Have your eating habits changed since you came to France?

Do you:

- eat radishes (the French variety, not the round ones) with a smear of butter, dipped in salt?
- mop your plate with a hunk of bread and then use the same plate for the next course? (Except for fish and pud, that is!)
- serve cheese with salad (and a knife and fork) and always before the pudding course?
- enjoy foie gras?
- drink your coffee black and strong?
- cook vegetables rather more than al dente when there are French guests who think, otherwise, that you are economising on fuel… :slight_smile:

I’ve been here 8 years and I’ve slowly adjusted to doing all the above - and more!

What changes have you noticed?

Catherine, You are braver than I am!

We bought a whole pig for the freezer from the local farmer last year and felt that we should eat every part. The brain was quite tasty - fried it up and ate it with a green salad - told the kids it was lardons :slight_smile:

Interesting what you say about innards…
The children in our flock had a real shock at the school lunch table when such delights were served up.
They became affectionately known as “Guts in sauce” by my one nephew.

Oooh, I’m lusting after tortillas now! :slight_smile:

I’ve tried a few minor innards (gesiers, coeurs de canard en brochette, liver as foie gras) but none of the more mucky bits. Brain, sweetbreads etc are definitely not my thing!

Suzie… a radish-smearing trick: mark a cross in the ends (a bit like a Brussels sprout) and then dunk in ice water for a while. The crosses open up, making little smearable prongs. Piece of gateau! :slight_smile:

I’m a great under-cooker of meat. Took it to extremes once when, with French guests, the calor gas ran out! The shame of it! Unfortunately, it was a poulet that, although beautifully brown and crispy on the outside, resembled a chainsaw massacre survivor inside. It had to be spatchcocked and put under the mini-oven’s electric grill for a while. Ho hum. I under-cook veg for me, but cook them for longer (with gritted teeth) if French are coming. The first time I served haricots verts (cooked to snap perfection) to my neighbour, he turned to his wife and asked, not even bothering to whisper, ‘Has she cooked these?’ lol

I get asked often if I cook French or American. Now cooking American doesn’t necessarily mean hamburgers, but I do like to make Mexican food. Although where I live I can’t find any Cheddar Cheese. Alas!
I pretty much eat French except innards. I still can’t stomach rognons or heart or anything else like that. I’ve stopped caffeine totally after years of drinking black coffee.

I absolutely cook veggies and meat rare. But I’m more of a veggie person. I adore radishes of anykind and in any fashion.
Nice to see that so many gourmands here.

My parents are complete Francophiles so in many ways, I was brought up ‘eating French’ - at least for the first three points! I still can’t bring myself to boil my veggies to death though…

French people often ask ‘do you eat English or French food’ which bemuses me no end. We eat a complete mixture of dishes from around the world but I guess the stereotype of British cooking persists!!

Well I’m just not clever enough to get even a smear of butter to stay on a radish so just dip in salt. When I have managed it I can’t quite work out what it adds to the radish…
Can’t cope with more than one carb at a time so if there’s potatoes, pasta or rice I don’t have bread (unless there are french guests).
Like the cheese with salad and k & f (again less fattening - although I think I’m a lost cause on the dimensions front).
Can’t really drink any coffee after mid-day without staring at the ceiling all night.
And I can usually be accused of under-cooking meat and veg cos I like meat rare or pink and a bite to the veg.

I’m sure there are things that I’ve picked up since being here but can’t think what - probably become habit now.

Actually, not really. I think.

I tend to slice up radishes and chuck them in the salad, I don’t eat bread with meals (fattening), I serve salad as a first course and people are usually too full to eat cheese, but it would come before dessert (I don’t like salé after sucré). I do enjoy foie gras, don’t drink coffee (too exciting!!) and cook veggies how I like them cos I’m a selfish old bat.

I left the UK when I was 25 and living with my parents. The only living on my own I’d done on a severe budget at university, so I suppose I adapted to my new conditions but I don’t get the feeling I made radical changes. Of course, they could have come upon me surreptitiously and I just haven’t noticed.

Ha Ha I just wrote a piece for Huffington Post Food (its not up yet) about this! Discovering odd food: snails, raw clams and steak tartare! Who woulda thunk? Glass of wine with dinner, yes love the tiny radishes that was and foie gras. Other than that: I snack less, eat less junk food. But I’ve always loved food and have always been fairly adventurous!