An average day in France begins with breakfast, which is known as le petit déjeuner. This usually consists of coffee or hot chocolate, and sometimes a croissant which is made of a flaky, butter-based pastry or bread. Pain au chocolat is like a croissant but has a chocolate filling. Lunch is pretty laid back. It usually begins with hors d'oeuvre, or appetizers. Meat or fish follows, and the meal ends with cheese, fruit, or sometimes a dessert. After school many kids eat a generally healthy snack of fruit or some bread to tide them over. This is known as le goûter. The evening meal is when whole family gets together and talks about their day. This always has a few courses. Most dinners end with wine and a desert of some sort. L'Apéritif is a national custom in France. It occurs before the meal where the family gathers about a half an hour or so before a meal to share a drink, a small appetizer, and conversation with family, friends, and neighbors. It is an established social activity which is enjoyed by people of all ages, and which forms an important part of home life and in restaurants.
There are many dishes that are either rare or exclusive to the French people. For example, Pot au Feu is dish of simmered meats and vegetables. Bouillabaisse is from The Provence and region and is made with fish, often with their heads, and shellfish in a spicy soup. Sauces are exclusive to the region they are from. Horseradish is from the Alsace region, mustard is from the Dijon region, Aioli is from provence, and rouille from Languedoc. These are perfect examples of region specific foods. Meats used in France are similar to the sauces. Ducks and Geese are common ingredients in meals unlike most parts of the world. Many of the stews created in France are not eaten in the United states. The Vegetable stews usually don't cross the Atlantic Ocean. Belgian Endive and Swiss Chard are made only in France. Cheese is another exclusive product. It is made in the Northern region and France is known for these cheeses. Muenster cheese now worldwide was born in Northern France. Swiss Cheese and German cheese are often imitated and popular in France. Bread is extremely popular in France and there are many specialties. A baguette is a long thin piece of bread that is twisted and very popular. Puff pastry and strudel type pastries are common. Icing and many sugar toppings are added to bread to make it a dessert in many parts of France.
France has many original pieces of food that have been imitated but they are always known for their quality. This has a lot to do with the type of training the Chefs go through. Most go through at least a 3-4 year program which includes hotel management. Then they have an internship type program afterward to give them hands-on experience.
Holidays such as Bastille day cause the French to go all out. Everyone either cooks or attends a huge meal for family and friends. Christmas dinner is similar to the U.S. whereas close family get together and have a long meal with numerous courses. These usually last for a long time because they chat a lot on these special occasions.
France's cuisine is very popular, and at the same time very expensive. Haute Cuisine was created and means Gourmet cooking. It always uses premium ingredients and no one ever complains about it never tasting bad. But the French are quick to critique a bad meal. It is not considered very disrespectful to tell the cook you did not like the meal. The French are different than everyone else in almost everything they do, including how they act and how they cook.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The article “France goes mad for le burger” by Anne-Sophie Moral illustrated cultural diffusion between America and France, by introducing the reader to the ever increasing popularity of American foods and restaurants in France. First of all, it is not very surprising that American food has slowly seeped it’s way into diners in France, as said in the section “Beating Record Upon Record”. The text states that: “While the French see their food culture as unique, the truth is a lot of it is based on meat, bread, salad and potatoes. All of these ingredients make up a U.S. burger meal.” This text evidence shows that it was only time before American food started to invade France, as both countries have very similar food palettes.…
- 342 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Before the the french revolution great chefs were employed by houses of french nobility. With the revolution and the end of the monarchy, many chefs, suddenly out of work, opened restaurants in and around Paris to support themselves. At the start of the french revolution, there were about fifty restaurants in Paris. Ten years later, there were about five hundred. Another important invention that changed the organization of kitchens in the eighteenth century was the stove. This innovation gave cooks a more practical and controllable heat source than an open fire. Soon enough commercial kitchens became divided into three departments: the rotisserie, under the control of the meat chef; the oven, under control of the pastry chef; and the stove, run by the cook. All the changes that took place in the world of cooking during the 1700's led to, for the first time, a difference between home cooking and professional cooking.…
- 724 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The “French Kids Eat Everything” book describes the French eating habits, and it mentioned how the American can benefits from these rules, and negative perspectives of applying these rules in American families. Apply the French eating habits on American Culture can be advantages such as save American children to suffer from health problems in their life such as obesity. Since the French parents choose the healthy food for their kids, the French kids are registered as a one of the lowest rate of obesity in developed countries. (French Kids Eat Everything 7). Also, as the book mentioned…
- 214 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
For this section, I will be talking about cuisine from New Orleans specifically, as La Louisiane was a large area of land. The territory was broken into regions, which is seen in the differences of food preferences in the area. For this reason, only one city is being chosen for this analysis.…
- 1387 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
There are multiple differences between the French diet vs. American diet. Likewise, French people appear to eat all types of foods that are presumed to be bad for you, for example, a lot of wine and butter specifically. However, they don't appear to have the difficulty with their obesity like how the American society does. The American diet is very much unhealthy compared to the French paradox diet.…
- 630 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Cuban cuisine has been influenced by Spanish, French, African, Arabic, Chinese, and Portuguese cultures. Traditional Cuban cooking is primarily peasant cuisine that has little concern with measurements, order and timing. Most of the food is sautéed or slow-cooked over a low flame. Very little is deep-fried and there are no heavy or creamy sauces. Most Cuban cooking relies on a few basic spices, such as; garlic, cumin, oregano, and bay laurel leaves. Many dishes use a sofrito as their basis. The sofrito consists of onion, green pepper, garlic, oregano, and ground pepper quick-fried in olive oil. The sofrito is usually what gives Cuban food its distinct flavor. It is used when cooking black beans, stews, many meat dishes, and tomato-based sauces. Meats and poultry are usually marinated in citrus juices, like lime or sour orange juices, and then roasted over low heat until the meat is tender and literally falling off the bone. Another common staple to the Cuban diet are root vegetables such as: yuca, malanga, and boniato, which can be found in most Latin markets. These vegetables are flavored with a marinade, called mojo, which includes hot olive oil, lemon juice, sliced raw onions, garlic, cumin, and little water.…
- 791 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
FULL SERVICE - Operations that offer complete and varied menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They have multiple entrees for each meal period which may include soups, salads, and/or deserts. Preparation of food products is often complex and involves multiple steps. Most full service operations will provide customer seating and may include liquor service. (Armadillo, Black Canyon, Nickeys, Pot Belly, Olive Garden,…
- 874 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Hence, France does not have just one culture, but many. This can be compared to the description of the United States culture as the “melting pot” which depicts that there are many different types of people that one might encounter. Regarding French cuisine, complicated preparation, baguettes and lots of wine is essential no matter what socioeconomic level a Frenchman may be as it is the primary source of French socialization. Because of the availability of water, French people enjoy fish; the soil is rich allowing for crops to grow, the most common being grapes for wine. Fashion can be best described as fitted and unique, as it would be in what could be considered the fashion capital of the…
- 1024 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Cuisine has always been and always will be one of the best way to share and experience different cultures. One of the most biggest ways that France has affected American culture is through cuisine, this includes foods, cooking, and the culture that comes with food.…
- 338 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Anne Allison points out an interesting point about the relationship between food and Japanese women in her article “Japanese Mothers and Obentos: The Lunch-Box as Ideological State Apparatus”. She has insightful and different point of view of obento, a japanese lunch box which are highly crafted elaborations of food, that it is endowed with “ideological and gendered meanings” under state ideology (155). That is, both mother and child are being watched, judged, and constructed by society since making a good obento may please her child and also affirm that she is a good mother, and child consuming their entire meal in a appropriate manner is considered well-taught. This social phenomenon represents that culture is constructed with power which exerts a force which operates in ways that are subtle, disguised, and accepted as everyday social practice.…
- 514 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
It was a grandiose style of cookery favored by both international royalty and by the newly rich of Paris. Carème is often considered as one of the first, internationally renowned celebrity chefs. It’s noted that during Careme’s claim to fame, he never gave any credit to his beloved mentor Laguipie’re. It seems odd as this was (is) the custom in the culinary world. Carème is further quoted as stating, “The Roman cuisine was fundamentally barbaric.” This contributed to Careme’s celebrity status, as well as, lend credence to the refusal of the French to admit any Italian influence on their…
- 1026 Words
- 5 Pages
Powerful Essays -
1. Location - Most people associate French culture with Paris, which is a center of fashion, cuisine, art and architecture, but life outside of the City of Lights is very different and varies by region. Historically, the French culture was influenced by Celtic and Gallo-Roman cultures as well as the Franks, a Germanic tribe. France was initially defined as the western area of Germany known as Rhineland but it later came to refer to a territory that was known as Gaul during the Iron Age and Roman era.…
- 886 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
All people, no matter if someone was upper or lower class, of this time period ate three meals a day. As it is today, breakfast was the first and most important meal of the day. Breakfast, a small and simple meal, generally consisting of cold foods, was eaten shortly after awakening, but not before attending service (Nelson). A mid-day meal, commonly known as “dinner”, was…
- 945 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Immigration has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of United States history. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused debate regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, and jobs for non-immigrants, settlement patterns, impact on upward social mobility, crime, and voting behavior. Although they are far from their native countries, immigrants still want to enjoy the food they used to eat in their home countries. In fact, urban areas are a major source of ethnic stores selling to different ethnic groups from different parts of the world. Attentiveness and testing of ethnic foods have increased over the past decades as a consequence of growing international trade, migration,…
- 446 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The culture of France and of the French people has been shaped by geography, by profound historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture and of decorative arts since the seventeenth century, first in Europe, and from the nineteenth century on, world wide. From the late nineteenth century, France has also played an important role in cinema, fashion and cuisine. The importance of French culture has waxed and waned over the centuries, depending on its economic, political and military importance. French culture today is marked both by great regional and socioeconomic differences and by strong unifying tendencies.…
- 9611 Words
- 39 Pages
Powerful Essays