Adventure 1: Cooking like the French

So, in my short time in France (just 2.43 weeks) I have made an effort to do as the French do, and actually cook myself some meals, instead of eating Ramen or swinging by the closest Mighty Taco. I've taken notes from my French friends and tried to make meal time an event -a special time for me to reflect on my day and enjoy the bountiful feast in front of me. If I were actually French, or maybe just more acclimated, I would have been able to create a sense of ceremony around my meals. However, whilst I am American, I ate while reading advertisements for PizzaTime and ChornoPizza, my local pizzerias. More on those later...

Just above is the first meal I cooked for myself, on Sunday, the 29th of January. Please note the popular French wine, a 2009 Médoc in a tiny, "try it on for size" bottle. They don't actually call the bottles by that name here, I just made that up. Médoc hails from the Bordeaux region, and to translate the label literally it, "...presents a beautiful garnet dress with a nose of aromas of red fruit. In mouth, it is a round wine of fine tannins and supple". To a lesser aficionado, it tasted like a nice, dry, red wine. Above, as you can see, I had a simple meal of chicken and zucciini, which isn't very French and was also technically Halal chicken, because that's what Marie and I saw first at Carrefour. I also had an apple for dessert (no seriously, like, raw fruits are dessert here, not snacks) and the obligatory bread and cheese. I also had some nice salted butter, but after showing off my meal to a savvy French cook, she politely pointed out that only the Brits eat butter with their bread and cheese. So there.

My next attempt was at atmosphere. See above the candle and delightful purple flowers. I am not sure what kind of flowers they are, but they were pretty, until I forgot to water them. Tonight, I am attempting to nurse them back to health. I'll let you know how that goes...but I digress, or, rather I don't. Because part of a the great atmosphere of a French meal is letting the conversation travel down little winding paths, dart around corners of ideas and finally settle softly on a bed of contemplation, while sipping an after-dinner tea. Oh, and please note the carefully placed mail on the table. Thank you.

Also please note, the salad of JUST lettuce and a little oil and balsamic (no giant Cobb's or crazy carrot shavings out here, although I did sneak in, like, 3 olives) and another very nice wine, a 2010 Roches-Linières Muscadet, a tradition of the Val de Loire and also an apparent favorite of my friend Marie's husband, Nicolas' Dad, which is why Marie recommended it to me. I know the grammar/punctuation is off in that sentence and I consider Nicolas to be my friend too, but if I introduced him before Marie I fear she would be a bit put-off, since she is the one that coerced me to write this blog in the first place. So yes, noodles and a bit of cheery, cherry tomatoes and some Moroccan sausage which I over-cooked, but so what -that's what we Americans do, no?

The last picture is a bit of a meager attempt, but it was tonight's fare. I had a salad, this time with tomatoes in it and a rice, cheese, egg dish with some basil for good measure. I also added just a touch of light cream, to Frenchify it. The glass holds Perrier and so was very refreshing, just like their commercials are.

And that concludes my first foray into French cooking. It doesn't look like much, but considering I came from eating microwaved bean burgers smushed on top of lettuce, with obligatory cheese and salsa at least 3 nights a week, I'd say it's quite the step in a new direction.

A bientot,

MMP