French food

Quoted message said:

I love french things and I want to try french food. What is it like? Is
it very different from American food the way Mexican, Japanese, and
Chinese food are? How would you characterize french food? I heard
there's a lot of butter and rich creamy sauces in french cuisine and
I've heard it's labor intensive, but that doesn't give me much of an
idea what it's like.

So if I want to cook some french food, could you tell me what are some
dishes that are not extremely expensive to make but are very
representative of french cuisine with regard to taste? Like if I were
to give someone a representative sample of Mexican food, I'd give them
things like a burrito and a taco.

I've been very impressed by the works of french painters, especially
from the 19th century, painters like William Bouguereau. I'm thinking
there must be some equally amazing french food.

http://tinyurl.com/ce5cj

(http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&hl=en&q=french+cuisine+recipes&btnG=Google+Search)

--

saerah

"It's not a gimmick, it's an incentive."- asterbark, afca

aware of the manifold possibilities of the future

"I think there's a clause in the Shaman's and Jujumen's Local #57 Union
contract that they have to have reciprocity for each other's shop rules."
-König Prüß

Quoted message said:

I love french things and I want to try french food. What is it like? Is
it very different from American food the way Mexican, Japanese, and
Chinese food are? How would you characterize french food? I heard
there's a lot of butter and rich creamy sauces in french cuisine and
I've heard it's labor intensive, but that doesn't give me much of an
idea what it's like.

I can't help you on French food but I do a fair amount of French
Canadian cooking. If you ask me I think FC is good old fashioned down
home cooking heavier on the pork rather than beef and a lot of use of
root veggies.

Quoted message said:

So if I want to cook some french food, could you tell me what are some
dishes that are not extremely expensive to make but are very
representative of french cuisine with regard to taste? Like if I were
to give someone a representative sample of Mexican food, I'd give them
things like a burrito and a taco.

I'd go for escargo and a really nice French wine. I certainly would go
for a burrito or taco as representative foods for Mexico. You want me
to have to hit you with a wet trout? Do a google of French cuisine or
French cooking. That should give you an idea.

Quoted message said:

I've been very impressed by the works of french painters, especially
from the 19th century, painters like William Bouguereau. I'm thinking
there must be some equally amazing french food.

Quoted message said:

I love french things and I want to try french food. What is it like? Is

Here you go: http://frenchfood.about.com/library/weekly/aa010403a.htm

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.

You mean you have never tried French fries? ;-)

If you are going to try French food, don't forget to try their frogs legs or
snails! I am being serious, but I am not in a hurry to try them.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I love french things and I want to try french food. What is it like? Is
it very different from American food the way Mexican, Japanese, and
Chinese food are? How would you characterize french food? I heard
there's a lot of butter and rich creamy sauces in french cuisine and
I've heard it's labor intensive, but that doesn't give me much of an
idea what it's like.

So if I want to cook some french food, could you tell me what are some
dishes that are not extremely expensive to make but are very
representative of french cuisine with regard to taste? Like if I were
to give someone a representative sample of Mexican food, I'd give them
things like a burrito and a taco.

I've been very impressed by the works of french painters, especially
from the 19th century, painters like William Bouguereau. I'm thinking
there must be some equally amazing french food.

Lance said:

You mean you have never tried French fries? ;-)

If you are going to try French food, don't forget to try their frogs legs or
snails! I am being serious, but I am not in a hurry to try them.

Both are quite edible. Cook anything in enough garlic butter and it becomes a
vehicle for the garlic butter. I don't understand the attraction to snails. I
have had them a few times and they are basically tasteless but quite palatable
with the garlic butter, especially when you have some nice French bread to sop
up the extra garlic butter. Without the butter they would probably taste like
silly putty. Frogs legs like chicken with a slightly fishy taste. Once again,
the garlic butter they are cooking in gives them a nice flavour.

Great chef Rick Stein is a snail lover. Apparently, the texture is similar
to mushrooms, however, when you are eating them, I would picture the slimey
snails I see in the garden.

"Dave Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Lance wrote:

Quoted message said:

Both are quite edible. Cook anything in enough garlic butter and it

becomes a

Quoted message said:

vehicle for the garlic butter. I don't understand the attraction to

snails. I

Quoted message said:

have had them a few times and they are basically tasteless but quite

palatable

Quoted message said:

with the garlic butter, especially when you have some nice French bread to

sop

Quoted message said:

up the extra garlic butter. Without the butter they would probably taste

like

Quoted message said:

silly putty. Frogs legs like chicken with a slightly fishy taste. Once

again,

Quoted message said:

the garlic butter they are cooking in gives them a nice flavour.

Quoted message said:

I love french things and I want to try french food. What is it like? Is
it very different from American food the way Mexican, Japanese, and
Chinese food are? How would you characterize french food? I heard
there's a lot of butter and rich creamy sauces in french cuisine and
I've heard it's labor intensive, but that doesn't give me much of an
idea what it's like.

So if I want to cook some french food, could you tell me what are some
dishes that are not extremely expensive to make but are very
representative of french cuisine with regard to taste? Like if I were
to give someone a representative sample of Mexican food, I'd give them
things like a burrito and a taco.

Odd, since the national dish of Mexico is mole poblano, a chicken or
turkey dish in a chocolate and pepper sauce.

What you think of as a Taco probably isn't very representative of
Mexican food.

Quoted message said:

I've been very impressed by the works of french painters, especially
from the 19th century, painters like William Bouguereau. I'm thinking
there must be some equally amazing french food.

Indeed there is. Google is good for finding recipes, and you can also
search a recipe group at this link :
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.food.recipes

Try some well known French recipes:
Coq au Vin
Cassoulet
Steak Au Poivre
Salad Nicoise
Gratin de Pommes de Terre Provencal
Quiche Lorraine
Choucroute Garnie
Confit de Canard
Vichyssoise
Croque Monsieur

Dean G.

Dean G. wrote:
<snip>

Quoted message said:

Odd, since the national dish of Mexico is mole poblano, a chicken or
turkey dish in a chocolate and pepper sauce.

What you think of as a Taco probably isn't very representative of
Mexican food.

Excuse me! Taco Bell is the national spokeperson for Mexican food so we
all know what Mexican food lookes like. Now where is that damn talking dog?

~patches~ said:

Dean G. wrote:
<snip>

Quoted message said:

Odd, since the national dish of Mexico is mole poblano, a chicken or
turkey dish in a chocolate and pepper sauce.

What you think of as a Taco probably isn't very representative of
Mexican food.

Excuse me! Taco Bell is the national spokeperson for Mexican food so we
all know what Mexican food lookes like. Now where is that damn talking dog?

We took the dog to play football. It took us a while to paint black and
white pentagons on him, but it was worth it.

Dean G.

Dean G. said:

Quoted message said:

I love french things and I want to try french food. What is it like? Is
it very different from American food the way Mexican, Japanese, and
Chinese food are? How would you characterize french food? I heard
there's a lot of butter and rich creamy sauces in french cuisine and
I've heard it's labor intensive, but that doesn't give me much of an
idea what it's like.

So if I want to cook some french food, could you tell me what are some
dishes that are not extremely expensive to make but are very
representative of french cuisine with regard to taste? Like if I were
to give someone a representative sample of Mexican food, I'd give them
things like a burrito and a taco.

Odd, since the national dish of Mexico is mole poblano, a chicken or
turkey dish in a chocolate and pepper sauce.

I would hardly call mole poblano the "national dish of Mexico," as it
is really from the central region of the country. Mexico has quite a
varied cuisine, based on local foods availability and cultural
traditions (Mayan, Aztec, Spanish, etc.)

Boron

Wizzer said:

I love french things and I want to try french food. What is it like? Is
it very different from American food the way Mexican, Japanese, and
Chinese food are? How would you characterize french food? I heard
there's a lot of butter and rich creamy sauces in french cuisine and
I've heard it's labor intensive, but that doesn't give me much of an
idea what it's like.

So if I want to cook some french food, could you tell me what are some
dishes that are not extremely expensive to make but are very
representative of french cuisine with regard to taste? Like if I were
to give someone a representative sample of Mexican food, I'd give them
things like a burrito and a taco.

I've been very impressed by the works of french painters, especially
from the 19th century, painters like William Bouguereau. I'm thinking
there must be some equally amazing french food.

Here are some links to French recipes:

http://www.cooken.com/WebRecipes/MarthaStewart/html/CoqAuVin.html

http://www.cooken.com/WebRecipes/MarthaStewart/html/CarrotVichyssoise.html

http://www.cooken.com/WebRecipes/MarthaStewart/html/CoeursaLaCreme.html

http://www.cooken.com/WebRecipes/MarthaStewart/html/FreshTunaNicoiseSalad.html

HTH!

Bob

Dean wrote about the Taco Bell Chihuahua:

Quoted message said:

We took the dog to play football. It took us a while to paint black and
white pentagons on him, but it was worth it.

Dean G.

Good .sig material; I saved it (with the appropriate attribution).

Bob

Wizzer: Hasten thyself to the local public library, where you will
undoubtedly find cookbooks by Julia Child. Easy to read, and the
epitome of French cooking.
Another excellent choice would be Jacques Pepin, who barely speaks
English

Scrooge

Quoted message said:

<SNIP>
So if I want to cook some french food, could you tell me what are some
dishes that are not extremely expensive to make but are very
representative of french cuisine with regard to taste? Like if I were
to give someone a representative sample of Mexican food, I'd give them
things like a burrito and a taco.

<SNIP>

Quoted message said:

I love french things and I want to try french food. What is it like?
Is
it very different from American food the way Mexican, Japanese, and
Chinese food are? How would you characterize french food? I heard
there's a lot of butter and rich creamy sauces in french cuisine and
I've heard it's labor intensive, but that doesn't give me much of an
idea what it's like.

So if I want to cook some french food, could you tell me what are some

dishes that are not extremely expensive to make but are very
representative of french cuisine with regard to taste? Like if I were
to give someone a representative sample of Mexican food, I'd give them

things like a burrito and a taco.

I've been very impressed by the works of french painters, especially
from the 19th century, painters like William Bouguereau. I'm thinking
there must be some equally amazing french food.

2 primary distinctions, "haute cuisine" the 'fancy' French food is often
very delicate and subtle. French provincial and regional cooking is
much more robust.

There are a number of distinctly French soups and stews from the simple
garlic soup to the complex pot au feu or bouillabaisse. French onion
made with onion skins and a rich beef stock is a favourite of mine but
so is an artichoke soup or a nice goose stew.

Pommes Anna is an easy classic

A lot of meats are "French" only in the way they are served, garnished
with various other veggies and sauces but other wise grilled, roasted,
braised, poached or otherwise cooked and served with a plethora of very
specific garnishes. The difference between entrecote marchand de vins
and entrecote a la marseillaise is in the potatoes & tomatoes served
with the marseillaise and maitre d'hotel butter instead of beurre
marchand de vins.

There are thousands of combinations for tournedos which are shallow
fried thin pieces of steak cut to a circle and served with layers of
various veggies on a base of fried bread all cut to the same size and
stacked on on top of the other.

Stuffed chicken wings are a labour intensive delicacy. Frogs legs,
snails, tripe (one of my favourites is Gras double frit a la Troyenne,
mustard smeared pieces of tripe dipped in a batter and deep fried)
squab, horse, ground fish, the liberal use of wine in cooking, various
spice combinations (Parisian 4 spices and herbs de Provence) all are
indicative of French cooking. But again the closer you get to germany
or Italy in France, Strasbourg, Alsace, Nice etc. the more the food
resembles German or Italian. Many English dishes have been incorporated
into French cooking and usually bear the name "a l'Anglaise."
---
JL

"Scrooge" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Wizzer: Hasten thyself to the local public library, where you will
undoubtedly find cookbooks by Julia Child. Easy to read, and the
epitome of French cooking.
Another excellent choice would be Jacques Pepin, who barely speaks
English

Scrooge

Quoted message said:

<SNIP>
So if I want to cook some french food, could you tell me what are some
dishes that are not extremely expensive to make but are very
representative of french cuisine with regard to taste? Like if I were
to give someone a representative sample of Mexican food, I'd give them
things like a burrito and a taco.

<SNIP>

I think for a beginner it might be best to check out, as well, some French
cook books that have pictures in them. The first 2 volumes of Julia's were
difficult for that reason - for a beginner IMHO. It's hard to imagine
sometimes what a finished dish is supposed to look like -- or even if you
would care to take the time to make it.
Dee Dee

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dean G. said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

to give someone a representative sample of Mexican food, I'd give them
things like a burrito and a taco.

Odd, since the national dish of Mexico is mole poblano, a chicken or
turkey dish in a chocolate and pepper sauce.

What you think of as a Taco probably isn't very representative of
Mexican food.

My God, how could you say such things? I'm devastated! Next you'll be
posting that French fries aren't from France, Belgian waffles aren't
from Belgium and New York steaks aren't from New York!

I won't comment about tacos in this thread about French food, since we
have a taco thread already going in this newsgroup.

I have read a couple of articles stating that burritos were invented in
California and moved down to Mexico. I've also read claims saying that
isn't true. In any case, if you want to get into horrendous arguments
about burritos, try subscribing to the newsgroup ba.food where the
transplants from Southern California complain that you can't get a
decent burrito here, just these enormous logs stuffed with fillers.
They want a skinny little thing with mostly meat in it. There's a lot
of truth to that. My wife, daughter and I went to a local Mexican
place. My daughter ordered a mini burrito, ala carte. When it came, my
wife exclaimed, "that's a *mini* burrito?". It was pretty big.

Quoted message said:

I love french things and I want to try french food. What is it like? Is
it very different from American food the way Mexican, Japanese, and
Chinese food are?

Given that there isn't really any such thing as 'American' food...
(Or 'Mexican' or 'Japanese' 'Chinese' for that matter. The latter in
particular encompasses multiple individual cuisines.)

Quoted message said:

How would you characterize french food? I heard there's a lot of butter
and rich creamy sauces in french cuisine and I've heard it's labor
intensive, but that doesn't give me much of an idea what it's like.

Butter with rich creamy sauce is haute cuisine, Provencal or Parisian
bistro are very different.

Quoted message said:

So if I want to cook some french food, could you tell me what are some
dishes that are not extremely expensive to make but are very
representative of french cuisine with regard to taste?

There isn't a single 'taste' that I'd call representative.

Quoted message said:

Like if I were to give someone a representative sample of Mexican food,
I'd give them things like a burrito and a taco.

That's just sad.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL

"Boron Elgar" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I would hardly call mole poblano the "national dish of Mexico," as it
is really from the central region of the country. Mexico has quite a
varied cuisine, based on local foods availability and cultural
traditions (Mayan, Aztec, Spanish, etc.)

Yeah, but I think the point was that whatever the "national dish"
IS, it sure as hell ain't Tex-Mex...

Bob M.

Dan Abel said:

I have read a couple of articles stating that burritos were invented in
California and moved down to Mexico.

Did that happen when California was still part of Mexico?