When is it lunch?

Good Morning Room 3

Welcome back to Term 2 Room 3! I hope you have made Miss Bettella welcome and are being the best that you can each day! 

My blog this week is about food! The food in France is similar but also very different to food in Australia. There are 3 main things about food that I am going to let you know about today. Read carefully because there will be a test at the end... just kidding!

First things first here are some local delicacies that have become my favourites.

Citron Tart
Yummy lemon tart. Creamy lemon flavour with a think biscuit base.
Recipe - http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/16046/lemon+tart 

Goats Cheese - Chèvre
A creamy and delicious soft cheese. The black around it is a light ash, which you can't taste.
Try and make it home
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/02/how-to-make-goat-cheese-recipe.html

Flan
My favourite dessert in France. Thick custard like you would find in vanilla slice. I am definitely tying to make this, you can too
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/18047/chocolate+and+cinnamon+flan

Escargot - Snails
Yep - that's right snails! The creepy thing is they give you these special utensils to pick them out of their shells. I tried them and they were okay, similar to squid texture. The taste is sensational because they are marinated in garlic, butter and herbs. Aaron's favourite entrèe.

Get adventurous and ask mum or dad to cook them for you http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Escargots-Bourguignonne-Snails-in-Garlic-Herb-Butter

The first thing I am going to talk about is the freshness, everything that is sold today - you eat today. The best example I can give is bread. Everyone in France loves their bread, the most famous form being a baguette. The baguettes that you buy are similar to a long long roll. They are crispy on the outside and soft, fluffy and airy on the inside. A baguette only lasts for the day you buy it because the next day it will be stale. You compare this to bread in Australia that last up to and sometimes beyond a week. The fruit and veggies are the same - you buy it, you eat it. Fruit won't last in a fruit bowl. This freshness also makes the food a lot more flavoursome and cheap. But why does it only last a day? This brings me very conveniently to my second thing.

The second thing is there are many rules in France about adding artificial or 'fake' things to food. This means anything that is not natural. Think back to year 1 (year 2s) when you learnt about natural versus man made. This is happening with food too. Most of the food in Australia has been changed by a human. It might be adding something like preservatives, which make food last longer or additives which makes the food taste better. It could even be adding colours to make it more appealing to eat, for example, blue lollies. In France however it is very hard to add these types of things because of their rules which means you buy it today, you eat it today. The food is a lot more natural and in most cases very good for you (an exception at the moment may be cheese, not in quality but the quantity that we are eating it). But where do you get all this food?

The last thing I want to talk about is getting food. The markets are very popular here. Australia usually has a farmers market on the weekend where your parents can buy fresh food but these are often only on for a couple of hours and in random locations like schools or ovals. In France the markets occur 2-3 times a week and in every town centre. Instead of people going to Coles or Woolworths, like the ones at Noranda or Galleria, French people walk to the markets to get their meats, fruits, vegetables, cheeses and anything else they would like to eat. They still have supermarkets similar to Coles and Woolworths and the main change here is named Carrefour for their groceries but most people go to the markets. Aaron and I have visited the markets several times now because it is so fresh, easy and cheap. We went to a very old town near Blois yesterday and they still hold markets in the same place since the 11th century - ask Mum and Dad if that's older than them! He he.

Here are some photos of the markets in Orleans

All things pickled and dried stall.

Cheese stall.

More cheese - you can never have enough!

Cookie and cakes stall.

Fresh pasta stall.

Cured meats stall. 

Fresh meat stall.

Markets set up in the middle of the town.

Fresh fruit stall.

All the food we got for dinner (and some drinks).

All put together in a baguette.

Okay, let's recap the 3 things about food in France. 

1. Freshness  - you buy it today, you eat it today.

2. Not allowed to add anything - there are rules in France about preservatives and additives.

3. Buy it at the markets - the food is fresh, cheap and easy to get to.

So, where are you going to buy your food from on the weekend?

I know you are all going to be working really hard this term and showing Miss Bettella how intelligent and creative you all are and don't forget you had homework to complete over the holidays too!
Whoops - who forgot? Quickly do it now.

Au revoir 

Miss Stinson