French Food? Help!

Anyone here aquainted with french restaurants?

I've been invited to one thursday night, and i dont have the first clue�what to order, or even expect.

my only exposure to french anything is french canadian, so please save me from asking if they serve poutine :D

aparantly, this is a pretty fancy place. so, you know, so i don't look like a knob, help me out!

Dude, if they have boeuf bourguignon go for it. I constantly long to find a restaurant that will serve it and make it as good as my dad did.

It's like a beef stew, sort of. But all winey and tangy and tender and melty and shroomy and omg heaven.

mmm, i like wine sauces - if this helps, here's a review of the restaurant:

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040723/ART12/407230336

Expect small portions of delicious food usually with a sauce of some sort. Bernaise sauce is kind of like tarragon-flavored mayonnaise and goes very well with beef. Hollandaise is an egg yolk/butter sauce with a squirt of lemon juice - it is teh yum and usually goes with asparagus or fish.

Reading the review, the boeuf au fromage sounds great! Um, demi-glace is kind of like a brown gravy made from pan drippings. (I think). Order what you like to eat normally.

I'm sure you'll do fine foodwise, but pronunciation-wise, alas, my French accent would never be mistaken for Parisian, or even Montreal. The last French I took was 20 years ago.

I hate both bearnaise and hollandaise. I know, I suck. :) But give me wine-based sauces without creamy aspects and I'm alllll happy.

i looove hollandaise. (i love eggs benedict!). i love it on asparagus. mmm. or on anything. dont think i've had bearnaise.

*seconds*

eggs b�n�dict rule. And asparagus with hollandaise is yummy, too.�

;-)

Ever tried eggs Benny Coen? Jewish eggs Benedict with a bagle instead of an english muffin, and lox instead of ham. I think my aunt invented it.

huh. i'm not huge on lox, but i'm pretty sure a bagel covered in hollandaise just may make me pass out from teh joy :D

no-sir-ee...

Eggs Benedict with lox (but retaining the english muffin) is a staple of the NYC Brunch scene.

I've usually just seen it called lox benedict, or eggs benelox... but dude... eggs benny cohen rocks! :)

Wikipedia is your friend:

French Cuisine

Learn.

;)

wikipedia is your friend and all, but i wanted some, you know, opinions :D

sure. :)

Oh and I have left some money at French restaurants as the years went by. But I'm afraid German French restaurants differ from American French restaurants a bit ;)

Now a brand new one opened in walking distance of my house/appartment. I should sue them ;-D

iee, looks like my other problem will be *pronouncing* the dishes.

*sucks at french*

eee. you're asking the right person here. well. i have a french mother downstairs.

*goes off for 10 minutes*

*comes back triumphant*

okie. so here are mine and my mum's recommendations, if they're on the menu. basically, you can pick and choose what you like and don't like�- they're all good.�

starters
- bouillabaisse or bourride, both typical provencale fish casserole dishes.
- soupe oignon (wah-nyon) -�rich onion soup.
- soupe au pistou - vegetable soup with vermicelli, like a french version of minestrone.
- any french salad is great if the vinaigrette is decent. get a green salad, or, if you're feeling more ambitious, a salade nicoise (nee-swaahs) - french beans, tomatoes, olives, anchovies, eggs, tuna, in vinaigrette.
- l'ailloli (eye-oh-lee), if you see it anywhere, is kinda like a very strong mayo. lots of garlic, herbs, stuff like that. used as a dip for hors d'oeuvres.
- foie gras (fwah grah)�- goose liver pat�. mum says it's good shit.
- rillettes (reeyet)�- potted pork meat for spreading.

main courses
- gabillaud (ga-bee-yaw)�am�ricaine - a spicy cod dish, or something. one of mum's recs.
- quenelles (kuh-nell), if you see them, are fish sausage type-things. nice, apparently. :D
- truites au bleu - poached trout in a wine sauce. simple, but really good.
- boeuf endaube - beef marinated in a dark red wine sauce. has lots of flavour.
- paupiettes - mincemeat wrapped in beef or veal fillet, with a wine sauce.
- choucroute (yay nitsa!! :D) is sauerkraut. also a french thing.
- cassoulet - a v. traditional french casserole - beans, with chicken or goose and all sorts of other things in it.
- *langue sauce piquante* (my mum raved about this, hehe) - beef tongue with gherkins. if done right, it's a really tasty tangy dish.
- any couscous is good, again if it's done right.
- tripes � la mode de caen - another v. traditional casserole, this time with tripe, but good tripe, i understand, as it's cooked in cider, brandy or calvados and has vegetables and spices in there, too.
- coq au vin - chicken in a wine sauce. one of those famous ones.
- canard � l'orange - duck in brandy and orange sauce. yummy. another famous one.
- lapin aux pruneaux - SW france recipe. rabbit cooked with prunes, bacon, in a creamy wine or brandy sauce.
- pommes dauphin�s - choux pastry mixed with mashed potato, balled, then fried. crispy and tasty.
- gratin dauphinois - sliced potatoes in cheese and cream and milk sauce, oven-baked. personally i find it bloody revolting, but my mum loves it. :D
- ratatouille - stewed veg, like eggplant, zucchini (go me and my UK/US super translation! :D), tomatoes, peppers, onions and herbs.
- any good omelette. personally i go with the mushroom ones (foresti�re, champignons).
- quiche. yup. i hate it. mum loves it. go figure.
- fondue savoyarde is made with proper savoy cheeses like Gruy�re and Emmenthal. strong but very tasty.

desserts
- any type of tarte, so long as it's done well, is delicious. my grandma makes a cracking plum tarte (aux prunes), but my mum prefers apricots (abricots) or pears (poires).
- oeufs � la neige are like meringue balls in a custard cream type sauce.
- cr�pes. cr�pescr�pescr�pes. thin pancakes filled with anything and everything, then rolled. cr�pes duchesse are loaded with kirsch, therefore they are gooooood. :)
- poires belle h�l�ne - poached pears on vanilla ice cream with a dark chocolate drizzle. :)
- baba au rhum - rum baba, which is a rum-soaked cake with cherries, raisins etc.
- quatre-quarts � l'orange - a cake with lots of cointreau in. mmm. :)

phew. well, that's an exhaustive list if ever i saw one. meep. not finished yet, tho. here are a few pointers:
- french food is rarely vegetarian (they don't know the meaning of the word over there), and often very meat-heavy. if you prefer veg, you're screwed. :D
- anything from provence or the south of france (aka '� la provence' or 'provencal') will likely have lots of garlic in it, as well as herbs and spices overload.
- if in doubt, stick with the basics:

poulet/coq - chicken
boeuf - beef
poisson - fish
lapin - rabbit
canard - duck
l�gumes - veg
haricots - beans
ail - garlic
oeufs - eggs
au vin - in a wine sauce

and then choose from there - go with what you like. if they don't have an english description of what the food is next�to the item, you have my permission to smite the waiters. okay. i think i'm done now.�*slinks off* :D

holy crap.

do you think i could print this out and sneak it into the restaurant as a cheat sheet? :D

but, uh, thanks but no thanks on the tripe. :D i've already eaten one farm animal's stomach lining (wait. 2.), i'll pass on that!! :D

Being vegetarian I could say a bunch of things at this point, but one thing stands out:

please, at least, avoid foie gras (despite being deemed "good shit" above), here's why.

PETA is pretty roundly regarded as an extremist group, even among people who care for animal rights. I would tend to take any advice taken from them or one of their followers with a grain of salt.

A website that is, as its name suggests, anti-PETA, but I feel makes some valid points.

Well, sorry for quoting a source you don't agree with - it doesn't change how foie gras is made. The geese are force fed, which was my point.

To reply to myself here, and to avoid sheryl's thread being hijacked into a big FHDC debate on this stuff: I don't like the idea of it, but like I said, I'm vegetarian so there's a lot involved in food I that I don't like. I wasn't looking for a debate, just wanted to make a suggestion.

it's not a matter of 'quoting a source you don't agree with' so much as it is quoting a source that is known for extreme views and tactics. PETA tends not to be trusted for that reason.

It's like quoting Michael Moore to someone to try to convince them that the Iraq war is wrong. If you're going to make an argument, at least quote someone who isn't perceived as a whack job.

I think that was the only point Michael was trying to make.

here's the major point:

i hate chopped liver! case closed :D

But, it's not chopped liver. :)

Case reopened!!

eee! did i just initiate a bitchfight? *glee* ;D

Heh, you wish!

:D

Nu? What am I? Chopped liver?

Case hijacked to be all about me!!!

no! you're foie gras! which is even more roundly abused!

well, i hate liver.

Me, too, but I like pate (please forgive lack of accents, I'm lazy)...so....
:)

agreed... liver is icky.� *shudder*

well, the point I was really trying to make was.... uh, um... where was I? I guess what I'm trying to say is.... erm. OH YEAH!

I! HATE! SAUERKRAUT!

that's all I'm really trying to say...

:)

Lawrence & Michael, you're straying from the point.� point is that Jeff is standing up for his belief that eating animal products (in this example foie gras) is wrong. period.� on one hand, i will concede that PETA is becoming more known for their attention-grabbing tactics than their support of the cause.� this is why i no longer support them.� however, you're discounting an entire argument based on this one source.� why not do a google search on foie gras & read the numerous other sources, especially this one�or perhaps take a good look at the pictures Josh posted below?

/beating a piece of dead tofu���

I wasn't discounting anything. Merely meant to say that he should probably find sources other than PETA if he would like to be taken seriously.

Does force-feeding geese and ducks amount to cruelty? I dunno. But I do know that I wouldn't take PETA's word for it that grass is green and the sky is blue. That, and only that, was my point.

Who gives a flying fuck who says it, it's true. Mmm.. yummy:

Whoopsy, filled him a little too full:

I guess you'd be full too if a tube shoved the human equivalent of 11 pounds of food directly into your stomach in the course of a few seconds.

yeah.. but either way you slice it, foie gras is some good stuff.

*nodsnods*

Especialy with garlic mashed potatos.

mmmmm.... force fed.....

:)

*goes to find some nice foie gras for dinner*

Thanks for everyone's help!!!!

I had the Boeuf au Frommage, and it was delicious. everyone else had the filet, which they bake and therefore was toasty on the outside and raw on the inside, and 90% of the table sent it back more than once. one girl sent it back thrice.

i avoided the Foie Gras, and corrected a co-worker when he said "you know how they get the livers so tender? they give them CANCER."

i also avoided the escargot, when someone who was dining with us (and used to work at the restaurant) described them as "Eating erasers." i hate rubbery foods. i cant eat octopus or squid or anything.

the pastrami-style smoked salmon was great, and i also noshed some goat-cheese stuffed mushrooms. and shrimp cocktail.

this place takes 3 hours to serve your food. no kidding. parties of 20 or 2, they bring the courses out very. slowly. so i didn't stick around for the bananas foster (ahahaha bananas foster). :D

Thanks again for the pointers!!

Heee.
Sounds good!

And escargot is actually pretty good when cooked correctly.... most places just... don't.

:)

bananas murray!!!!

mmm escargot. i *heart* them. mmm snails.