A Frenchman’s Dinner

Stephane’s welcoming a party of school children to French Living this week and he’s been asked to talk to them about healthy eating.
He’s busy typing away at the computer preparing his speech. I’m not sure his words will be what they are expecting. You see, a Frenchman’s attitude to food is very different to our concept of healthy eating. Stephane’s focus is very much on the enjoyment of food.
He hands over a questionnaire/quiz sheet he has compiled for the children to complete after his speech.
“What do you think of this?”
I stare at the sheet and giggle. There are questions about wine consumption in France and England, about recipes for snails, about wine and coca cola.
“They won’t be able to answer this. What on earth is in your speech?”
I suddenly wish I could be there to see the children’s faces as this Frenchman talks passionately about buying baguette from the bakers when he was a little boy and munching on it on his way home. I want to listen to his childhood routines - eating hungrily at the school canteen with his pals, visiting the butchers after school to pick up the evening meal and enjoying an apero (a pre-dinner drink of juice for the kids and something stronger for the adults) before moving to the table.
Stephane will not talk about deprivation, elimination or diet. There’s no mention of good, bad or healthy. These words do not exist in a Frenchman’s vocabulary when talking about food. Eating a freshly prepared meal at the table and at the right time – one at lunch and another in the evening – is how Stephane would define being healthy. And yes there are vegetables and salad, but they are there not because they feel obliged to have them but because they are seasoned and dressed and are made to be just as delicious as the grilled steak.
I wonder if the kids will get it. Perhaps after eating their French Living vegetables they will notice the difference.
Question 7 – Find the missing word: Broccoli is great to eat, as long as it is………
I look further down the questionnaire and squeal -“What has this got to do with food?”
Question 9 – France will play England in the World Cup final…Agree/Disagree
Well I suppose it does sum up rather nicely my Frenchman’s attitude to food – passionate and optimistic.