So, I recieved my airogram from Grandma and Grandpa and, of course, opened it with asloute ease.. Nandi is obviously a little special.
Anyway, after reading the lovley little letter, I realised that I havent told you much about the famous French cuisine! So here I go..
Alright, so first of all, there is how much we eat aka. A LOT. Like seriously. For breakfast, I have 2 pain grilles which are like those mini-toasted-biscotte-things that come prepackaged, except, like, bigger. I usually have them with nutella (because the French are obsessed with it), butter and jam, or some honey, which is made by a little old guy a few houses down, and is soooooo different to Australian honey (its like white, and thick, and grainy like sugar. And very, very yummy). Then I have a bowl (weird, I know) of green tea, and sometimes a yoghurt or a Granny Smith apple :) Then there is no food until about midday, when lunch is served. Whether I am at school or whether I am at home, this meal is always ridiculously massive. The school lunches include a dessert, bread, cheese, a salad, sometimes a soup or bit of pizza (for an entree!) and then a main meal of pasta or rice or cous cous, with some sort of meat or fish. At home its pretty similar, though we skip the entree and the dessert... theres a yoghurt instead. Then, again, a humoungous break until about 8pm, when its dinner time. Dinner is supposedly "small", but, honestly, its like a normal sized dinner in Australia. We usually have a salad, bread (of course), and smoked salmon or fried fish (my host family cooks with ridiculous amounts of oil!! I've actually started saying "Attendre! Attendre! Un peu, sil vous plait. C'est pas bon pour vous!" They look at me like Im nuts and say that is healthy..), or sometimes a home made "pizza" which is actually pastry (with butter in between every layer... Im gonna be obese) with some tomato and onion and ham. And then a yoghurt, of course. They love yoghurt.
Okay, so, besides the norm, what else have I tried? No snails or frog legs or horsemeat yet, thank goodness (No, I wouldnt mind trying the first one). I have tried crepes though, and they are good. Very good. My host sister, Agnes, made a batch and we ate them with nutella, which was fantastic. Then I also had some at a dreperie with dark chocolate and icecream... yum. I had my first truely french croissant yesterday morning (only took me a month) and it was wonderful, far better than those in Australia, but very large. The most delcious thing Ive had so far was a chocolate tart from this gorgeous patisserie/confectionarie. It was to die for.
Today I tried a speciality of the region. It was a pastry filled with potatoes, cream, cheese and herbs, and was brilliant, though definately not healthy. Another speciality I had a few weeks ago in Millau, was this mashed potato with so much cheese mixed through it, that it actually almost stuck to the plate. It was served with an incredibly salty beef or lamb sausage and was very yummy.
I am actually getting to like cheese a fair bit, but I will never ever ever like blue cheese. Ever. All the Rotary people were trying to get me to taste it, and then I explained that Id had blue cheese many times before, and I didnt like it, and they were in total denial... like there was only blue cheese in France. They were absolutely convinced that no cheese in Australia would have mould in it or be aged or disgusting like their blue cheese. It was the first sign of that stereo-typical French arrogance I've seen since my arrival. I had some though, just to keep them quiet. And it tasted exactly like Australian blue cheese... disgusting. I do however like the yummy goats cheese. And the camembert and brie dont taste like anything, so they are good.
My favourite French food experience (besides the chocolate tart) so far, has been the raclette. I think it is the most carnivourous (sorry about the spelling), least healthy thing I have ever eaten, but the whole concept is very fun. Its basically this little stove thing that everyone sits around, and you each have a little shovel that you put cheese on, and then you put it on the stove to melt it. On your plate you have a selection of cold meats (ham, salami, prosciutto, etc) and some bread and some hot, cooked, jacket potato, and you pour the melted cheese over it and then eat it. It is sooooo good, but definately a once a month, or even once a year thing... except that Ive had it 4 times since my arrival... as I said, obesity is on its way.
Anyway, Id love to tell you about my experiences with African food and the abbatoir, but its getting late and this is getting long, so Ill save it for another day :)
Lots of love,
Miss you,
Jess
THE RACLETTE
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