There have been some interesting differences between food in France and the United States. Sorry for the long tedious list.
-Butter is fabulous even from the tub in the store. The fromagerie sells butter from a big bucket.
-Yogurt is a big deal here and there is a whole aisle at the supermarket and the fromagerie has awesome fresh yogurt made with whole milk.
-Excellent bread. I go to the boulangerie daily. We have 3 boulangeries very close to us and one even open on Sundays. We mostly buy baguettes and the best is a fresh warm one. It has become a bad habit of mine to have a bit of bread and butter before I cook dinner.
-Most people buy milk in boxed containers and some buy it fresh in plastic containers. The kids prefer the box. I prefer fresh but it is very hard to find fresh lowfat milk and there is no nonfat milk. Also, if you want vitamin D added that is also something you have to look for.
-Fromage or cheese.....many different kinds and flavors...we have tried strong blue cheese and various goat cheese with salads, various hard white cheese like compte and tome, bries, and still experimenting and trying to develop my palate for it. There are seasonal cheeses as well. In the spring the butter, and cheese is much better because the animals are eating new spring grass. They don't eat cheddar here but you can sometimes find English cheddar at the Monoprix grocery store or one of the American import stores. Forget though about having crackers with your cheese. They only sell buttery/sweet biscuits.
-Wine is like water here....the french frequently drink wine at lunch in addition to dinner. House wine is very good and cheap. Store bought wine is not bad and very affordable. There are many kinds and we have enjoyed going to several wine classes and a champagne tasting. By the end of the year we were trying to get more specialized wines.
-Cereal-they have only a few cereals here and half of them have chocolate. I always have Duane bring cheerios and my favorite wheat cereal from America.
-Lots of ham in many different cuts from head to toe. I suspect people eat much more ham than beef here. When I ordered filet mignon here for x-mas eve a guy next to me was smirking and said, " Are you sure you don't want pork?". They call filet mignon a type of pork cut. Filet de boeuf is a beef cut. There are many different cuts from the cow and pig and I still havn't mastered the art of buying at the butcher shop. I actually dread going to the butcher because they don't speak any English and they have tall counters so you have to speak loudly in your perfect french which is difficult for me. I prefer to just get steak hache (ground beef) or poulet blanc (chicken breast).
-Some American food is found here but often it is slightly different and you can't quite put your finger on it.....although I said I wouldn't buy mac and cheese, I found some made in Mississippi. It it convenient with baby-sitters, etc. There are some stores that import American food but it is very expensive.
-Eggs are not kept cold here because they don't mess with the eggs like we do in America. Thus there is a protective coating that keeps the egg fresh. I love getting fresh eggs from the fromagerie and making scrambled eggs.
-Dry beans have to be bought at the health food store and they don't carry black beans or refried beans. You can get a few mexican food items from the store like taco shells and rubbery flour tortillas. The beef here makes tasty tacos.
-Chocolate is big here.....tons of expensive chocolate shops and many things have a bit of chocolate with them...unfortunately I missed the salon de chocolate which is a huge expo on chocolate where you can taste many forms of chocolate including salad dressings.
-It is hard to get used to buying small quantities of things like nuts, kleenex, tp, etc. But, there is not much space in the apt so I guess that is ok.
-The grocery stores are great here and I can often find most of what I need except it is closed on Sundays. The clerks are not always very friendly and often there are workers taking up the aisle stocking the shelves so it makes it difficult. One wonderful thing about the groceries is livraison or home delivery. You have to plan to be home for up to 3 hours after you shop but there is no extra charge for grocery delivery right into your kitchen. There are also markets all year with everything from clothes and slippers to fish and cider. I have enjoyed visiting markets in different neighborhoods.
-Butter is fabulous even from the tub in the store. The fromagerie sells butter from a big bucket.
-Yogurt is a big deal here and there is a whole aisle at the supermarket and the fromagerie has awesome fresh yogurt made with whole milk.
-Excellent bread. I go to the boulangerie daily. We have 3 boulangeries very close to us and one even open on Sundays. We mostly buy baguettes and the best is a fresh warm one. It has become a bad habit of mine to have a bit of bread and butter before I cook dinner.
-Most people buy milk in boxed containers and some buy it fresh in plastic containers. The kids prefer the box. I prefer fresh but it is very hard to find fresh lowfat milk and there is no nonfat milk. Also, if you want vitamin D added that is also something you have to look for.
-Fromage or cheese.....many different kinds and flavors...we have tried strong blue cheese and various goat cheese with salads, various hard white cheese like compte and tome, bries, and still experimenting and trying to develop my palate for it. There are seasonal cheeses as well. In the spring the butter, and cheese is much better because the animals are eating new spring grass. They don't eat cheddar here but you can sometimes find English cheddar at the Monoprix grocery store or one of the American import stores. Forget though about having crackers with your cheese. They only sell buttery/sweet biscuits.
-Wine is like water here....the french frequently drink wine at lunch in addition to dinner. House wine is very good and cheap. Store bought wine is not bad and very affordable. There are many kinds and we have enjoyed going to several wine classes and a champagne tasting. By the end of the year we were trying to get more specialized wines.
-Cereal-they have only a few cereals here and half of them have chocolate. I always have Duane bring cheerios and my favorite wheat cereal from America.
-Lots of ham in many different cuts from head to toe. I suspect people eat much more ham than beef here. When I ordered filet mignon here for x-mas eve a guy next to me was smirking and said, " Are you sure you don't want pork?". They call filet mignon a type of pork cut. Filet de boeuf is a beef cut. There are many different cuts from the cow and pig and I still havn't mastered the art of buying at the butcher shop. I actually dread going to the butcher because they don't speak any English and they have tall counters so you have to speak loudly in your perfect french which is difficult for me. I prefer to just get steak hache (ground beef) or poulet blanc (chicken breast).
-Some American food is found here but often it is slightly different and you can't quite put your finger on it.....although I said I wouldn't buy mac and cheese, I found some made in Mississippi. It it convenient with baby-sitters, etc. There are some stores that import American food but it is very expensive.
-Eggs are not kept cold here because they don't mess with the eggs like we do in America. Thus there is a protective coating that keeps the egg fresh. I love getting fresh eggs from the fromagerie and making scrambled eggs.
-Dry beans have to be bought at the health food store and they don't carry black beans or refried beans. You can get a few mexican food items from the store like taco shells and rubbery flour tortillas. The beef here makes tasty tacos.
-Chocolate is big here.....tons of expensive chocolate shops and many things have a bit of chocolate with them...unfortunately I missed the salon de chocolate which is a huge expo on chocolate where you can taste many forms of chocolate including salad dressings.
-It is hard to get used to buying small quantities of things like nuts, kleenex, tp, etc. But, there is not much space in the apt so I guess that is ok.
-The grocery stores are great here and I can often find most of what I need except it is closed on Sundays. The clerks are not always very friendly and often there are workers taking up the aisle stocking the shelves so it makes it difficult. One wonderful thing about the groceries is livraison or home delivery. You have to plan to be home for up to 3 hours after you shop but there is no extra charge for grocery delivery right into your kitchen. There are also markets all year with everything from clothes and slippers to fish and cider. I have enjoyed visiting markets in different neighborhoods.
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