Monday, July 26, 2010

The First Meals

For my first meal, Martine said there wasn't enough time to prepare something French because my train was so late, so she put together a quick meal of something like hamburger and pasta. First we had an appetizer of bread and mushroom pate (so delicious). Then we had the main course, and afterwards, we had a cheese course with two different types of chevre. Then fruit for dessert and finally coffee. We also had hot sake that I think a friend of Ayumi's or else Ayumi herselft brought Martine. The meals take up a lot of time (at least an hour, more like two), which I like.

For lunch on Sunday (which was my breakfast because I woke up at 1:00pm), Martine asked me if I knew lapin? Rabbit! I was so excited that my second meal in France was rabbit. So delicious! It was paired with a pasta like fettucine, potatoes, and sage. Again, everything was split into courses. We also had salad after the main course. It was something like spinach (can't remember the name) with a vinagrette.

For dinner on Sunday, we ate terrine du canard (duck) with bread first. The jar had just been opened and it looked like there was mold growing on top. I had to ask Ayumi if it was normal...C'est normale? She said yes, and I felt a bit embarrassed. It wasn't mold afterall. For the main course, we ate pork with mushrooms in a cream suace. Delicious again. No salad this time. Then cheese, then fruit, and finally crepes for dessert. The crepes were served with honey and jam. Martine was a bit surprised when Ayumi and I wanted both jam and honey on our crepes, but Martine said pas de probleme! Martine just had jam.

I am trying very hard to make sure my table manners are up to par. A couple things I've noted: I always get served first, possibly because I'm the newest? I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to see how everyone else did things first. You never pour your own wine unless you brought the bottle. We haven't had any wine yet, but we had a conversation about this. Arms always rest on the table, not in your lap. I'm sure there are more things, but I can't remember them all now...

2 comments:

  1. Loved reading your blog, Annie. I like that you've gone into detail about the food, the house, your host family--all the things I'm interested in. Eager to read more. Love, Mom

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  2. Glad to see that in a French home they still eat salad after the main course. The last few times we were there restaurants were serving it before, perhaps as a concession to tourists..?

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