Hi everyone. I am just catching up after a busy time with guests. What I would add to the discussion about the French way of eating is that they do have a certain discipline about meal times. Lunch is midday and it would not be the done thing to chomp a bag of chips in the street in the afternoon. They don’t do all day grazing and it can be difficult to get a decent meal outside the designated times.
That said, there are many many fast food restaurants in France which are thriving.The kids I used to teach loved all that stuff, scoffed sweets and biscuts at break times and yes at ‘goûter’ which is around 4pm. I don’t think the picture is that rosy any more as far as gastronomy is concerned. The French generally do cook more but cheap, processed food is readily available and consumed in busy households.
Yes, bread is a feature of every meal. Our kids in the school canteen were allowed a small roll to avoid waste. They always had 3 courses for their meal…crudités or a slice of ham for starters then a meat /fish and veg course which could include pasta, rice etc and then cheese or yoghurt and fruit. Chips and pastries were only ever available once a week. Kids had the option of eating at the school canteen or going home ( they had time between 12pm and 1.30pm !.) There was no option of bringing a packed lunch with bags of crisps and chocolate bars .
Kids do snack, adults rarely do, in my experience. Yes, the evening meal is much lighter. So you could say that fairly decent habits are established early on.
I think also that there is a respect for food here . Food is VERY important to the French and they can talk for hours about their favourite dishes, restaurants etc etc. Meals are occasions and not to be rushed but there are variations on the generally accepted pattern with office workers eating at their desks and I honesty think obesity is becoming more of a problem.
I do think that on a trip anywhere a Brit would be keen to get to destination and grab something to eat on arrival whereas a French person would stop at midday for lunch as a matter of course !
That is my experience. When my weight discard started to become noticeable to my colleagues they were interested to know how I had achieved it ( after surreptiously asking our ‘concierge’ if I had had bariatric surgery !!!!!) They were pretty shocked when I said I ate very low carb..no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, beans , oats etc and thought it was unsustainable for them. Remember these same colleagues would have biscuts and other sweet treats in the staffroom at break times and even Haribos appeared when we had meetings as if even more sweet ‘treats’ were necessary in challenging times!!’
So the French do have some well established good habits around food and the way meals are perceived but they are far from perfect !
I can’t contribute to the alcohol debate as I don’t drink…and don’t want to practise 😉
Our guest leave tomorrow and then things will get back to normal here. I will be starting the new thread tomorrow and beginning my week with a 36 hour fast which I have been unable to do while we have been catering for guests !
See you tomorrow everyone !