Mangeons!

I must admit that when it comes to French cuisine I am woefully uninformed. While others might pore over guides about what and where to eat I am happy to get coincidental recommendations or risk just going into restaurants to learn about French food.

"Let's eat" is my strategy. Sometimes without knowing exactly what- as thumbing through my little Berlitz phrase book and dictionary from 1993 sometimes doesn't tell me what everything means.

Pictured, the fixed-price menu I had at the Hostellerie le Fénelon. Can you pick out the dishes I ordered from the menu? Advanced French students, gourmands and gourmets, can you tell me exactly what I ate?


Menu à 22.50 Euro

Cou de canard farci et sa petit salade aux noix
ou
Salade moulée d'avocat au saumon fumé
ou
Potage de légumes

***

Suprême de valaille panée aux noix
ou
Filet de sandre à l'oseille
ou
Faux filet grillé beurre béarnaise

***

Légumes du jour

***

Plateau de fromages

***

Carte des Desserts


La photo: à Carennac, dans le Lot, France. Mai 2009.

Le Menu

My first visit to France this year was also my first French immersion course ever. For one week my gracious host guided me through joie de vivre in the French Alps. She corrected my French, answered my questions, explained cultural traditions and prepared our meals.

One of the very first things I learned was to come back to the table to finish my meal. The first three days I was getting up after the main dish thinking that the meal was finished only to find out that there was still fromages and dessert. By the end of that week I had learned to stay at the table- my stomach full and much wiser. Joie de vivre means enjoying a meal of many courses!

So on my recent one-week visit to south-western of France I vowed to put what I had learned to practice: stay at the table til dessert is served! Everyday I sampled one of the fixed-price menus instead of ordering à la carte.


le menu the fixed-price menu
joie de vivre joy of life
fromages cheeses
dessert dessert
la carte the menu
à la carte ordering from the menu


Les photos: Delicious four-course 21€ prix fixe menu at Le Bouche à Oreille, Alvignac. Mai 2009