French Food Lovers: Help a Burger Boy Learn to Eat Right!
 

Okay, the task is huge, and I need extensive, long-term assistance. But a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step of a huge ultra-white tennis shoe!

Hold the presses - I've started a twelve step program to reduce my dependency on burgers and fries when traveling in Europe.

Here's where you foodies come in - please identify some delicious salads, soup, stews, meats, vegetables and desserts that I would be likely to encounter in many moderately-priced cafes in France.

Remember I'm a simple man, but one not adverse to expanding my horizons as well as my waistline!

I like beef, lamb, veal, chicken and fish, love asparagus, carrots, potatoes, spinach, broccoli, am not afraid to try rabbit or quiche, and always leave room for sweets and peach/cherry tarts.

Please give me the French term with English translation. Suggestions also welcome on travel menus to take along and books to help me get smart. Throw in a favorite recipe and the "litte wife" and I might give it a try in the cabin.

I'm willing to devote the time and effort to learn to walk right past those golden arches and thrust and parry with snippy French waiters! Please arm me well for an epic gastronomic struggle!

Hi Degas,

For a beginner, I suggest 'ris de veau', 'oreille de porc', 'civet de tripes d'oies'and 'bouilliture' as main dishes.

See http://www.day-tripper.net/restaurantsfoodterms.html for a dictionary of cooking terms.

Degas

once you have stopped throwing up at Ira's suggestion (you bad person, you) try a salade de chevre chaud. This is salad with grilled goat's cheese on top and it's delish!

ira, you cruel rascal!

Even not knowing much french, I was "on guard" with just the mere sound of that terrible stuff!

Darlin Degas, Just remember...

Fondant au Chocolate. :)

Vin Rouge

These should make everything else taste fine, no matter what you order~

Looking for food to go along with that new found wine knowledge.

When in Paris, I love ordering dishes I wouldn't normally get at home. A good Lapin or Canard dish gets me every time.

Hi Degas,

Actually 'ris de veau' is quite good, if you don't ask what it is.

I like 'confit de canard' which is duck leg that has been very slowly cooked in duck fat until all the fat has been rendered out and then roasted.

If you will be there in season, the French have excellent shellfish: Clams, oysters, scallops, mussels and periwinkles as well as shrimp, prawns, crab and lobster. Try a chablis or cabernet blanc with them.

'Steak frite', grilled beefsteak with French fries is excellent.

Lots of folks like escargot broiled in the shell with garlic butter.

Terrines (meat loaf) are wonderful, especially with tiny pickles (cornichon) and Dijon mustard.

Also keep in mind that there are about 450 kinds of French cheese.

Just remember who you are dealing with here - What is a lapin or canard dish?

Lapin is rabbit

Canard is duck, unless it is a 'vile canard'.

Hi Degas

Here's a good one: Gratin Dauphinious

Sliced potatoes baked with onions, cheese, cream, cheese and a touch of nutmeg.

Make sure you are wearing your customary baggy sweat pants with the elastic waistband.

I hope someone gives us a good recipe for Biff-bull-yawn!

I'm not an expert on France or on French food, but I think in France, there are great differences in the cooking styles and ingredients used in various regions. I loved just about everything I had in the Dordogne, most of which was quite unfamiliar to me (foie gras, all sorts of foods cooked in goose fat, unusual organ meats, etc.) I disliked most of what I ate in Normandy, and absolutely hated two things that I usually love everyplace else: rabbit, and mussels, both of which were swimming in cream and rather repulsive--to me--though they might've been a favorite for someone else. I liked regional Provençal cooking, except for eggy things. So my suggestion is to try things that are particular to the region you are visiting. You may just happen to dislike it, if you have an aversion to certain ingredients that are a staple in the local cooking, for example, but at least it will probably be the most interesting and best type of food to eat while you're in a particular place. Just as a simple example, I love olive oil and olives, and my food at home is generally olive oil-based and more or less Mediterranean or Italian in style. So in Provence, I would buy olives at markets for lunch, and I'd expect to find olive oil for my salad and Mediterranean-type herbs in many of the dishes. But in the Dordogne, I wouldn't worry about not finding olives, and I'd have wonderful salads with walnuts and walnut oil that I probably would not have at home, and I enjoyed vegetables and potatoes cooked in goose fat instead of olive oil, though I wouldn't even know where to buy goose fat at home.

The French seem to use more different types of mushrooms than Americans. In my opinion the cèpes (porcini in Italian) are the best.

I think all French cheese is wonderful. It's fun to buy it at markets and have it for lunch if you're skipping restaurants.

I agree with the person who suggested order items you can't get at home. I order rabbit quite often in Italy, for example. I haven't been in France that much, but I will order rabbit there, too, just not in Normandy. I ordered a small bird in Paris-don't remember what it was--pigeon, I think, in a wine-herb sauce and very good. Here in the US, we don't generally eat as many different species of animals as in Europe. I'm always willing to try various organ meats, but I already know from experience that I hate tripe because of its texture.

Degas, mon cher, such a coincidence that you should ask this question! My daughter, who attends a tres la de da high school, is immersed in her first year of French. We studied together only this week, in preparation for a big test--on what else but French food! This is what I helped ma petit jeune fille memorize:

le hotdog
le hamburger
la pizza
une omelette
la crepe

Now, we all know that the aim of every la de da high school teaching its students French is merely to send them forth to gay Paree without besmirching the school's reputation by murdering the French language.

Therefore, you can be assured that if you go into any French cafe and order un hamburger with une crepe for dessert, you will be served, and you will not have to endure canard, vile or otherwise.

dln, too funny! And who says the American education system isn't doing a great job? Give that teacher "une F".

Patrick, my daughter's teacher would give you a whithering Gallic sneer for that commment. Can you not see the craftiness of such an approach? The textbooks educate these innocent lambs on the virtues of le hamburger and la pizza. Hey, this French food isn't so bad! think these sweet little freshman. Lulled by a false sense of security, they plow onward into the mysteries of French gastronomy, effortlessly picking up more and more French lingo, and before they've even understood how or why it's happened, they're in a Parisien cafe ordering canard...

I'm about to hop in the pick-up truck and motor on over to the new Piggie-Wiggly grocery store in Magnolia Springs.

Here's what we plan to cook this evening: Chicken Provencale with bell peppers and olives, Potato & Mushroom Galettes, Carrots Vichy, asparagus with lemon vinaigrette, and pear tarts.

What wines are you having?

ira, don't laugh, but a friend is bringing over some White Lambrusco. He's as bad a me with picking cheap wine. I've plenty of beer as a back up, as if I needed an excuse.

I agree (mostly--no organ meats) with the others. I order lots of duck because you don't get that much here (except in la-di-da restaurants). Boeuf en daube or boeuf Bourgignonne are good beef stew-type things. DH ordered lots and lots of lamb (sometimes grilled--cotelettes or noisettes d'agneau, sometimes roasted--gigot d'agneau) because it is so much better over there than here. (I refuse to picture how those little lambs are raised here.)

Veal is also better there (veau). Escalopes (thin slices), cotelettes. Poulet Basquaise is kind of like poulet provencale; coq au vin is good. Wow! I'm getting hungry!

degas, I'm disappointed with your dessert choice. I would have expected you to be a creme brulee man!

Hi Degas

A white Lambrusco is OK. It's a good wine for beginners.

Many a meal is ruined by the wrong wine. Lamrusco is too sweet.
Only in Italy have I seen the secco(dry)

I love this thread! Thanks, Degas, for requesting advice from the French Foodie Foderites. I will print out and refer to the more reasonable sounding suggestions, with an open mind of course.
Venturing into the unknown...I like the idea of ordering what we don't normally eat at home (in L.A.).

The other Sheila's posting (from the UK and obviously more travel savy) described a salad "a chevre." Goat cheese, yes -- but grilled -- ooh la la!Is that available in most cafes/bistros/restaurants?

The posting about shellfish got my mouth watering, I am assuming it is safe to eat if one is in a nice establishment.

Sue, where do you live? Duck is available here. Last night my spouse cooked a whole duck with figs for my birthday,
for Degas, canard avec figues.
My favorite dish is stuffed squash blossoms, now they are hard to find!

((^)) Happy Birthday Mimi! ((F)) ((F))

Happy Birthday, Mimi! Hope your enjoyed some good Henri Bardouin. <b>LV</b> Sue lives in tah-dah, <b>L</b>as <b>V</b>egas

Warm goat cheese salad is extremely common in Paris cafes--they all have it. Typically, it's on a little lettuce with frisee and often some nuts (most often walnuts when I've had it), and served on or with thin toast. I may have this for lunch at a cafe or for a light dinner if I'm eating very late, but only cafes would usually serve light fare like that as a meal. Many restaurants might have it listed as a possible appetizer(&quot;starters&quot; or entree), though.

Many menus in the central area of Paris have things translated into English or they will ask you if you want an English menu, so it's probably not a problem. I think virtually any kind of potatoes are good; I often eat lamb because it is very common nowadays on menus (chicken seems to have waned a bit), steak is steak if you're in the mood for that. I had a delicious cold avocado soup at Bouillon Racine last summer which was nice because it was so hot, but I don't typically eat soup with dinner.

I don't really care for rabbit that much myself, although it's okay, but I'd rather have chicken or lamb.

I think it will be pretty easy to get something you like if you learn a few words, such as those for beef, lamb, salmon, etc., although the menu or server will probably translate. I don't use a menu translater so don't really know of one but I think there have been a lot of mentions on this forum.

My favorite desserts are the older standards -- chocolate mousse (mousse au chocolat) and profiteroles. Those aren't as easy to find as they used to be however. I'm not sure why, maybe the mousse is out of fashion and profiteroles may be too labor intensive or expensive to do well so many don't bother anymore (the pastry should be very fresh and it should be served immediately have the hot chocolate sauce is poured over it--it can't sit around). I like an apple tart fairly well, it is really common on most menus, also--it's called tarte tatin and isn't really like a tart in the US, but more like a carmelized upside down thin apple pie.

You might consider investing in some dining guide to Paris, such as the Cheap Eats in Paris guide by Sandra Gustafson, and you'll learn all this plus get recommendations. It has a menu glossary, also.

Goodness! There are plenty of things that don't involve organs (though some of those organ things are fantastic once you get used to them). Try:

Daube de boeuf: a rich beef stew cooked in wine, wine, and wine.

Poulet r&ocirc;ti - roast chicken

Fricass&eacute;e de whatever - a creamy stew of chicken or turkey (dinde)

Do you eat fish? There are no end of fabulous fish dishes in most French restaurants, as well as mussels cooked in white wine and herbs.

Gigot d'agneau - roast lamb. It's almost always a winner.

This time of year if you find rabbit (lapin) cooked with morilles mushrooms, go for it. Outstanding!

Have you tried wild boar? (sanglier?) It's delicious...not too gamey and often served with a fruit (cherry, e.g.) sauce that compelements it wonderfully.

Salades - well, the salade au ch&egrave;vre chaud is always popular, as is a salade ni&ccedil;oise and a salade aux g&eacute;siers (that's with chicken or duck livers - delicious).

Soups - well, there's onion soup (don't order this at La Coupole - it's absolutely dreadful!), soupe aux poissons with rouille and toast, and at Le Florimond an exquisite cream of lemon soup with saffron that practically vaulted me into the gastronomic stratosphere.

I'm not a dessert person, though I love cr&egrave;me caramel, but it's not hard to find a good dessert in Paris.

Mangez bien!

Thanks, Betsy, and Scarlett. Come visit and I'll serve you my Chevre/frise&eacute;.

degas, how did your home cooked french dinner turn out?

Hi Sheila946,

In Paris, look for restaurants that have their shellfish displayed on ice outside. Those are the ones that are proud of what they offer.

Many places (La Petite Zinc is one) offer a fruites de mer for two on which a variety of shellfish are arranged on a dome of ice. Oh la la!

Not impressed with the chicken - flavors seemed bland. Everything else turned out great. Potatoes were a big hit along with pear tarts. Even liked the nutmeg in the carrots. Wine was a little sweet, but that's how I like it.

I think I'll get my shotgun out so we can try the rabbit dish ira recommended.

Degas,

What size rabbits do you hunt with a shotgun?

ira, that was my thought LOL ! A mouth full of buckshot!
Degas, Europe in the fall will afford you many opportunities to have venison, wild game, etc., delicacies that are only available during the autumn hunting season.

ira, really big fat ones. We got some that pellets just bounce off of.

...can't stand the notion of cheval.
Saw the dish on one blackboard while I was in Paris... just one tho (WHEW!)

Lapin (either here in the US or abroad) I associate with so many childhood memories of cartoon characters...I just can't do that. That said, I'll try everything else!

Pour revenir &agrave; nos moutons...

There must be such things as cookery books and dictionaries in America, Degas...? I love re-reading Elizabeth David (the bible is French Provincial Cooking but a shorter introduction would be A Glass of Wine and an Omelette), but I know there are American equivalents. Raymond Blanc, who is one of England's favourite Frenchmen, has published a book called Foolproof French Cookery - haven't seen it, but I like what I've seen of his approach on TV.

Most moderately priced caf&eacute;s in France would probably have nothing too surprising on the menu. The more of a bar-caf&eacute; it is, the fewer things it is likely to be offering (which is no bad thing); and you may find cheaper places specialising, say in pancakes (crepes) or flans/quiches (which are likely to be called tartes - have you really never eaten one?) - in which case it's useful to remember that sal&eacute; = savoury and sucr&eacute; = sweet.

patrick, thanks for the book recommendations. I'll order one when the stage coach comes to town next week. We had some books once in a small library, but the indians burned it down a few years back when they failed to get a casino permit!

What was that about sheep?

In French, &quot;Revenons &agrave; nos moutons,&quot; literally &quot;Let's get back to our sheep,&quot; means &quot;Let's get back to the subject.&quot;

It's an allusion to a medieval French play, La Farce de Ma&icirc;tre Pathelin. The play involves a court case, on the subject of some disputed sheep, that keeps getting sidetracked. The judge repeatedly tries to get back to the matter at hand by saying &quot;Revenons &agrave; nos moutons.&quot;

jahoulih, thanks for the very interesting info. The French never fail to amaze and delight me.