Let's talk about food today now that we're back home, shall we? Because I miss it already. Just to warn you, though: this may be a sporadic post as I try to think of all the food we ate.
The first time I went to France, I really didn't care for the food, besides the bread. I'm going to blame it on the 90 degree weather. It's just not fun to eat when you're hot and there isn't air conditioning where you're staying...and you're also not used to walking everywhere...and you aren't used to balsamic vinegar on pretty much everything that you're being fed.
But this time...OMG the food.
Of course, there was bread at every meal. And not American bread. Baguettes galore! I was in heaven. If you are one of those weird people who think they need to be gluten free, but don't actually have celiac disease, I feel so sorry for you that my sorrow is borderline disgust. And I bet you the French agree with me. If you don't eat gluten, don't you dare go to France. It would be insulting to tell them that you won't or can't eat their bread. And, again, I am 100% on their side.
Oh, I miss French bread so much. Mom & I want to transplant a Boulangerie (French bakery) to here in Fort Wayne so bad. A big reason that it is so good, other than the fact that they make it well, is that it is always fresh. Always. The bakers get up early in the morning to bake bread, and then they bake more for the evening. It is sooo good warm! They do it right.
Another small topic about the bread: the French don't usually put butter on their bread. But they don't need to. I'm telling you: it's that good.
Mom commented the second night in Paris (pretty sure) that the food in France is just so good! Everything is so fresh. I believe and have been told that it is true: they just don't use preservatives.
We both ate a lot of fish while we were there. If you remember from my post on Amiens, we had a Wok (a chinese dish with noodles) with salmon, shrimp, and carrots. I guess you could say we had Chinese food, but I bet it tastes different in China. The best fish that we had there by far was at a restaurant called De Vinci (yes, after the painter). Oh, that cod was Sooo good. The French even know how to cook international dishes with their own style and still have it come out tasting fabulous.
Let's see...what else did we eat.
We had salmon sandwiches at Sainte Mere Eglise, near the Normandy beaches. The sign said it was salmon on a bagel, but the bagel was more like a croissant texture-wise, but it wasn't as buttery as a croissant.
Mom tried escargot in Bayeaux. That's snails, for those of you that don't know. She said she didn't know if she'd actually like it, but she did. Apparently it had a lot of garlic sauce. I went with the sausage & potatoes that night, and they were wonderful. Bayeaux is known for its sausages.
For the main course in Bayeaux, Mom had scallops. I don't remember what I ate.
We had duck in Paris at our farewell dinner.
In Paris, one night Mom & I ordered crème brûlée to share. That was okay. I'd get it again if I was craving dessert.
At De Vinci's in Tours, we had baked Alaska. I didn't entirely care for it because it had alcohol in it. Kerry, our driver, was sad that he didn't get to eat very much of it since he had to drive us back to our hotel that night. As a side-note: in order for the bus to turn on, Kerry had to blow into this device. Very interesting and safe for us.
I have already talked about the strawberries in the Loire Valley: just so sweet and wonderful. Almost tasted like candy. I miss those strawberries.
Mom also got to taste tiramisu, which she really liked. I liked it because it didn't have any alcohol in it, but it wasn't my favorite either. Too much coffee in that one.
I had meringue Flan while in Bayeaux. Nothing I really have to have again. We also had a caramel meringue at Colettes...it was so-so. Remember that I don't care for caramel either. I've found that Flan is very fluffy. I'd just rather have a brownie. I guess I'm too American.
Colette also baked us an apple & raisin crisp. I think that was the best dessert while in France. Of course, I'm not counting the chocolate macron and raspberry macron (macaroons in American english) we bought at a rest stop. Those were wonderful. If you don't know, macrons are like huge, fluffy sandwich cookies, but have more of a cake-like texture. So delicious.
And we also had ice cream at Sainte Mere Eglise (little town near Normandy beaches) that was really good. And it was especially good because we were both hot from walking everywhere.
So, I'm not a coffee drinker, but Mom is. She says that she was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I'm told that it is much stronger than American coffee. I'm pretty sure someone in France mentioned that they like to drink Italian coffee. Mom also said that even though it is strong it isn't bitter, like how coffee gets bitter when we make it stronger here in the US.
Tea-wise? Eh. They like their plain black tea and plain green tea a lot (disgusting!). I could usually find Earl Grey tea, but he's not my favorite. I like Lady Grey better. But, c'est la vie (that's life). I enjoyed my ginger peach here at home this morning. And Colette seems to have expanded her tea selection at home, because she had a black tea with fruit flavors in it. Maybe blackberry? I couldn't tell exactly, but it sure tasted good.
If you go to Normandy and northern France, be warned that they love their dairy products. Cream, butter, cheese. I think that Colette used so much that our stomachs were upset for a few days, if you get my meaning. Laura, our main tour guide in France, also mentioned that in Southern France, they are all about the olive oil. And cheese: the most famous in Normandy being Camembert. When I first tasted it in 2017, I didn't care for it. It is a bit strong, just so you know. I think I'm used to it now. Tastes change.
Back to Bayeux, if you remember we ate together as a group on the tour the first night in a new town/city. Then we were on our own for the second night. We also had to get lunch on our own pretty much everywhere. In Bayeux, I had a Lorraine quiche. OMG. I miss that too. The crust was so flaky and melted right in my mouth. Lorraine quiches are made with cheese and ham. And somehow they get it so that the quiche isn't salty tasting, even with the ham. Teach me your ways, oh France. Teach me how to cook your main dishes.
For you alcohol lovers, Loire Valley is the place to get a really famous raspberry liquor. Everyone seemed to love it. You know, besides me, who hates all alcohol. And, yes, I did try a sip and immediately gave the rest to Mom.
And as for Normandy drinks, go with something made with apples. Apples and dairy products in Normandy all the time. So, if you're going to drink in Normandy, you need to try the hard apple cider and/or calvados. At first, I was confused about calvados, because that is the tram line in Caen. But calvados is really a strong apple whiskey. Holey cow, it's strong! I could even tell by just the smell. And if you aren't convinced, when we were with our Parisian tour guide, Nicolas, he asked us if we tried it while in Normandy and said, "Yeah, oh my gawde. Calvados. Talk about fire in water." But, I guess maybe that isn't good enough to convince you, because he doesn't drink either. Mom and the other tourists said that it is strong and can clear your sinuses right up. I just have a feeling that my brother, Aaron, needs to try it and that he might like it.
LOL--Mom just laughed when I mentioned calvados and called it "jet fuel". So there you go.
At Amboise, we got chocolate at the chocolate shop Bigot. So so good!
I've mentioned that Colette likes to cook with balsamic vinegar, but really all of France likes it on their salads. I've gotten so used to it that I actually kind of like it now.
Another staple I have to have whenever I'm in France is pain du chocolate: a croissant with chocolate in the middle. Absolutely a necessity in France for me.
I should say that the things I don't care for in French cooking is that they don't seem to like to really cook their meats and eggs enough. Like, if you order a hamburger or a slice of ham, expect it to be really pink. I so enjoyed the hamburgers tonight that Dad made for dinner. Finally a decent hamburger. The French must like things almost raw or something. But that wasn't the case with the duck or fish we had everywhere.
The two things that immediately come to mind that I miss when coming back home, aside from heavenly bread, is coke and mayonnaise. I absolutely HATE mayonnaise in the US. But it tastes different in France. They must make it different enough that I like it. One of the other tourists, Anne, laughed at me as we walked up the Mont St. Michel and I was practically purring with delight over the mayonnaise in my sandwhich I was eating.
And the coke is just so much better. I've mentioned this in a post from 2017, but I can say it again: they don't put hardly any salt in their soft drinks. It just tastes so much better that way.
The upside-down apple tart tatin (an apple pie sort of thing) was hands down the best dessert we had in France. Mom agrees: it was the best by far. And it made me homesick, since we in Indiana are all about the apples.
I also ate a lot more zucchini while I was over there. I always say that I need to eat more here in Indiana. Resolution: more zucchini. It's just a wonderful vegetable.
That's all Mom & I can think of right now. I think we pretty much got everything.
Talk to you later, peeps!
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