Bon Appétit
Blog 3
April 20, 2015
By Kevin Higgins
French
cuisine is extremely diverse, with foods on all sides of the spectrum depending
on location. This variety is supported by the French passion for good food in
all its forms. France's extraordinary range of different geographies and
climates, which support the local production of all types of ingredients, is
eaten across the world. In many ways, an understanding of the culture of French food
and recipes is an understanding of France itself. Meals range from
the very basic, such as the traditional baguette plus cheese plus inexpensive
wine, to very elaborate affairs than can involve a dozen courses and different
wines consumed over several hours. Unlike the legal drinking age in the U.S.,
in France it is illegal to "sell, serve, or
offer" any form of distilled alcohol to those under the age of 18 but fermented drinks like beer or
wine are permitted above 16 years of
age. So wine is a big deal in France, they are famous for their
wine however; it is this more sophisticated dining which is typically found in
"French restaurants" outside France. This gives many foreigners the mistaken
impression that French food is heavy and complicated and very pricy but In
fact, much of the French cuisine is fairly simple, relying on high quality
fresh ingredients and loving preparation rather than complex recipes. It is
said that France produces 365 different types of cheese! That is a
different type of cheese for every day of the year. Last but not least, In
France, some of the exotic foods that are eaten are snails (les escargots), frog legs (les cuisses de grenouille) and horsemeat
(la viande de cheval).
work cited
"French Food Culture and Recipes." French Food Culture and Recipes. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
work cited
"French Food Culture and Recipes." French Food Culture and Recipes. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
Ok I honestly might go to France to swim in the 365 different cheeses they make because I'm a huge cheese head. As to your wine comment about wine being consumed over several hours, I just pictured a bunch of drunk Frenchmen throwing baguettes at eachother. Haha.. I also think it is interesting that the United States stole names for wine from France. My mom took a wine class in University. She told me that the different wine types that we have here we actually stole from France. Like Chardonay, for example, is actually the town in France where the grapes were grown and the wine was made. So that is why France kind of laughs at the U.S. when it comes to wine, because we copied them.
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