French food

Lance said:

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.

Yeah, maybe the mushroom texture is an apt description, but more like a wild and
woody mushroom that needed to be cooked and tenderized.

A few years ago I was in France and we had stopped at a quaint old inn for
lunch. Part way through our lunch the owner came in and started talking about
the rain and all the escargots he had gathered up. Than he started talking about
how the French love them but Germans don't. I think that he had assumed that we
were German because we had a rental car with German plates. This was in the
Lorraine region, which had shifted back and forth between France and Germany for
years.

This is a huge topic. You could be talking about home cooking,
restaurant cooking, regional cooking, or even what I call "hotel"
cooking. I suggest reading cookbooks by Elizabeth David, Richard Olney,
Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, and for an encyclopedic treatment, the
Larousse Gastronomique. For an overview of French regional cooking see
Waverly Root's "Food of France". Please don't drool on the pages.
(grin)
D.M.

Quoted message said:

If you are going to try French food, don't forget to try
their frogs legs or snails!

I had frog legs in Korea many years ago. It's no big deal.

Lance said:

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

I've eaten French bread, does that count? :-)~

In article <[email hidden]>,

itsjoannotjoann said:

Lance said:

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

I've eaten French bread, does that count? :-)~

No, but French toast does.

:-)

Dave Smith said:

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.

My thoughts exactly! Overrated I think.

Does anyone have a receipe for slugs? Got millions of them in my garden
(the hedgehogs & toads don't seem to be doing their jobs).

--
Paul

"Paul" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Dave Smith said:

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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

snails. I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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

palatable

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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

to sop

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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

like

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

silly putty.

My thoughts exactly! Overrated I think.

Does anyone have a receipe for slugs? Got millions of them in my garden
(the hedgehogs & toads don't seem to be doing their jobs).

If you're a lover of gardens, then slugs in beer is pure heaven mate ',;~}~

Shaun aRe

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If you are going to try French food, don't forget to try
their frogs legs or snails!

I had frog legs in Korea many years ago. It's no big deal.

Bummer. Did they ever fill out with time and exercise?

Shaun aRe

Shaun aRe said:

"Paul" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have a receipe for slugs? Got millions of them in my garden
(the hedgehogs & toads don't seem to be doing their jobs).

If you're a lover of gardens, then slugs in beer is pure heaven mate ',;~}~

They really love it don't they. I've got gallons of
not-so-nice-but-ok-if-you-add-lemonade homebrew that they seem to like.

It's pretty gross finding dozens of slugs floating & foaming in a pot of
beer :-|

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.

I have had both frog legs and snails.

About the snails....

I first ate them in a French restaurant in New Zealand. They were
cooked in garlic butter and were very rich and heavy on the butter.

But when we went to France, I had them again. A completely different
experience. The snails were lightly cooked and in a light sauce so the
flavour of the meat came through. They were very nice and I wouldn't
hesitate to try them again, but only in France.

"Kathy in NZ" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

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.

There are some foods that I just cannot eat because they remind me of one
big bugger. Yes, I recall seeing little kids pulling them out.
Clams, mussels and snails fall under this category.
I don't eat chicken wings, nor frogs legs either.
Yukky yukky poo!
Dee Dee

Steve Y said:

The greater the choice, the more you pay.

Our local restaurants offer a fixed price 4 course lunch for 10.6 Euros
inc wine and coffee. To be able to do this, they can't offer a choice
BUT what you get is first class home cooked food.

If you pay more, you get a wider choice. But this way you can experience
true, regional, seasonal cooking.

My choice would be sampling a limited menu. Too many choices in a new
restaurant leave me feeling stymied and wishing I could be 4 people
instead of just one.

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

Quoted message said:

Strikes me you should come to France and experience it for yourself
because it cannot be summarised, it depends on which part of France you
are in and how much money you have.

Outside of the tourist traps, the rule I reckon is :

The greater the choice, the more you pay.

Our local restaurants offer a fixed price 4 course lunch for 10.6 Euros
inc wine and coffee. To be able to do this, they can't offer a choice BUT
what you get is first class home cooked food.

If you pay more, you get a wider choice. But this way you can experience
true, regional, seasonal cooking.

In my travels around the globe I haven't found authentic French cuisine,
it has always been adapted to the local culture.

But I am biased cos I live here

Steve

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.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Strikes me you should come to France and experience it for yourself
because it cannot be summarised, it depends on which part of France you
are in and how much money you have.

I've been to Paris 3 times -- a long time ago.
Evidently we didn't have enough money 'cause we were actually laughing at
the food - I guess we were naive.
We were living in San Francisco, and accustomed to eating restaurant food
there.
But I did like the coffee 'places.'
Dee Dee

sf said:

My choice would be sampling a limited menu. Too many choices in a new
restaurant leave me feeling stymied and wishing I could be 4 people
instead of just one.

That reminds me of a great Wayne Boatwright sig!

"My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for 4 unless 3 other
people are present."

Did I get that right Wayne?

Andy

Dee Randall said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Strikes me you should come to France and experience it for yourself
because it cannot be summarised, it depends on which part of France you
are in and how much money you have.

I've been to Paris 3 times -- a long time ago.
Evidently we didn't have enough money 'cause we were actually laughing at
the food - I guess we were naive.
We were living in San Francisco, and accustomed to eating restaurant food
there.
But I did like the coffee 'places.'

I gather you weren't impressed. That reminds me of ship food. All
you hear about is how great it is... but I haven't been wowed yet.

On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 21:00:41 +0200, Steve Y <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Strikes me you should come to France and experience it for yourself
because it cannot be summarised, it depends on which part of France you
are in and how much money you have.

Outside of the tourist traps, the rule I reckon is :

The greater the choice, the more you pay.

Our local restaurants offer a fixed price 4 course lunch for 10.6 Euros
inc wine and coffee. To be able to do this, they can't offer a choice
BUT what you get is first class home cooked food.

If you pay more, you get a wider choice. But this way you can experience
true, regional, seasonal cooking.

In my travels around the globe I haven't found authentic French cuisine,
it has always been adapted to the local culture.

But I am biased cos I live here

Steve

Steve, I envy you, living in France. So close to all the European
countries whereas I have to travel half the world to get there.

I have been experimenting with French-style cooking this year,
entertainment-type food rather than homely fare.

Can you share a favourite recipe of your own?

Kathy in NZ

Kathy

We tend not to eat French Food at home because we can get that in
restauraunts but we eat traditional British dishes or those from other
other cuisines because we can't find non-French restaurants that easily,
being as we live out in the sticks

One recipe that comes to mind which is quick and tasty is to take a
large rib of beef, season with pepper and garlic and then fry it in a
little oil in a suitable pan. Once that is done, let it rest somewhere
warm .
Deglaze juices in the frying pan with a small amount of white wine then
add a tub of creme fraiche, a spoonfull of mustard and a suitable amount
of grated Roquefort. let these melt and then serve with the beef with
veggies to taste.

Steve (settling down to fresh baguette filled with grated cheddar and
fried onions )

Quoted message said:

Steve, I envy you, living in France. So close to all the European
countries whereas I have to travel half the world to get there.

I have been experimenting with French-style cooking this year,
entertainment-type food rather than homely fare.

Can you share a favourite recipe of your own?

Kathy in NZ