I thought I would take some time since I'm bored between classes to write about French food. I know I've mentioned it many times before, but now it gets a whole entry dedicated to it.
Today, my lunch was an apple and two waffles. Yes, that's right...two waffles at lunch. No, I wasn't doing the whole "breakfast for lunch" thing. Here, waffles are dessert, not part of breakfast. They have stands all over that sell crepes and waffles. I think they think of waffles as a cross between cake and a cookie...they sell them in variety packs in stores (dipped in chocolate, plain, etc.) or as desserts in restaurants smothered in whipped cream and powdered sugar. Maple syrup is pretty nonexistent here, though, so you never, ever see anyone eating a waffle the American way with butter and syrup. Also, the waffles are usually cold. It was weird eating a cold waffle at first, but now I'm kind of used to it.
Yogurt here is not sweetened. You can buy sweetened yogurt, but most people just buy "natural yogurt," which is just plain yogurt...no sugar or flavoring or anything. The first night my host family served it, my host mom asked if I wanted sugar or honey with my yogurt...she thought I didn't understand her French when I responded that I didn't know. I had to explain to her that we don't eat yogurt like that generally at home. But, now, I've started to love natural yogurt with cassonade (a very, very light brown sugar)...I actually had some with my breakfast this morning!
Coffee, as most people with their French stereotypes in their heads know, is sort of a big deal here. Espresso, especially...they really only drink espresso. However, it's virtually impossible to find a coffee shop other than Starbucks (and there are only like 8-10 Starbucks here...which isn't a lot considering Paris's size and how many we have at home). Most people just drink their espresso at home or after dinner with their dessert. They just drink a tiny, double-shot sized cup of straight espresso. They don't really do all of the fancy coffee drinks that we are obsessed with in the United States. You can usually find a cafe au lait somewhere, but that's about it. Even Starbucks does't even sell that many fancy drinks here...their menu board only lists cafe mochas and caramel macchiatos as the only two "fancy drink" options, and everything else is a variation of espresso (espresso with water, espresso with hot milk, espresso with regular milk, etc.).
French people put sauce on EVERYTHING! And I mean everything...French fries (and I'm not talking about ketchup...they have special "pommes frites sauce"), steak, vegetables, desserts... Seriously, I don't understand how everyone is so thin when they eat like that! Most of the sauces are just like butter sauces that don't even add much flavor. At a restaurant on our field trip to Giverny the other day, everything was drowning in this brown gravy-looking sauce...but it didn't seem to add any flavor at all to it. Every dessert is served with some sort of sauce...tart comes with coulis, ice cream with caramel or chocolate sauce, fresh fruit with yogurt as a sauce. It's funny when my host family asks me to choose the sauce at dinner, because I never have any idea what to choose. Their sauces are also nothing like our salad dressings or usual sauces at home, either.,,no Ranch dressing here (and no French dressing, either, interestingly enough).
Well, I think that's enough food observations for now. I'm sure I'll have more in the future! I'm just full of observations...what can I say?
Riley =)
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