My tastes have certainly changed.

[Val_2]

Just made a sandwich with some english,sealed in a packet,sliced bread which was fresh Friday and delivered to us by returning friends a short while ago -a well-known brand name and not supermarket and it was.....pure pap! No taste,no smell and it stuck inthe throat as well. I used my best mature Cantal which is the nearest to cheddar I have found here and that didn't help at all. Just shows how the french bread has taste and texture compared to that rubbish dosn't it.Even the french produced Pain a Mie Anglaise is better. I also prefer my PG Tips with bottled steralised milk now compared to fresh, it seems to do something to the taste. Anyone feel their tastes have changed too?

[Dick Smith]

You're probably right, but I feel that packaged bread in England has taken a dive in quality recently - especially Hovis, which is now either pap (and isn't it horrible when it sticks to the roof of your mouth) or too crumbly to do much with. It's OK getting good bread in France, but in England I am now tending towards Sainsbury's Pain de Campagne round loaf, which tastes good, has a decent texture and lasts a few days, if it lasts, if you see what I mean...

[Lori]

Definitely - I find that I too prefer the sterilised - long life Candia

GrandLait over the fresh milk.  When I first arrived, I didn't

like the long life milks.  I also prefer the french breads for

sandwiches over the English/American ones.  I love French eggs,

they seem to have so much more flavor - same for yellow chickens (never

new there could be white or yellow chickens until moving here). 

Love French albacore tuna in a can - my Mom comes from the States and

can't stomach it, she says it tastes too fishy (imagine that). 

I've grown to love it.    Love French soaps - the choice of

fragrance and the right level of cream is perfect.  Absolutely

love frommage blanc - wasn't even sure what it was when I first

arrived.  Now, it is always in the fridge.  I suppose I could

go on and on, but yes, my tastes are no longer what they were when I

first arrived.

Also, I find that I am willing to try pretty much anything on the menus

here.  Not afraid of an uncooked egg, traditionally served on

certain foods.  Not afraid of cuts of meats/poultry/fish that I

have never heard of.  I was certainly not like this upon arrival

here.

Also love Boudin Noir and Blanc - I hated them on arrival.

Does this mean I have matured or am I just eating too much.....

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Val_2"]Just made a sandwich with some english,sealed in a

packet,sliced bread which was fresh Friday and delivered to us by

returning friends a short while ago -a well-known brand name

and not supermarket and it was.....pure pap! No taste,no smell and it

stuck inthe throat as well. I used my best mature Cantal which is the

nearest to cheddar I have found here and that didn't help at all. Just

shows how the french bread has taste and texture compared to that

rubbish dosn't it.Even the french produced Pain a Mie Anglaise is

better. I also prefer my PG Tips with bottled steralised milk now

compared to fresh, it seems to do something to the taste. Anyone feel

their tastes have changed too?[/quote]

I'm not sure about tastes, but what has changed for me has been my

expectation of portion size. Food here is generally served in much more

sensible portions than the gigantic slabs that have became normal in

the UK. I really noticed this over the Christmas period when we were

back in the UK for the first time in quite a while. On occasion the

mountains of food I was being served in restaurants verged upon the

obscene - quite literally enough for two. Having been brought up in my

early years in a household where money was frequently tight, I find

throwing food away quite a difficult thing to do (I am a master of the

leftover), so trips out over the festive tide really were not as

pleasurable as they should have been.

Val - I take your point about the hideous nature of white sliced (was

it white?). Industrial baking stinks wherever, though grudingly I

suppose I would give the French product slightly higher marks.

Nonetheless, as far as artisanal bread making is concerned, I am

personally of the opinion that UK bakery is generally better than

French. Not where pastries are concerned, mind, but in the simple

production of good bread.

[Teamedup]

Nah, haven't really changed.

I adapted to long life milk and really got to like it in coffee when I could have it in coffee.

Sliced bread, I am having an new love affair with it and think it is wonderful. I buy pain anglaise but always try and buy the freshest which is really old bread, sometimes a week old before it hits the shelves and most brands are far too sweet for me. It still goes better in my croque monsieurs than my own bread.

 

 

[Dog]

It also annoys me about the pain Anglais it is so sweet they all have loads of sugar in them.

[SaligoBay]

[quote user="Lori"]Absolutely love frommage blanc - wasn't even sure what it was when I first arrived.  [/quote]

Still not sure what it is, but I love it too, especially with chestnut purée.  Mmmmmmmm! 

[PossumGirl]

I, too, find I'll try things here I would never have tried before. 

When we used to come over once a year for visits with family and friends, we were both always struck by the fact that we never gained weight.  I think it's a combination of the portion sizes and the fact that food has less hormones and things in it.

I, too, have gotten to like the sterilized milk, which I thought was odd at first. I love getting fresh eggs from my neighbors and KNOWING they are fresh.  I don't know how it is in the UK, but in the US, most people would never feel comfortable buying unrefrigerated eggs; too much worry about salmonella.

And, who could imagine that various brands and types of butter could all taste so different?  I still have trouble getting out of trips to LeClerc, etc., in less that 45 minutes, because I have to look at everything!

Unfortunately, since we've been living here full-time, my husband has no longer found that he doesn't gain weight here.  It doesn't help that we live right next door to a great boulangerie...

R

[Coco]

I suppose because we're in Normandy and have always had easy access to fresh milk we still prefer it.  Although I do have to say our fresh milk tastes much better than UK fresh milk... possibly because I know that it literally comes from the cows surrounding our house.  As for pain anglaise, well I quite like it - my fave lunch at the moment is the tuna that Lori's  mum thinks is too fishy in a pain anglaise sandwich with French cucumber (which also has more taste than the UK equivalent).

Portionwise, I totally agree, UK portions are mammoth and I would much prefer to have several small courses, that way you get to enjoy lots of different flavours in a meal.  For example, on New Year's Day we had a 6 course lunch (and I still managed to have some cheese and biscuits later that night) in the UK I would have felt bloated for the rest of the day if I had even managed 3 courses!

Interestingly, I noticed in our local supermarket yesterday that they have introduced a British section.  However, having stood and looked at everything on offer I realised that the only things I am likely to buy from it are the lea & perrins for cooking, the occasional packet of McVities digestives and the Branston pickle (for my husband).  And when friends came over from the UK at Christmas and asked what we would like brought over, there was very little that we wanted at all.

I think the way I have amazed myself the most in recent times is that I am now a chicken liver addict (hated offle all my life) and just before Christmas I tried and LIKED andouille!!!!!!!