All About French Food Culture
Our family has adopted some French food habits, and rejected others.
My Observations of French Food Habits
- 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 works 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 keep in mind, dessert might be as simple as a piece of fruit). Yes, this menu is served in the school cafeteria, but it’s also common for kids who live near the school to go home for lunch.
This is the main meal of the day in France, and it’s taken very seriously. At both work and at school, there’s a 2-hour break to accommodate this meal, and most shops here in our town (except for a few big chains) still close from 12-2pm.
Our family has never quite adopted this. Lunches are still a lighter meal for us, with evening dinners as our main meal of the day. In fact, the biggest grocery stores stay open during the lunch break, and we often do our grocery shopping then, because the store is basically empty. The only other people shopping are usually foreigners like us. Hahaha.
- The French enjoy smaller dinners, but eaten as a family. And they eat relatively late, at around 8:00pm. Since the vast majority of work places and stores close down by 6:00 or 7:00pm, evenings are family time.
- There really are baguettes everywhere! This is one of those stereotypes we’ve 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 serves baguette.
You might remember seeing images of our family on a pilgrimage to Mont St. Michel last summer, with baguettes strapped to our backpacks, just like the French pilgrims we were walking with.
-While we’re talking about baguettes…