The More You Know–Ochoa October 2015

“The more you know” has quickly become the motto of our program here in Angers, France. It took us a month to learn that coffee doesn’t come in to-go cups or that water fountains are practically non-existent in our new home. I’ve even uttered “the more you know” at a few meals these last couple of weeks. I spent my 22^nd birthday in Paris and a few other meals in my residence piecing together something that tastes like home. The results were delicious, hilarious, and communicated volumes about French identity and values.

Eating in France—General Observations

Before I dive into my Parisian eating experiences, it’s worth going over a few general observations on French dining. As I’ve mentioned before, French restaurants serve lunch and dinner at precise times.

Lunch is typically served from noon until 2 PM and most everyone seems to enjoy this time to eat, relax, and take a break from school or work. The city center comes alive at midday as people grab a seat outside at one of the boulangeries or restaurants. Among students and young people, sandwiches and paninis are popular lunch options. One of my favorite stops, La Gourmandise, offers lunch specials where you can get a jambon fromage (ham sandwich) a drink and a croissant or cookie for only a couple of euros. Subway and other sandwich stands offer similar student specials. Sandwiches here consist of a fresh baguette, a few pieces of ham, and thick pieces of cheese (yellow kraft singles have yet to be found). At daycares, French children eat home-cooked multicourse lunches, are encouraged to engage in conversation, and taste different foods (Godoy and Bearsley).

Adults (aka people with jobs) eat longer, more leisurely meals at midday. Unlike in the US, where eating lunch at your desk or only taking a quick hour dash to the downstairs cafeteria is normal, French employers give workers ample amount of time to recharge in the middle of the day. By all accounts, they seem to run with it. Four course meals and lively banter are common. It appears that midday meals truly allow workers to detach from work and devote time to their social lives. This is not surprising, considering France’s new efforts to protect workers in the digital and consulting sectors from having to respond to work emails after 6PM and 1999 measures to shorten the work week to 3 hours (Mangan).

 

Dinner starts at 7:30 PM and can last until 9 PM, a time period untouched by work. Restaurants close between the two eating periods and are not as accommodating to last minute guests. When it comes to accommodating patrons, I’ve noticed that restaurants here stick to the outlined menu and are not as willing to substitute or add items to courses. Dinner typically goes as such: a first course, an entrée, a plat principal, salad or frommage, dessert, and coffee. The lure of making more money, by staying open during off hours or charging for extra sides or substitutes, does not seem to be greater than the desire to preserve work-life balance and the purity of their food.

However, most of my food observations have come from the grocery store down the street from my residence. Carrefour and Monoprix are the two national chains I frequent the most Like grocers in American urban areas, these stores have a smaller variety of food than say, an HEB or Kroger in more suburban areas. In the produce aisle, signs clearly denote the country where fruit comes from. Pre-packaged sliced ham only has two, four or maybe six slices. Cheese comes in blocks. Bread is made fresh on-site and sliced sandwich bread is labeled, “American bread.” Milk is served in smaller containers and has a taste I have yet to describe. Eggs are not refrigerated. Chicken breasts, beef filets, and pork are smaller and sold in fewer quantities. Organic (“bio”) and non-organic foods expire within a week, making bulk shopping obsolete. Aisles are filled with olives, wines, and other small, but rich foods fatty foods that are easily consumed. Perhaps this relates to Paul Rozin’s survey of French college students and adults that found that they eat less of foods adjusted to be lower in fat and value eating as a pleasure (Rozin). The French may eat rich foods, but they eat less of them, filling the void with conversation and drink.

Many of these observations carried over when I visited the local farmers market in the city center. Rows and rows of fruit, vegetable, milk, cheese, meet, and bread stands consumed the city. The venders were friendly. “American?” they would ask. We nodded our heads as they cut up slices of fruit for us and smiled as we let the fresh peaches, strawberries, and apples melt in our mouths. It’s almost as if they knew what we had been missing all along.

Though fruit and vegetables are smaller, you can buy more for less than you would at an American farmers market. Furthermore, the farmers market here seem to be an affordable, social way for the residents of Angers to get their weekly necessities and not an expensive, inconvenient experience to get a few novelty items. According to Maria Godoy and Eleanor Beardsley of NPR, outdoor markets are a way the French make eating an art (Godoy and Bearsley ). Understanding where food comes from and how it’s raised is one way the French preserve the table as “a place for conviviality and sharing.” Even in Paris, the country’s largest city, there are about 250 farmers markets a week on average (Godoy and Bearsley ). Only underscoring the importance France places on local and sustainable food is the revamped Public Food Policy the French minister of Agriculture released last year. One of the four axes, Reconnecting producers and Consumers, aims to connect agricultural food industries to communities by emphasizing local products into the menus of school and work cafeterias (La France Aux Etats-Unis). The Ministry has even expressed an interest to fund local initiatives that work to this end.

 

Eating in Paris

For my 22^nd birthday, I took the last train out of Angers to Paris and made it to my hostel right before midnight. We went downstairs to the hostel bar, ordered some margaritas and began talking to the other young, international travellers. We talked about Australia, Iran, and Mexico and one of my favorite comic books, Persepolis. Only an hour in Paris and I was using food and drink to learn about different people and cultures.

For lunch the next day, we ate in the Tuileries Garden on our way to the Lourve. I ordered an apple crepe. It was sugary inside and on top there were cooked cinnamon apples. Apples, as Waverly Root details in The Food of France, are a famous product of Bretagne. As I let the sweet, sugary crepe melt in mouth, I couldn’t help but wonder if these apples had come from the Western coast. Our group also ordered French hot dogs and sipped on beer and coffee as we people watched. Later that night we ate at Faust under the Pont Alexandre III with the rest of our group. I ordered the sesame seed encrusted tuna and sweet potatoes with a glass of white wine. It goes without saying that the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Provence, Languedoc-Roussilon, and Midi-Pyrenees coastal regions are major areas that provide France with its fish, tuna included (Root). Though there’s no way of knowing where the tuna was sourced, the south of France is as good a guess as any. My friend ordered salmon. I think we both thought our fish would be cooked, but alas, it was not. She tried to send it back to the kitchen and the waitress looked at her like she was crazy.

The next night we ate at a restaurant near Notre Dame Cathedral, La Bouteille d’Or. This restaurant offered set, combined courses. You could get an entrée, plat, and dessert or an entree and plat or just an entrée. I opted for the entrée and plat. For my entrée, I ordered the lentils and prawns with balsamic vinaigrette. For my main plat, I ordered the Magret de Canard with honey juice, spices, and gratin dauphinois potatoes. The duck was moist, savory and full of flavor. The lentils were fresh and featured tomatoes and other vegetables. In Food of France, Waverly Root attributes the origin of many of the country’s duck dishes to Rouen, France and identifies the Central Plateau’s mountainous terrain as a major source of potatoes and lentils (Root). However, he clearly speaks of gratin dauphinois as a dish made famous in the mountain regions formally known as Dauphine, Jura, France-Comte, and Savoy. It’s only fitting since these regions produce the milk, butter and potatoes used to make these soft scalloped potatoes. Looking back on my Parisian eating experiences, it’s only fitting that I ate food from all over France. Root is clear on one thing: Paris is the culinary melting pot of all the regions of France.

Eating “American” in France

On my second Sunday in Angers I learned that most restaurants, cafes and stores are closed. Left without food, I roamed the city center until I found the golden arches and sought refuge within. Hesitant but hungry, I ordered a cheeseburger, fries, a coke, and a coffee from the automatic machines inside. What should’ve been an ordinary and unremarkable meal soon became a learning moment about the differences between French and American food experiences.

To begin, the portions in France are much smaller. An adult cheeseburger is about the size of a kid’s cheeseburger back home and the average fries here are the size of a small adult portion. The coke is the size of a kid’s coke and the coffee is made separately at the McCafe counter. There, you can order croissants and other pastries as well as cappuccinos, espresso, lattes, and other sweet things. Additionally, when you place your order, you can opt to receive your coffee during or after your meal. Whichever you decide, it’s worth noting that you do not receive a sleeve for your cup and there isn’t a “CAUTION HOT” warning glaring at you from the side.

This simple message illustrated a major difference between American and French food culture. In 1994, a New Mexico Civil Jury awarded Stella Liebeck, a 79 year old woman, $2.86 million after she suffered 3^rd degree burns from 180 degree McDonald’s coffee she accidently spilled on herself in her parked car (Consumer Attorneys of California ). Our legal system protects consumers so that food and other interactions can be potential legal points of conflict. Our food packaging anticipates this in ways that France’s may not. In 2004, the United States Congress passed the Food Allergen Labeling And Consumer Protection Act of 2004, which mandated that the label of a food that contained a major food allergen such as nuts, eggs, or milk declare its presence (U.S. Food and Drug Administration ). Local bread makers and milkman in France for example may not be as cautious when preparing their food and there have been instances when I have accidently stumbled on a nut, even after being assured there weren’t. In the United States, when there is any risk of allergens, chain restaurants now post signs outside the door warning customers to proceed with caution. These labels, on restaurants, menus, and coffee cups illustrate how food in America can be seen as hazardous and something that can stir a lawsuit. Here in France, I have yet to see food allergen warnings outside of heavily processed food at the Carrefour.

When it comes to McDonald’s in France (or at least the coffee at the McCafe), we seem to have left our litigious ways at home. Either the French don’t seem to mind that they are more vulnerable to 3^rd degree burns or they are just smart enough to not heat watery coffee to 180 degrees. Regardless, France is McDonald’s 2^nd most profitable market in the world. I began to wonder how an American brand so contradictory to French gastronomy could be so successful in France. In 1999, for example, agricultural unionist, José Bové, bulldozed a McDonalds in Milau, France, shouting, “We attacked this McDonald’s because it is a symbol of multinationals that want to stuff us with junk food and ruin our farmers” (Fancourt, Lewis and Majka). Perhaps, McDonald’s took note.

During this period, McDonald’s stopped offering France a taste of America and began customizing its dining experience to French customers. The fast food joint began incorporating cheeses like chevre, cantal into their menu and offering whole-grain French mustard sauce (Fancourt, Lewis and Majka). They took notice of French eating times and patterns by setting up the electronic ordering machines. This freed up employees to attend to tables and continue taking customer’s orders throughout the span of their two-hour meals. According to Wharton students Lucy Fancourt, Bredesen Lewis and Nicholas Majka, McDonald’s also fully developed McCafe to bring customers into restaurants in between meal times and cleverly so. The Holder Group, the same conglomerate that stocks Paul and Ladurée with supplies and pastries, provides McDonald’s with its croissants, macaroons, and other baked goods. Furthermore, beef served at French McDonald’s is grass fed and has passports showing where it was born and slaughtered (Beardsley) Understandably, resistance to McDonald’s and American eating habits still exists—a topic I will fully flesh out later.

Another learning moment ensued, the next time I decided to eat decided to “eat American.” Mexican-American. Tex-Mex, to be more specific. On a cold, rainy afternoon, I walked into Carrefour and saw an assortment of Old El Paso brand canned refried beans, tortillas, and fajita mix featured on one of the first shelves. Craving flavor, meat, and salt, I shrugged, picked up the tortillas and some microwaveable Uncle Ben’s rice that looked flavorful enough. And then (this is how I know the universe thinks my life is a joke), I found a microwaveable packet of Tex-Mex chicken wings. The packaging had a cactus and a pepper. “Fiesty,” I thought and placed it in my basket.

I’d like to say that this completely microwaveable meal cured the cold I was developing, warmed my heart, and took me back to my days skipping lunch to pick up a taco pirata during high school, but it did not. The red packaging of the Uncle Ben’s rice and the Tex-Mex chicken wings had me for a second. I was anticipating salt. I was anticipating some sort of chicken flavor. I was anticipating tomatoes. And I got none of these. Now is as good a time as ever to say that, Tex-Mex chicken wings are not and have never been a part of Tex-Mex cuisine. They are so unfathomable that Buffalo Wild Wings and Wing Stop have never offered such a thing on their Texas menus. Not even on the border. Not even On the Border, the lousiest excuse for Tex-Mex, has ever considered offering Tex-Mex chicken wings. For the first time, I’d encountered a sloppy food experience in France.

As I watched the rain hit my window (it’s a metaphor), it hit me that maybe the French aren’t too concerned with authenticity of ethnic foods. Most of the ethnic restaurants I’ve seen so far have been North African inspired and are fast, cheap, and rare. They may even cause stomach pain. Unlike in the United States, which has ethnic and ethnic fusion eateries galore, most of the establishments in town are French. The waiters and waitresses seem proud as ever to deliver what they are serving you. They know and you eventually learn upon taking your first bite that their wine their unsalted chicken, their bread, and their vegetable pairings are indeed superb. Maybe their logic goes, “why try something else?” “Why invest in creating and cultivating other types of food?”

 

The Food Speaks

It’s no secret the French are purists, but I didn’t realize that this would also extend to the types of food they would opt to eat. Before coming here, I didn’t realize that meal times were, in fact, taken seriously or that substituting, altering, or adding to a meal you’re paying for was taboo. It seems that while the French use food to communicate with each other about their day, their lives, or their beliefs, they also use it communicate a stronger message about their identity.

The globalization of food and the rise of unnatural food processes have recently heightened France’s urgency to protect safe foods and its culture of eating. In 2011, 95.2% of French people believed a gastronomic meal was part of their identity and cultural background (La France Aux Etats-Unis). Similarly, 98.7% of French people believed the gastronomic meal had to be saved and passed to future generations (La France Aux Etats-Unis).  These perceived threats mobilized the country to incorporate “taste education” into the formal curriculum of schools (Godoy and Bearsley ). In 2010, France appealed and succeeded in getting The Gastronomic Meal of The French listed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO (La France Aux Etats-Unis). They love themselves. They love their culture. They love their way of life. And why shouldn’t they? I, for one, am not about to stand in the way of more croissants, tuna, duck, wine, and lentils.

The more you know, right?

 

 

Bibliography

Beardsley, Eleanor. “Why McDonald’s In France Doesn’t Feel Like Fast Food.” National Public Radio 24 January 2012.

 

Consumer Attorneys of California . “The McDonald’s Hot Coffee Case .” 7 October 2015. Consumer Attorneys of California . <https://www.caoc.org/?pg=facts>.

 

Fancourt, Lucy, Bredesen Lewis and Nicholas Majka. “Born in the USA, Made in France: How McDonald’s Succeeds in the Land of Michelin Stars.” Knowledge@Wharton 3 January 2012.

 

Godoy, Maria and Eleanor Bearsley . “Liberte, Egalite, Gastronomie? France Rallies To Defend Its Food’s Honor.” National Public Radio 23 March 2015.

 

La France Aux Etats-Unis . “The New French Public Food Policy.” 10 October 2014.

La France Aux Etats-Unis . 7 October 2015 <http://fr.ambafrance-us.org/spip.php?article6128>.

 

La France Aux Etats-Unis. “The Gastronomic Meal of the French: A Great Tradition.” 15 December 2011. La France Aux Etats-Unis. 7 October 2015 <http://fr.ambafrance-us.org/spip.php?article3004>.

 

Mangan, Lucy. “When the French Clock off at 6PM They Actually Mean It.” The Guardian 9 April 2014.

 

Root, Waverly. The Food of France . New York : Vintage Books , 1992 .

 

Rozin, Paul. “Human Food Intake and Choice: Biological, Pschological, and Cultural Perspectives .” Food Selection: From Genes to Culture (2002): 7-24.

 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration . “Food Allergen Labeling And Consumer Protection Act of 2004 Questions and Answers.” 18 July 2006 . U.S. Department of Health and Human Services . 7 October 2015 <http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/Allergens/ucm106890.htm#q1>.