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FRANCE
- EATING AND DRINKING |
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French cuisine has taken a
bit of a knocking in
recent years. The
wonderful ingredients are
still there, as every town
and village market
testifies. But those
little family restaurants
serving classic peasant
dishes that celebrate the
region's produce in each
exquisite mouthful - and
where the bill is less
than 100F/?15 - are few
and far between nowadays.
The processed,
boil-in-the-bag and
ready-to-microwave
productions of the global
food industry, all so
inimical to the basic
culinary arts of France,
are making serious
inroads. That's not to say
you can't eat well in
France - far from it - but
be prepared for
disappointments at
run-of-the-mill
establishments.
In the rarefied world
of haute cuisine ,
where the top chefs are
national celebrities, a
battle is currently raging
between traditionalists,
determined to preserve the
purity of French cuisine,
and those who experiment
with different flavours
from around the world to
create novel combinations,
for example seafood and
cinnamon. At this level,
French food is still
brilliant - in both camps
- and the good news is
that prices are continuing
to come down. Many gourmet
palaces offer weekday
lunchtime menus where you
can sample culinary genius
for around 290F/?44.
France is also a great
place for foreign
cuisine , in
particular North African,
Caribbean (known as Antillais
) and Asiatic. Moroccan,
Thai or Vietnamese
restaurants are not
necessarily cheap options
but they are usually good
value for money.
On the whole, vegetarians
can expect a somewhat lean
time in France. A few
cities have specifically
vegetarian restaurants
(detailed in the text),
but elsewhere you'll have
to hope you find a
sympathetic restaurant (crêperies
and pizzerias can be good
standbys). Sometimes
they're willing to replace
a meat dish on the menu
fixe with an omelette;
other times you'll have to
pick your way through the carte
. Remember the phrase
"Je suis végétarien(ne);
il y a quelques plats sans
viande?" (I'm a
vegetarian; are there any
non-meat dishes?). Vegans
, however, should probably
forget all about eating in
French restaurants and
stick to self-catering.
Breakfast and snacks
A croissant, pain au
chocolat (a
square-shaped
chocolate-filled light
pastry) or a sandwich in
a bar or café, with hot
chocolate or coffee, is
generally the best way
to eat breakfast
- at a fraction of the
cost charged by most
hotels. (The days when
hotels gave you mounds
of croissants or
brioches for breakfast
seem to be long gone;
now it's virtually
always bread, jam and a
jug of coffee or tea for
about 30F/E.50.)
Croissants and sometimes
hard-boiled eggs are
displayed on bar
counters until around
9.30am or 10am. If you
stand - cheaper than
sitting down - you just
help yourself to these
with your coffee; the
waiter keeps an eye on
how many you've eaten
and bills you
accordingly.
At lunchtime ,
and sometimes in the
evening, you may find
cafés offering a plat
du jour (chef's
daily special) at
between 40F/?6.10 and
75F/?11.44, or formules
, a limited or no-choice
menu. Croques-monsieur
or croques-madame
(variations on the
toasted-cheese sandwich)
are on sale at cafés,
brasseries and many
street stands, along
with frites
(potato fries), crêpes,
galettes (wholewheat
pancakes), gauffres
(waffles), glaces
(ice creams) and all
kinds of fresh-filled
baguettes (these very
filling sandwiches
usually cost between
18F/?2.75 and 28F/?4.27
to take away). For
variety, there are
Tunisian snacks like brik
à l'?uf (a fried
pastry with an egg
inside), merguez
(spicy North African
sausage), Greek souvlaki
(kebabs) and Middle
Eastern falafel
(deep-fried chickpea
balls in flat bread with
salad). Wine bars are
good for regional
sausages and cheese,
usually served with
brown bread ( pain de
campagne ).
Crêpes , or
pancakes with fillings,
served up at ubiquitous
crêperies, are popular
lunchtime food. The
savoury buckwheat
variety (often called galettes
) provide the main
course; the sweet
white-flour ones are
dessert. They taste nice
enough, but are usually
poor value in comparison
with a restaurant meal;
you need at least three,
normally at over
30F/?4.58 each, to feel
full. Pizzerias ,
usually au feu du
bois
(wood-fire-baked), are
also very common. They
are somewhat better
value than crêperies,
but quality and quantity
vary greatly - look
before you leap into the
nearest empty seats.
For picnics ,
the local outdoor market
or supermarket will
provide you with almost
everything you need from
tomatoes and avocados to
cheese and pâté.
Cooked meat, prepared
snacks, ready-made
dishes and assorted
salads can be bought at charcuteries
(delicatessens), which
you'll find everywhere -
even in small villages,
though the same things
are cheaper at
supermarket counters.
You purchase by weight,
or you can ask for une
tranche (a slice), une
barquette (a carton)
or une part (a
portion).
Salons de thé
, which open from
mid-morning to late
evening, serve brunches,
salads, quiches, and the
like, as well as
gateaux, ice cream and a
wide selection of teas.
They tend to be a good
deal pricier than cafés
or brasseries - you're
paying for the posh
surroundings. As bars
are to men in France, salons
de thé are to
women, and they
generally have a more
female ambience and
clientele. For cakes and
pastries to take away,
you'll find impressive
arrays at every
boulangerie-pâtisserie.
Cheese
Charles de Gaulle once
commented that "You
can unite the French
only through fear. You
cannot simply bring
together a country that
has over 265 kinds of
cheese." For
serious cheese-
lovers, France is the
ultimate paradise. Other
countries may produce
individual cheeses which
are as good as, or even
better than, the best of
the French, but no
country offers a range
that comes anywhere near
them in terms of sheer
inventiveness. In fact,
there are officially
over 400 types of French
cheese (with new ones
being created every
year), whose recipes are
jealously guarded
secrets. Many
cheese-makers have
successfully protected
their products by AOC ( appellation
d'origine contrôlée
), laws similar to those
for wines, which limit
the amount of cheese
that a particular area
can produce, meaning
that the subtle
differences between
French local cheeses
have not been
overwhelmed by the
industrialized
uniformity that has
plagued other countries.
Most restaurants keep
a well-stocked plateau
de fromages (cheeseboard),
kept at room temperature
and served with bread,
but not butter. Apart
from the ubiquitous
Brie, Camembert and
numerous varieties of
goat's cheese ( chèvre
), there will usually be
one or two local cheeses
on offer - these are the
ones to go for. Your
best bet for local
produce is a fromagerie
, which often has 200
varieties or more to
choose from. We've
indicated the best
national and regionally
available cheeses
throughout the website.
Meals
There's no difference
between restaurants
(or auberges or relais
as they sometimes call
themselves) and brasseries
in terms of quality or
price range. The
distinction is that
brasseries, which
resemble cafés, serve
quicker meals at most
hours of the day, while
restaurants tend to
stick to the traditional
meal times of noon to
2pm, and 7pm to 9.30pm
or 10.30pm. After 9pm or
so, restaurants often
serve only à la carte
meals (single dishes
chosen from the menu) -
invariably more
expensive than eating
the set menu fixe
. In touristy areas in
high season, and for all
the more upmarket
places, it's wise to
make reservations -
easily done on the same
day. In small towns it
may be impossible to get
anything other than a
bar sandwich after 10pm
or even earlier; in
major cities, town-centre
brasseries will serve
until 11pm or midnight
and one or two may stay
open all night.
When hunting for
places to eat, avoid
places that are half
empty at peak time, use
your nose and regard
long menus with
suspicion. Don't forget
that hotel
restaurants are open
to non-residents, and
are often very good
value. In many small
towns and villages,
you'll find the only
restaurants are in
hotels. Since
restaurants change hands
frequently and have
their ups and downs,
it's also worth asking
people you meet (locals,
not fellow tourists) for
recommendations. This is
the conversational
equivalent of commenting
on the weather in
Britain and will usually
elicit strong views and
sound advice.
Prices , and
what you get for them,
are posted outside.
Normally there's a
choice between one or
more menus fixes
, where the number of
courses has already been
determined and the
choice is limited, and
choosing individually
from the carte
(menu). Menus fixes
are normally the
cheapest option. At the
bottom end of the price
range, they revolve
around standard dishes
such as steak and chips
( steak frites ),
chicken and chips ( poulet
frites ) and various
concoctions involving
innards. But further up
the scale they can be
much the best-value way
of sampling regional
specialities, sometimes
running to five or more
courses. If you're
simply not that hungry,
just go for the plat
du jour .
Going à la carte
offers greater choice
and, in the better
restaurants, unlimited
access to the chef's
specialities - though
you'll pay for the
privilege. A simple and
perfectly legitimate
tactic is to have just
one course instead of
the expected three or
four. You can share
dishes or go for several
starters - a useful
strategy for
vegetarians. There's no
minimum charge.
In the French sequence
of courses , any
salad (sometimes
vegetables, too) comes
separate from the main
dish, and cheese
precedes a dessert. You
will be offered coffee,
which is always extra,
to finish off the meal.
Service compris
or s.c. means the
service charge is
included. Service non
compris, s.n.c. or servis
en sus means that it
isn't and you need to
calculate an additional
15 percent. Wine
( vin ) or a drink
( boisson ) is
occasionally included in
the cost of a menu
fixe . When ordering
house wine, the cheapest
option, ask for un
quart (0.25 litre), un
demi-litre (0.5
litre) or une carafe
(1 litre). If you're
worried about the cost
ask for vin ordinaire
or the vin de table
. On this website the
lowest price menu or the
range of menus is given;
where average à la
carte prices are given
it assumes you'll have
three courses and half a
bottle of wine.
The French are much
better disposed towards children
in restaurants than
other nationalities, not
simply by offering
reduced-price children's
menus but in creating an
atmosphere - even in
otherwise fairly snooty
establishments - that
positively welcomes
kids; some even have
in-house games and toys
for them to occupy
themselves with. It is
regarded as self-evident
that large family groups
should be able to eat
out together.
A rather murkier area
is that of dogs
in the dining room; it
can be quite a shock in
a provincial hotel to
realize that the
majority of your fellow
diners are attempting to
keep dogs concealed
beneath their tables.
One final note is
that you should always
call the waiter or
waitress Monsieur
or Madame ( Mademoiselle
if a young woman), never
Garçon , no
matter what you've been
taught in school.
Regional cuisine
The geography of
France explains much
of the pride of place
the country holds in
European cuisines. The
French can fish and
breed seafood in the
Channel waters, the
Atlantic Ocean and the
Mediterranean as well as
catch freshwater fish in
a thousand lakes and
rivers. Mountains,
forests, deltas and
plains with climates
ranging from the aridly
sun-soaked to northern
cold and wetness allow
an extraordinary variety
of produce. Added to
this is the historical
and social factor of a
class of paysans
- smallholders - who
have passed down
traditional methods from
generation to
generation. Though it is
true that in recent
years industrialization
has standardized and
sanitized production
methods, food imports
have greatly increased
and pollution has taken
its toll, there remains
a strong connection
between the countryside
and the table, reflected
in the different
regional cuisines. The
gastronomic map of
France features certain
regions - Alsace,
Provence, Brittany and
the Pays Basque - in
which the preservation
of a distinctive cuisine
owes much to historical
separation. Burgundy,
the Auvergne, Normandy
and the Dordogne have
absorbed classic French
cooking from different
corners of the country.
Dishes from Alsace
and Lorraine are
based on game, pork,
beef and lamb, pickled
cabbage, and flans with
pizza-like pastries.
Mussels and chips,
accompanied by beer, are
a staple of northern
France . Butter and
cream are the rich basis
of many Normandy
specialities, which
include famous cheeses,
apple and pear dishes
and seafood. Brittany
has oysters, lobsters
and other produce from
the sea; crêpes and galettes
with sweet and savoury
fillings; and buttery
cakes and flans. Seafood
again features
prominently on menus all
along the Atlantic
Coast . The famous
Charolais beef of Burgundy
, combined with the
local wines and mustard,
produces mouthwatering
variations; snails too
are a speciality. Duck
and goose in their
myriad forms belong to
the Dordogne ,
marinated and served
with prunes, preserves
and truffles. In the Auvergne
, cabbage, pork and bean
stew is a favourite,
along with cheeses,
sausages and garlic
soups. Languedoc
has the celebrated
Rocquefort cheese as a
basis for many dishes,
and serves snails in
appetizing ways, along
with the rum-flambéed
crêpes languedociennes
. Lyon has a
special position as the
meeting place of north
and south, combining
sausages and smoked
meats with the famous
Bresse chicken,
dumplings, southern
salads and the tasty tarte
Lyonnaise . The Pays
Basque specializes
in wild pigeon and
Bayonne ham, white tuna
and the delicious ewe's
milk cheese, brébis
, as well as the rich
cherry and chocolate gâteau
Basque . Provence
, with its Mediterranean
climate, yields olives,
garlic, lavender honey
and delicious fruit and
vegetables, all used to
perfection in pasta
dishes, fish soups,
stews and grills, mixed
salads and flans. In Corsica
wild herbs give the
cuisine its unique
flavour, with
specialities like smoked
pork, game, shellfish,
eel and trout, and a
range of dishes made
from the local
chestnuts.
Drinking
Wherever you can eat you
can invariably drink,
and vice versa. Drinking
is done at a leisurely
pace whether it's a
prelude to food ( apéritif
), a sequel ( digestif
), or the accompaniment,
and cafés are the
standard places to do
it. Every bar or café
has to display its full
price list, usually
without the fifteen
percent service charge
added, with the cheapest
drinks at the bar ( au
comptoir ), and
progressively increasing
prices for sitting at a
table inside ( la
salle ), or outside
( la terrasse ).
You pay when you leave,
and it's perfectly
acceptable to sit for
hours over just one cup
of coffee.
Wine ( vin
) is drunk at just about
every meal or social
occasion. Red is rouge
, white blanc and
rosé rosé. Vin de
table or vin
ordinaire - table
wine - is generally
drinkable and always
cheap, although it may
be disguised and
priced-up as the house
wine, or cuvée .
The price of AOC ( appellation
d'origine contrôlée
) wines can vary from
10F/?1.53 to 100F/?15.25
and over, and that's the
vineyard price. You can
buy a very decent bottle
of wine for 20F/?3.05 or
30F/?4.58, and 60F/?9.15
and over will buy you
something really nice.
By the time restaurants
have added their
considerable mark-up,
wine can constitute an
alarming proportion of
the bill.
The basic wine
terms are: brut
, very dry; sec ,
dry; demi-sec ,
sweet; doux ,
very sweet; mousseux
, sparkling; méthode
champenoise , mature
and sparkling. There are
grape varieties as well,
but the complexities of
the subject take up
volumes. A glass of wine
is simply un rouge,
un rosé or un
blanc . You may have
the choice of un
ballon (round glass)
or a smaller glass ( un
verre ). Un
pichet (a pitcher)
is normally a quarter-litre.
A glass of wine in a bar
will cost around
30F/?5.58.
The best way to buy
bottles of wine is
directly from the
producers ( vignerons
), either at vineyards,
at Maisons or Syndicats
du Vin (representing a
group of
wine-producers), or at
Coopératifs Vinicoles
(wine-producer co-ops).
At all these places you
can sample the wines
first. It's best to make
clear at the start how
much you want to buy (if
it's only one or two
bottles) and you will
not be popular if you
drink several glasses
and then leave without
making a purchase. The
most economical option
is to buy en vrac
, which you can also do
at some wine shops ( caves
), taking an easily
obtainable plastic five-
or ten-litre container
(usually sold on the
premises) and getting it
filled straight from the
barrel. In cities
supermarkets are the
best places to buy your
wine, and their prices
often beat those of the vignerons
.
Familiar light
Belgian and German
brands, plus French
brands from Alsace,
account for most of the beer
you'll find. Draught
beer ( à la pression
) - usually Kronenbourg
- is the cheapest drink
you can have next to
coffee and wine; ask for
un pression or un
demi (0.33 litre). A
demi costs around
17F/?2.59. For a wider
choice of draught and
bottled beer you need to
go to the special
beer-drinking
establishments or
English-style pubs found
in most city centres and
resorts. A small bottle
at one of these places
will cost at least twice
as much as a demi
in a café. In
supermarkets, however,
bottled or canned beer
is exceptionally cheap.
Strong alcohol
is consumed from as
early as 5am as a
pre-work fortifier, and
then at any time through
the day according to
circumstance, though the
national reputation for
drunkenness has lost
much of its truth.
Brandies and the dozens
of eaux de vie
(spirits) and liqueurs
are always available. Pastis
- the generic name of
aniseed drinks such as
Pernod or Ricard and a
favourite throughout
Languedoc - is served
diluted with water and
ice ( glaçons ).
It's very refreshing and
not expensive. Among
less familiar names, try
Poire William (pear
brandy), or Marc (a
spirit distilled from
grape pulp). Measures
are generous, but they
don't come cheap: the
same applies for
imported spirits like
whisky ( Scotch
). Two drinks designed
to stimulate the
appetite - un apéritif
- are Pineau (cognac and
grape juice) and Kir
(white wine with a dash
of Cassis - blackcurrant
liquor, or with
champagne instead of
wine for a Kir Royal). Cocktails
are served at most
late-night bars, discos
and music places, as
well as at upmarket
hotel bars and at every
seaside promenade café;
they usually cost at
least 45F/?6.86.
On the soft drink
front, you can buy
cartons of unsweetened
fruit juice in
supermarkets, although
in the cafés the
bottled (sweetened)
nectars such as apricot
( jus d'abricot )
and blackcurrant ( cassis
) still hold sway. You
can also get fresh
orange or lemon juice ( orange/citron
pressé ), at a
price. A citron pressé
is a refreshing choice
for the extremely
thirsty on a hot day -
the lemon juice is
served in the bottom of
a long ice-filled glass,
with a jug of water and
a sugar bowl to sweeten
it to your taste. Other
drinks to try are syrups
( sirops ) of
mint, grenadine or other
flavours mixed with
water. The standard
fizzy drinks of lemonade
( limonade ),
Coke ( coca ) and
so forth are all
available. Bottles of mineral
water ( eau minérale
) and spring water ( eau
de source ) - either
sparkling (gazeuse) or
still (eau plate) -
abound, from the big
brand names to the most
obscure spa product. But
there's not much wrong
with the tap water ( l'eau
de robinet ) which
will always be brought
free to your table if
you ask for it.
Coffee is
invariably espresso -
small, black and very
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