Food in France

I totally tortured myself working on this post. My mouth is salivating and my stomach rumbling. Each photo was more and more torture and the nectarines are just not satisfying enough! Be warned.. if you love food your mouth may salivate....

Glorious food we ate in our friends and family homes and 1 inexpensive restaurant. Unfortunately we were so sick in our last 5 days in Paris that we couldn't stomach much. And this occurred after we had purchased about 10 different variety of cheese at Lidle. Cheese that I can't get or that cost the earth here in the tropical north. So we ate none in those last days - boohoo :-(

In Lyon one of my favourite dishes was Hare with Chestnuts and Green Salad. The salad has a delicate mild taste in France. The leaves are softer. I don't know if it's a different type of lettuce then in Australia or if it's the growing conditions, but I'm always amazed at the taste difference.

Salad with a vinegrette of oil, vinegar and garlic.

Preserved Hare purchased from a farm via catalogue.

Our friend Jean Charles used to run a restaurant so his cooking skills are pretty amazing. He prepared a sauce of artichoke hearts with prawns and scallops, placed on a bed of fettucini and garnished with bacon wrapped asparagus. 

He purchases his artichokes when they are in season, cleans, chops and freezes them ready to prepare off season. Frugal and wise.

Dinner is Served.

Delicious and Mouth Watering

Our lovely Ex CouchSurfing guests Florence and Cyril cooked many amazing dishes for us. The night before this shot, Florence had offered Dolly cook with her the next day. The first words of the day from Dolly were "Is Florence awake now so we can cook".

They made a Galette De Roi - a traditional cake in France eaten in homage to the 3 kings that gave gifts to baby Jesus. This is one of my all time favourite cakes. We ate 6 of them whilst in France. Inside the layers is a hidden porcelain charm. The person who finds it, is the King or Queen for the day and receive a golden paper crown. Small children hide under the table and call out who each portion is for.

Making of the Galette De Roi.

Dolly under the table getting ready to call the portions out.

Golden, Crispy, Soft, Buttery and Warm! In other words Divine!!!

We Purchased pre-prepared snails at Lidle. They were so cheap it was beyond belief. I took advantage of one of my favourite dishes. I sometimes make them in Oz - but the cost is pretty high.

Quick Lunch before heading out. Escargot - Snails.

More food at Florence and Cyril's! Cyril makes handmade (not machine) bread most days. Here is a gorgeous snack of Tasty Bread and Homemade Terrine from Florence's sister.

Heavenly Snack.

Every lunchtime my cousin races home from her full time job and cooks for her 2 teenage children and herself. This allows her to eat properly at lunch and dinner time. I think this would stress me out. But Food is a serious issue with the French. You wont see people eating a sandwich at home. Here she prepared and cooked 2 different types of quiches in the space of 30 minutes!

Fast Food, Fast Cooking.

1 in the oven, 1 more to go.

On our last few days the 3 of us were so sick with gastro we could barely move. The Rambling Expats family drove many hours to Paris to see us for a couple of hours! They were going to take us out for lunch at a nearby restaurant. However we were so sick I spent the day in the bathroom puking and The Rambling Expat in the loo. Our poor family was left to order pizza and had very little of our company. The local Italian Pizzaria's pizza's smelt so good - but we stayed right away as our flights were only 48 hours away. Once our family left, the 3 of us collapsed into bed together and slept for 16 hours!

Italian Pizza.

We did make it to 2 restaurant stops during our trip. And one was my favourite from my youthful days. We headed to Barbes in Paris - the Arab / North African area near the red light district. I ordered my favourite Couscous dish. A lot of people don't like the area because it's rough and there are many pickpockets. But I don't have much to steal and it used to be my old stomping ground. So I say live a little and enjoy the inexpensive delights it has to offer!

One of my all time favourite dishes - Moroccan Cous Cous.

Florence and Cyril also cooked up a Oriental (Moroccan?) chicken dish which was cooked in a Moroccan Clay Cooking Pot. Lots of lovely flavours with the herbs and spices. I've never cooked in a clay pot - it's on my To Do One Day List.

Moroccan Style Cooking.

So is your mouth watering yet??? Isn't food wonderful!?!?!? Hope you enjoyed a tour of some of the dishes we enjoyed in France during our trip. Of course we ate way more then this - everyday was a burst of flavours. But I was busy eating and not taking photo's :-)