I dunno, bet if I joked that Elton had a great personality, I could get Pete Singhof chuckling at the absurdity of the statement! Hehehe
And don't forget "le tablier de sapeur", a speciality from the cuisine in Lyon, which is a kind of a french equivalent of the haggis... Rgds
To stay still "somewhat" derailed from the thread (well, somewhat; it is a Grand Prix in France, after all...) horsemeat is something that had almost disappeared nowadays in France (almost); whereas fifty years ago, you had butcher shops that were doing only horsemeat ("boucherie chevaline"). Rgds
I can't help, as I don't know Los Angeles at all. Never been there, so... Besides, and to digress slightly, the definition of a "real french restaurant" is very different from people to people; even here in Paris between friends, it is difficult to agree on what is a "real french restaurant". Everyone has its own perspective about the location, furniture, food served, "balance between quality and price", etc...furthermore, in Paris the question would be "a real french restaurant" or "a real parisian restaurant"; and there are different level of prices; the population of Paris had many hand-workers in the past, some with limited incomes, but they had also their own typical restaurants ("Les bouillons", some are still around) whereas the aristocracy had also its own, typical, restaurants; both would be "typically parisian", but very different. And probably not "a real french restaurant". (There are about 17.000 restaurants in Paris, so...) As for myself, I have never, ever, been in the most famous Parisian restaurants (say Lasserre, Maxims, la Tour d'Argent or whatever...) and I don't intend to because these places just "don't do it" for me, I'm not attracted at all (too expensive, attendence not typical, etc...). Probably my idea of "a real french restaurant" would be a nice drive with the F-car somewhat in Sud-Ouest, let's say following la vallée du Lot and stop in a place like Cahors (for instance; Villefrance de Rouergue would do also) with nice old buildings; then having "salade périgourdine", then "magret de canard". But I'm a country boy at heart. In Paris, well...for instance (I have no interest in the business or place) "Chez Joséphine", rue du Cherche-midi, would qualify as "a real french restaurant" for me. Rgds
Remember going on an exchange visit to Lille, aged about 12... Sitting around the kitchen table there eating horsemeat and drinking red wine ..talk about culture shock.
The only persons eating hedgehogs in France were the Gypsies; it is customary to the gypsy culture, but not to the French. I say "were", not "are", because it is forbidden by law since 1976: the fine is "up to 9.000 euros" and six months in prison... Rgds
I don't think that eating snails is attached to any region in particular, I wouldn't say this is more popular in the South, as they are also very popular in Burgundy (Escargots de Bourgogne...) for instance. But you still can find snails on the menu of many restaurants in Paris nowadays... Rgds
You're right Sid. They still do eat hedgehogs from time to time, even if it is forbidden by law; and they end-up fined for it, and do prison time... Rgds
I have a running problem with them, I have to keep them from breaking into my property every so often, I won’t tell you the extremes I’ve had to go to to make them understand!
I have been told that most snails consumed in France are now imported from the Czech Republic. Is that true ? If we are to believe the Internet, "Escargots de Bourgogne" is more a recipe than an indication of their origin: they come in fact from Ukraine or Poland.
That is true indeed. France eats between 16.000 and 25.000 tonnes of snails yearly (mostly for Christmas, which represents 2/3 of the annual consumption) with two regions being the essential part of the consumption: Alsace and Franche-Comté (read here: East). 80 to 90% of the snails are imported from Hungary, Poland, Rumania, Czech Republic, Bosnia-herzegovine, Greece, Turkey and North Africa. Rgds
Remember that eating ortolans was already forbidden when the President Mitterrand was still eating them... Rgds
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Exactly, Bas. Said to be indispensable for not loosing any of the precious smells. Rumor has it that Mitterrand said "No Christmas without Ortolans" for Christmas 1995, and at that time he was very terminally ill, as he died three weeks later. The birds were found by Henri Emmanuelli, the President of the National Assembly, who was from the Landes, where eating ortolans is a tradition. It made a minor scandal at that time. Rgds
...and while I am doing my best to derail the thread towards forbidden culinary matters, our Joe Gonzalez is, as usual, bettering himself for every race, covering each and every aspect of it. Respect, Joe. Thanks for the wonderful coverage, as always. Rgds
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