À la francaise

This entry I thought it would be fun to write about food, since I am in the "gastronomic capital" of the world. "Gastronomic capital" is a fancy word for the place with the best food. In Lyon, I have had really really yummy food and some that is just so-so, just like anywhere you go. But I have noticed myself getting more and more used to eating à la francaise.

This, for me, is a typical week-day in food:

Breakfast:

• Glass of OJ
• a small espresso (people do not really drink regular drip coffee—also, France's coffee is nothing compared to California)
• A piece of baguette toasted with butter, jam, and/or Nutella= TARTINE

Lunch:

• Bring my own PB&J (SO American I discovered, half of my host family is not too keen on peanut butter)
• Buy from the cafeteria (examples include: sandwiches with baguettes as the bread of course, pasta boxes, mini pizzas, quiches, salads, coffee, bread, yogurt, lots of choices-all not very interesting)
• If I eat with my host family, however, we have a real meal like pork chops and rice and bread and a piece of fruit for dessert-a mini dinner. (French people take lunch a lot more seriously than we do!)
• NOTE: Sundays are the big lunch day. My host family has a huge lunch around 2 pm and a little snack for dinner. 

Dinner:

• Salad or some kind of veggie
• whatever my host mom makes: quiches, tartes/casseroles, pasta, pizza, rice with vegetable sauce, etc.
• Water (without ice)
• BREAD (so much and to mop up everything)

Cheese

Dessert (eaten right as you finish dinner):

• plain yogurt with sugar
• compote (which is pureed fruit, like applesauce but there are also other flavors)
• chocolate pudding
• piece of fruit
• or a fruit crumble if it's a Friday

I almost always eat dinner with my host family around 7:30pm on the weekdays because it is free, I enjoy their company very much and I only speak French with them.

Now, let's move towards the big cahuna. Lyon has many specialities! And the Lyonnaise people are very proud of their specialities, which I think is really cool. People are more proud of their city here, maybe it is because most people grow up and go to school near or in the same city. It is more unusual for kids to move away from home for college, and a lot of students live with their parents. These are the Lyonnaise specialities that I ate but there are many more.

1) Les bouchons: A bouchon is a special type of restaurant, only in Lyon. Les bouchons lyonnais are basically restaurants (normally with terrace seating) that serve traditional Lyonnais food. While I am not still entirely sure what is Lyonnais and what is just French in general, I have been to two in Lyon. They are normally higher-end and have a lot of interesting meats on the menu.

2) Quenelles-I have actually eaten quenelles at my host family's house but I don't know much about them other than they are made of couscous. However, upon looking it up, this is what I found (on wikipedia): Lyon and Nantua are famous for their quenelles de brochet (mousseline) (pike quenelles), often served with cream sauce and run under a broiler. 

3) Coussin and quenelle (chocolate)- Chocolates that are shaped like a coussin (pillow) and a quenelle, respectively

4) Brioche Praline: A piece of brioche bread made with the Lyon pink praline (almonds cooked in pink sugar so that it crystallizes)

5) Saucisson Brioche: A sausage inside of a brioche, as simple as that.

6) Saucisse Pistachié: Sausage I ate at Brasserie Georges made of pork and pistachios

There are many more specialities and yummy things to try. I suggest you just come to Lyon and give it a go!