{"id":2556,"date":"2022-07-21T14:52:57","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T18:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2022\/?p=2556"},"modified":"2022-07-21T14:52:59","modified_gmt":"2022-07-21T18:52:59","slug":"french-cuisine-ft-snails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2022\/2022\/07\/21\/french-cuisine-ft-snails\/","title":{"rendered":"French Cuisine (ft. Snails)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Salut!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been meaning to write this blog post for a while, but I wanted to wait until I had ample time to sample all that I could of French cuisine. Now that I\u2019ve had some time, I\u2019m excited to talk about all that I\u2019ve experienced of food in France!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main things that I had heard about French eating culture before coming here were essentially \u201cbaguette, cheese, escargot, and frog legs.\u201d I went in with an open mind about what I would encounter, and I\u2019m glad I did! Bread and cheese are certainly ubiquitous here; with both my host families, I\u2019ve had bread available every breakfast and dinner, as well as a wealth of cheese options after the main course of dinner. I\u2019ve had so much cheese that I\u2019ve been able to develop a favorite in Camembert cheese. Escargot (snails) and frog legs are not very common, though, from what I\u2019ve seen and heard. The people I talked to generally had strong opinions\u2014either love or hate\u2014for these two dishes, but they often said that they had not had either frequently. I was able to try both, but I had to deliberately seek out places that had them. Most of the restaurants I visited without prior planning didn\u2019t have either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another aspect of French eating culture I thought was interesting was the different pacing of the meals. Restaurants here have been a completely different experience for me than they are in the United States. For one, they have almost always been served as a multiple-course meal, with a free appetizer of pretzels, bread, or other snack-like food before the main course. Another difference is the time it takes. In the U.S., I\u2019m used to waiters coming by almost as soon as you\u2019re done eating to clean off the table and give you the check. French restaurants allow you to take your time, though, before giving you the bill, which I truly appreciate! You can take in the ambience and talk more with your friends without the pressure of having to leave soon after eating. I once had a meal where we talked for over an hour after eating before we got the check. People enjoy savoring the small moments and taking their time, which I think is a nice change of pace after all the hustle and bustle. I also have enjoyed the \u201cdu jour\u201d system, where many of the food offerings, especially for lunch, change day by day. I\u2019ve gotten to have some truly incredible meals!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s one last thing I\u2019d like to address. One of the most common things people told me when I mentioned I was going to France was that people, especially waiters, are rude to you if you don\u2019t speak perfect French. This was not my experience in the slightest. Almost every restaurant I\u2019ve been to has had incredibly nice waters and waitresses, who are patient with me if I don\u2019t understand their question the first time. I\u2019ve had some who have immediately switched to English after hearing my accent because they wanted to practice their English skills, as well. From my experience and from what I\u2019ve heard in talking with these people, they simply appreciate it if you make an effort, even if your French isn\u2019t perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s all from me this time! I\u2019ve attached some pictures of my favorite foods I\u2019ve had below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is a grilled sea bream with vegetables I had in Saint-Malo, a beach town! You could really taste the freshness of the fish.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Escargot! I was really excited to try these… partially just to say I tried them, but I didn’t think they were bad at all!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I had this marinated pork with a side of vegetables in Toulouse, right in front of the Capitol Building. The view and the food were both amazing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I was lucky that there was a restaurant serving frog legs near my hotel in Paris! I had heard that frog legs tasted like chicken, and I’d agree with that for the most part. They were a bit fishier than I expected, though.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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And dessert to top things off! This was a warm apple bread with caramel and almonds, served after the escargot. This was definitely one of the best desserts I had in France. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Salut! I\u2019ve been meaning to write this blog post for a while, but I wanted to wait until I had ample time to sample all that I could of French cuisine. Now that I\u2019ve had some time, I\u2019m excited to talk about all that I\u2019ve experienced of food in France! The main things that I … Continue reading French Cuisine (ft. Snails)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4241,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4241"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2556"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2564,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2556\/revisions\/2564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/sla2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}