Food Attitude - Why the French Are Thin

HausfrauB

The other night, I went to a small dinner party given by my English friend who lived in Paris for 15 years and is married to a Frenchman. During the dinner, we talked over differences between American, English, German and French dining habits. It was eye-opening.

My friend said that in France people will skip lunch if they do not have time to sit in the cafeteria/break room and eat. Eating at your desk is virtually unheard of. The ritual of dining is taken seriously. Also, they strive to always have fresh ingredients on hand for their food preparation (hello, shopping every day). She described how the cafeteria at her office in Paris had various stations where the cooks would make the items fresh upon request--and this was more common than not.

This idea of dining being a ritual is something that we couldn't really say of the other three countries. All struggle with easy access to convenience food and a loss of well-defined meal rituals.

I can tell you that this dinner was one of the best I ever had...and none of it was all that fancy. We had gazpacho, roasted lamb, a zucchini dish, roasted bell peppers, an assortment of cheeses with bread and a dessert of baked nectarines and cream. Her husband explained there is even a special way to enjoy the cheeses (from mildest to strongest-tasting). Granted, this is not how they eat daily, but dining with friends on the weekend is a must in Paris and this is how they do it.

It certainly has given me food for thought. I never realized how relaxed and enjoyable dining can be when you take it seriously.

Have you had experiences with other cultures? Did you notice a difference in attitude toward food?

P.S. Here is how to make the roasted peppers:

1) De-seed and cut 3-4 bell peppers into quarters
2) Drizzle a fair amount of olive oil over them in a bowl--toss to coat
3) Bake in a casserole dish in oven for one hour on 350 F
4) Peppers are done when they have a good, dark crust around the edges

Bon Appetit!

HausfrauB

Surely I am not the only person who wonders over stuff like this. Or...

Flafster

I'm in London. We eat like this. Not everyday but certainly at weekends a Good Lunch is key.

I like eating. I like cooking. That's why I'm here.

love22step

I've read that French women don't wear stretchy clothing. That way, they know right away if they need to cut back on how much they're eating. I've decided to adopt that idea. I still have stretchy running shorts, T-shirts, bathing suits, and underwear. The rest of my outer clothing won't accommodate much weight gain.

I think having daily sit-down meals helped keep our weight down when I was growing up and while my kids were growing up. Children had milk as their beverage with all meals. The kids would have two or three cookies or some fruit as an after-school snack. We almost always had an evening snack that was served to all the family members at once. The evening snack might be a small bowl of ice cream, a cookie, a large raw carrot, or a piece of fruit. No one went to the kitchen and helped himself to snacks.

Maybe the problem with overweight children and adults is as simple as going back to the old way of parents managing meals and snacks for the family.