I never tried that, but I know I don't like it.

Really, most of you would be surprised to learn that, at one time in my life, I was one of the pickiest eaters. Now look at me, I eat stuff many of you have never heard of! I'm not sure when my love of food fully blossomed, but I think I do have to credit my old room mate Garen Gaston, and my friend Ian Miller, for introducing me to new cuisines that began my love affair with food.

So what is the food like in France? Well, in some ways it is not much different. They still have McDonalds, and it is about the same. To be honest, we haven't eaten much "French" food since we have been here. Being more situated to the center of the known world, France (and Europe) seem to have a lot more international cuisines all over the place. So what have we eaten...

Asian cuisines

There is a lot of Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodian restaurants. Since France tried to 'colonize' a lot of Southeast Asia, immigrants from that region have also relocated to France, and have brought their cuisines along as well. Interestingly, many of our friends have also remarked that most Chinese restaurants are actually run by Vietnamese. Hmmm...

We are lucky to have two such restaurants nearby, each only about a block or two away. One is Vietnamese and is pretty good, the other is Cambodian (with some Thai influences) and that is also very good.

Kebabs

Kebab shops are all over the place here. basically, kebab = gyro, but this is the Turkish version and is spiced a bit differently. They are still damn good, if not healthy. There is one right down the street that I have partaken of a couple of times. Since Erika doesn't regularly eat lamb (or whatever the meat actually is), she usually goes for a chicken sandwich, although some restaurants spice their chicken with something that gives her an allergic reaction. =(

Raclette

Raclette is kind of like fondue, in that you spend more time socializing rather than eating. Basically, you have a bowl of boiled potatoes. then there is the machine where you have a cute little dish that you put cheese and deli meats on, and stick it under a heater to melt the cheese and warm the meats. Then, when it is ready, you pull the dish out and pour it on your potato. Very tasty, but very, very, filling.

Mussels

Although we have made mussels at home a couple of times, we have also had them at restaurants. The first time was at Leffe, a bar/restaurant run by the makers of Leffe beer. This was in a bit of a touristy area and, while the mussels weren't great, they were just average.

However, last night we went to a place called Palais de la Biere (basically, Palace of Beer). This place serves a plate of either mussels or sausage, and has a lot of excellent beers. The mussels were spectacular, and beer was awesome! Erika had the Saison Dupont, and I had La Trappe Quadruple. Awesome!

Bouchon

We haven't had this yet, but this is known as the traditional Lyonnais cuisine/restaurant. Technically, 'bouchon' means 'cork' as in wine bottle cork. Although this type of cuisine has nothing to with corks (or, at least, not anymore than anything else). From what I understand, it is very meat-centric, and most of the meals comprise of the parts that normally don't get used. It is also supposed to be very fatty.



Aside from these, we have also had some tasty meals for dinner at friends' houses. Some of these meals are regional, and I couldn't tell you what they are to save my life. But one thing is for certain, food is definitely very important here. Looks like I have come to the right place!