french food assignment

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French class - miss bissette.

This page will talk you through how to raise your failing grade in French class and get a special reward from Miss Bissette.

After Day 1  go to your French class (the one with A B C on the window) and talk to Miss Bissette to start this quest.

You will need to have increased your Strength Stat in order to complete this questline.

During your talk, you'll reveal to Miss Bissette you've misplaced your French dictionary so she will send you to the library to borrow one in the meantime.

Go to the Library which is the building with the large book on it and talk to the Librarian behind the desk. If this is your first visit she may ask you to pay a $20 fee.

Tell her you're looking for a French dictionary and she'll send you off to the shelves by the back door where you can find one. Unfortunately, the pages are ripped and she will apologise for not having a spare and let you keep the damaged book.

Take the dictionary back to Miss Bissette and she will advise you to borrow Judith's so you can make copies of the missing pages.

Find Judith in the locker hallway and ask her for the dictionary, she'll ask you to return it right away but there's no consequence for not doing so. 

Head upstairs to the computer room and select the printer to try to copy the pages. It will fail so you should ask June to help. You'll need to pass a Strength check when you hit the printer or you won't be able to continue.

Return the dictionary to Judith and go back to French class to inform Miss Bissette you have completed the task. She will advise you to stay after class and the day will end with a scene where she touches you a little while you learn French.

After you've rested you should go back to school. You can also start Mia's Storyline now that you have your dictionary.

In French class, Mrs Smith will be chastising Miss Bissette over students poor grades before she leaves. Then Miss Bissette will give you the assignment to write about your favourite food in French.

Go to the library and ask the librarian about books for French food. She can order one in but it will take a while and in the meantime, she asks you to get back 3 unreturned Library books.

Go to Erik's house first and ask him about the Library book - he doesn't remember where it is so you need to search his room. Select the bed to look under it and find the book - if this doesn't work sleep and come back and try again.

The next book belongs to Martinez who you'll find automatically in the locker room hallway. You notice she has a book in her bag despite denying any knowledge of such things, so follow her into the bathrooms.

Select the showers to sneak up and grab the book while the two girls shower together.

Last is Dexter. If you go to the Basketball courts in the afternoon you can ask him about the book but he won't help you. Instead, you need to have the master key to get into his locker.

Get it from Mrs Smith's desk when she's not looking then head to the auditorium corridor to get into the banged-up locker which is Dexter's.

Once you have all the books return to the library and she'll provide you with your book about cheese.

Go home and use your computer to study (if you need to fix your computer first go to Consum-R and buy the parts before doing this) and you can complete your homework before returning the next day to French class.

Talk to Miss Bissette once more and you'll spend the rest of the day in French class and then alone afterwards where she'll let you fondle her breasts.

Back to French class the next day will have Miss Bissette give you a new assignment to write a romantic poem in French.

This means it's back to the Library and the Librarian will tell you to wait for the afternoon when two girls who were looking at a helpful book will be back so they can tell you where it is.

Return in the afternoon and talk to Mia who will tell you the book is is in the backroom and it should be there on the computer desk.

Go home and do the homework on your computer before sleeping. 

In the morning go to the computer room to print your homework before handing it into Miss Bissette who will make you and Roxxy read your poem in front of the class.

You will also stay back for more tutoring with Miss Bissette where she will kiss you.

If you try to go to French class the next day Miss Bissette will ask you to meet her in her office after school. Pass the time and make your way upstairs when it's dark.

She will explain she's worried that Roxxy won't attend the final exam and will bring the final average grade down so she will be fired. You make it your mission to stop this.

Talk to Roxxy the next day and you'll discover she wants her pom-poms back from the gym teacher. 

Sneak into the gym office in the auditorium hallway and go into the locker to nab the pom-poms. When the gym teacher comes hide in the locker once more before leaving to return the pom-poms to Roxxy.

This is not enough to get her to come to the exam so you offer to get your housemate Jenny to help her practice her routine.

Head back home and talk to Jenny in her room. She will demand $500 for this service so pay her and tell Roxxy it's all been set up.

Return home in the afternoon and Roxxy will come over to meet Jenny. They hit it off instantly and go up to Jenny's room to practice. Follow them upstairs and peep in to see what they're doing.

Go back to Miss Bissette's office at night to tell her the good news. Then return to her class the next day for the exam to take place.

The answers are:

Visit Miss Bissette in her office that night to receive your A+ and a special reward.

Up Next: Science Class - Miss Okita

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Mme R's French Resources

French resources for busy teachers

October 21, 2022

Fun French Menu Project for beginners

As a French teacher, I love when my students create beautiful projects , and my favorite is always the French menu project! This is one of my favorite projects to grade because it is so creative and the students always put a lot of effort into it. Plus, everyone loves the food unit, because French food is amazing, beautiful, and so tasty!

Things to consider when making a French menu:

Students usually create a menu with different food categories such as main course, side dishes, desserts, and drinks. Because their food is quite different, I like to teach students the courses commonly eaten at a French dinner and some common foods they might find for each course.

When creating their menus, I have students consider the following:

– What type of cuisine they want to feature

– Which dishes will go well together

-How expensive their items will be

– The order in which the dishes will be served

Want to make menus with your French class? Here are some tips to get you started!

– Have students choose a theme or cuisine. This will help them decide what dishes to include. Some popular themes include: French regional cuisine, haute cuisine, bistro food, and street food. They can even do international foods if you don’t want to stick with all French.

– Make sure the dishes you choose go well together. You don’t want your menu to be too heavy or too light.

– Consider the order in which the dishes will be served. The appetizer should whet your appetite, while the main course should be hearty and filling. The dessert should be something sweet to finish off the meal.

I also have students look online at maps so they can create a typical address in France. I show them how to write phone numbers, too, so they can add a French-fashioned phone number.

Over the years, I’ve had students draw them using construction paper and markers, but recently, I’ve been having them create them using Google Slides or PowerPoint.

Here’s an example of a French menu project for a beginning class.

You can have students write the articles or not, depending on the age and your goals for the assignment. I have them write in Euros, because understanding different money systems is a key cultural component of a foreign language class.

A lot of teachers love using my French menu project , because it makes the planning so easy that even beginning French students can be successful with it.

I change up how I want to grade my students, so this includes a standard-based grading rubric and a one-column rubric. The pre-writing pages and the vocabulary list help keep students organized and on-task.

What do teachers say about this French menu project?

Shelley C. says, “This was such a great resource. My students used this as a planning template, and then created their own menus using Canva. Thank you!”

“My students loved this project and enjoyed creating their own restaurant menus. I enjoyed that the expectations were clear, and this resource included vocabulary supports my students needed.”

“My students LOVED this project! They enjoyed creating and presenting their restaurant menus. I expanded this project to have them create a dialogue of someone ordering food at their restaurant and also had them create 3D models of their restaurants. Best project ever of this school year!”

See more of the French menu project here.

I love this project because it’s a great opportunity to practice your French cooking vocabulary, and it’s also a lot of fun to have students expand the learning by creating restaurant skits afterward !

Talk to you soon!

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Decoding the formal French multi course meal: 2 to 7 courses

Here’s how the traditional dinner courses are served in formal French multi course meal in France. From the number of dishes to the sequence and more.

Are you intrigued by the idea of hosting a multi-course meal at home, or looking for inspiration and ideas? 

Hosting a multi-course meal at home can be overwhelming. However, if you’re interested in this idea, why not take inspiration from the traditional French full-course meal served on special occasions? Why not take a cue from the traditional French full-course meal served on special occasions in France? 

This guide will take you on a journey to explore the intricacies of a traditional French full-course meal, often reserved for special events.

You’ll be introduced to the delicious dishes and the artful sequence and arrangement that make up an unforgettable dining experience. From the course arrangement to the nuances of etiquette, you’ll gain insight into the essence of a multi-course meal that brings people together, fosters rich conversations, and celebrates the joys of shared indulgence.

I’ve lived in the South of France with my husband and three children since 2011. Thanks to our many French friends from different areas of France, we’ve learned the ins and outs of French culture that you don’t experience by reading books or going to a French restaurant.

One of the things I can’t stress enough is that French culture and customs are very diverse. There will always be variations and different customs surrounding a traditional multi-course meal that vary from family to family and by region. More importantly, what you experience in a French restaurant is very different from what you’ll experience in a home setting. 

In this article, I’ve tried to describe French dining traditions behind a multi-course meal that French families enjoy for special occasions in the most general and broadest sense. 

Now, before we dive into the details, let’s first establish what is a full-course meal!

Jump to section ↓

What is a full-course meal?

A full-course meal or multi-course meal is a meal with multiple courses served sequentially, one after the other. Each separate dish has its own course. After each course is finished, the next course is served. 

For example, If you were to dine out at a restaurant and order an appetizer, main dish and dessert, that would be a three-course meal because each dish is brought out separately.

Family style vs. multi-course meal

A multi-course meal is temporal because the courses or dishes are spread out over time. A family-style meal is spatial because all the meal components are simultaneously spread out on the table.

When serving a meal family style, all the dishes (appetizer, main dish and maybe even the dessert) are placed in serving bowls and plates on the table simultaneously so everyone can help themselves. It doesn’t matter how many dishes are placed on the table or pre-plated. As long as everything is placed on the table at once, it’s just one course. 

How many courses are in a full-course meal?

A simple multi-course meal or full-course meal consists of at least 2 or 3 courses but can go as high as you like.

As you approach 8 or more courses, the entire meal becomes more of a tasting menu, with the size of each portion being much smaller. The more courses there are, the longer it takes to eat and complete the entire meal.

Serving multiple courses is one of the many reasons why French people spend more time at the table than in other cultures. The cheese is usually a separate course, even for everyday dinners where French families serve family style.

What is a formal full-course meal the French way? 

A French full course meal is a gastronomic or gourmet meal with several courses served sequentially one after the other.

This sounds like the definition I gave you above for a multi-course meal. However, there are certain French dining customs and elements that don’t exist in other cultures, especially during a formal French full-course dinner.  

For example, a classic multi-course French meal usually begins with a light aperitif (a predinner alcoholic drink) and ends with a digestif (an after-dinner drink). This isn’t always the case in other cultures. In between the before and after dinner, alcoholic beverages are at least four separate courses served sequentially but can go as high as 7 courses, even when cooked at home. 

The courses don’t have to be brought out to guests pre-plated. This would be almost impossible to manage without help, especially for large dinner parties.

Instead, each course can be placed on a serving platter or in a big pot on the table so that everyone can serve themselves or pass their plate to be served that course.

This promotes a lot of conversations and sharing, which is part of the French dining experience. 

Examples of a formal 2 and 3-full-course meal sequence in France

2-course meals and 3-course meals are pretty standard in everyday French dining.

Dessert isn’t an everyday thing, but more often than not, a cheese course is almost a daily thing. 

French 2-course meal

• 1) Starter and main dish placed on the table
• 2) Cheese course brought out

French 3-course meal

• 2) main dish
• 3) salad & cheese 

Examples of a formal 4 to 7 French full-course meal sequence in France

Below are some examples of a French full-course meal from 4 courses up to 7 courses for special occasions. 

Remember that an aperitif is not an appetizer or a starter dish. I’ll explain in more detail what each course entails in a moment. 

Also, don’t forget that good bread and wine are part of the meal. 

French 4-course meal:

• 0) Apéritif
• 3) Cheese course
• last) digestif

French 5-course meal:

• 4) Cheese course
• Last) digestif

French 6-course meal:

• 2) fish course
• 3) main dish
• 5) cheese course

French 7-course meal:

• 3) fish course
• 4) main dish
• 6) cheese course

8 courses or more French meal

Honestly, no one eats 8 courses or more unless you have hired help, you’re entertaining the President of France, or you’re eating at the home of a French Michelin star chef. 

UNESCO Recognized the traditions of the formal  or classic French full-course meal: 

In 2010, UNESCO recognized the multi-course gastronomic meal of the French and its traditions by designating it on its representative list of “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.”

You might be thinking that it’s the food that was designated, and you would be wrong. The UNESCO status isn’t just about the meal and goes beyond eating to satisfy hunger.

It’s more about the traditions and social practices behind the French gastronomic full-course meal as a way to bring people together to celebrate special occasions while enjoying “ the art of good eating and good drinking .”

The main qualities and elements of a formal full-course French meal earned it the UNESCO designation.

• A fixed meal structure ( an Aperitif, starter, main dish, dessert, after diner digestive drink)
• Choosing Fresh, good quality products, preferably local products with complementary flavours.
• Putting thought into choosing recipes that complement each other and careful presentation of the dishes. 
• Pairing wine with the food.
• Laying out a beautiful table setting.
• Most importantly, the rituals and conversations associated with each meal bring people together and strengthen social ties to emphasize togetherness. Often, the entire family gets involved in the cooking process, including the children. This is how French dining traditions get transmitted from one generation to the next. 

Just to be clear, a gastronomic french full course meal is not a daily event. It’s meant for special occasions to celebrate a milestone, a birthday, Christmas, a wedding, reunions, achievements, and even funerals. 

If you want to learn more, you should read   How to Explain the gastronomic meal of the French to your mom.

Individual French courses explained: 

So you want to throw your own full-course meal the French way. Here’s what you need to do and an explanation of each of the different courses. 

1) Decide on the number of courses.

How many courses you serve as the host or hostess is up to you, but remember, the gastronomic meal of the French is about bringing people together, not slaving in your kitchen and ignoring your guests. 

You can include anywhere from 4 to 20 courses, but anything beyond 7 courses could be difficult to manage. If you choose too many courses, you may not have time to prepare everything properly, especially if all the courses are hot and you have a lot of dinner guests.

Seven courses may sound like a lot, but remember, several courses can be prepared in advance and served cold, such as the salad, cheese plate, dessert and cold starters. 

It’s also not necessary to pre-plate everything, which makes large multi-course meals go so much smoother. In a home setting, the cook usually brings out the courses on a big serving platter or pot and serves everyone, or people serve themselves.

It’s really fun to eat this way; it gets the conversation flowing, and the whole meal starts to take on a life of its own with a lot of movement. 

The number of courses will also affect the length of time it will take to complete the dinner.  

For example, a 4-course meal can take two hours to serve and eat, depending on the number of guests. A 7-course meal might take 3 to 4 hours. 

2) Select complimentary recipes and a sequence to serve the different courses.

Here are some general French dining customs for a multi-course meal: 

• Dishes should be served cold to hot:  If you offer several starters, serve the cold starter first, the soup, and the hot starter. 
• Fish before meat: It’s French custom to serve the fish course before the meat if you have both as separate courses. 
• Salty before sweet:  Cheese is served before dessert in France. A French person would never serve something savoury after the sweet dessert.
• Clear the way for dessert: When serving the dessert, all other dishes are usually removed so that only dessert dishes are on the table. 

When it comes to the order to serve courses, it’s common knowledge that the order goes starter, main dish and dessert. 

However, once you go above 3 courses, there is no universally accepted way to structure the order of the courses and what you serve before, in between and after the starter, main course and dessert.

Courses can be served in a variety of sequences. Below is a list of possible courses to include in a full-course meal. You don’t need to include every single course known to fine dining. However, if you were, your French meal would proceed something like this: 

• 0) Apéritifs & horse d’oeuvres (pre-dinner drinks)
• 1) Amuse-Bouches, L’amuse-gueule: This is usually served in a French gastronomic restaurant to whet your appetite as you wait for your first course to arrive. 
• 2) hors-d’oeuvres
• 3) 1st Starter / Appetizer: a cold starter:  Starters should be served after the soup unless it’s a cold starter. 
• 4) Soup / Potage
• 5) 2nd starter: Hot starter: Served after the soup unless it’s a cold starter.
• 6) Fish course
• 7) 1st main course (Poultry)
• 8) 2nd main course (Beef)
• 10) Cheese course:
• 11) Desserts
• 12) Coffee & mignardise (a bite-sized dessert, also known as a petit four)
• Last) Digestif (after dinner drinks)

Different courses in a French multi-course meal explained.

Below are the courses in a French meal explained.

Remember, you don’t have to include all of these courses.

The only obligatory courses are the starter and main courses, but cheese and dessert are considered a normal part of the multi-course meal in French culture. It’s up to you to choose which other courses you want: a dessert, a salad, a soup, a second starter, etc. 

1) Apéritif (A predinner drink and small bites)

An apéritif is a word that refers to the time before dinner starts to enjoy one or two light alcoholic predinner drinks (the apéritif), usually accompanied by small bites. In a home setting, the aperitif is usually taken standing or seated in the salon before anyone sits at the diner table. It’s where the conversation starts. 

The light alcoholic beverage is meant to open or whet the appetite, and the salty bites help stimulate thirst

Examples of aperitif drinks: 

• Vermouth (over ice)
• Kir (white wine and creme de cassis)
• Kir royale (bubbly and creme de cassis)
• Pastis with water and ice (popular in the south where we live)

For children or people who don’t drink, Champomy is a popular drink to serve. Champomy is a brand of fizzy apple juice that comes in a bottle that looks like a champagne bottle. 

See my guide: 77 French Aperitifs: Ultimate Guide To Predinner Drinks .

In France “Apero time” (l’heure de l’apéro) is also a time of the day to meet friends for a drink, usually between 6 or 7 pm for a quick drink and conversation before heading home or to a restaurant for dinner. You’ll usually be served something salty (for free) such as pretzels or olives with your drink. See my guide: French aperitif tradition demystified: Meaning & must know musings

Savoury bites to serve during and with the aperitif

Typically, the salty bites or hors d’oeuvres served with the aperitif drink before the meal begins are finger foods because they can easily be eaten with hands while holding a beverage and chatting. 

The small bites can be as simple as a bowl of olives and pistachios, which is often the case. Or the small bites can be more elaborate hors d’oeuvres prepared in advance and laid out on a table for people to take at will. (see next section on hors d’oeuvres).

2) Hors d’oeuvres

Hors d’oeuvre (French for outside the work) is just that. They are small and savoury bites (never sweet) served outside the main meal, not part of it. 

Many types of hors d’oeuvres can be served along with the apero (short for aperitif.)

Types of Hors d’oeuvres

• Canapés:  bread, toast or puff pastry with a savoury topping. Canapé means sofa our couch in French; the analogy is that the topping sits on the bread as people sit on a sofa. 
• Amuse-bouche or Amuse-gueule: (mouth amuser): A single, bite-sized portion. It’s usually served in a restaurant and chosen by the chef to show off their culinary skills.
• Crudités: Assorted raw vegetables served as an hors d’oeuvre. Usually, there is a dipping sauce. 
• Bowl of nuts: 
• Olives: 

Apero is big business in France and French culture. Here is a video demonstrating a product that helps you whip up quick but delicious hors d’oeuvres to serve with the aperitif. There are literally thousands of videos on YouTube geared towards French people looking for ideas like this to help with their big dinners. 

3) Soup Course

It’s rare to serve both a soup followed by an appetizer unless you want to increase the number of courses in a meal. The soup usually is the starter. 

However, if you want to serve both a soup and another starter, the soup should be served first unless the starter is a cold dish. Remember, the general rule of thumb is to serve cold to hot dishes. If the starter is hot, you serve the soup before the starter.  

Types of Soup:

• Soup à l’ognion: Onion soup, known in the English-speaking world as French onion soup, is made with a meat stock and onions. On top of the soup sits a chunk of toasted bread covered with melted cheese. 
• Potage : A thick soup usually pureed to achieve that creamy texture. Vichyssoise is an example of a potage. 
• Bisque : A smooth and creamy French soup made with a strained broth of crustaceans (lobster, langoustine, crab, shrimp.) Tomato bisque is not authentic bisque because it doesn’t have a crustacean broth. 
• Garbure : A thick French stew type of soup traditionally made with stewed ham, cabbage or other vegetables, cheese and stale bread.
• Oille : A type of French farmhouse stew or potée made with various meats and vegetables.
• Bouillabaisse : A traditional Provençal seafood stew from Marseille
• Tourin / tourin d’ail doux: A type of smooth French garlic soup. Different regions have different recipes, but it is very garlicky. 
• Gaspacho/Andalusian gazpacho:  A cold soup of raw, blended vegetables. It’s not a French soup, but it’s an excellent soup to serve in the summer. 
• Velouté: French for velvety is either a sauce or a soup. Velouté soup is French, where cream or egg yolk is added at the end of the preparation to thicken the soup. 
• Consommé: A crystal clear soup usually made from beef stock and vegetable stock similar to a bone broth. 

4) Appetizer/ Starter (French: Entrée)

The starter dish or appetizer in French is called an Entrée, French for “beginning” or “entry.” Entrée does not mean “main course,” like in the United States and parts of Canada. It confuses French people to see this switch up on American menus.

The entrée, aka starter dish, is always served before the main dish and after the soup unless it’s a cold starter. (cold dishes first, then hot)

Example starter dishes: 

• Oeufs mimosa
• Oeufs cocotte
• Gougères au fromage
• Pâté en croûte

5) Fish dish

The fish dish can be the main course; however, if you’re serving both a fish course and a meat course as one of the main dishes, it’s tradition to serve the fish course first because the meat usually has a more robust flavour and fish a more delicate flavour. 

6) Main Meat or poultry dish (French Plat principal or Plat)

Next after the fish course is the meat or poultry dish. Le plat de résistance.

Some sides, potatoes, vegetables, etc., will most likely accompany this main course. In a restaurant setting, these might be plated for you together in advance, but in a home setting, they may all be placed on the table separately for everyone to serve themselves. 

Example main dish

• Daube: a type of French stew with a side of potatoes
• Roast Beef 
• Roasted chicken 
• Hachi Parmentier (French version of shepherd’s pie)
• Magret de canard
• Cassoulet: a type of French stew with beans, sausage and confit de duck. 

Usually, the salad course is a simple plate of lettuce mixed with a light vinaigrette.

If it’s more than just lettuce or a dinner salad, it may be listed on French menus as salade mixte or salad composée.

Now, on to the never-ending debate.

Do you serve the salad before or after the main dish? I really think it’s up to you and what you’re accustomed to. I say this because, in France, different regions will serve the salad before and others after the main course.

For example, salade is sometimes served before the main dish in Bresse. In Limousin and most parts of France, salad is served after the main dish. The salad might be served as the appetizer before the main dish if the meal is light. The choice is yours based on your customs and your menu.

Some salads are versatile, such as salade Nicoise, a classic Mediterranean dish from Nice, France , on the French Riviera. You can serve it as the starter, a side dish and even as the main course, something I have done since we have vegetarian friends. 

What’s in salad Niçoise?  It’s usually made with lettuce, potatoes, tuna packed in oil, soft boiled eggs, green beans, olives, tomatoes, fresh olives and topped with a simple Niçoise dressing.

About salad dressings:

Salad dressings tend to be very simple and light: olive oil, salt pepper, lemon juice, maybe a little Dijon mustard. By the way, in France, there is no such thing as a dressing called “French dressing.”

7) Cheese (Fromage)

Cheese is an integral part of the French multi-course meal. Many French people eat cheese daily as a separate course after the main meal. 

The rule of thumb in France is salty before sweets, so the cheese course is always served before the dessert or as the dessert. 

This may differ from what you’re used to if you’re from the United States or England, where the cheese is sometimes served after the dessert. 

Sometimes, the salad and cheese courses are combined into one course. I’ve been to social diners where the cheese was plated for me, but more often than not, there is a cheese plate, and guests can choose which cheeses they want. 

There are well over 1000 different types of cheeses made in France, so which one do you choose? Well, I choose the cheese based on my guest’s palette. In other words, don’t put out a stinky Epoisse cheese if your guests won’t appreciate it. But always put out good quality cheeses. 

All cheeses can be placed into one of three categories.

You can choose one soft cheese, one hard cheese and a third cheese. This should be plenty because the cheese course is really small. People usually take a few small pieces with bread. It’s pretty filling. 

• Pressed cheeses: These are hard cheeses pressed to remove moisture and whey and induce ripening. Well-known French pressed cheeses are Comté, Cantal , Mimolette …
• Soft cheeses typically are much softer inside and can sometimes be gooey and mushy. Camembert , Brie , Munster, and Saint-Nectaire are just a few. 
• Blue cheeses: The most famous one in France is Roquefort .

If you’re brave, you can include some stinky cheeses. In that case, you might be interested in reading 17 Famous French stinky cheeses adored in France and feared by others .

Dessert Course

Self-explanatory. It’s dessert, and you can serve whatever you want. You’ve probably heard of Creme Brulée, but you can serve so many more different kinds. In France, different regions have different customs and recipes, such as the 13 desserts eaten after a Provencal Christmas dinner .

One thing to note is that coffee is not usually served with dessert; it’s served after. The exception is when you order a café gourmand in a French restaurant, which is a sampling of multiple desserts alongside a small espresso. 

Coffee (usually an Espresso  )

Coffee in France is almost always an Espresso, and it’s never drunk before the meal. People often retire to the couch or the living room to enjoy their café. It’s also optional, but having tea for guests is nice. 

Digestif drink (after dinner drink)

If guests drink their digestif drink after the coffee, the digestif is called a pousse café (coffee chaser). The digestif is usually taken sitting in the living room. 

You don’t need to have a full bar cart of digestive drinks. But you should have at least one or two options for guests. The digestive drink is usually a small pour of something strong. Digestif drinks served after dinner traditionally have a higher alcohol content than aperitif drinks. 

If you start dinner around 7 or 8 pm, it’s probably close to 10 pm or even later, so you’ll be glad to know that the digestive drink is also a signal for your guests that it’s time to go soon. This custom threw me for a loop the first time I experienced it because most people have to drive home right after. Don’t worry. The digestive drink is small. 

You might be interested in reading   27 After Dinner Drinks: The French Love To Drink (Digestifs aka Digestives)

Bread and Wine

Bread and wine are a big part of French culture. Not including these two elements would be like not serving gravy with mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving . 

Bread is to the French culture as rice is to Asian culture.

From baguettes to rye bread, there are a variety of choices. It’s up to you to choose the one that compliments the meal. 

Types of Bread to Try

• Pain de champagne (French country bread. A type of sourdough made with rye and whole wheat)
• Pain Graines-Céréales (bread with grains)
• Pain de Campagne (sourdough)
• Pain Complet (whole wheat flour)
• Pain de Seigle (rye)

I’ve never been to a French dinner party where there wasn’t enough wine to go around. Make sure you have enough for everyone, and don’t run out. 

Wine is usually chosen to complement the meal. When in doubt, go to a wine shop and explain your menu. The wine connoisseurs will be able to help you. 

Sorbet The palette cleanser

I left out the palette cleanser sometimes served between certain courses at some fine dining restaurants. Mainly because no one ever seems to serve them at home. 

However, I have a friend from Normandy who said they serve a palette cleanser called “Le trou Normand.”

“Le trou Normand,” French for Norman home, is a pause between dishes in a multi-course meal to cleanse your pallet with apple or pear sorbet soaked in Calvados, a type of apple brandy from Normandy.

Wrapping up the gastronomic French meal courses

A full-course meal the French way is a delicious and unforgettable experience in an atmosphere perfect for bringing people together to enjoy the art of good eating and good drinking. Give it a try.

And don’t forget to set a beautiful table. A few small touches and some flowers can elevate the look and feel of the entire meal.  

If you’re interested in French dining and restaurants, you might be interested in reading  Cafe vs. Bistro vs. Brasserie: What’s the Difference? A guide to dining in France

Disclosure : This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a 'petite commission' at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through my links. It helps me buy more wine and cheese. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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About the author

I'm Annie André, a bilingual North American with Thai and French Canadian roots. I've lived in France since 2011. When I'm not eating cheese, drinking wine or hanging out with my husband and children, I write articles on my personal blog annieandre.com for intellectually curious people interested in all things France: Life in France, travel to France, French culture, French language, travel and more.

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Delectable Ideas & activities for a French food unit

Are you a Core French and/or French Immersion teacher looking for ideas and activities for a rich, meaningful, and engaging French food unit? Let’s dive into some engaging activities I do with my own students!

Who is this French food unit for?

These French activities and resources are ideal for novice to intermediate French students. I teach high school French classes so these activities are most ideal for this age group.

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The qualities of an engaging French food unit

First, you must establish what your goals are for your French food unit. Here are my own personal goals :

• to have students communicate their personal preferences
• to increase student proficiency in the French language
• to teach about diverse francophone and non-francophone foods, dishes, and food-practices

Teach about Francophone cheese!

One of my favourite activities for a novice-level French food unit is to read about Francophone cheese.

I keep the French reading comprehension article super simple.

I’ve never done this, but I’d love to have students bring in cheese and do a class cheese-tasting workshop! How much fun would that be?

With each different cheese, students taste, they have to describe (from a set of vocab) the taste, texture, and flavour.

French food high-frequency word wall labels

As I teach high-frequency sentence structures, I like to put them word wall labels on my main bulletin board for students to see and use.

Begin with input, then slowly shift to output

When planning a French food unit, I ensure that the first 60% of my unit is filled with rich, meaningful input.

This means that I am planning meaningful French reading and French listening opportunities for my students.

I slowly make the shift to output somewhere around the 60% mark.

Explore Francophone dishes

If you know anything about me, you know that I love to teach about Francophone cultures. Near the end of my French food unit, I have students research and describe a Francophone dish as part of their final summative task.

Have your students describe their own personal preferences

Here’s another fun activity where students talk about their personal preferences when it comes to food.

Play French food bingo

I’m not sure what it is about bingo, but my students are wild about it!

Food bingo is such a great way to practice food vocabulary during a French food unit.

Try question du jour prompts

Question du jour is a great way to build in scaffolded and structured output. It’s also a fantastic way to get students to talk about their personal preferences.

Combine French games with French reading comprehension and try trivia

I love to turn French reading comprehension into a game. Playing French food-themed trivia is a great way to combine listening, speaking, games, AND culture. A win-win!

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Food & Meal Taking – Activities Round-Up

In December I teach my students about food and meal-taking customs in francophone countries.  We learn about the importance of lunch time in France, different types of currency, how to order food, and how to pay for it.  Just as I did recently with my family resources roundup , in this post, I will share some of my favorite food and meal-taking activities.  You’ll see a number of videos in this post; for showing students a little bit of the culture, short YouTube videos are my favorite.

1.  Dessinez un établissement Awhile back, I blogged about this activity where students design their own French eatery.  After we learn about cafés, restaurants, boulangeries, pâtisseries, crêperies, and glaciers, students pick their favorite and look at photos of real ones before designing their own. 2.  Explore authentic menus What better way to work with the vocabulary than with actual French-language menus.  Some of the things I do:  ask students questions about the menu in French (ball toss), have students answer comprehension questions in French as a homework assignment, give students a set of 4 menus, and a list of questions to ask each other about the menus.  If you’re looking for some menus to use, I’ve rounded up 20 authentic French menus .

3.  Special Guest Speakers This past summer I blogged about how much fun we have when the owners of a local crêperie, Ravenous, come visit my classes.  Students get to watch crêpes being prepared and order them in French! 4.  GeoBeats Videos GeoBeats is an awesome YouTube channel sharing travel tips for locations all over the world.  They have a number of great videos showcasing various eateries in Paris.  Many of them are in English, but I find it worth it to show my students a little slice of life in France.  Here are some of my favorites:

6.  Google Maps Scavenger Hunt I also blogged about this fun activity where students visit various sites on Google Street View and answer questions about the menus they see outside the restaurants (for example “Combien coûte le pain oriental ?”).  Unfortunately, Google recently eliminated Street View from custom maps, so I had to have students type in the addresses manually, but it still worked fine. 7.  The Price Is Right I recently included this in my list of favorite new activities I tried in 2014.  This is an idea from Steve Smith of Frenchteacher.net .  He proposed having a game show à la The Price is Right, having students guess the price of various items.  My students absolutely loved this activity.  They worked in groups to guess the price of various items I had on the SMART Board, but they had to negotiate entirely in French.  They also had to write their answer in a complete sentence, reinforcing the difference between il coûte, elle coûte, and ça fait.  I had several students say to me at the end “J’aime l’activité !” 8.  France’s Gourmet School Lunches Yes, another video!  Although in English, this video offers a fascinating look at the food and customs surrounding school lunches in France.  I use this to spark a discussion about the importance of lunch in France and how eating is just as much a social time as it is a necessity of life.

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French menu project for French food unit: core & immersion LA CARTE FRANÇAISE

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Looking for a fun project for your French food unit? This French menu project is and engaging way to explore French culture and practice French food vocabulary with your beginning French students. With French and English versions, it's perfect for your core French or French immersion class!

Your French beginners will have so much fun creating their own French menus to show what they know about French food! They'll love showing their creativity and discovering new French food vocabulary words as they plan their menus!

Here's what they'll do:

• Create a French menu for their own restaurant.
• Include 25 menu items (food and drinks). They can add foods not on vocabulary list.
• Include an address, days/hours open, and prices in Euros .

This includes different directions so you can require kids to use definite or partitive articles OR to allow them to leave the articles off.

This French menu project includes:

• Directions and grading rubrics in French and English
• Student pre-writing pages
• Printable vocabulary list of common French foods with English translations
• Teacher comment page in French and English
• 3 versions of a computer-made example (with definite articles, partitive articles, and no articles)

This includes a variety of rubrics in both French and English:

• one-column rubric
• With points and A-F
• With points but no grading scale
• With standard-based grading scale 1-4

This project is not editable and will not be provided in any editable format. Questions about my terms of use? Find them here.

Teachers love this French menu project! Here's what they say:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "This was probably my most successful French project to date. My students LOVED every single step of this project, and my admin were so excited with how the menus turned out, we were given money to celebrate the students' learning and we were able to print off their menus in colour on card stock paper, and then I bought food off of their menus and we had a huge feast! I highly recommend this resource."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "My students loved this project and enjoyed creating their own restaurant menus. I enjoyed that the expectations were clear, and this resource included vocabulary supports my students needed."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "This was great for my students. I love that the expectations for the menu are specific and I didn't have to come up with all of it! The sample menu is fabulous so they know what to follow. Rubrics are super, and the "pré-écriture" was a great way for them to get started! Formidable! Merci."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "My grade 6 and 7 Core French students LOVED making menus for their made-up restaurants! The rubric with this resource is super helpful."

✨ Bundle and save! ✨

This French project is part of my French food unit along with no-prep worksheets , fun games , speaking activities, Boom Cards™️ , and more!

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French Food: 40 Traditional French Dishes

French cuisine is known around the globe for its flavor and finesse. From wholesome desserts to delectable cheeses, wines, stews, soups, fresh fish….every region in France has its own specialty.

Table of Contents

Most Popular French Dishes

Traditional french food consists of a simple combination of natural, rich flavors that come together to create an unforgettable culinary experience. In fact, French cuisine is so highly revered around the world that it was added to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritages in 2010. 

So without further ado, here are the absolute must-try traditional French dishes along with recipes for each dish to try for yourself.

Ratatouille

Teeming with vibrant colours and a delicious flavour, ratatouille is an interesting stew cooked with onion, garlic, potato, tomato, bell pepper, and many other vegetables.

A perfectly prepared ratatouille will bring out the best in every ingredient. Despite the huge variety, the dish itself is never confusing in flavour and is deliciously filling to those who eat it.

The word ‘Coq’ in French means rooster and ‘Vin’ means wine, so you might be able to figure out what Coq au vin is! Chicken is braised with wine and additional ingredients such as lardons, garlic and mushrooms.

The key to this dish is seasoning and slow cooking. The tender meat in the flavorsome roux is what makes Coq au vin a French favorite.

Raclette is a type of cheese consumed in France and Switzerland , known for its meltability. Once the cheese is heated, it can be easily scraped onto the accompaniments of ham, salami, potatoes, vegetables and gherkins.

Raclette is now often served with a small table-top grill so that a group can sit down and cook as they eat.

Not to be confused with Macaroons, these colourful cookies are sure to catch the attention of everyone who visits a French bakery.

Macarons are a crunchy, airy dessert with a chewy texture that can hold a variety of different fillings, from jelly and jam to chocolate and cream cheese.

Their versatility in colour and flavour make them an extremely popular delicacy, despite their relatively hefty price tag. 

Boeuf Bourguignon

Boeuf Bourguignon is essentially a beef stew cooked in red Burgundy wine, although other red wines are commonly used.

It’s a very traditional French dish that is enjoyed throughout the world. The additional ingredients include carrots, garlic, onions, mushrooms and bacon.

Mille Feuille

Mille Feuille is a dessert consisting of three alternating layers of puff pastry and two alternate layers of pastry cream. The top layer is then covered with a cream and chocolate icing drizzle in a marble effect.

Bouillabaisse

Bouillabaisse is a French fish stew that originates from the fisherman of Marseille using up the bony fish they were unable to sell at market. The three most common fish used in bouillabaisse are ed rascasse, sea robin and European conger, although other fish are often used.

Bouillabaisse is unique due to the herbs and spices used, the preparation in adding fish one at a time, and the way the broth is served first with bread and the fish served on a separate plate.

Typical seasonings include bouquet garni, saffron, fennel and Cayenne pepper. The broth is cooked with garlic, onions, potatoes, tomatoes and olive oil.

Baguette bread

When you think of French cuisine , the image of a crispy golden-brown baguette might be the first thing that comes to mind.

This iconic French bread is a long, thin loaf with a crusty surface. Its charm lies in its simplicity.

Baguettes are usually served as appetizers, but they are also delicious enough to be served as entire meals by themselves.

Not only that, but the crustiness of the loaf releases many aromatic molecules as you eat. Tasting a warm, crusty baguette is an experience in itself!

Historically, snails have been a delicacy all over the world, and nobody serves them better than the French.

The snails in this dish are cooked after being removed from their shells and then put back in with sauces, garlic or butter to be served.

Escargot is not only a well-known part of French cuisine, but French culture as well since they are quite often served as hors d’oeuvres, or appetizers. 

Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff is a traditional French dish that contains sautéed beef in a cream-based sauce, traditionally served on top of rice or pasta.

While the dish is typically made with beef steak, it is commonly made with ground beef for convenience and is found in French restaurants all over the world. 

Distinctively named after the Champagne region in France, this sparkling wine is popularly drunk during festivals and celebrations.

‘Champagne’ is used as a ubiquitous term for all sparkling wines by some people, but champagne is specifically from the vineyards of Champagne. Some grapes used to produce champagne are: Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir.

Soup a l’oignon (French Onion Soup)

Usually served as a starter, this unique soup comprises of sliced caramelized onions and meat stock, customarily topped with croutons and cheese. French onion soup is simple to cook and elegant in execution. 

Quiche Lorraine

Despite its Germanic origins , quiche is globally known as an iconic French pie. It has a custard filling that contains cheese, vegetables, or meat.

Quiche Lorraine, which is quite popular in France, consists of eggs, cream, and bacon. This dish can be served cold or hot and shows great versatility in how it’s prepared.

Gratin Dauphinois

Dauphinoise potatoes are not only a classic French concoction, they are also widely consumed all over the world. Gratin Dauphinois is made by slicing potatoes and baking in milk, butter and garlic.

Sweet or savoury, soufflés are another French dish that show amazing diversity in flavours. Soufflé is made from beaten eggs combined with other ingredients. 

Soufflés can be flavoured sweetly with lemon or chocolate as a dessert, or they can be made savoury with mushrooms or cheese as a main dish.

Confit de canard

Canard is the French word for duck and nobody cooks it better than the French! Confit de canard or Duck confit is a dish considered somewhat luxurious throughout the world.

Traditionally it is made by salt curing the duck meat and cooking in its own fat. The preparation is key and can take up to 36 hours of refrigeration in a rub of salt, garlic and thyme.

The duck fat cooks the dish and has a very rich, distinctive flavor that defines the dish. It is then served with roast potatoes, also cooked in the duck fat, and sometimes red cabbage.

Originating from Liverdun and Commercy of France, madeleines are traditional sponge cakes known for their shell-like shape acquired from baking pans with shell-shaped depressions. It is said that madeleines were made by a certain girl named Madeline that popularized the dish during the pilgrimage. 

Now becoming a known dessert in France, madeleines are created using different ingredients and techniques, bringing different versions with unique flair and pairings. From an easily made sponge cake topped with confectioners sugar, today’s madeleines are created with different spices and flavors and pairs well with teas, coffees, and sweet wines.

Moules Marinières

Regarded as one of the classic dishes of France, Moules Marinières is one of those dishes that taste best when sampled in France itself. This authentic yet straightforward dish consists of fresh mussels cooked with shallots, garlic, and onions.

Along with white wine, cream and the usual salt and pepper are used to adjust its flavor. Finish it off with some French bread and fries, and you’ll experience a special dish with a traditional flair. 

Hachis Parmentier

Hachis Parmentier is a ground beef based dish, topped with potatoes and cheese. It is similar to the British cottage pie but is well known in France for being named after Antoine-Augustin Parmentier who helped to promote the consumption of potatoes in France to ease the hunger epidemic of the time.

As a dish it is mostly adored for being a hearty, filling, homely meal to warm you up on a winter’s evening.

Crêpes are quite a common dish in a lot of households, French or not. Everyone enjoys these thin, delicately cooked, golden brown pancakes for breakfast. Crêpes can be sweet or savoury, though they are usually made sweet. There’s even a holiday every February 2 nd where French people eat a lot of crêpe!

Salade Niçoise

Salade Niçoise is a salad made up of Niçoise olives, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs and tuna or anchovies, with an olive oil dressing. The dish is outrageously simple, healthy and cost-effective, making it very popular throughout France and the entire world.

The traditional version originated in Nice in the 19th century but many variations have since come about with some passionate chefs arguing about which are the correct ingredients to use.

Cheese Fondue

As the name implies, a cheese fondue is melted cheese paired with several bite-sized treats for dunking. This dish is usually the stuff for cheese lovers, and it’s great to serve in simple gatherings and afternoon snacks. 

Usually paired with bread bits for dunking, cheese fondue also pairs well with cooked vegetables and hard biscuits. Since nothing ever goes wrong with cheese, you can always mix and match different treats, juices, and wines to enhance your luxurious experience.                 

Flaky, buttery, crescent-shaped croissants are just one part of French cuisine’s long love affair with bread. They are an inseparable part of continental breakfast all over Europe.

Sometimes sold plainly, they can also have a sundry of fillings from almonds, fruits, and chocolate to ham and cheese.

Cuisses de grenouille (Frogs legs)

Frogs legs are somewhat of a stereotype of French cuisine, despite them being eaten in other countries such as Thailand , Italy , Spain and even the US .

However, they are eaten quite often in certain parts of France still to this day, so they’re not as obscure as you might think. In fact, the French eat an estimated 80 million frogs legs a year. The typical way to cook them is by deep frying them, along with a jus sauce and eating them with your hands.

Bavarian Cream

Bavarian Cream or crème bavaroise is a dessert considered to be both a French and German dish , although it was purportedly developed by famous French chef Marie Antoine Careme. Quite simply, Bavarian Cream consists of custard enriched with whipped cream and solidified with gelatin, garnished with sweet sauce and fruits.

The dish many flavors including coffee, fruit flavors and chocolate. It gained significance in the 1700s when it was considered somewhat of a culinary feat, owing to the fact that it could be served at a very low temperature in an era before refrigerators existed.

Everyone’s had an omelette at least once in their life. This is the famous breakfast dish where beaten eggs are cooked without being stirred until set; usually stuffed with delicious fillings such as cheese, vegetables, ham, or herbs.

Its popularity all over the world has made it one of the most recognizable French dishes to date.

Tarte Tatin

Tarte tatin is a classic French dish made of baked caramelised fruit in puff or shortcrust pastry. Traditionally apples are used but other variations have used peaches, pears or pineapples.

Chateaubriand

Chateaubriand is a classic French steak dish, made from a fillet cut from the centre of beef tenderloin, often served with a thyme sauce or with mushrooms.

The name Chateaubriand traditionally denotes the way of cooking the dish which used two lesser cuts of meat to sandwich the better cut of meat in, before roasting. These days Chateaubriand is not cooked this way but is used more to refer to the cut of steak.

Foie Gras is a dish prepared using a duck or goose’s liver which has been fattened by force feeding. It is consumed in several ways, such as baked, pan-seared, or as a terrine. Foie Gras is a controversial dish due to concerns about the ethical treatment of the animals used in its production.

Often thought of as a cake because of the notable similarities between the two, brioche is actually a flaky bread. It is made with a high quantity of eggs and butter, contributing to an airy, puffy feel.

Brioche is definitely an upgrade for every bread-lover out there as it elevates everything people love about bread.

Brandade is a traditional spread made with salt cod, potatoes, garlic, olive oil and cream. It is usually served as a spread or dip, accompanied by toasted bread or baguette slices. It may also be served as a filling for savory tarts or as a topping for baked potatoes.

Cassoulet is a hearty, slow cooked casserole originating from the South of France. The name cassoulet comes from the word casserole, referring to the clay pot that the meal is cooked in. Originally a peasant dish, this rich meal is usually made with pork, poultry, beans and aromatic vegetables heated for hours in a vegetable stock. 

Tête de Veau

Tête de Veau is a dish made using a calf’s head, slowly cooked in a broth that is flavored with vegetables and aromatics. It is then served with a gribiche sauce, hard boiled eggs and herbs.

Oblong, finger-sized and glazed. Eclairs are the deluxe siblings to cream puffs, their classic choux dough filled with custard or cream and topped with a layer of chocolatey icing make them the perfect dessert. 

You may not be fluent in French, but acquainting yourself with the basics of French food can be a real step up in your gastronomical education. France has a fantastic food culture, and a bonus of great wines to pair the food with.

Reims Pain D’épices

Reims Pain D’epices is a spice flavored pastry often described as a cross between a dense cake and a soft bread. It is made using flour, baking soda or powder and a mix of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. It is sweetened only with honey.

Jambon-Beurre

Jambon-beurre is a type of French sandwich filled with ham and butter, eaten as a quick, convenient lunch or snack. This sandwich can be eaten by itself, or served with a side salad or potato chips.

It should be made with high-quality ham and butter, and is traditionally served on a fresh baguette. The ham used in jambon-beurre is typically a cured ham, such as Parisian ham or Bayonne ham, known for its tender texture.

Pissaladiere

A Pissaladiere is a type of savory tart which is particularly popular in the South of France . It consists of a yeast dough which is rolled out and topped with caramelized onions, anchovies and black olives. The tart is then baked for a short amount of time, just until the crust firms up.

Paris-Brest

Paris-Brest is a circular pastry dish made with choux pastry, filled with praline cream and garnished with slivered almonds. It was invented by Louis Durand, a pastry chef in the late 19th century to commemorate the Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race in 1891. The round shape of the pastry is meant to represent a bicycle wheel.

Paris-Brest is often served with a café au lait in the afternoon or as a dessert after a meal. 

A bisque is a classic French soup, different from many soups because of its thickened creamy consistency. It contains typical soup ingredients such as vegetables, herbs and spices plus shellfish.

The cream is added near the end of the cooking time. Some bisques contain alcohol like brandy, cognac or wine. A bisque must contain shellfish to be classed as a French bisque .

French Baba au Rhum

Baba au Rhum is a small cake which is saturated in a syrup made with alcohol, usually rum, and topped with cream.

The batter for Baba au Rhum contains yeast, allowing the cake to rise into a tall cylinder shape. It also contains orange and lemon zest which gives the cake a subtle citrus flavor.

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Hands-on learning in french class.

As French teachers, we are always looking for ways to engage our students with the curriculum requirements. Students engagement is about really getting students to connect with the material they are learning. My students always love playing games. There is never a student who isn’t participating on French games day! Unfortunately, we can’t always play games, but I’ve found another strategy that helps my students ‘buy-in’ to the current French unit of study.

When we think of hands-on learning, we often think of Science or Math class. But I am going to show you how I’ve incorporated hands-on learning in French class to help engage students. Here is my secret: allow your students a chance to show off their creativity by designing and BUILDING something.

I have created 2 complete units of study that focus on writing, listening, reading, and speaking skills in French, while also allowing students to use their creativity for hands-on learning. I will explain those 2 units below.

1. Mon camion restaurant

The first unit focussed on French food vocabulary: La Nourriture Un Camion Restaurant French Food Unit . ‘Mon camion restaurant’ is a complete unit for French classes that focusses on food and restaurant related French vocabulary. The unit integrates over 7 hours of reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities that are perfect for grades 4-9. Students will consider their own likes and dislikes, write and participate in surveys and interviews, and create their own food truck, with menu and recipe.

Students use a 3D template to design their food truck, based around their own food preferences. For a fun interactive twist have your students use a menu template from Canva to create a professional menu for their restaurant.

The 49-page unit includes everything students and teachers will need to get started:

-14-page teacher’s guide and tracking sheets

-Food vocabulary list/ word wall cards

-Reading/writing response on food truck facts

-Asking questions/ research questions

-classroom food truck surveys

-considering likes and dislikes

-naming your food truck

-designing a logo

-partitive articles

-create a menu

-cooking verbs

-write a recipe

-design your food truck

-describe your food truck

-interview a classmate

-assessment guide/rubric

-answer keys

-learning goals poster

What other teachers have to say about “Mon Camion Restaurant”:

“Love, love, love this resource! Instead of just introducing the older students to simply a food unit, I LOVE this creative idea. I especially love that this resource was available on EASEL. I am very pleased as I started this lesson in class, and the transitions were seamless when we were told to teach online.

I liked the type of questions being asked. It was written with simple language which was appreciated especially since my students are of high needs. Merci beaucoup!”

“My students LOVED this unit! I was able to easily add extra videos/activities within this unit that worked seamlessly with the included activities. My students were so creative with their food trucks and enjoyed the planning stages. I have kept several of the finished trucks as well as the writing because the products were impressive! I will continue to use this each year!”

“This was such fun end of the unit activity. We had spent time learning about food and then decided to make a Food Truck rather than a menu at a restaurant. My kids LOVED this assignment. The creativity and the this allowed them was perfect! This resource has many sheets that are helpful for your kids to plan and have the confident vocabulary to help them.”

2.  Mon invention révolutionnaire

The second unit ‘ Mon invention révolutionnaire ,’ is a complete curriculum unit focusing on French vocabulary. The unit integrates reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities that are perfect for students in grades 5-9. Students will consider their own needs and the needs of others, write and participate in surveys and interviews, create their own prototype for a unique invention, and participate in a final oral presentation.

In this unit, your students will:

•Learn about and identify French/English cognates

•participate/conduct a survey

•acquire useful vocabulary

•learn about famous inventors and inventions

•Express preferences

•Learn about adjectives

•Use ordinal numbers and connecting words

•create an invention

•describe their inventions

•conduct an interview

•give an oral presentation

This 60-page complete unit resource includes:

-13-page detailed Teacher’s Guide

-29 student activity pages (with answer key)

-2 instructional PowerPoint presentations

-self-reflection and assessment rubric

-customized teacher tracking sheets

Have you tried one of these French teaching units yet? Let me know in the comments below!

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French Food Habits

Image and text by Gabrielle.

We’ve been in Oakland for 8 months now, and it’s been interesting to see if any of the food habits we picked up in France would stick with us.

When we were in France, I can’t say that we ever completely adopted the French way of eating, but we got close! Partly, because living in such a rural area, we didn’t have much choice.

If you’re curious about French food habits, the two books I read that I found most helpful were Bringing Up Bébé and French Kids Eat Everything . As I spoke to French friends and neighbors about what I’d learned in the books, some people agreed completely with certain parts, but thought others were false stereotypes. So I wouldn’t consider the books as flawless, but I think they give a helpful description.

My observations of French food habits would include:

– The French enjoy minimal breakfasts — like a cup of coffee and a boiled egg, or hot cocoa and a croissant for the kids. Except on a leisurely weekend, I’ve always enjoyed minimal breakfasts myself, so this worked well for me.

– They enjoy long lunches with a complete menu. A salad to start, a main course with vegetables on the side, bread, cheese and dessert (though dessert might be a piece of fruit). This is the main meal of the day, and even at a school cafeteria it’s treated as important. We could never quite get used to this, and lunches were still a lighter meal for me and Ben Blair, with evening dinners as our main meal of the day.

– They enjoy smaller dinners, but eaten as a family. Since the vast majority of work places and stores close down by 6:00, evenings are family time.

– There are baguettes everywhere! This is one of those stereotypes I found to be accurate. You can see people walking down any village street with a baguette under their arm at any time. Even the Chinese Buffet in our little town served baguette.

– This may be different in Paris or other big cities, but in the countryside, people do not eat out very often, and there aren’t that many restaurant options. (Such a big contrast to my family’s life in the U.S.!)

– Speaking of restaurants, in our town they were open at very specific times. From 12:00 to 2:00 for lunch, and from 7:00 to 9:00 for dinner. That’s it. If you realize you’re hungry at 3:00 in the afternoon, restaurants aren’t an option. If it’s before 6:00 PM (when stores close), you could stop by a bakery and they may have a sandwich or quiche available, or you could stop at a grocery store and pick up yogurt and fruit.

– Another thing about restaurants in our town is that they don’t turn the tables over. Meaning, they don’t expect new customers to fill the tables after the first ones leave. Customers come around 7:00 and stay until 9:00 and then the restaurant closes. That means, if the restaurant is full, there is no “waiting till a table opens”. Once the restaurant is full, it’s full for the night. I found this to be true in non-touristy restaurants all over the country. That also means, it’s bad form to show up at 8:30 and hope to be served. Traditional French meals are long and don’t really offer “quick bite” options. And one more thing, in our little town, restaurants need reservations so they can know how much food to have on hand. A family of 8 dropping by without a reservation didn’t work.

– When we first arrived there, we had been in the habit of eating out quite a bit, and relying on last-minute restaurant meals on busy work days. I know it sounds silly, but it was hard for me to realize this simply wouldn’t be an option. We had to make dinner on most nights. And we had to think ahead. If we wanted to pick up last-minute dinner ingredients at 7:00 PM, we would be out of luck because the grocery store would be closed. We simply had to think harder about our food. This was tricky for me to get used to, but ultimately a good thing. I definitely think it’s important to put more consideration into what we eat.

– One exception to all of this was McDonald’s. Our town had a McDonald’s and it was the only restaurant open continuously from morning till late night. It was literally the only restaurant option for a hot meal between 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM. Not an exaggeration. And we definitely had our fair share of meals there! Despite all of our planning and efforts to adopt the French way of eating, on some nights, we just didn’t have our dinner act together. Maybe it was a longer than usual work day, maybe we hadn’t picked up proper ingredients, maybe it was too late to get a restaurant reservation — and we’d end up at McDonald’s.

– Another note about McDonald’s. Surprisingly, especially when you consider how much the French care about food, it seemed like McDonald’s is not viewed as evil-y there as it is in the U.S.. McDonald’s actually serves multiple purposes in small communities. For example, in our town there was literally no evening hangout options for teenagers beyond McDonald’s. The libraries are closed. The clothes stores are closed. Everything is closed. But McDonald’s is open late, it’s well lit and safe, it’s centrally located, it has good, reliable wifi and inexpensive food. No doubt hanging at McDonald’s keeps many kids out of trouble.

– I carried a fairly hostile view of McDonald’s in France, and was embarrassed when we ate there, until a conversation with our Dutch friends. They had lived in France for many years and they were very health conscious, growing much of their own food and always seeking out organic sources. But McDonald’s came up one day, and they matter-of-factly talked about how everyone ate at McDonald’s when they were on a roadtrip. It was the only offering for a late night or off-hour meal. They didn’t eat there regularly, but recognized that it offered an essential service to citizens.

– Speaking of eating on the road, the French don’t. Well, they don’t eat in their cars. I say that like it’s non-negotiable, but I honestly never saw anyone eating in their car. Seriously. They don’t eat casually (like a quick sandwich during errands) and they don’t snack. When it’s time for a meal — even a simple one — the food is laid out, everyone sits, and the meal is enjoyed slowly. It wasn’t unusual to see motorists setting out a meal on the side of the road, usually on designated picnic tables. Everyone gets out of the car, the meal is laid out and eaten properly, everything is cleaned up, then they get back in the car and continue on their way. The food is kept in the trunk and no even considers eating it while they drive. One benefit of this is that their cars are crumb free!

– I remember hearing that French people didn’t snack, and couldn’t really understand what that meant. I don’t think of myself as a snacker. What was the big deal? But it’s actually a hugely different way to approach food than we approach it in the U.S.. When you hear “French people don’t snack” what that means is French people — like the entire country! — eat at specific times and only at specific times. Breakfast around 8:00 AM. Lunch at noon. Dinner at 7:00 or 8:00 in the evening. Children have an afternoon snack (sweet not savory) at around 4:00 PM. Some adults enjoy an afternoon snack as well, but many do not. And that’s it. Really. There are specific times for food, and the rest of the time food is totally out of place. Like it would be weird to offer someone food at 5:30 PM, or any time that’s not a specific meal time. Another example, there is no such thing as picking up a cup of coffee and carrying it around with you. In our town, they didn’t even have to-go cups at all. If you want coffee, you sit at a café and enjoy your cup of coffee. Then get up and be on your way. Food is not multi-tasked ever.

This is the thing that I probably found most different about U.S. and French eating habits. In America, no matter how small the meeting or event, we include food. PTA committee meeting at 10:00 AM? We serve muffins and coffee. Kids at the playground at any time of day? We bring juice boxes and pretzels. Friend stops by your house at 2:30 PM? Pull out your cookie stash. Americans can eat as we walk down the street or commute to work or run errands and nobody even notices. There is no time of day where food would feel out of place in the U.S..

– In a French family, kids don’t open the fridge at any random time to grab an apple or a cheese stick. There’s no reason to even be in the kitchen unless it’s a proper meal time. And our family never quite adopted this. Our kids always felt free to snack throughout the day — thought we tried to be diligent about only having healthy options on hand.

– Food quality is better in France. Well, that’s probably not phrased right. Instead, I would say, it’s really easy to access quality foods in France. You can find them in the U.S. too, but often you have to hunt them down or go out of your way to find them.

– When I read both of the books referenced above, I remember thinking: Wow! The French have food figured out. We must adopt these methods pronto! But then, I would picture what our life would be like back in the U.S., and could see that many of the French food habits simply weren’t going to transfer. I would have to be anti-social to reject food at every PTA meeting, or tell my kids they couldn’t snack like the other children at the playground. The French way of eating works, because the entire country adheres to it. The restaurants adhere to it. The grocery stores adhere to it. Work places adhere to it. Families adhere to it. A family could attempt it in the U.S., but in my opinion, it seems like it would be difficult if not impossible.

So, what French food and eating habits have stuck with us since we moved back? There are a few things.

– We still seek out better quality food. Local eggs , local honey, local produce. And less processed food in general.

– We’re picky about things like yogurt and bread, and it took us awhile to find versions we really enjoyed.

– We still have simple breakfasts.

– We eat out more than we did in France, but we eat fast food far less than we did before we moved there.

– We shop in small batches. Before France, I would try to buy enough food for a week during one major shopping trip — sometimes filling two carts! But now, we don’t keep nearly as much stocked in the pantry, and we tend to buy our dinner ingredients the same day. I’d say this is probably the biggest change we’ve made.

– The French food thing we miss the most: Our kids long for the amazing lunches they enjoyed in their French school. They would have a two-hour break with a full course meal. No students would pack a lunch. You would either go home for a full, lengthy meal, or eat at the school. Here, they get just a few minutes and won’t touch the school lunch options, opting instead to pack a meal .

This post is getting very long, so I’ll wrap up now, but I’d love to hear:

How do you think your family would adjust to eating in France? Do you currently eat out frequently or depend on takeout? Are there any details I mentioned that appeal to you? What are your thoughts on the whole French food topic?

 P.S. — If you’re curious, this is how we shopped and ate in France , and here’s the follow-up post .

115 thoughts on “French Food Habits”

I have read both of those books and enjoyed them, but I really appreciate your emphasis on how the society supports such a philosophy/way of life. Not an easy thing to do here in the U. S. One of the things I find most sad is the disappearance of recess / mealtime for kids at school. I remember we had an hour, even when I was in high school. It sounds like some kids now barely get 15 mintues (?) It just doesn’t seem healthy to me.

The super short lunches in U.S. schools are troubling to me. It seems like another way we’re creating harmful relationships with food.

I’m a teacher, and we get exactly 30 minutes to get from our classrooms to the teacher’s lounge, eat, go to the restroom, and get back to class. The students often spend half their lunch time in line if they don’t pack their own, and the healthy options cost more, so the students on free lunch aren’t allowed to choose those items. Administrators dismiss our concerns, saying it’s the “way it has to be,” but I think we are doing them a great disservice.

I so agree. Our kiddo often says she doesn’t have time to finish her lunch and is totally rushed out of the lunch room. I don’t like that at all. I don’t think they should feel like they’re racing against a clock to eat.

One of my complaints is that at our school lunch is followed immediately by recess. As in, as soon as you “finish” your lunch, you get to go to the playground. Which means most kids gobble down a bit of their lunch and then head out. Yes, kids need outside time but they also need to eat. And this approach doesn’t contribute to a healthy learning environment. It’s no surprise kids “need” an afternoon snack at our school…

Thanks for the book recommendations. I’ve never given serious thought to society eating patterns in other countries compared to the U.S. and I enjoyed reading your insights. I definitely notice that I enjoy a meal more when I make time to enjoy it–but I’m sorry to say I could nickname myself the queen of speed eating and I think my kids are falling into the same habits–the faster you eat the more time you have on the playground….or to finish running errands…..kind of sad when you think about it.

I hear you on speed-eating. On some days I seem to inhale my food as if I’m a vacuum.

So interesting to hear what your experience is. My husband is French (I am Austrian) and we lived in a small place between Nice and Grasse for two years (I miss it sooo much!).

Some things you talked about I recognized, others not. For instance in our area there were 2 large markets that were open until 8 or even 9 pm on weeknights. So for us it was possible to shop groceries on the way home from work. Maybe this was this way because that area (Cote d´Azur) is very touristy.

Also I often saw people eating in their cars, precisely having breakfast behind the wheel or kids having ice-cream or candy bar. Our (then) toddler did have snacks between breakfast and lunch, as did his French friends at playgroup. It was supplied for by the kindergarten. Usually it was a piece of store bought pastry or a yoghurt, always with some fruit. Talking about pastries: My husband works for a large food company, therefore I know that the French also buy boxes of cookies and pastries to enjoy in between meals.).

One thing I really do agree with you is that I hardly saw people carrying coffee cups through town. Coffee is enjoyed sitting down in the sun. I like that!

My sister-in-law always laughs about this “French kids eat everything”-idea. She thinks it is a social prejudice and would love to send her 3 kids to the US to prove this idea to be wrong ;-)

I like hearing about your grocery stores with later hours. For me, that’s one part of American life I love. Ben Blair and I often run grocery store errands after 9:00 PM! The store is empty and we don’t feel time pressures and there are no lines.

I would love to live in France and always eat the French way! Actually, because I live in a rural area of Maine, it comes pretty close. We eat out at most once a month, usually breakfast or lunch when we do errands in the nearest city. Otherwise, it’s food from the farmer’s market, local co-op, occasionally the supermarket, or from our garden/root cellar. Now that my husband and & are getting older, we aim to have lunch be our biggest meal, too. Supper is often simply soup & crackers.

I was wondering that, Gail! So glad you chimed in. I wondered if rural areas in American and other countries aligned more closely food wise.

As I am sitting here eating my leftover Indian take-out, I am wondering if you had take-out in France? Did you have restaurants that served other nationalities’ food? I don’t know what I would do without delivery on Friday nights!

There was a Chinese Buffet in our town, and there was a Kebab shop, and an Italian restaurant. And I suppose McDonald’s counts as American food. I think that’s about it. If I remember any others, I’ll add them in.

As for as take out goes, it seemed to be pretty non-existent. And no doggie bags either! You finish the food on your plate.

Of course we have take away ! I think Gabriel didn’t come across ones in Normandy because she used to live in the countryside. It’s true that I live in Paris but we have Japanese restaurants, Chinese, Corean, Italian, Greek, African, Mexican, Brazilian, Spanish, Portuguese…I could go on and on. But true for doggie bags. I have to quote Gabby for that ” finish the food on your plate ” ! ;)

I remember this coming up a few times in French films, where the idea of taking uneaten food out of a restaurant with you was seen as really peculiar, gross even.

I’m French and am honestly not a fan of the trend in books abouts how the French do everything better – I find them stereotypical and they tend to assume that all French people are all the same, whereas there are huge differences depending on region, social class, cultural background, urban vs rural etc. But I really enjoyed your post! I agree with most of your points, although I’m in Paris where its easier and more common to eat out (and they often try to fit in two services per meal). It’s also easier to find late night groceries, take out etc. And for the snacks, I agree, although I think most little kids are also allowed a mid-morning snack at recess (I know I was). The constant eating is what confused me the most when I moved to Canada (which I think is relatively similar to the US in terms of eating habits). My boyfriend and I often have conversations like “hey, want a burger?” “but…it’s 3PM!” “so?” “its not time for food” *looks confused*.

Hah! I’m sure I would be completely bugged if there were a million books about how ideal life in the U.S. is — when I could so easily see exceptions!

I love your last comment about 3PM burger suggestions. I can’t believe how many times I would get in a groove and work through lunch, then look up and see it’s 3:00 and think: Oh no! What in the world can I pick up for lunch? Everything is closed!

Yeah, I can see how that would be a problem, but to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever forgotten lunch, no matter how hard I work. I’m biologically programmed to eat around 8am, 12:30 and 8pm, no matter what. It must be in our French DNA! And to be honest, regular mealtimes and no snacking is one of the things I hope to pass onto my kids, ever if I raise them here in Canada.

Isabelle, I am fascinated by these set eating times. I can easily make it from 8am to 12 or even 1pm without snacking but gown cn you not eat for 7 or 8 hours between lunch and dinner at 8pm?! I would love to know how you manage this :)

My grandmother is French and my mother grew up in France, there were 3 things that we did different than my cousins

1. Tiny breakfasts (a bagel, that is a lot of food) 2. Room temperature water with no ice 3. Salads after dinner (i never understood a salad before dinner, still don’t get it)

I miss the long lunches and try to recreate those on the weekend. The bread, how I miss the bread, I have never had a good baguette outside of NY & France.

Salad after dinner? I’ve never heard of it. I’m completely fascinated!

Salad after the entrée I think is what she means – in France it’s supposed to clean your palate before dessert – instead of a salad as an apetizer (before dinner).

Monique, I grew up in and Italian-American household where the salad always came after the meal. It’s a tradition we have carried on with my own family of young children. When we have friends for dinner they always think it is unusually fun to partake in our post-meal salad tradition! In fact, there have been a few occasions when dining at a friend’s house we have been offered the salad after the meal. When I ask my parents about this tradition they simply say it was just what their parents did too. I suppose one day our children will say the same :).

I’m Italian-American and we always had salad at the end of the meal, too.

No kids yet but I know that the husband and I would have an incredibly difficult time transitioning! I think it’s almost expected as an American to eat on the go. Setting time aside to sit down and enjoy a meal seems uncommon. Loved reading about the differences. It sounds kinda dreamy!

I confess, sometimes I LOVE eating on the go. Sometimes thinking about food feels like more of a chore and less of an enjoyment depending on how busy I am at the moment.

Completely agree with you about McDonalds. During our time in Europe I felt so embarrassed to be in one (and was only there in the most desperate tomes) but no one native seemed to have any strong feelings against the place.

Encountering a McDonald’s in any country I’ve traveled to always gives me mixed feelings. Some shame at its pervasiveness, but also comfort because it’s so familiar. One of my first faraway trips was to Japan at age 13, and I remember mixed feelings even then!

I traveled to Japan when I was 13 too! Maybe it’s because Asia is SO different, but when we came across a McDonald’s or a Baskin Robbins it was really comforting and I would beg to go.

Personal experience in France leads me to say that ‘Bringing up Bebe’ was not an accurate reflection of ALL French kids. I know French kids who turn up their ‘nez’ at certain foods. And act out in public. The teen references in the book were kind of laughable. My rural (admittedly non-Parisian) experience was that French teens were much more dependent on parents because non of them could drive before 18. None had jobs, either. I think the author’s experience was as narrow as if ALL American parents were thought to be like those Park Slope, parsley eating parents she encountered.

Bottom line: I love France, love the (complex, multi-dimensional) French; don’t like idolizing any culture as perfect specimens to emulate.

I love the way food is truly enjoyed in France…people seem to eat sensibly without worrying about gluten, carbs, calories, etc.. I also love the idea of slowing down the eating process. I cringe when i think about how often we eat snacks in the car, rushing to different activities. I do wonder if kids in France have fewer extracurricular activities. I adore the idea of a sit down family dinner almost every night. We strive for family meals, but with differing sports schedules, we have to do dinner separately once or twice a week. In general, I like the fact that there’s a simplicity about food that we don’t have in the US. I remember coming home after a trip to Paris in 1994, and being shocked at the contrast of France vs. US when it comes to the cereal aisle of the grocery store!!

Very interesting read. I cannot imagine having no eating options at certain times of day, I love being able to buy whatever, whenever. I think that would be a huge adjustment for me if I were to move to France. I love the idea of longer and more appetizing lunches in schools though!

I loved these books. I lived in the UK and didn’t have similar experiences at all – which is unique to food I believe as so many cultural things can cross European countries!

I constantly remind my husband to eat slower. He would easily finish complete a meal in under 5 minutes – not drinking anything between bites or putting down his fork. I try and have us savor the food and each others company somewhat! It helps when we don’t eat in front of the TV! ;)

So interesting to read your take on this. I think the concept of the whole country doing things a certain way is spot on–we can make changes for our families, but unless we get our wider communities to do the same, new eating habits are reaaaaally hard to stick to.

And the portions? I bet the portions were smaller than they are in the U.S., right?

So fascinating! Thanks for sharing. I love learning about the “common” practices in other countries and how they compare. So often we only hear about the “crazy” things other countries do, but food and sleep and how we dress, etc. are often the most interesting things that people view differently.

My husband is from Portugal and they eat the same way! I love when we go visit. Breakfast is usually fresh squeezed orange juice from their citrus orchard with a little bit of honey and a boiled egg. Lunch is a big affair! The biggest meal of the day and always with the whole family. Usually chicken,rice, vegetables and some amazing bread! All cooked in some interesting way and super yummy. Dinner is very light. Maybe a lentil soup or a small hot sandwich. I love eating this way and wish the UK lifestyle was set up to support such a thing.

No snacking in Portugal either! If they do it is a slice of meat, cheese and bread. Maybe some fruit with it. That is customary to have when guests come over. Always the same thing! But only for company. No snacking on your own.

We cook most nights and we don’t normally do processed food. I snack quite a bit though (mostly fruit)–I’m 30 weeks pregnant so I feel like all I think about is food sometimes! I’m curious if habits change for pregnant women. :)

I love having family dinners every night! We didn’t grow up doing this, but my husband and I do. I’d definitely adapt to this.

I am wondering about the weekends… Do they still eat breakfast at 8? Or don’t people sleep in in France as we do here? Do they eat later and change the schedule for the rest of the day?

i love these posts! i really enjoyed bringing up bebe but came to a similar conclusion. if the school doesn’t support that sort of eating, and friends eat the american non-stop way, it’s hard. i have tried to get closer to the french spirit though – emphasizing proper meals, less snacking – i do what i can!

I hear you on the yoghurt. I have trouble returning to U.S. dairy products after seemingly every trip abroad. Yoghurt especially seems so achingly sweet (almost in a fake way) and oddly thin here. I’d love to hear what brands you’ve gravitated towards since your return from France.

I would love to hear about which brands you’ve sought out or found that are good mimics to quality European food. I agree, it’s harder to access quality food here, so it’d be great to see what your family has found.

Love your post! I do appreciate McDonalds! We were in our 2nd year in Riga, Latvia when McDonalds arrived. Clean, bright, happy, colorful, friendly etc . It revolutionized restaurants in Latvia. LOVED Mac’s in China where one felt welcome and free to visit about anything and with anyone. From one who knows the difference I am grateful! Hooray for McDonalds and Kentucky Fried etc. etc!

I was so happy to read this today as I was actually going to email you and beg for advice on how to keep up the habits we have adopted while here in France. We leave in four months and I feel almost panicked every time I eat a baguette. Savor it savor it savor it ha! I would LOVE to know what types of yogurt, butter etc. you have found that your kids enjoy now back in the states. We have been zoooooo spoiled (even the carrefour vanilla is a fav in our house) and I have contemplated freezing a years supply of sel de mar butter to bring back in a cooler ha! I am sure your choices in San Fran will be a lot better then ours will be in SLC though. How will I survive with out Picard? :)

Hi, I’m French and we recently moved to Canada. I recognize some of the things you say, but not all of them. You probably didn’t have too many restaurant options and stores open late because you were in a small town, but in bigger cities in France, you can do your groceries until 9.00pm, you can find lots of restaurants, and take out food too. And during the lunch on weekdays, you see lots of people eating their sandwiches outside (ok, it’s often a baguette). But it is true that we do sit down to eat (even for a sandwich) and we take our time. Otherwise your stomach hurts and you ate so fast that you feel hungry again, which doesn’t happen if you sit for at least half an hour :) One of the biggest things that we found hard to adjust to in Canada was the lunchboxes at school, and the time allocated to kids to eat their food ! They also snack in the morning, which is very new to us. So I keep it simple, I pack mostly leftovers but not too much, so that my son has time to finish everything. For adults, we do have the “social coffee” in the morning at work. But no food with it, that’s true. In our family we eat dinner together everyday, we cook our meals (simple things – it doesn’t have to be gourmet food) and that’s a very special moment to share. Sometimes it’s even the only moment of the day when we are all there together ! I wonder when do you share your day in the US if you don’t sit together at least once per day ? Otherwise I still don’t get used to the dinner time here in Canada: families usually eat at around 5.30-6.00 pm here, and that’s waaaay too early for us ! So we are often the last ones left on the playground ;) But they do the baths, etc after dinner, we do it the other way. I realized that our European neighbors tend to do like us ! If you ask Italians, I guess they have the same type of habits as French ;) Anyway, thank you for the post and the nice tips on your blog !

I lived in Switzerland and can say the same things regarding their eating habits. There were many things I liked but I also DESPISED the small refrigerators and having to grocery shop pretty much daily. I really missed the conveniences that we have here (when I lived there grocery stores closed at 6 PM and were closed on Sundays). While I do feel their eating habits are probably healthier (aside from allowing smoking in restaurants), I truly love cruising around running errands with a warm Chai in hand. I once asked for a to-go cup at a Starbucks in Zurich and I got a serious attitude in return. Like you, I would get embarrassed if I ate at McD’s there…..I felt like everyone would be staring at me thinking “typical American”. Although, I have to say, the McD’s food there was truly divine….WORLDS better than McD’s food here. What I miss most? Yogurt and bread. When I visit, I usually head straight to the grocery store for some yogurt and then hit up the local bakery for some fresh bread. YUM! Such a great post!

Loved this post! So fascinating! We had a French foreign exchange student last summer (love her like my own daughter!), and we had a wonderful time comparing cultures without judgement. Things that blew her mind: Take out! Being able to take food home that you didn’t finish (doggy bags), and being able to send an order back if it was not correct.

Fascinating! We are following the paleo diet in our house which means there is very little convenience food around and I have had to think harder about dinner (I like the way you put that); I can’t just boil up some pasta and put some sauce on it and call it good. I like that we are eating more veggies, but it is definitely more complicated.

Hi. I loved this post and hearing your perspective as an American in France. I did read both those books but have a few French friends so knew some of it to be a fallacy. I completely agree with you about the lunch times in schools here in America. My boys are in K and 1st grade and do get a full half hour to eat lunch but in the school we were in last year, it would be 15 min to eat and 15 min recess. I hated that. It teaches all the wrong message. Even half hour is not really long enough as a teacher pointed out here. We moved here from the UK which has pretty much all the same habits as the US except that I find the food in the UK cleaner as I call it. While there are additives and processed food, I find it much easier to buy unprocessed food at a reasonable price in every supermarket. I imagine that is the same in France. I went to the supermarket this morning and was so annoyed that I had to pay twice as much for a peanut butter that had an ingredients list of just peanuts. For half the price I could buy one with sugar, salt, molasses and palm oil. Why do those items even need to be in peanut butter? This is my biggest gripe about America. The whole concept that plain food needs to be expensive when it isn’t in other countries just bugs me no end.

Travelling abroad with small kids, I have hit McDonalds in Portugal and Egypt…and I find it kind of interesting. It is NOT the same menu, and seeing what “local” flavor is added is kind of interesting.

Actually, driving through a McDonalds outside Toronto only to discover there are no biscuits at breakfast (only english muffins) was pretty nuts, too…and that’s Canada! (They are missing out, IMO).

I found this post really interesting, thank you!

xo julesinflats

Your post reminded me just how much food habits and culture are tied together. I love that so many European cultures take meals seriously and slowly, not to mention the quality of ingredients. I’d miss some conveniences and eating out for sure, but I think I could get used to the way it’s done in small-town/rural France if the rest of my lifestyle supported it. One of my grandmothers was French Canadian — in her house breakfast was simple, and lunch and dinner were sit-down and elegant — linens and all. Snacking wasn’t common. That’s the way she grew up.

I have a hard time imagining myself eating at McDonalds, but never say never… I’d be curious to see if McDonald’s food is actually better over there!

We honeymooned in Italy for two weeks a few years ago and traveled by train several times. We were always blown away by the crowds of locals inside the McDonalds at the train stations. We thought, “But you are in ITALY! Why are you eating at McDonalds?!?”.

this is so fascinating and thank you for sharing. many many years ago i lived in rome for about 6 mos and we actually ate out a lot but most of what we ate was italian. fortunately i love italian food so i never got tired of it. i think the homogeneity of the cuisine is what i noticed most while traveling throughout europe. probably so in other parts of the world too. but here in the states, i could never just eat italian food all the time. we’d get so bored! so now that you are back what kind of food do you usually make at home? our home cooking is around the globe for the most part! and that goes for eating out too!

I grew up in France and your observations are completely accurate, and much more balanced that either of the two books you mention which over-idealize the French to a silly degree. One thing you don’t mention though is just how sugary the French kids’ gouter is — often pure candy, or my favorite, a chocolate bar wedged inside a buttered baguette! They don’t skimp on sweets. They enjoy food to the fullest extent, plain and simple.

Du pain and du chocolat! I tried to explain this to my husband just the other day and he remains flummoxed. Mlle Duvet, my middle school French teacher, introduced our class to this little miracle some 40-plus years ago and it is magnificent! Alas, celiac disease has eliminated it as an option for me, although my family is instructed to provide it at my deathbed. Because I intend to go out happy! Love your take on this, Gabrielle (as always xo!)

I read French kids Eat Everything, not the other. The main thing I love is the school lunches. It makes me furious that politicians are so focused on restricting what size of soda can be purchased at a gas station, but leave our children eating processed junk in our schools all year. And the amount of time they give them to eat is also a joke!

I love food, and I love this post! The gouter , after school is one of the official meals, it’s an established snack, and my kids never skip it! What I try to bring on playgrounds is water, because kids get thirsty quickly, but no juice; at my house we don’t drink sodas, and rarely juice, unless it’s homemade. We rarely eat out as a family because it’s so expensive, and we enjoy (well, the kids) eating at Mc Donald’s occasionally. My husband and I, or I and some girlfriends enjoy going out for lunch, in one of the small bistros that offer simple but delicious traditional French cuisine; you can have a full menu for less than 20 euros. Last but not least, my kids don’t eat anything, far from it, but they have always eaten normal food, and you didn’t need to drown their food in ketchup so they would eat it.

just for your kids, here’s my son’s lunch menu in his “college”:

Salade verte ou salade de tomates

Filet meunière ou porc confit (that’s fish in a buttery sauce)

Haricots verts BIO

Saint Nectaire (that’s stinky but yummy cheese)

Glace en barre ou verrine au citron

Fascinating post — thank you! I am now tempted to read both books you describe.

I am also in the Bay Area and wonder whether you might share the sources for the yogurt and breads that you have found that you like (and hopefully come close to those in France)?

My own favorites are St. Benoit yogurt and Bellwether sheep’s milk yogurt (both from Sonoma County) and Cheeseboard (Berkeley) and Acme breads. Plus La Brea Bakery baguettes, which are from LA, but we buy the frozen par-baked ones from Whole Foods and bake them the rest of the way at home. Vital Vittles, a Berkeley company, also sells wonderful whole-wheat sandwich breads.

Love this post…hardest thing for me to get used to when we moved to Switzerland was the cooking, thought and creating of meals. I called my grandmother and told her I think I know what it is like to be a 1950s housewife! We do eat out but mainly on the weekends in the mountains while skiing or hiking depending on the season. During the week we don’t just go grab food…EVER. Luckily also many farm stands where you pay on the honor system are open 24hrs with fruits/veggies and eggs so that helps. Laughed out loud at your no crumbs in the car- no one ever eats in cars here- and our kids have gotten used to it- I took them on a two week road trip during October break and did a drive-thru from Quick and we ate in the car as we drove with the music blasting- I told them this is was the American portion of our Road Trip :) Really find your thoughts on reservations regarding food amounts interesting– we do reserve in the mountains but mainly to guarantee seating- though I have always wondered why when I am meeting friends for lunch in Zurich sometimes empty restaurants will ask why we didn’t reserve.

I live in France in the outskirts of Paris. My two children go to a French school. One son finds the cafeteria in his school so bad he refuses to eat. When I asked the school if I could give him a lunch, they refused — I needed a Drs note saying he had allergies and could not eat at the cafeteria. Life in France is very much fit into a mould– this includes expectations in schools, and also eating times, vacations, etc. While such attitudes provide structure to their daily life, if one doesn’t fit the mold its problematic. Really, the cafeteria in this school is really bad– everyone complains about it, my son is exceptional only in that he refuses to eat. So sometimes food is better here, but sometimes it isn’t. Traditional French meals are heavy and typically not made with the best meat. When they say salad after the main course it is not ‘a salad’ it is lettuce only. It is very refreshing, but I serve almost always a first course of vegetables– raw carrots, cucumbers, beets or radishes generally without sauce but with a vinigrette on the side. Cheers

This is a wonderful post. I wanted to add my experience moving to Pakistan, six months ago.

The meals here are vastly different from the US too. We still eat light breakfasts, occasionally eggs, but tea with toast is fairly common, or tea with a buttery paratha, a round layered flat bread. Lunch is the main meal of the day day at my husbands home with rice, flat bread, lentils, a salad a vegetable and a meat. Fruit and sometimes desert follows a leisurely family style lunch between 1-2. Since schools get out at 1. the kids are home for lunch. There is a specific tea time around 4/5 with tea and sometimes a snack with it, generally something sweet Dinner is much lighter sometimes just fruit and yogurt. If company comes over for tea, there will be multiple things savoury and sweet as well, but only for company. Shazia

I’m very curious, though I hope this isn’t too personal of a question: you mentioned that you don’t do one big shopping trip per week and instead shop often. I wonder, considering your faith, do you have a food storage? Did you have one in France? I imagine in New York it would have been nearly impossible with such small living quarters. Anyway, just curious!

I am curious, too, because I have a small family in an apartment, and I go back and forth between wanting to be “prepared” and trying to be minimalist due to space limitations. I grew up in Brooklyn and we were 3 generations in one house, but my grandmother shopped several times a week, we never seemed to stock up on very much.

What yogurt do you buy in the U.S.? I was recently in Europe after not visiting in 9 years, and ate yogurt every day. It reminded me of how every time I’m there I fall in love with the amazing yogurt, but I don’t know what kind might be closest to it in the U.S. I think it tastes so good because they keep some fat in it and don’t need to add all that sugar!

American relationships and perceptions about food make me insane. It’s one of the things that gets me right up on my soapbox.

The French attitude towards food sounds like my dream come true. All except the part about not taking coffee everywhere you go…that would be a hard one for me. :)

We are an American family living in Germany for the past 6 years and we are moving back to the States next month. Most of the things you mention are also very common in Germany as well. Although we don’t eat baguette everyday, we go to the bakery for fresh breads. Everything is so fresh and I worry we may not find that back home. I laugh when you mention motorists and the eating at rest stops. We always take a picnic and get out of the car, lay it out on the table and eat as a family, then pack up and go. We’ll keep doing it when we road trip in the States. We enjoy our German life and it will be hard to leave, but will not try to leave behind the good habits we’ve picked up whilst living here.

Such spot on observations! I studied abroad in Strasbourg in college and had many of the same realizations and frustrations. I still remember vividly the bizarre looks a friend and I got from the people at the café when we ordered our café-crème “emporté” (to go) The obliged us, digging out some tiny paper cups without lids. Not exactly what we pictured! Never did that again. Also, the time I took a day trip with my host mother to Germany, and when she stopped for gas I ran into the store to get a Diet Coke. Well! She asked if we should wait while I drank it! Wasn’t I going to spill if? Wouldn’t I rather sit and enjoy it? Where would I put it? No cup holders! Ahhh memories! Really enjoyed reading this post!! :-)

I love this post, in part because you seem to be considering the subject practically.

I lived in Spain several years ago and encountered similar trends–the hardest part for me to get used to was that EVERYTHING was closed one Sunday per month–even grocery stores. I was in trouble if I had forgotten to do my shopping ahead of time!

I very much appreciate the French emphasis on being present while eating–I think this provides an opportunity to have a mental break and improves one’s chances of having a good mind/body connection with food (i.e. connecting with hunger/fullness cues). However, I really like that in the U.S., I can eat when my body tells me it’s hungry, rather than feeling I have to eat at pre-determined meal times even if I’m not hungry (this might be my last chance for awhile!) or wait for the next meal time if I’m hungry, even if that’s several hours away. I realize more than likely people’s bodies just adjust to this schedule and generally adjust hunger schedules accordingly, but I like knowing if I get ravenous at 5:30, I can easily adjust my meal time or have a snack without anyone blinking an eye.

I also really like that on days when I’m “in flow” with a great project, I don’t have to stop everything for a meal–sometimes I just want to eat or graze and get on with it!

Overall, I think the root is to just be mindful of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it instead of overlaying a set of rules that may not be the best for us and our families. We (the U.S.) so often glamorize French food habits without taking an honest look at what’s good about U.S. food habits (e.g. people here are relatively accepting of a wide variety of ways of eating, so it’s easy to individualize eating habits, and there’s an enormous variety of foods available at the grocery stores, so there are a lot more recipes I can make here than I could in Spain). There are completely wonderful things about France’s food philosophy, but that doesn’t mean it would work (or be the best thing) superimposed as-is over U.S. culture.

Thanks for this post and this discussion!

It is interesting how food is ingrained in our social events (like you mentioned, meetings and play dates) compared to the French. One thing that would not be a change for us is having to plan ahead and not eating out very much. We live on a farm in the Midwest. Our nearest grocery store is about 25 miles away and the nearest “big box” stores are about 85 miles. We have one small café in our town that is open for breakfast and lunch (it closes at 2pm) on every day except for Saturday, and then an ice cream shop that is open seasonally. Having the pantry and freezer stocked are necessary. I loved to hear about the differences between American and French eating habits. Thank you for sharing!

I absolutely love this post, and appreciate all your insight! I realize one of my favorite things about traveling to Europe, is the slower pace of mealtimes…and there is no guilt associated with that!

As one who has lived 3 years in or around Basel, Switzerland I really can relate to the same food adjustments. It is still hilarious that my brain asks “Is the store open today?” because all of the random religious holidays we had off and would forget about. Definitely made use of the train stations which in our area also sold food on holidays and odd times. In my return to the U.S. working back in the school systems I was just dismayed at the lack of time the children have to eat their food. I kept thinking if children could have a calm peaceful meal half of the behaviors that get them sent into my office would be mitigated. Then watching Jamie Oliver be in West Virginia Schools and one comment that really didn’t play hugely in the show but still echo in my ears is “Wait, is this all the time they have to eat?” yeah some children are lucky to get 10 minutes depending on the speed of cafeteria lines etc. We are talking KINDERGARTENERS. It is the biggest factor for me when contemplating homeschooling my future children they would be able to enjoy nourishment and connection.

Yes, I think there’s a big difference between eating habits in Paris vs. the countryside. We live in Paris and tend to eat out a lot. At least once a week and often with other families. I work late during the week, so we eat late. We have a tiny apartment so I shop for something fresh everyday on my way home.

However, when we’re in Normandy we never eat out and shop in bigger quantities.

Regardless of being in the city or country, I think the generalizations both books make are pretty spot on. There is a real food culture in France where food is not just about food, but also about socialization.

My daughter goes to a public preschool and they all eat at little round tables with real place settings. No trays, no lines. They are served at the table and help pass the bread, water etc.. It’s pretty darn cute <3

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• This page was last edited on 6 April 2024, at 20:21.