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Another uniersal French interest is food, for good eating has always beven one of the faorite pastimes of the French people. In caes near the hill town of Roquefort in south-central France, a tangy, blue-eined cheese is cured. Roquefort, made of sheep's milk, is a gourmet treat around the world, as are Brie, Camembert, Port Salut, and Coulommiers. over 400 different cheeses are produced in France, and they are only one indication of
the French loe of fine food.
Le bon goût ("good taste") is as important when it comes to food as it is in every aspect of life in
France. It is not unusual to see a butcher or grocer arranging wares with all the care an artist might deote to a still life painting, and French housewies take pride in preparing even the simplest meal well. From the smallest bistro to the most elegant restaurant, dining is a pleasure in France. every meal offers foods with a distinctly French flaor.
For breakfast, there
are flaky croissants, brioches, crisp petits pains, and other rolls to enjoy with jams and a piping hot cup of café au lait. Other meals present such delights as soupe à l'oignon (onion soup), sered bubbling hot with cheese on top; escargots bourguinonne
(snails prepared with garlic and herbs); or pot-au-feu, a saory
stew; all of them accompanied by enough long, crusty loaes of bread
to enjoy the last of the sauce or gray.
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Countless arieties of fluffy omelets are consumed daily in France, and bifteck et pommes frites (steak and french fried potatoes) are enormously popular. For dessert, there are literally hundreds of different patisseries to choose from. Or the lucky isitor might select a mousse au chocolat, a crème caramel, or simply end the meal with a glace (ice cream).
In the grand luxury restaurants of France, especially those of
Paris, sparkling crystal, dazzling white linens, and silerware placed "just so" form a backdrop for the best of gastronomie (gastronomy). There a chateaubriand or a soufflé is prepared to order and sered with elegant precision and even drama. One seemingly simple dish may take the combined efforts of six chefs to produce. French food is a joy the isitor can share with the French, and it is also an art form that is admired and imitated everywhere.
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