French cuisine

French cuisine is characterized by its extreme diversity. French cuisine is considered to be one of the world's most refined and elegant styles of cooking, and is renowned for both its classical ("haute cuisine") and provincial styles. Many of the world's greatest chefs, such as Auguste Escoffier, were masters of French cuisine. Additionally, French cooking techniques have been a major influence on virtually all Western cuisines, and almost all culinary schools use French cuisine as the basis for all other forms of Western cooking.

Present-day food and drink in France

For French people, cooking is part of culture, and cooking and good food are well appreciated. The French generally take a high pride in the cuisine of their country, and some, particularly in the older generations, are reluctant to experiment with foreign dishes.

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Structure of meals

The normal meal schedule begins by a light breakfast in the morning, generally consisting of:

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• bread with jam and butter spreads (tartines), often replaced nowadays by breakfast cereals,
• often, coffee or more rarely tea,
• possibly some fruit.

Hotel breakfasts often contain croissants, but most people eat croissants at breakfast at home only on special occasions.

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Lunch is had at some point between noon and 2 PM, and dinner in the evening (often, 7.30 PM). A normal complete meal consists of:

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• appetizers, often consisting of crudités (raw vegetables), or a salad;
• a main dish (generally, meat or fish with a side of vegetables, pasta, rice or fries);
• some cheese and/or dessert (fruit or cake).

Meals, particularly lunch, are often followed by a cup of coffee.

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Alcoholic products may be consumed as follows:

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• The meal may be preceded by an apéritif, typically some dose of flavored Vermouth.
• Wine is often drunk on the meal, though this is rarer today. Occasionally, people consume beer. Typically, wine or beer is chosen to match with the food.
• The meal may be followed by a digestif — some small dose of liqueur or other high alcoholic spirit, but this is uncommon.

Festive meals may include several main dishes. Some meals incorporate a trou normand — some small dose of a highly alcoholic liquor or sorbet, perhaps calvados, which props up appetite for what follows.

Related Topics:
Sorbet - Calvados

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In large cities most working people and students eat their lunch at a cafeteria. In the case of smaller companies, it is commonplace that the employer distributes lunch vouchers (Ticket Restaurant etc.) that workers use to pay for meals in neighbouring budget restaurants. It is to be noted that corporate and school cafeterias normally serve complete meals (appetizers, main dish, dessert); it is not usual for students to bring sandwiches. In smaller cities and towns, some working people leave their offices to return home for lunch, generating four rush hours during the day (8am, 12pm, 2pm, and 6pm).

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With contemporary lifestyle, especially the reduced number of housewives, the French rely a lot more on canned or frozen foods for weekdays. Cooking evening or weekend meals from fresh ingredients is still popular. In most cities, there are street markets selling vegetables, meat and fish, several times a week; however, most of those products are now bought at hyper- or supermarkets.

Related Topics:
Housewives - Street market - Hyper- - Supermarket

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Drink

Traditionally, France has been a culture of wine consumption. While this characteristic has lessened with time, even today, many French people drink wine daily.http://www.inra.fr/Internet/Departements/ESR/publications/iss/pdf/iss97-3.pdf The consumption of low-quality wines during meals has been greatly reduced. Beer is especially popular with the youth. Other popular alcoholic drinks include pastis (in the southeast), an aniseed-flavored beverage drunk diluted with cold water, especially in the summer, or cider in the northwest.

Related Topics:
Wine - Beer - Pastis - Aniseed - Cider

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The legal drinking age for most spirits is 16. However, it is not customary that shopkeepers or bartenders check for the age of consumers, and teenagers eating with their family in restaurants will be served wine if the family requests so. On the other hand, it is very unusual to witness the kind of public inebriation that is customary in English or Scandinavian cities on Saturday nights. Usually parents tend to forbid the consumption of alcohol to their children before they reach their early teenhood. Students and young adults are known to drink heavily during parties (vodka and tequila being very popular), but usually drunkeness is not displayed in public. Public consumption of alcohol is legal, but driving under the influence can result in severe penalties.

Related Topics:
Vodka - Tequila

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