At our first restaurant in France we made several horrendous
faux pas. The menu had four sections. There were entrees, meat and fish courses, cheeses, and desserts. We assumed that, as in North America, the
entrées were the main course and that the meat, fish, and cheese dishes were
other optional main dishes. We ordered
our meal accordingly. My father ordered
an entrée and a cheese platter and the rest of us ordered fish. When we ordered the food, our server gave us
weird glances, made contorted facial expressions, and treated us oddly the rest
of the evening.
Later talking to friends outside in Provence, we understood our
mistakes. Entrées are appetizers! This makes linguistic sense, given that the
verb entrer means to enter. Cheese in France is never eaten at the start
of a meal; a cheese platter is always a type of dessert. The one exception is that cooked cheese, like
a roasted chevre salad, is eaten as
an entrée. So my father had ordered an
entrée and a dessert—both as a main course.
No wonder the waitress was
having conniptions! Also, although we
did not make this mistake, we now know that hors d’oeuvres are not synonymous
with appetizers. In stead, hors d’oeuvres
specifically refer to mixed salad plates (although salad can mean sliced meats
or vegetables), which can be eaten at the beginning of the meal.
We also learned two essential guidelines for French
cooking. The first is that food is an
art and should be prepared as such. So,
it is not uncommon, even during the weekdays, to take 2 hours to prepare a
meal. The second guideline is, “Le gras est le gout” (the fat is the
taste). Apparently fat is everything in
French cooking, whether it is olive oil in Provence or goose fat central
France. It is said here, “Dit-moi le gras et je peux vous dire la
region” (tell me with what fat you cook and I will tell you from where it
comes).
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