Eat like zee French!! Better yet. Just eat the appetizers.
Have you been tasked with meal planning and preparation for the holidays?
My advice to you? Eat like they do in France.
Michey LM is a fellow freelance writer, and the information contained in an article she published inspired this “two cents”. She has chosen to unpublish her content; however, learning about this delicious cuisine has me yearning (or craving) for everything French!!
A typical meal in France has 5 (or 7) components or courses. The first course consists of appetizers (or aperitifs). For me, it's perfectly alright to make them my entire meal!! Examples of French cuisine appetizers include herbed cheese spread, Amiens pates (duck pate), fish soup, and a dish called pissaladiere. There are plenty more. The first two on the list are the most satisfying to my taste buds. But more than happy to taste and sample all the other entrées too! Learn more about this wonderful food that you would probably enjoy so much, you would be perfectly fine with skipping the rest of the meal. :)
Here is a variation of the courses:
- Apéritif,
- Hors d’Oeuvres,
- Soup,
- Main Dish,
- Salad,
- Cheese,
- Dessert.
But no matter the number of courses, the meal usually begins with the apéritifs / hors d’oeuvres. Americans would call this part of the meal the appetizers. I would be perfectly satisfied just eating the appetizers. Some people skip the meal and go straight to dessert. I wouldn’t skip. I would just start at the beginning of the meal and never graze any further!
I’ll make a confession. I have always envied the French. For me, any time a group of people can enjoy eating cheese (one of my favorite foods), cook their food with butter and/or cream, and not have a problem with their weight, I call that an “art”. Besides that, I say there must be a reason why many world-class chefs (such as popular Asian TV chef, Ming Tsai) go to cooking school in France. There are many interesting links to be found around the web that discuss the art of eating like the French. Here are a few.
♦ The French eating habits the world should learn from
♦ Learn the Different Courses in a Formal French Meal
♦ Serious Entertaining: A 5-Course French Meal for Your Bastille Day Fête (You’ll want to celebrate this holiday every day, even if you aren’t from France.)
The Everything Easy French Cookbook: Includes Boeuf Bourguignon, Crepes Suzette, Croque-Monsieur Maison, Quiche Lorraine, Mousse au Chocolat...and Hundreds More! (Everything Series)
