French food questions
 

My husband and I are almost certain we will be going to France on our vacation next year (probably Provence region and then onto Paris). Neither of us have never been to France, nor have we even had any French food here in the US. Although we both appreciate good food, we are not really "foodies". We are NOT adventerous eaters and are both (unfortunately) very picky. We don't eat any seafood and rarely stray away from common foods here in the US such as chicken or beef. We don't eat things such as rabbit or various game meets. While I am not too concerned (would never let things like this stop me from going somewhere on a vacation), I am just wondering if there are things on French menus that are more "normal" (in American terms)? If not, is there a variety of other ethnic restaurans around Provence (I'm assuming that in Paris, a large city, that this will be the case but please correct me if I'm wrong)? I'm sorry if this seems like a strange question, but I'm just curious.

Thanks!
Tracy

Sorry, that was supposed to be "Neither of have have EVER (not never, a double negative!) been to France. Must grammer check! :)

They nearly always have some sort of steak, and chicken dishes. You really do not have to be adventurous to enjoy French food. It's a good idea to have a phrasebook with restaurant translations. Poulet Rotie (roast chicken) is common (and if they have it Poulet de Bresse is particularly good), as is steak frites (although you may find the steaks in France are not as good as to what you are used to in the US). And there are LOTS of pizza/pasta restaurants. In fact, some of the best pizza I've had has been in France; many restaurants with wood ovens for pizza.
If you have more firm plans, I'm sure you will get good recommendations for specific restaurants on this forum.

Food in Provence is generally very "normal" zesty, fresh Mediterranean food, but then, while I don't usually eat rabbit at home because of limited availablity, I consider it a pretty normal food. What I find much harder to take is food cooked with cream sauces, but that's easy enough to avoid in Provence. You could always stick to salads and cooked vegetable dishes if you want to avoid "strange" meats.

You might find this thread interesting: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34512775 It was closed, for reasons that remain a mystery.

Entrecote and frites (steak and thin fries) is popular, and I would certainly suggest lamb, if you can stray from beef or chicken a bit, since lamb in Europe is, in my opinion, far superior to what we get in the U.S.. But be careful looking at the menu if you are squeemish. Don't think ordering Ris de veau means you're getting veal and rice. Rice is "riz", NOT "ris", and what you'll get is veal sweebreads, an acquired taste.

Chicken is excellent, as are the pizzas.

Print and review this menu translator...
http://www.intimatefrance.com/glossary.pdf

Thank you all for your responses! I greatly appreciate it. And I do feel better about finding things that I will eat on the menus!

cmt, thank you for posting your link. I read through it, and I honestly can't see why it was deleted either. I'm glad you posted it though, because several people discussed the kinds of food found in Provence, which helped!

Just an FYI--we were concerned about the food in other countries as well, such as Germany and Austria, but we were in cities most of the time so we were able to find a nice variety. I didn't want to come across as though French food would be the only food I wouldn't like. I honestly don't know much about it. My concern with Provence was that there wouldn't be as much variety since its more rural as opposed to Paris. I was concerned with not finding anything we liked on the menus and not having other options if this was the case. However, from the responses it sounds like we should be just fine.

Thanks again!
Tracy

Here is another useful thread about French food
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34518165

it has the not-always-accurate generalizations, passionate defenses of French food, and some sensible advice

Another email to reassure you that you will be able to find things similar to "normal" American food on French menus.

To generalize, bistros in France more commonly serve more basic French food, such as steak-frite and roast chicken.

You may also find (especially for lunch) that you enjoy crepes, which you can get in France filled with a variety of items. Places that serve crepes also often serve individual-sized pizzas. They are probably most similar to what we might call California-style pizzas in the U.S.

As you narrow down where you'll be staying and visiting, you may be able to pull up menus from restaurants you might want to eat up; then you can check in advance to ensure there are foods that you'll like.

You won't have any problem in Provence. Just about any restaurant or bistrot in even the smallest of villages will have a chicken dish and meat (usually lamb or steak) on the menu. As already mentioned, you will find great salads everywhere. With all sorts of fresh vegetables, they can be a real treat. The more "exotic" stuff is great if you want to be a little adventurous but Provencal cooking above all means garden fresh ingredients (tomatos/zuchinni/eggplant) plus olive oil plus local herbs and a lot of sunshine for taste.

-Kevin

and a simple ham and cheese sandwich, with lettuce and tomatoes (in my humble experience also usually includes a sliced, hard-boiled egg) on a buttered baquette is available from lots of places, boulangeries, delicatessins, etc., for lunch. This makes an incredible picnic!

The menu for the particular restaurant will be posted outside. In Paris it seemed to me that MOST of the menues posted had english translation..on some occaisions that wasn't so. I'm not much for innards myself (except liver in Venice-fantastic!!!!) so it's pretty easy most times to avoid them. Get a food translator and take it with you so that if a menu is not in english, you will have a better idea what you are ordering. I'm not a gourmet by any; means and not knowing where I would be at any particular time, I never made reservations for lunch or dinner, just scoped out what was in the neighborhood, read the menu for selection and price and if a place looked interesting, I would eat there. Had some great meals, and some adequate meals...never had a bad meal thank goodness. You will find plenty to eat and if all else fails, Mickey "D"'s I guess. I Don't eat there at home, so don't eat there in Paris, but should the need arise, there are lots of them around. Bon voyage.

We were in Paris last weekend, and while my husband's limited French was fine for most of the trip, we should have bought a phrasebook so that we were better informed about what we were ordering in restaurants (the more expensive restaurants we ate in didn't have English menus). We ended up fine with guessing, but I probably would have been more adventurous had I been able to read the menu better.

For lunch, the most important words are "jambo" (ham) and "frommage" (cheese, of course).

Minor corrections: jambon and fromage

"Eating and Drinking in Paris" is a nifty little book, both a menu translator and a restaurant guide. Low price, available at amazon.

As said above, the lamb is terrific, but you will be disappointed if you expect it to resemble what you get at home.

You will notice that pizza is eaten with a knife and fork.

Hi tc,

I suggest that you stick to Ris de Veau whenever you can.

Provence is the place to be if you'd like more vegetables than meat or fish. My favorite dish there is the stuffed squash flowers, and the things they do with artichokes.

I just finish complimenting you on one thread, and then find you doing a nasty on another!

Fortunately, TC has been warned by an earlier poster about ris de veau...

Sorry, I should have addressed the above message properly: to Ira.