. A Frenchwoman will not chew on the run - little pleasure! Table talk is an integral part of the meal.

3. Additive is evil. This, by the way, is the exclusive rule of ballerinas all over the world.

4. Don't snack. An apple in the afternoon. This is all.

5. Mineral water during the whole day.

6. Fresh food always preferable. Semi-finished products - only in the most extreme cases.

7. No concentrates, additives, chemical dyes and other nonsense. French women are just obsessed with natural products. Let them be slightly dented, with "barrels", even if they were slightly gnawed by a worm, but only those that were grown in natural conditions. The tomato should smell like a tomato, and the cheese and butter should be farm-produced (and it's better to know the farmer by sight). But fat-free, sugar-free foods are superfluous. They are tasteless!

8. Nutrition must be très varié - very diverse. And very a lot of vegetables(often those to which Russian women are not accustomed at all). Fennel, celery, green beans, asparagus, broccoli are the side dishes preferred by French women. And no salads with sour cream or mayonnaise. These products are generally alien to the French.

9. No sugary fizzy drinks. Cola, fanta, soda, lemonade, etc. excluded. Same solid chemistry! Even juices are only natural if possible.

10. During meals - only water(or wine). "Drinks" - fruit drinks, kvass, kissels, compotes, so beloved by Russian people, simply do not exist in nature, and no one will drink juice.

11. Meal frequency(literally by the hour). In this scenario, you can not follow the popular dietary rule - do not eat after 18.00. And how to observe it if the French have dinner late - after 20.00 - 20.30 hours? Many restaurants offer two evening services - at 20.00 and 22.00.

12. Wine - only with food and no more than a couple of glasses a day (but more often still on holidays, on weekends, on vacation. A Frenchwoman will not drink alone at dinner, she normal woman). Strong alcohol women almost never drink, it is the prerogative of men.

13. Gum? For what? It also starts the mechanism of the stomach, gastric juice begins to be produced and a feeling of hunger appears. Where is the logic? In addition, chewing in public places is simply indecent. I know, I know, ask, but what about fresh breath? How about brushing your teeth after dinner? Believe it or not, most French women carry toothbrushes in cases and cute mini-sprays in their purses - a spray against bad breath. And it’s not even worth talking about toothpicks on the tables: digging in front of everyone is simply unthinkable.

And in conclusion, two words about diets.

French women rarely step on the scales. For what? They have eyes, clothes and a mirror.

They will go crazy with boredom if they have to calculate calories, read about fats, proteins, lipids and other things. chemical substances not to mention applying all this to the sacred part of their lives - food. That's why:

If you want to be in a state of balance, you do not need to follow a diet, but gradually, over a certain period of time. change eating habits. So when you reset excess weight, your efforts will not only be painless, but will also lead to more sustainable results.

Three months of a strict diet can break the spirit of any woman. And three months of discoveries and a more in-depth acquaintance with the behavior and reaction of one's own body to small and quite sparing dietary restrictions - it's a good attitude the fruits of which you will reap for years to come.

If you manage to perceive at least a fraction of the French attitude to food and life, the problem of weight will cease to be for you a terrible obsession, constant but fruitless attempts to curb your appetite, and you will see that maintaining weight is part of a program called " the art of living fully and happily».

Next week in the "Let's talk about beauty" section: Secrets of French makeup or beauty with the mind

Text: Arina Kaledina

Illustrations: Natalia Bolotskikh

Photo on the banner:

A simple answer to the question "What do the French eat?" is that they eat almost everything. In France, as in most developed countries, there are meat lovers and vegetarians, there are people who prefer salty and those who are most fond of sweet. However, there are a number of aspects related to French cuisine traditions that distinguish France from all other countries.

History of food in France

Food is a very important part of the French, which makes it a huge part of the whole French culture. While the British are famous for their afternoon tea and the Americans are famous for their fast food, the French are known for long, multi-course meals. This food culture is an integral part of the dynamic Everyday life in France.

The rapidly evolving pace of life in the 21st century has also changed french lifestyle. For example, huge supermarkets, which are not much different from large American chains, came to France only in the last 20 years. While France was once the epitome of multi-shopping (bread in boulangerie, meat - inboucherie, cheese - infromagerie, and fruits and vegetables in local markets), more French people are planning their diet by visiting weekly hypermarché s.

Despite this trend, the French are still very often buying the most important products(bread and pastries) in independent and specialized stores. While the meat everyday meals, usually purchased at the supermarket, many families still visit butchers to buy special occasions best pieces meat. In addition, many French people run into the bakery daily for a freshly baked baguette or rustic bread ( pain de champagne).

What do the French like to eat?

Although the process of eating in France is usually very long, breakfasts can be quite quick business. Lunch and dinner can feel like a long meal with plenty various dishes, while breakfast is similar to what people in other countries are used to: cereal with milk or coffee with toast.

french breakfast

As a rule, the French get to the coffee pot before they get to the breakfast plate. While the default morning drink in France is a strong espresso (if you ask for a coffee in a restaurant, you're sure to get an espresso), for breakfast, it's a good idea to ask for cafeé au lait. This coffee is served in a large round mug and contains a lot of warm milk. Less popular options are tea or hot chocolate.

Usually the first cup of coffee among the French is accompanied by:

- A piece of baguette with butter or jam. As a rule, this is enough for a traditional French breakfast.

– Tartines – French favorite food- toasts with jam or jam, which, thanks to their sweet taste, go well with strong coffee.

– Layered, warm croissants popular product for breakfast, traditionally intended for the weekend. On weekdays, they are also part of breakfast, but much less often. When in France, don't even think about eating croissants that aren't warmed up first.

– Pain au chocolate- luxuriously delicious morning pastries. On weekends, the rectangular version filled with chocolate is a real treat for children.

– Sometimes bread / toast / croissants are accompanied a small amount fresh fruit or plain yogurt.

french lunch

To the question " What do the French like to eat? for lunch?" the most awaits you great amount options. Some French people interrupt their workflow for a couple of hours for the sake of delicious lunch accompanied by the vocals of wine. But not everyone can afford such a luxury, and not always. For example, the frantic pace of modern life forces employees of business centers in megacities to intercept sandwiches bought from street vendors on the run.

Restaurant lunch A: This option is only limited by your imagination and budget. Three or four courses may include appetizers (salad, soup or pâté), meat or fish, accompanied by potatoes and warm vegetables. All this is crowned with dessert and sometimes a cheese plate. As a rule, such a dinner is accompanied by gourmet wines of France. Of course, there are restaurants offering lighter lunches with popular menu items.

- Oysters lying on ice in halves of shells. The class of the oysters is very important, such as the quality of the oysters Spé ciale de Claire an order of magnitude higher thanFine de Claire, wherein Spé ciale Pousse en Claire – top grade better than all the others put together.

– salade Niç oise appears on the menu of many cafes. Named after the famous city on the French Riviera, this salad consists of tuna and hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, olives, capers, green beans and sometimes anchovies.

– Soupe à l‘ Oignon Gratiné e nowhere in the world can be as tasty as in France. Fragrant and perfected with caramelized onions, topped with a crispy crust Swiss cheese gruyere, French onion soup- a true classic.

– Charcuterie– a set of hand-made sausages, air-dried, dried ham and pate. Wait for the company cold cuts will make Dijon mustard, gherkins and small pickled onions along with baguette and cheese. Add a bottle of red wines of France… et voilà , you have french picnic, which can be arranged right on a bench in the nearest park.

– Various restaurants and street vendors sell traditional French pancakes (crê pes) , which here can be both sweet and savory, as a main course or dessert.

– Croque Monsieur is not a very distant relative of the American Grilled Cheese Sandwich. This open sandwich with toasted ham and cheese, topped with a velvety bechamel sauce. Its variation is Croque Madame, involves adding a fried egg on top.

- Do not forget french fries fries!

Homemade lunch: Some French people are accustomed to dining at home, and do not want to break this tradition, even though at home they will not have the same quirky and sophisticated multi-course meal as in a restaurant. This practice is more common in rural areas, especially in outdoor physical work, where lunch provides an escape from the midday sun.

street lunch: As work schedules get tighter, many French people have taken to buying sandwiches on the street or at train stations. The most popular sandwiches are those What do the French like to eat?, consist of a baguette, and cheese or ham are considered the most traditional filling. Also now as a filling can be found boiled eggs, tuna and salami.

french dinner

Dinner in France varies depending on the day of the week, the time of year, and how heavy the lunch was. Couples who dine at home often have a fairly austere dinner, while those who just have a sandwich for lunch can afford a varied and rich dinner.

Since France is large enough that its climates and geography can be reduced to a single denominator, it is only logical that the main food is different in the north and in the south, along the sultry Mediterranean coast and in the cold Alps. So, on weekends or holidays, the whole family gathers for dinner, sometimes in an extended composition, then the meal becomes longer, more dishes are prepared, and the dining table is decorated with beautiful tablecloths, cutlery, napkins and plates. When dinner is ready and the head of the family says " à table", everyone goes to the table and takes their places.

Tip: If you're not a fan of steak or fish, try them in France, you might change your mind. Tempting, artful sauces are not far from perfect.

– For the famous bistro steak steak au frites, entrecote (rib-eye) is grilled or pan-fried (a couple of minutes on each side) and served immediately with a generous piece of cheese Roquefort or with aromatic sauce bé arnaise, which is poured over a piece of meat. A mountain of crispy fries is a must, plus a simple green salad.

– Fresh fish bought on the day of preparation at the local market, lightly grilled and served with potatoes and salad, is another popular French dinner option.

– Grilled Normandy clams can be served with shallots and thyme in a white wine sauce, then dipped in toasted baguette slices.

– Bouillabaisse, originated on the Mediterranean coast of Marseille, is a classic French fish soup. This is one of the key symbols french cuisine.

– blanquette de veau, the softest veal stewed in white sauce, is the main home food and one of the most popular dishes in France. Sometimes the dish may vary, and veal is replaced by lamb meat.

- Simmering chicken, burgundy, mushrooms, onions and bacon pieces are combined to create legendary dish coq au vin, the centuries-old "highlight of the program" of French gastronomy.

– Boeuf Bourguignon, sister dish tocoq au vin, also coming from Burgundy. Basically the same method is applied here, but beef is used instead of chicken.

– Cassoulet, a divine dish in a pot that has spread throughout the world from the southwest of France. A rich, slow-cooking roast is a recipe built around meat ( pork sausages, pork, goose or duck) and white beans.

Enjoy unique French cuisine traditions

Although there is no specific dietary pattern common to all French people, many homes and restaurants have a set typical products and traditional dishes. coffee and wines of France are also closely related to food culture. Travelers and visitors to the country will appreciate excellent food, as well as simple and fresh ingredients.

Vincent Vega: Do you know what they call a quarter-pound cheeseburger in Paris?
Jules: What, they don't call him a quarter-pound cheeseburger?
Vincent: They have the metric system there. They don’t even understand what a quarter of a pound is.
Jules: And what do they call him?
Vincent: They call it Royal Cheeseburger.
Jules: "Royal cheeseburger"? What do they call "Big Mac" then?
Vincent: "Big Mac" is "Big Mac", only they call it "Le Big Mac".

(Pulp Fiction, dir. Quentin Tarantino)

Breakfast:
The French eat an exceptionally sweet breakfast. Cereal, croissant (a real French croissant is a croissant without a filling and made from puff pastry in butter), a puff pastry bun with chocolate, a piece of baguette with nutella, butter, or jam (moreover, one or the other, not both together. although I I still believe that butter + jam = success). Croissants and buns are better to buy in boulangerie! This is a great pastry. It is better not to go to the boulangerie on an empty stomach - the abundance of cakes will not leave you indifferent. They drink coffee, much less often tea, and very often hot chocolate, which has nothing to do with the hot chocolate that is made in Russia, thick and rich, but rather what we call cocoa from milk and Nesquik. Drinks are drunk from bowls, dipping everything they eat in them, be it a baguette or a croissant. Looks disgusting. But it really tastes better

Lunch (approximately from 11.30 to 14.00):
Lunch was the biggest surprise for me. For lunch, the French eat ... sandwiches. More precisely, one long sandwich, consisting of half a baguette, cut in the middle, with butter and ham inside - the canonical jambon-beurre (ham-butter). There are, of course, a lot of variations on the theme - with cheese, with salami, with gherkins, chicken, etc. Here is such a sandwich, dessert, drink - together they cost from 7-10 euros. Of course, on Sunday, mom or dad can cook quiche or pizza, but this happens very rarely.

Afternoon snack (16:00-17:00):
At this time, children return home from school and are immediately coaxed with cookies and juices. Because…

Dinner will be only at 19.30-21.00:
Too late, of course. There are various combinations of dishes. For example, dinner consists of 3 courses: entrée (sandwiches with pate, and sometimes under New Year and foie gras :), plât (proper dish + lettuce salad) and dessert.
For dessert, they often “serve” ... yogurt. Yes, yes, if you didn’t know, yogurt is a dessert, and it turns out that it’s harmful to eat it in the morning, as Russians have been doing all their adult lives!
Here's what plat was like:
Quiche Lorraine is a great classic of French cuisine. How would you explain it in his words? An open bacon omelet pie? Omelet with bacon in dough? In general, see photo #2. The main thing is that cooking is immensely facilitated in all respects: the dough is bought ready-made, round, the bacon is chopped, the cheese is grated. Unless you have to mix the eggs with cream yourself.

Gatelttes de sarrasin - this dish is usually eaten only in winter, because, according to the French, it is quite fatty. So, this is a pancake made from dark (buckwheat) flour, in which grated cheese, a slice of ham (thin as paper) and an ordinary fried egg are wrapped. For Russians, this is more like a standard breakfast.

Cassoulet is another winter dish. Beans with sausages and pieces of duck. It is often bought ready-made in a huge tin can.

Also for dinner sometimes there are: pumpkin puree soup, meat and green beans, chicken breast and green beans, cutlets (ready and frozen) and green beans. Sometimes there was pasta instead of beans. And always a bite with lettuce salad. Speaking of salad dressing, here's her recipe: 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon of mustard, salt, pepper, mix it all until smooth. Ready!
For dessert, as already mentioned, there was always yogurt.
In restaurants you can find all the same, plus french fries, raw minced meat with raw egg, burgers, oysters, pizza.

If you take meat, you should specify how well it should be fried (bleu / raw - saignant / with blood - à point / half-fried - bien cuit / well-fried). Nobody takes the latter, because it is considered too tough. Well, the usual desserts: cheese plate, tiramisu, chocolate tart with liquid center and apple open tart, which is prepared as follows: on ready dough spread the apples, cut thinly, put it in the oven for 20 minutes - you're done!

(Visited 2 258 times, 1 visits today)

France is known for its beautiful language, cozy cities, gorgeous beaches and delicious food. Food in France is a cult thing. It is believed that there are 2 great cuisines in the world: classic French and Chinese. Whether you agree with this statement or not is up to you. And in this article we will look at the features of French cuisine, what any tourist should definitely try, 10 interesting and tasty dishes and 12 useful tips so as not to hit the plate with your face.

Average cost of a meal in a French restaurant– 16 euros.
Full meal for one person with a glass of wine– 35 – 45 euros.

French breakfast - le petit déjeuner

The traditional breakfast in France is not intricate. The French eat a baguette for breakfast. butter and jam/cheese/pâté, croissant or bagel, or cereal. Dessert is fruit. As you can see, the dishes on the morning menu are not too varied. From drinks - orange juice, tea, coffee or hot chocolate.

French lunch - le déjeuner

In many places in France, lunch is served from 11:30 to 13:00. As a rule, travelers dine later and sometimes face the fact that they are refused to be served. Like, the guys came late, they ate everything. If you are late with lunch, then head to a self-service restaurant, where you have a better chance of eating.

A traditional French lunch consists of:

starter: salad, soup or puree soup, pate and cold appetizers;
main course: meat or fish with potatoes, rice, pasta or vegetables for garnish;
cheese plate and/or dessert.

Often the dessert is not listed on the menu and you have to listen to the suggestions of the waiter. For dessert at French restaurants they serve fruits, jams, ice cream, rarely pastries, you can press everything on top of coffee.

Dinner in French - le diner

The French have dinner between 19:30 and 20:45. TV channels adjust the start of their main evening TV shows to start at 20:45 - 21, when everyone has dinner.

For dinner in France, they eat lighter dishes - vegetables, soups, etc.

The simplest and most important advice, which I give to everyone, regardless of which country a person goes to - eat where the locals eat. Usually, in France, they have lunch from 12 to 13 hours, and dinner from 20 to 21. I understand that you are on vacation and do not want to be tied to a strict schedule, but you will find the largest selection of dishes in restaurants at this time. Tourist establishments make concessions, but tourist restaurants I do not advise anyone - always more expensive and often less tasty.
Grab a business lunch. In case you don't know, this is a fixed lunch menu. You are given a choice of several sets of dishes. Each set usually includes 2 courses and a dessert. In France they are called "le Menu du jour". Business lunches are a great way to get acquainted with French cuisine without overpaying.
If you want to dine like a real Frenchman, then you are supposed to drink an aperitif first, usually wine or a Kir cocktail (white dry wine and blackcurrant liqueur).
Bread- an integral part of the French table. The French won't start eating without a good fresh baguette.
But you will not find on the table paper napkins. The French use exclusively fabric. They pick them up under the tablecloth. Napkins are important too!
The more it stinks cheese- the better it is.
The French use knives while eating, not only to cut off a piece of steak, but also to push the food from the plate onto the fork. So a knife is a must, as is the bread, as is the cheese sandwich at the end of the meal.
Butter slightly salted in France.
In France, a slightly different understanding of the word "dessert" than in the rest of the world. Don't expect to be served éclair au chocolat, choux à la crème, or Paris-Brest after dinner. Most often, fruits, yogurt or jam are meant.
In France, you are practically you won't find vegans, probably, they all emigrated a long time ago away from the temptations of French cuisine.
In France, it is customary to add salt and pepper to dishes to taste. It is easy to distinguish a salt shaker from a pepper shaker, the salt shaker has several holes, the pepper shaker has one.

Do you need to tip in French restaurants?

In French restaurants, tipping is considered the norm. There is no fixed price here, so it's hard to tell how much to tip. All by feeling. The normal amount of a tip to a waiter for good service in a restaurant is 10% of the check amount. In cafes or self-service restaurants, they usually leave 1-2 euros as an expression of gratitude.

French food every traveler should try

Les cuisses de grenouille s- frog legs

You can't come to France and not try frog meat. It tastes like chicken with a slight touch of seafood. The French cook frog legs with herbs, it turns out very tasty. Don't give up until you try.

Foie gras - foie gras

What you should definitely try in France is foie gras - the liver of a specially fattened duck. It is best eaten fried, but if that thought scares you, you can order a foie gras pâté and spread it on a baguette.

Escargots - snails

Another popular French dish that makes many people shudder at the mere thought is snails. Delicious snails fried with garlic, butter and parsley. Snails are taken out of the shell with a special fork. With experience, it even turns out not to splash into a neighbor opposite.

Boeuf tartare - beef tartare

Tartar is a dish of raw chilled beef, egg yolk, spices, onions, capers, gherkins and a bunch of other variations of additives. If you take it for the first time, then first take one dish for the company, for some the taste may be too unusual - these are the features of French cuisine. But for many, tartare is a real delicacy.

Cheval or taureau - horse or bull

Or a horse and a bull. Do not rush to turn up your nose at this dish. generously flavored with wine and orange sauce you will remember it for a long time.

Any cheese that you don't like at first sight

Too smelly? Too soft? Too thick mold? Spread it on a fresh baguette with butter, and you will sing in a completely different way.

5 proven French dishes that everyone loves

Croissant

Buy a croissant. Necessarily. Fresh, still warm, delicious... Buy it and bring it to me!

Macarons

Small fragrant delicacies with a huge assortment of flavors. Especially wonderful with salty creamy caramel but the rest of the flavors are fine. Many manufacturers have their own signature flavors.

french mussels

Steamed mussels with potatoes for garnish. You can eat them classic with onions and white wine, or more interesting versions with Roquefort and saffron.

Duck

Duck roasted and stewed, chopped and whole, duck liver or cassoulet with sausages and beans - everything is delicious.

your favorite cheese

Not only to experiment with smelly varieties. Taste your favorite cheeses in France. Believe me, coming to the market to buy cheese from a person who probably milked the animal that gave milk for this cheese is an amazing experience.

10 Unusual French Cuisine Dishes

In this list all 10 dishes, but they are all unusual. I'm willing to bet that most of them you never knew existed. It's not duck liver or frog legs. You can try these dishes in almost any restaurant in France. Under each dish you will find a list of addresses of restaurants where, according to locals, this dish I'm sure they cook delicious food.

1. Bouillabaisse

French bouillabaisse is fish soup, ear i.e. It was once considered the food of the poor. Marseille fishermen simply boiled seafood that they could not sell. This means that the main criterion for selecting fish for bouillabaisse is its unattractiveness. Google for interest what a scorpion fish looks like, and you will understand everything. But in our time, bouillabaisse has entered the restaurant menu and is considered exquisite. expensive dish. There are many variations of this soup. I do not advise ordering bouillabaisse cheaper than 30 euros per plate. Often the soup is served in 2 stages - first the broth with croutons and spicy sauce, and then a plate with 5 varieties of fish.

Where to try: obviously in Marseille. Delicious bouillabaisse is served at Le Miramar (official website: lemiramar.fr; £54) and at Chez Fonfon (chez-fonfon.com; £46).

2. Tartiflette

Tartiflette is another bright representative of French cuisine. This is very hearty meal. It includes potatoes, bacon and onions sprinkled with Reblechon cheese. Legend has it that poor peasants were taxed for their milk. The more milk a cow gives, the more you pay. The cunning people quickly adapted and began to milk the cows only halfway, and after checking, milk them to the end. Reblechon cheese was made from leftover milk. The amount of cheese was as great as the unwillingness to pay taxes. It was necessary to put it somewhere, and in 1980 they came up with the dish of the same name.

Where to try: in the Alps. Tartiflette is delicious at Calèche in Chamonix (restaurant-caleche.com; £16) and Chalet La Pricaz (sav.org/pricaz.html; £15). Detailed addresses can be found on the websites.

3. Cassoulet

The cassoulet dish includes stewed white beans, sausage and pork. The result is a casserole cooked in a special pot. A crispy crust forms on top, but inside the dish is very juicy. All this splendor is sprinkled with herbs and served on the table.

Where to try: in Toulouse at Restaurant Emile (restaurant-emile.com ; £20).

4. Beef bourguignon or beef in Burgundy (Beef bourguignonne)

The present National dish France since rich history And rich taste. While the Europeans were fighting for a place in the sun, the Burgundians left the world political arena and, it seems, not in vain. But they came up with a lot of delicious dishes. I strongly advise you not to lean on Burgundy food, otherwise you will have to take apart the restaurant wall to get you out. I'm kidding, of course. But a hot meat dish rich in wine will not joke. Many Burgundians are chubby guys, mind you. Because it's very, very tasty.

Where to try: in Dijon, at the D "Zenvies restaurant (dzenvies.com; £14) and at Beursaudière (beursaudiere.com; £17).

5. Pissaladiere

Pissaladière is a famous fish onion pie. Contains onions, garlic, anchovies, olives and Provencal herbs. To some, it resembles an ordinary onion pie, to someone pizza. Call it what you want. It won't make it any less delicious.

Where to try: in Antibes (lepain-jpv.com).

6. Potjevleesch

One of the most distinctive meat dishes in France. It is based on 4 white meats - veal, pork, rabbit and chicken, all mixed with pieces of vegetables in jelly. Potivlash is served with gherkins, salad and chips.

Where to try: A-l "Potée d" Léandre in Souchez (alpotee.fr; £14.50), Barbue-d" Anvers in Lille (lebarbuedanvers.fr; £16) and T "kasteelhof in Kassel (http://lvermeersch.free.fr/kasteelhof )

7. Auvergne stew with vegetables (Potée auvergnate)

Pork, sausage, bacon and vegetables stewed together. Not high french cuisine Of course, but this is a simple and very tasty dish. Do you understand now why France is so tight with vegetarians?

Where to try: Auvergne meat is well prepared in Auvergne, which is not surprising. It is advised to go to l "Alambic in Clermont-Ferrand (alambic-restaurant; £14.50).

8. Choucroute

Alsatian choukrut is no joke to you. While the Latin and Germanic worlds shook the area with conflicts, in which Alsace periodically got to, the locals spat on all this politics and took up the arrangement of the economy. As a result, the Alsatians have spacious houses, flourishing villages and a chic National cuisine. Shukrut is a dish of sauerkraut, sausages and pork, someone cooks it with rice, someone with potatoes. There is an option with fresh cabbage, but in my opinion it is less tasty. Carefully! After properly cooked choukrut, it is very difficult to get out from behind the table without assistance.

try The canonical French Choucroute is available at Chez Yvonne in Strasbourg (restaurant-chez-yvonne.net ; £16) and Maison Kammerzell (maison-kammerzell.com ; £17).

9. Aioli (Grand aioli)

Aioli is famous sauce with garlic. Grand aioli is a dish of salted cod, carrots, potatoes, shellfish, beans, onions, artichokes and, in some variations, beets and other vegetables. All this is seasoned with aioli sauce and washed down with rose wine.

Where to try: restaurants Maurin des Maures (maurin-des-maures.com ; £15), Restaurant Balthazar (bistrotbalthazar.com) and Le Petit Chaudron (restaurantlepetitchaudron.fr) in Avignon.

10. Grilled oysters with champagne and saffron

What is French cuisine without shellfish? The locals love them. Oysters are especially fond of. However, the Britons boldly replace the classic raw clam with a grilled one with herbs and champagne.

Where to try: restaurant Les Ormes in Barnville Carter (hotel-restaurant-les-ormes.fr; £12).