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menu suggestions


Wilko
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Hi

I was asked by the patron of our local bar yesterday wat we thought etrangers/english would most like to eat in his new restaurant. We had just had moules frites which were excellent. He obviously has his eye on the new season and is wondering what to put on the menu to attract toursists. His luncheon menu is priced at 12 euros, 3 courses, vin compris.

Any thoughts on what you'd like to see on the menu ?

Rgds

Wilko 

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Hmm, that's a toughie.  I think English food comes into it's own in the Autumn and Winter .. hot pots, stews, shepherds pie etc. 

 

I can't think of anything that is English and summery, that I'd like to eat in a bar.

Maybe I'm just not very inpired today.

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Hi

I did own a restaurant many moons ago & I would love to again. Too old now I fear!

Good food should be like a good marriage though, keep it simple but tasty, don't overcomplicate it, never have too much on your plate, and always remember how good it was.

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I personally would be looking for a menu which was offering dishes which were typical of the region itself.  For example, when I was last in Provence, I bought a book on Provencal cooking and one of the recipes from it I cook when camping in France is rabbit cooked with whole, unpeeled garlic which you then spread on toast.  Another dish is with chicken, olives, tomatoes - not forgetting the herbes de provence etc.  Once we had lunch in the restaurant which is just by the exit to the castle at Les Baux de Provence and I had a salad which had marinated courgettes and aubergines plus pepper which I think were roasted.  I'd love to have that again, but I can't find a recipe for it (the marinade, that is).  If I was looking for a restaurant and I had a choice of a few restaurants, I'd go for the one serving dishes I hadn't had before which were typical of the area over something that was a well known dish of the region that I had eaten before or cooked myself.  

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[quote user="sweet 17"]inkflo, you'd do us all enthusiastic cooks a great favour if you would put some of your favourite recipes on the site; simple but tasty, not over complicated, etc.  Wow!  You'd have our eternal gratitude.[/quote]

I'm moving house soon, but I'll have a look see what I can come up with after that.

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[quote user="Limousin Lass"]All my life I have had my main meal in the evening I find the standard 3/4 course French lunchtime menu too much and tend to seek out the places that have the lighter alternatives.  Does your friend only intend doing his set menu or does he have alternatives?[/quote]

 

I think I understand what you are saying here.  I have quite a lot of French friends in various regions of France and they always say that they eat their main meal in the middle of the day and a lighter meal in the evening - yet I have never experienced this in their homes, even living there for 1-3 weeks.  I have always had the impression that they eat copious meals both at midday and in the evening.  Also, whilst I seem to be able to eat any meal of any size at any time, my husband finds it very difficult to function after a full meal in the middle of the day.  Only a few weeks ago, we went to a creperie and had a galette, followed by a crepe and I had to take over the wheel because it had made him so tired that he was unfit to drive.  So, perhaps eating well (although I would still only regard a galette and a crepe as a snack) in the middle of the day may not be a healthy idea.  It is usually easier to find a menu offering a full meal during the day than it is during the evening.  Yet as far as I am concerned, the day is too valuable and I need it for other things, whereas the evening is the time to relax and enjoy a meal.  A French chef friend of mind who had his own restaurant only opened at lunchtime as he didn't wish to receive evening clientele.   But this is just an example of the difference in that the French stop in the middle of the day to eat and the British would rather get lunch out of the way quickly, get the job done and then have the evening for leisure - which to my mind actually involves enjoying a meal. At least if you eat your main meal in the evening, you can have a glass or two of wine and not worry about what you have to do afterwards.

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1)I think that some good salads are always welcome at lunchtime: a 'salad du pecheur' with a few prawns, mussels, an anchovy or two with the tomato and lettuce

2)Simple, local well-done things go well too: in the winter a good fish soup or "soupe de potiron", and chou farçi or a daube de boeuf  . A favorite of mine is poulet basquaise but that might not be right for where you are. A gigot or blanquette is a popular option too.

3)On a low price menu you can't expect expensive ingredients, but some classics which are easier come by in France than in parts of the UK can give a touch of luxury : 6 oysters for example.

4)  A non-meat option,  for each course even if it only various omelettes,  a piperade, crudités to start etc.

If you are in the south a popular 'formule' might  be:

a basket of fresh vegetables/hard boiled eggs/cooked potatoes  to cut at yourself with an aioli sauce for dipping

Some charcuterie and gherkins

A simple main course (steak frites for example)

cheese or dessert ( or both with a supplement)

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My menu ideas would be...

All fresh: herbs, meat, fish etc

Seasonal: Asparagus at the moment

Produce that is easy to get hold of but not the norm : passe pierre, fennel, carraway seeds, sweet potato etc

Nice and easy decoration: some shells with a fish dish, some fruit puree to meat sauces, dates, walnuts

p.s. personally, for the few euros its worth, opening 6 oysters and walking around with holes in your hands in not worth it Blink [blink]
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[quote user="Clair"][quote user="Jill"]the British would rather get lunch out of the way quickly, get the job done [/quote]... and that is a perfect illustartion of the differences betwenne the two cultures!
Yet, you ask about how to integrate into the French community another thread (http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1204613/ShowPost.aspx) [:)]
[/quote]

I don't understand the connection you are making here.  Eating in a French way is not the same as integrating.  I've eaten in many French households and always prepare the same types of meals when I'm in France - even when camping.  What I was trying to get at in the question about integrating was to do with how you get to meet people.  Most people make friends through work or through their children's friends, unless they belong to some sort of sports club or something.  What I was meaning in the other thread was how did those of you who have integrated get to make friends with the French people in the area where you are living or where you own holiday homes.  Having people to talk to is important to me.  Perhaps you were suggesting that it could be done by going to a restaurant.  But restaurants are not like pubs in England where some locals might go on a regular basis. Perhaps you could let me know what the connection was that you were making?  Thanks.

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