I laughed when I saw your videos on the French food culture. I’m an American, married forever to a 🇫🇷 guy. We live in the US, but have always gone back to 🇫🇷 for family, a couple of times each year. When I was newly married , I was astonished by the amount of time my MIL would have for meals. Because she was so happy we were there, she’d invite ppl for lunch & dinner. We would eat breakfast-tartine et café, & then go out in Paris to shop for lunch. This involved going to the crémerie, le boucher, l,épicerie, thé boulangerie, etc. Then, we’d go home to prepare a 3 course meal FOR LUNCH. After the meal, we’d clean up & DO THE EXACT SAME THING FOR DINNER! I thought it was insane, but now, I love the 🇫🇷 food culture. Takes getting used to.
Eating on the go; the one thing people do here is breaking off the top of a baguette on coming out of the bakery... can't resist a warm baguette. Loved this video TY
« ... because there's already 150g of butter in the dishes » ... 🤔 ...humm ... yes but what is the problem with butter 😋? I am norman and I put butter (beurre doux here in normandy, no salty butter here we aren't breton) with cheese and saucisson ... and I have a good health ... 🤗
@@stephanedaguet915 I'm from south of France. Olive oil culture🫒. BUT I can't eat marmelade, saucisson, ham, oysters or Roquefort without some bread and butter.
😅 So funny and so true! (I'm French, even if the name of my channel doesn't seem to be). But like some of you say, in France, butter is typically only offered at the table with certain dishes, such as smoked salmon or ham, radishes, and dry sausage, but also with certain cheeses such as Roquefort, Bleu, etc., and jam for breakfast. You can also put a dab on grilled meat (which has not been cooked in butter, therefore).
Australian francophile here. Have been to both US and France many times. The three course thing - french servings are generally much smaller than the US and I like that. Also less drowning in dressings ( mayo, ketchup etc ). For me, three courses are doable in France and impossible in the US.
9:25 Eating while driving is actually an infraction. The Code de la route states that the drivers attention must be exclusively on the road and that they must be abble to manoeuver safely at any time. Similarly smoking while driving has become an infraction aswell. People still do it, but if a cop sees you doing it he can pull you over.
Manger au volant n'est pas formellement interdit par le Code de la route. Mais si cela nuit à la capacité de conduite, un agent des forces de l'ordre peut verbaliser le conducteur.
Yes, i disagree with the point about water. Bred & water are traditionnally brought to the table and it's free. If they forget, ask for it. And the ice... first of all, it IS in the drinks at fast food joints. At restaurant, it's really cultural. I hated having so much ice in a glass of water by default in the USA. I always forgot to ask without since it's not like that in France. The USA are used to cold stuff, same with full on AC running in stores.
Last time I was in Paris, a few years ago, the owner of the restaurant said it was illegal to give me tap water so I had to buy bottled. Took advantage of an innocent British tourist, it seems.
Here's another category concerning French food culture: the service when eating out. First, one only leaves a small tip if any tip at all. A couple of euros is normal. Servers in France receive wages and are not dependent upon tips. This leads to a second point: servers neither hover over guests nor interrupt the meal nor try to upsell. French service is very discreet. Servers will watch from a distance and reappear as if by ESP when a guest is ready for another course or has another need. In the U.S., I am often tempted to respond to "can I get you anything else?" with "yes, you can get me some time without you bothering me. If I need you, I will let you know."
It's true! Foreign customers should read you because I think there are often misunderstandings, foreign customers think that waiters neglect them but it's discretion to let customers eat in peace. Cultures are different.
SO true . In US theyre money is from volume, so they canstantly try to flip the tables for more guests. It's a constant feeling of hurry up and go. I hate it.
We must not forget that buying local products is not only a question of the freshness of the products. It is also a contribution to the reduction of co² and prices. This makes it possible to limit transport costs and the pollution emitted by these means of transport. And this makes the local economy work and especially the small producers and not the big manufacturers, who will supply the supermarkets.
@@uweinhamburg Yes, because otherwise it means big companies can relocate their labor to countries where it's cheaper, which in turn drives down wages in France. The same goes for food, if it's produced more cheaply on the other side of the world, french farmers are forced to lower their prices. And contrary to what was said earlier, it's unfortunately often more expensive to buy locally, which means it's a solution for the well-off and not for those who are struggling.
Up here in northern Europe local products is a thing as well. You get fresh produce, and you can see animals are treated (in case of meats) and vegetables are grown. No horrible animal factories and large scale, industrial, production. It's more expensive, yes, but you support your local economy as well. Supporting a lifestyle that is struggling, often due to the somewhat bizarre agricultural politics of EU (yes, I am looking at you France).
This is concerningly ethnocentric, race-based, and imperialistic. There are many much more advanced civilizations now and in the past that understood technology of foods used as holders of other foods are equal and more advanced. Cutlery is also completely unfit for purpose in nomadic societies, which have more sustainable technology and have more sustainable lifecycles as cultures because they help rather than injure the planet. From your friendly neighborhood anthropologist and chef.
indeed; as an Austrian, having lived in Marseille now in Lyon there is indeed a difference between the South and Northern France as far as butter is concerned, where the South tends to olive oil (also for cooking). I like both, but en cuisine, I stick to traditional butter ;-)
@@dianeadam4926 well yes, that is clear; it was just to explain these differences (and I admit... I did dare to use butter also in Marseille... don't tell anyone)
i guess you understood that we do not eat just to feed ourselves, we love food, we talk about food when eating, discussing other recipes. It's a moment to enjoy with others.
One of the things that I love in France, and I don't know if you do that in the US (but it's just with close friends) : you come early for a meal (or invite your guests early), lunch or dinner, and you prepare the meal together. I love it !! It creats so much intimacy, it's an occasion to exchange recipies or tricks to improve a course... If you never tried that, I personnaly encourage you to do so 😉😊
Yes very common in US in the past, though with cell phones more and more people come LATE, which is when I gave up hosting dinners. So disrespectful of the host and the food that is prepared.
So I am half British, born and raised there, and I grew up with having proper manners drilled in...to include ALWAYS use your fork and knife. Then I went on a date with my future husband and he took me to a place that sold fried chicken! His face was priceless when he realized that I had taken that chicken to bare bone...with a fork and knife! LOL
My husband is able to even cut and eat a shrimp with a fork and a knife. My mother told me the exceptions tolerated would only be fries. About the bill : it's considered very rude to bring the bill, a complete lack of basic politeness. You have to ask for. Thank you, it was fun to watch
In the "upper classes" in UK, France and Italy (I do not know the other countries' customs) you even eat fruit (bananas, peaches) with knives and forks, and desserts with forks and spoons.
I am an American that has lived in France for 21 years now. The butter thing is definitely not just for breakfast in most of France. Here in the North east and in Paris, it is a big thing to have butter and ham on baguette for lunch.
The FAMOUS "jambon beurre" sold in every "bar" (so everywhere) untill McDo came in... And it took a long time to burger to come into competition. France has "local" food-fats preferences : Butter in north-west, pork fat (Saint-doux) in north east, olive oil in south-east and duck/goose grease for south-west.
In the North, in general. I feel like this video is very "South France". I'm From the north east, and there's butter at every meal, we even add it on potatoes for supper, and we definitely eat fries with our hands, even if they're crazy hot.
French people cook with butter in the north and olive oil in the south. In my city Lyon, we are in the middle so we cook with butter ... and olive oil 😊
I’ve never lived in France but I visit frequently. I would add that service in restaurants is quite different than in the USA. The server will not check in with you frequently as they always do in the USA. After the initial order and the food has arrived you probably won’t see your server again, so you have to get their attention if you want something. In the USA I feel as if the server is pressuring me to move along so they can turnover the table. Also they won’t seat you even if the restaurant is virtually empty if they have many reservations later. For example, if you show up at 7:30 and they have many reservations at 8:30 they won’t seat you because they assume you will want the table for at least 2 hours. As a result I’ve seen Americans get angry when they can’t get into an empty restaurant.
Another quality label is the "Red Label" which is associated with a strict protocol for how the food is produced. My brother-in-law raises Red-Label veal, which involves calves that feed on their mother's milk for 8 months. I can go into my national chain supermarket, 600 miles from his farm, and ask the butcher which farmer raised today's meat. In addition to the quality is the diversity; my daughters were fans of pâté, foie gras and canard confit when they were in high chairs, and my American in-laws were stunned during a trip stateside when my sister-in-law asked my 5-year-old what kind of sandwich she would like. Her answer? "Do you have any smoked salmon?"
Interesting observations. I've always asked for a carafe d'eau in a restaurant (which, by law, is free) and sparkling water when that is what I desire. Some restaurants have brought butter at lunch/dinner, but may be because they realized I am American. I noticed you didn't mention butter with the cheese course!
Ah! Thanks for mentioning the carafe d'eau (pitcher of water) being free to ask for by law, as we were talking I didn't think to mention it. And cheese courses! You just reminded me we didn't even talk about those!!! So many more French food fmvideos to make.😅 Thanks for commenting!
My "correction" POV as a French but I live in a big city : Fork & Knives : for me it's more a generation thing. Young people eat way more with their fingers globally. But yes, the majority of +30 people eats their burger with forks & knives (sometimes when I'm eating with coworkers I'm the only one eating with my fingers, thank god I'm a pro). Water & Ice : There are restaurant that brings you tap water automatically in France : good ones^^. Don't be scared to ask for a "carafe d'eau" added to your drinks : waiters are use to it. For Ice yeah sorry about that but it's globally a colder country 😂 As a french I'm always fascinated with your crappy motels that Always propose a fridge of ice, wtf 😂 And finally butter^^ : I think your POV is more a regional thing. I really think butter consumption vary a lot in France depending on the region. In some regions, we eat it at every meal, in others, only salted butter (In Bretagne especially, don't get me started on ther patisserie made of 80 % butter 😅). So keep exploring, you'll be surprise. PS : gj on the titre de séjour !
Even though butter may be limited to breakfast in France, my wife and I would give the point to France purely on taste. Most (if not all) American butter doesn’t come close in terms of flavor. Whenever possible, we buy beurre français in the US … and look forward to our next trip to France, in eager anticipation not just for the butter. Great list that we can agree with otherwise. :-)
This is soooooo true! I wasn't even thinking about that when we made the video. I think I've gotten spoiled here the past year and forgotten the quality disparity. European butter has higher fat content on average than US butter and I agree it makes all the difference in flavor. Thanks for pointing that out!
@@BaguetteBound Hi frenchie here!! The butter culture is different region to region in France. In brittany where most of butter is produce ( and Normandy) we practicly leave on the stuff. You will see it EVEYWHERE. There is also a quote that say : ' a breton without butter , dies !!" (Un breton sans beurre, meurre !) Maybe it's because you leave in the south where it is much hotter than here in the northwest. Cheers for your content. So happy that you appreciate the country, it's people and culture !!
@@BaguetteBound Bonjour, je suis Français, et j' ai été agréablement surpris de voir Mac Donald , créer des hamburgers avec des produits, fromages régionaux français, cantal, roquefort...... adaptation au pays, malin!!!
Your videos are cool! 1/ Water: there are 3 choices in restaurants. Tap water, still bottled water, sparkling bottle water. No ice though 😊 2/ Butter: You are not in the right region for that. Brittany it is. Here, restaurants will even serve you butter with your basket of bread by default.
J'ai bien ri à votre section "Forks and Knives" parce que ça nous met en face de nos paradoxes ! En effet, quand je mange une pizza ou un burger dans un restaurant, j'utiliser fourchette et couteau ! Quand c'est dans un fast-food ou chez moi, c'est avec les doigts ! Of course !!! XD Il faut dire que les restaurant/brasserie qui proposent des burgers vous amènent dans une assiette un burger qui fait au moins 5 ou 6 cm d'épaisseur ! Ce genre de burger "raffiné" se mangent difficilement sans être coupés ! Merci pour la bonne humeur !
It's rather crème fraiche in Normandie ! Note taht butter may be added in some dishes, such as cooked potatoes, and also as "beurre maitre d'hotel" i.e. with garlic and parsley...
If you go to Bretagne ( the region, west side ) it is common practice to have salty butter every time you bring out the bread. I'm from Alsace ( region , north-East side ) and Sunday family dinner run from 12h30 to dinner. Literally. Apero first, then an hour later appetizers, then an hour or two later main course, then you run around 4 in the afternoon and instead of 'goûter" you had the dessert, then at 6 in the afternoon it's apero again, then the cycle repeat except the appetizers and dessert tend to be what's left of lunch instead of brand new ones. Main course is different, and generally cooked alongside the apero (standing, relaxed apero or a separation between the cooking side of conversation and the still at the table rest of the family). Only happens on Sunday, and not every Sunday. Generally we are leaving around midnight. Food is extremely social in France! And in Alsace even more so I would say :)
The only time I had butter served to me with bread in a restaurant was in France, in Bretagne. We didn't ask for it and I was pretty perplexed, but apparently butter is expected to always appear on your table in Bretagne 😂
The butter doesn't really disappear during the day, but it's not in the form you're hoping for. In a large northern part of the country, cooking is done with butter unlike in the South, where people cook more with olive oil. If I can give you some advice, one day at a restaurant, try the Sole Meunière or the Raie au Beurre, 2 very fine fishes with which cooking with butter goes wonderfully.
Worth noting that we have "apéritif dînatoire" which is an apero which doubles as evening meal, in these ones we have much more consistent food alongside our booze. Try it one day, bake some savory cakes, set some potato chips or anything you want. Don't hesitate to ask people to bring stuff to eat too.
I’m British and married to A Frenchman, we live in Britain! All those things you have pointed out apply when he eats, laying the table, knife and fork, no snacks, 3 meals a day, however, British bread is horrid , you need butter to make it taste better, but french bread is so gorgeous, you just don’t need it. I love your videos. You look so happy and fulfilled with your life in France. Bonne chance ❤
In restaurant, ask for "tap water" (carafe d'eau). For butter, it's not only for breakfast. We eat butter also with some cheeses and some cold meats (charcuterie). And we have diiferent kind of butter : non salted, half salted and salted. Make your choice ;)
I am French and having a meal without a dessert is just impossible. I just feel as if I have not finish my meal. So i am still "hungry" (not really but some food is missing) so it has hard to concentrate on work/sleep (depending if it was lunch or diner)
Oh my gosh, I told Jason I was starting to feel this way the other day! I feel the meal is unfinished without at least a little something dessert, which is very new for us and I never expected!
Sorry, but I don't think you're a real French (lol) ! For a true French, it's having a meal without cheese which is impossible ! The dessert comes after the cheese.
@@photolover6944 Hello, France isn't populated with the same person X 70 million. Of course, we share approximately the same food culture (bread, cheese, wine, dessert, whatever you say, etc.). But that doesn't mean every person eats exactly like the others. For example, I drink wine or eat cheese occasionally during convivial meals with a group of friends or with extended family. But the rest of the time, I happily do without it. Have a pleasant week,
@@BaguetteBound A little late but in some part of France we say "A table comme en amour, le changement donne du goût" (At dinner like in love, change adds taste). You've been eating "salty" food all meal long, now it's ending and to celebrate that you need sugar based food ! Also, like you said, we don't usually snack a lot here is France so it's one of the rare occasion we've got to enjoy sweets :)
16:30 We also serve butter with certain dishes like radish, and we also use a lot of butter in the cooking, especially if you are living in Brittany or Normandy for instance, but it's true in the south they use a bit less butter and more oil. Note that too much butter isn't very good for your health anyway :D
"7 olives" :D - haaaaa (Flashback to the movie quote "one hundred. percent. acrylic.")! This was such a fun video. Totally agreed with your assessments as well. And that's what buying a freezer is for (smuggling illicit ice cubes!). Thanks for the psych lesson on the dining bill - totally makes sense and very helpful! It's so funny how so many commenters have taken on the mission of helping you to find butter past 11am. :)
In France mealtimes and conversation is done at a leisurely pace, not to be rushed. Moral of the story if you want it a fast pace, France is not the place, it’s relaxed and everything operates at a pace that is comfortable.
Shouldn't France get at least half a point for butter quality? It would be nice to have butter available for all meals but if I have to trade good French butter for only breakfast or most American butter all the time there is no contest!
Hi Baguette Bound. I love long meals especially when dining with fun people who appreciate their food. In the US we’re rushed out of the restaurant by the infamous “are you still working on that?” Horrible and rude. My standard reply is “I’m dining, not working.” And now the tip amount is suggested on the check starting with 23%😮. Not everywhere but at many national chains. Holiday dinners at my house were hours long because I served slowly and did final preparations immediately before each course was served. So it was a good time to stretch 😅. On one of my trips to France, I had supper at Le bistro du palais in Caen. Excellent food, atmosphere and service but I had to go to the bar for the check and even then no hurry. No problem either. Really enjoy your videos. Joseph.
I can confirm that. Amongst the countless reasons i absolutely refuse to ever go to the USA, the number one is probably food. I always look at ingredients before buying stuff. I like my stuff to be with no additives whatsoever. Which is a given here. I would become anorexic in the USA, because i know for a fact that i could never have the courage to willingly absorb poison.
@@nox8730 But the concept of bioengineered food is coming to Europe if not already there, the rich elites of USA such as Gates want the same scheme for the World.
We’ve lived in France for nearly 20 years, you definitely do get butter with your bread in Michelin* restaurants (usually from a small local producer). Also if you ask for butter in a restaurant they’ll likely bring you some. We have friends from Lille and the tradition there is to have butter on your bread when eating cheese, so when they’re in a different area they’ll simply ask for some butter and I’ve never known them be refused.
point 4 is totally unfair : in restaurant you will have bread and tap water by default without extra charge. Mineral water is an extra. For ice yes you are right. Butter : you'll have salty butter if you visit Britanny (a surprise even for French nationals) So go to Quimper, Brest, etc...
I will always remember the look on my American husband (I'm French) the first time he saw me eat a hamburger over there, you would have thought I had two heads! His parents were confused too. The first time my father went to a McDonald's, he was looking for the silverware everywhere.... haha.
@@Lostouille Mon père ne connaissait pas ce genre d'endroit où y'a pas de couverts (il était né en 1937), sur le coup il nous a regardé l'air de dire "c'est quoi ce bordel?" La première fois que j'ai mangé un hamburger ailleurs qu'au fast food aux USA, dans un "diner" Denny's, j'avais des couverts, alors je les ai utilisés... petit mari s'est bien marré en m'observant.
It s pleasant to see that you apreciate the French food culture because it's so important for us. We would be so sad if we had to give up this tradition because of modern life.
Just found out about your channel and as a French it is really interesting to hear your point our view on our culture. It really is interesting to see that things I consider to be the most normal thing, really are not on the other side of the world. For the meal courses point, in 2023 a study showed that the French spend the most time at the table in the world (2:13h/day in average vs 1:02h/day in the USA). But your explanation of why it is like this is really good. It is the time where you gather with your friends or family and talk about everything. Once i saw a reportage on a family in the US and they did not eat at the same time, they’ll eat sitting on their phone and rushing back to their bedroom. I was shocked, in 18 years with my parents I don't think we have ever eaten not all together at the table.
@@philippem5695 mouais, meme là, ça depend du restau ... au rital du coin de la rue ou a dellarte ou au bar tabac brasserie en bas du taf, les frittes burgers et pizza c est à la main ! Dans le 5 etoiles avenue montaigne avec les beaux parents et le burger rossigni au foie gras on evite
@@olivierdelatouche9453 J'avoue peu fréquenter les ritals du coin et autres dell'arte comme d'ailleurs les restaus de l'avenue Montaigne. Entre les deux il y a des masse de restaus où on utilise les couverts et où il serait limite inconvenant de ne pas le faire
@@thordsalmond8189 non, je dis pas ça, je dis que je connais personne en france qui mange un burger avec un couteau et une fourchette, à part dans des restaurants vraiment classe. Je ne pretends pas etre détenteur ou gardien d'aucun savoir quelconque. Je sais meme pas comment vous pouvez lire ça dans mon commentaire ... mais bon ... on va pas commencer à apprendre à lire à tous les (inserez ce que vous voulez comme mot dégradant ou insulte) qu on croise dans les commentaires youtube hein
Dans l'ouest de la France et plus particulièrement en Bretagne ,il est courant d 'avoir du beurre à tous les repas 7H 12H 19H Avec du pain évidemment !!!! J'adore vos vidéos. Continuez ainsi. French fan
If you order cheese in a restaurant, they will give you butter. Same for sea food, you will have bread and butter. In France, butter is often used in cooking (sauces, pastas). North of France they use a lot of butter and cream, southe of France it's olive oil
In the South east of France ( Provence ) very few butter in food and recipes....the strict minimum of butter, for special or more festives dishes....in the contrary we use Olive Oil , in almost every meals and for cooking.
I heard this very often from US citizens visiting France, that restaurants don’t offer free water. It’s something that very common to have tap water. Just ask for « une carafe d’eau ». It’s true that waiters will ask you if you want a bottled water or tap water. The more they sell bottles, the better their business is. There are a kind of restaurants called « Brasseries ». Usually they open from 6-8am till 12pm-2am non stop.
Re meal times : what you are describing is mostly small towns/rural areas (where many working people do go home to eat lunch). It's quite different in large cities and in Paris where you can eat whenever you want, with more round the clock services, and people commute from afar and therefore eat in company cafeterias. More generally restaurant opening hours reflect local habits and also labour laws. Fast food is big in France, as you have noticed, with international (with a local sourcing of food) and local franchises. What you could have noted also (that might be an interesting new episode) is that in traditional wine drinking countries like France, "wine and cheese" is not a thing, wine is mostly consummed with meals, sometimes during aperitives. Wine is generally not a stand-alone drink (except for some urban yuppies) you drink in the sunset, after a 6 o'clock dinner, before going to bed (which is mostly an Anglo-saxon fantasy) although there is a vanishing tradition of "digestives". Therefore French wine is mostly meant to be paired with food, unlike "new world wines" which in my perception are typically tannic, woody, heavily flavoured because people mostly drink them outside meals. Thanks for your interesting contributions!
When i'd finished my national service here (i'm dual english/french born and raised, my first 22 years spent in england ) i stayed here, in Grenoble where i live in the local cafe you would see men drinking "un ballon de rouge " or blanc or even "blanc /cassis",small glass of red ou white wine or white with blackcurrant and this at 7 /8 in the morning ,thing have changed though in the 36 years i've been here 😁😁
As an Adult I'm still having Goûter. On weekends I take 20 minutes to make crepes with my son and (american) wife. Awesome stuff. When it come to the fork and knife thing, it's true that in general french don't use their finger if the meal is served on a plate. But will definitely eat their fries and burger with their fingers in a fastfood. On the same topic, french are so not used to eat with their finger, that in general they don't know about the "No double dipping" rule. So if you are with french, being in france or in the US, and you see them double dipping, they are not gross, they just don't know any better. Be kind and tell them about the "no double dipping" rule. ;-)
Je souscris entièrement au commentaire de Christophe77700 : Nord de la France, cuisine au beurre. Sud de la France : cuisine à l'huile d'olive. Et oui, en Bretagne, le beurre est salé.
Not true! @crotteverte7496 is right: "France has "local" food-fats preferences : Butter in north-west, pork fat (Saint-doux) in north east, olive oil in south-east and duck/goose grease for south-west." I am from the SW and learnt to cook with goose or duck fat. Butter in NW is salted butter.
Very Cool video ! I'm French and I appreciate a lot your videos because I see people from another country appreciate our country France, for the real, genuine reasons. It means you got over the predjudices we all get from the way we've been brought up, and tried sincerely to understand if there is something to understand. and with your open mind you found it, and you nailed it right. Now there is just a little error in your video, it is about "butter", it is more of a regional culture, if you go to Normandy or Brittany you will have butter commonly. In Brittany it is often with salt. I think you can ask butter in any restaurant in France, except may be for the cultural divide in the south regions where people use more olive oil there. But if you take cheese at a restaurant they will understand you ask for butter, in the south they just will understand you come from another region.
Juste une petite (mais utile) précision ; en ce qui concerne manger au volant c'est ..... Formellement INTERDIT ‼️ Je vous souhaite bonne continuation en France. Cordialement, Dan 😉👍😎
We have a number of very different experiences. For example, the water example. Here in the SW, the server will bring a large bottle or carafe of very cold water. One never has to ask. Plus, we see multiple people eating fries with their fingers. The bottom line is the differences may be regional. I love the structured meal times. My husband hates it. 😉
Nice video, but I would like to add two more points: TIPPING goes to France by a mile! While in USA you HAVE TO tip 18-20% everywhere, in France is zero. That makes a huge difference on the bill. Second point, breakfast in France is mainly croissant or pain au chocolat and coffee, (or something similar) while in USA is eggs and bacon, or similar. In UK is English breakfast, which is huuuuge😅. Enjoy your stay in France and keep the videos coming. Thank you
le pourboire en france est à la convenance. Ils fait parti des "bonnes manières". le pourboire signifie: le repas était excellent ou j'ai apprécié le service du personnel. c'est plus perçu comme un remerciement de l'accueil reçu.
@@Europhile you are free to tip whatever you want, but it's not mandatory. I was talking about what you MUST TIP. Try and leave a restaurant in the USA without leaving the aforementioned tip and you'll see what happens. A french comentator told you about the same thing in french.
It's awesome how you've been able to understand our (food) culture so quickly... and so rightly without any real mistake! Pro-tip : If you want butter at restaurant, look at the "charcuterie" entrées they usually serve it with butter (and bread of course), and you can ask for more eventually.
Eating is a part of the local culture all over Europe. The manners that go with this culture are designed so as not to offend the other guests with the sometimes gross table manners of some of the guests. So, chewing with your mouth closed, eating with fork and knife (or rice with spoon and fork), using your napkin (from your lap) before taking a sip of wine, etc. have a purpose and are not just 'strange European habits'. I greatly appreciate the fact that you notice the difference between the US and Europe and maybe you'll keep the best of both cultures for yourselves. I enjoy watching your video's and admire your brave step to move to Europe,
Exactly! I’m a Brit and I was brought up in this way too. It’s all about manners: which is about being considerate to others who are in your company and/or around you. Sadly, we’re getting a bit like the US and our eating habits and manners are becoming less pleasant. Indeed, only yesterday I was in a cafe and I had to move from a table where I was eating my lunch because someone was constantly sniffing, hawking and coughing up phlegm. Just nasty behaviour. Simply foul. I felt like offering him a hankie so that he could sort himself out. 😤😡🤣
AOP is also a E.U. denomination. Earlier, in France we used AOC (C for Controllée/Controlled), you can yet find it on old wine bottles. There's also a less restrictive appellation named IGP (earlier VDQS in France), which is only a geographic specification.
Butter is definitely a regional thing. In the southern half of France, olive oil is used for fat. in northern France, butter is much more common, in Brittany, butter is everywhere and unavoidable. And salted too for historical reasons linked to the gabelle, a past tax on salt.
In Italy, the DOC and DOCG are like the AOP; a standard that must be adhered to to be called by a specific name, even Pizza Napolitano. Every type of food has that provenance. The "G" at the end of DOC stands for "guarantee" so is even stricter.
These mentions exist within the entire EU (the initials change depending on the local language, but the principle and logo are shared). Switzerland also has an AOP system, with a different logo because they can't use the EU one, bug again, it works the same and serves the same purpose.
The aop/doc is european (EU) label. Some countries then have their own local labels. France has it s own géographic protected labels (IGP) Those can be raw ingredients (vegetables grown in specific soils, fruits, butter, etc..) or produces (cheeses, wines) or even cooked items (cakes, ravioles etc..) They all share a restricted area of production and a list of rules to follow in the production (raising the minimal quality)
And by the way, my mother was taught to peel peaches with fork and knife at her boarding school in the 30s. She let it down, but showed it us from time to time for the fun of it.
Speaking of eating in cars, I remember when my French brother-in-law's cousin came to the US with her boyfriend in the 1980s. I got some last minute tickets to an exhibition by the US Olympics basketball team. (It was a big deal to me, basketball wasn't so big in France at the time.) We had to leave right away, no time for dinner but I pulled into a Burger King drive-in window, ordered some food and handed it to them to eat as I drove to the Dean Dome. They sat there with the food in their laps looking like they didn't know what to do with it. Eat in a moving car???!!! No way! Different culture where food is to be savored, not gobbled on the way somewhere.
For butter, it is used very frequently. In the morning with jam on bread. Between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. you can eat the traditional "jambon beurre", generously buttered bread with a good slice of ham. Otherwise we use butter in cooking. - A good croissant tastes like butter. - There is a difference between the north and the south. In the south, the French use oil to cook meat or vegetables in a pan, in the north it is butter. - There are also several cooking techniques for thickening a sauce and one of them is to use butter. - We have the butter sauce if you still haven't tried it yet - ect.
Totally agree. But it seams that for Americans the butter have to take place at table for every meal. In the past, in my family (Paris at the time) we was always have butter at table for lunch and diner, but it's have leaved the French tables those last decades.
@@victoriagossani8523Si le beurre a ”disparu ”! C surtout qu’il est très mal utilisé ! Perso j’utilise les 2 huile d’olivie et beurre en très petite quantité et pour éviter de brûler l’huile d’olivie (130) une noix de beurre et lorsqu'elle blanchie C 130 degrés et là c parfait 😂
@@francisleveque2939 Quand je parle de beurre à table c'est de beurrier sur la table. Par exemple à l'époque (60/70) ma mère n'aurait pas envisagé de manger du fromage (n'importe lequel) sans beurre sur le pain, donc à minima le beurrier servait au moment du fromage, mais aussi par exemple pour les entrées (avec du saucisson, des huitres...). Nous avions d'ailleurs pour les grandes occasions des beurriers individuels pour chaque convive.
Being French, I love to hear you give these positive feedback of France especially when the French are often grumpy and negative to their own country. Concerning butter, your experience is linked to the place you live. North of Paris you would find butter at the table at ALL meals. Extensive use of butter is a very strong regional marker for northern France. A bit like chocolatine or pain au chocolat 😊
I am an American who has lived most of her life in Montreal. It should not be surprising that food culture here is a great deal like that of France. I have learned to enjoy 2 or 3- hour lunches as well as dinners and people tend to enjoy their coffee in cafes. I ate lunch with a friend the other day at a restaurant and water was in a carafe at the table -- no ice. I didn't even think about it. There are many fast food spots, but I will never forget getting a meal at a Wendy's and seeing a Quebecois family sit down at a table and open a bottle of wine.
I want food and I want it now: This is why so many US citizens are obese....French people do not snack so often and gave food when it is mealtime. This is a much healthier lifestyle.
Cute challenge but, yeah, France wins hands down . . . and the butter is divine (and I don't mind asking for it). In Paris, in the last few years, you now see some people walking while eating (only at lunchtime) and occasionally with a coffee (but they re usually heading to a parc or the Seine to drink it). Stateside, fast-food was never my choice, but I'm truly glad to live in a place where most people who are driving are not also trying to also eat. So many crashes in the states are caused by people diverting their attention for their food. Keep up the fun vids!
Something funny and very challenging in France if you want to test the formal education of some people : At the end of a very formal meal, serve them a pear as dessert with a fork and a knife and see if they can peel and eat the pear with these tools.... ;o)
Jason gave the point to US only because there's butter all day long on their table. He also said that French butter was delicious. By the way, the US point for cold water was questionable too but hey, they had to find a way to give a point or two to their homeland. 😁
I am norman and I eat butter (beurre doux here in Normandy) at lunch and dinner especcially with bread and cheese or saucisson. I think it is the same in Brittany but with salty butter. Mostly depending on the region. May be most common in northern France. I eat a entire 250g plaquette of butter each week ... made in normandy of course (Isigny) ...
At 16:48 so strange, here in Britanny it's so common to have butter with bread at the restaurant. IMHO the question is more between region that eat salted butter against regions where the butter doesn't have salt.
Butter serving at restaurants varies depending on the region. Butter/milk producing regions are more likely to offer some with bread at restaurants by default (Bretagne, Normandie...).
About butter, it depends on which region of France you are.. In the North of France, cooking is made with butter, in the south with oliva oil .. And you're allowed to eat butter when you want ! You should go to your "fromager" and ask for butter of "jersey" caw.. this butter is just wow !!
At lunch and dinner, the bread is used for the “Entree “, to dip in the dressing or sauce. Same for the “Plat”. To eat with the *Fromage”, or to clean the plate with. You don’t need butter, as the bread is usually not eaten plain.
It really originates from France and means "appellation d'origine protégée" A kind of protection from where it's coming from. EU may have extended it to Europe.
I don't have a problem asking for butter for the baguette in the restaurants and it is never refused. Just gotta ask!
I laughed when I saw your videos on the French food culture. I’m an American, married forever to a 🇫🇷 guy. We live in the US, but have always gone back to 🇫🇷 for family, a couple of times each year.
When I was newly married , I was astonished by the amount of time my MIL would have for meals. Because she was so happy we were there, she’d invite ppl for lunch & dinner. We would eat breakfast-tartine et café, & then go out in Paris to shop for lunch. This involved going to the crémerie, le boucher, l,épicerie, thé boulangerie, etc. Then, we’d go home to prepare a 3 course meal FOR LUNCH. After the meal, we’d clean up & DO THE EXACT SAME THING FOR DINNER! I thought it was insane, but now, I love the 🇫🇷 food culture. Takes getting used to.
😅 Bonne description d un week end français !
Us butter ???? No
Eating on the go; the one thing people do here is breaking off the top of a baguette on coming out of the bakery... can't resist a warm baguette. Loved this video TY
We don't serve butter with the meals because there's already 150g of butter in the dishes 😅❤
C'est Vrai ! !! 🤣
« ... because there's already 150g of butter in the dishes » ... 🤔 ...humm ... yes but what is the problem with butter 😋? I am norman and I put butter (beurre doux here in normandy, no salty butter here we aren't breton) with cheese and saucisson ... and I have a good health ... 🤗
@@stephanedaguet915 I'm from south of France. Olive oil culture🫒.
BUT I can't eat marmelade, saucisson, ham, oysters or Roquefort without some bread and butter.
@@LizzieJaneBennet Here in the North of France, particularly in Normandy, we reserve oil for engines... it is considered a lubricant... 😅
😅 So funny and so true! (I'm French, even if the name of my channel doesn't seem to be).
But like some of you say, in France, butter is typically only offered at the table with certain dishes, such as smoked salmon or ham, radishes, and dry sausage, but also with certain cheeses such as Roquefort, Bleu, etc., and jam for breakfast. You can also put a dab on grilled meat (which has not been cooked in butter, therefore).
Australian francophile here. Have been to both US and France many times. The three course thing - french servings are generally much smaller than the US and I like that. Also less drowning in dressings ( mayo, ketchup etc ). For me, three courses are doable in France and impossible in the US.
9:25 Eating while driving is actually an infraction. The Code de la route states that the drivers attention must be exclusively on the road and that they must be abble to manoeuver safely at any time. Similarly smoking while driving has become an infraction aswell.
People still do it, but if a cop sees you doing it he can pull you over.
Security first 😉
Complètement faux concernant la cigarette au volant, il est uniquement interdit de fumer en présence d'un mineur.
Manger au volant n'est pas formellement interdit par le Code de la route. Mais si cela nuit à la capacité de conduite, un agent des forces de l'ordre peut verbaliser le conducteur.
For water in restaurants, just ask for une carafe d'eau😊 More than often chilled and definitely free!
Yes and it's mandatory. With a meal they have to give you tap water if you ask.
@@laurentpaumier3103 water and bread are mandatory
And they often bring you the carafe d´eau without even asking
Yes, i disagree with the point about water. Bred & water are traditionnally brought to the table and it's free. If they forget, ask for it.
And the ice... first of all, it IS in the drinks at fast food joints.
At restaurant, it's really cultural. I hated having so much ice in a glass of water by default in the USA. I always forgot to ask without since it's not like that in France.
The USA are used to cold stuff, same with full on AC running in stores.
Last time I was in Paris, a few years ago, the owner of the restaurant said it was illegal to give me tap water so I had to buy bottled. Took advantage of an innocent British tourist, it seems.
Having lived in Texas, and now living near where you are in SW France, I know which I prefer. France every time.
Any place is more favorable than Texas,lol
Here's another category concerning French food culture: the service when eating out. First, one only leaves a small tip if any tip at all. A couple of euros is normal. Servers in France receive wages and are not dependent upon tips. This leads to a second point: servers neither hover over guests nor interrupt the meal nor try to upsell. French service is very discreet. Servers will watch from a distance and reappear as if by ESP when a guest is ready for another course or has another need. In the U.S., I am often tempted to respond to "can I get you anything else?" with "yes, you can get me some time without you bothering me. If I need you, I will let you know."
It's true! Foreign customers should read you because I think there are often misunderstandings, foreign customers think that waiters neglect them but it's discretion to let customers eat in peace. Cultures are different.
SO true . In US theyre money is from volume, so they canstantly try to flip the tables for more guests. It's a constant feeling of hurry up and go. I hate it.
We must not forget that buying local products is not only a question of the freshness of the products. It is also a contribution to the reduction of co² and prices. This makes it possible to limit transport costs and the pollution emitted by these means of transport.
And this makes the local economy work and especially the small producers and not the big manufacturers, who will supply the supermarkets.
Supporting the local economy seems to be a big point for the French...
@@uweinhamburg Yes, because otherwise it means big companies can relocate their labor to countries where it's cheaper, which in turn drives down wages in France.
The same goes for food, if it's produced more cheaply on the other side of the world, french farmers are forced to lower their prices.
And contrary to what was said earlier, it's unfortunately often more expensive to buy locally, which means it's a solution for the well-off and not for those who are struggling.
France wins all in my book!
Up here in northern Europe local products is a thing as well.
You get fresh produce, and you can see animals are treated (in case of meats) and vegetables are grown. No horrible animal factories and large scale, industrial, production. It's more expensive, yes, but you support your local economy as well. Supporting a lifestyle that is struggling, often due to the somewhat bizarre agricultural politics of EU (yes, I am looking at you France).
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Eating with cutlery is a cultural stage that cannot be bypassed. It is an expression of civilization.
In the UK the school asked if our son (age 4 and a half) was eating with knife and fork properly or else they would have to teach it.
@@Charlie-ez4tsI'm Swedish and my kids used cutlery from that age.
I am British, but live in France. I love eating with my fingers: burgers, chicken wings, etc. It all tastes so much better this way.
This is concerningly ethnocentric, race-based, and imperialistic. There are many much more advanced civilizations now and in the past that understood technology of foods used as holders of other foods are equal and more advanced. Cutlery is also completely unfit for purpose in nomadic societies, which have more sustainable technology and have more sustainable lifecycles as cultures because they help rather than injure the planet. From your friendly neighborhood anthropologist and chef.
As a woman from Normandy, I beg to differ about butter. Here we cook everything with butter, you can have butter with cheese. Not just for breakfast.
indeed; as an Austrian, having lived in Marseille now in Lyon there is indeed a difference between the South and Northern France as far as butter is concerned, where the South tends to olive oil (also for cooking). I like both, but en cuisine, I stick to traditional butter ;-)
Yes, but this family is in Dordogne : dry and very hot. More olive oil than butter 😁
@@dianeadam4926 well yes, that is clear; it was just to explain these differences
(and I admit... I did dare to use butter also in Marseille... don't tell anyone)
you can almost drink butter in desserts such as kouign amann :P
i guess you understood that we do not eat just to feed ourselves, we love food, we talk about food when eating, discussing other recipes. It's a moment to enjoy with others.
Yeah, totally! Talking about food while eating is the most French thing.
Tu as déjà préparé ce plat A en ajoutant B ? We love food ❤ 😂
Cooking is sharing.
One of the things that I love in France, and I don't know if you do that in the US (but it's just with close friends) : you come early for a meal (or invite your guests early), lunch or dinner, and you prepare the meal together. I love it !! It creats so much intimacy, it's an occasion to exchange recipies or tricks to improve a course... If you never tried that, I personnaly encourage you to do so 😉😊
Yes very common in US in the past, though with cell phones more and more people come LATE, which is when I gave up hosting dinners. So disrespectful of the host and the food that is prepared.
So I am half British, born and raised there, and I grew up with having proper manners drilled in...to include ALWAYS use your fork and knife. Then I went on a date with my future husband and he took me to a place that sold fried chicken! His face was priceless when he realized that I had taken that chicken to bare bone...with a fork and knife! LOL
This is impressive! 😂
My husband is able to even cut and eat a shrimp with a fork and a knife. My mother told me the exceptions tolerated would only be fries.
About the bill : it's considered very rude to bring the bill, a complete lack of basic politeness. You have to ask for.
Thank you, it was fun to watch
In the "upper classes" in UK, France and Italy (I do not know the other countries' customs) you even eat fruit (bananas, peaches) with knives and forks, and desserts with forks and spoons.
@@BaguetteBoundIf you want to eat quickly, go to a bistro. Bistro means fast in Russian.
I am an American that has lived in France for 21 years now. The butter thing is definitely not just for breakfast in most of France. Here in the North east and in Paris, it is a big thing to have butter and ham on baguette for lunch.
The FAMOUS "jambon beurre" sold in every "bar" (so everywhere) untill McDo came in...
And it took a long time to burger to come into competition.
France has "local" food-fats preferences : Butter in north-west, pork fat (Saint-doux) in north east, olive oil in south-east and duck/goose grease for south-west.
you should go to britany. They are si proud of their salted butter that they serve it for each meal !! And they are right, it's awesome !
You would find a whole new level of love for butter in Brittany, yes 😅
In the North, in general. I feel like this video is very "South France". I'm From the north east, and there's butter at every meal, we even add it on potatoes for supper, and we definitely eat fries with our hands, even if they're crazy hot.
@@nellygs702 Totally agree ! But it"s salted, and they don't consider real butter to be salt-free.
Brittany had no cheese, they had salted butter. When butter is not salted it is not considered butter...
French people cook with butter in the north and olive oil in the south. In my city Lyon, we are in the middle so we cook with butter ... and olive oil 😊
I’ve never lived in France but I visit frequently. I would add that service in restaurants is quite different than in the USA. The server will not check in with you frequently as they always do in the USA. After the initial order and the food has arrived you probably won’t see your server again, so you have to get their attention if you want something. In the USA I feel as if the server is pressuring me to move along so they can turnover the table. Also they won’t seat you even if the restaurant is virtually empty if they have many reservations later. For example, if you show up at 7:30 and they have many reservations at 8:30 they won’t seat you because they assume you will want the table for at least 2 hours. As a result I’ve seen Americans get angry when they can’t get into an empty restaurant.
Another quality label is the "Red Label" which is associated with a strict protocol for how the food is produced. My brother-in-law raises Red-Label veal, which involves calves that feed on their mother's milk for 8 months. I can go into my national chain supermarket, 600 miles from his farm, and ask the butcher which farmer raised today's meat. In addition to the quality is the diversity; my daughters were fans of pâté, foie gras and canard confit when they were in high chairs, and my American in-laws were stunned during a trip stateside when my sister-in-law asked my 5-year-old what kind of sandwich she would like. Her answer? "Do you have any smoked salmon?"
Interesting observations. I've always asked for a carafe d'eau in a restaurant (which, by law, is free) and sparkling water when that is what I desire. Some restaurants have brought butter at lunch/dinner, but may be because they realized I am American. I noticed you didn't mention butter with the cheese course!
Ah! Thanks for mentioning the carafe d'eau (pitcher of water) being free to ask for by law, as we were talking I didn't think to mention it.
And cheese courses! You just reminded me we didn't even talk about those!!! So many more French food fmvideos to make.😅 Thanks for commenting!
@@BaguetteBound They're supposed to bring the pitcher, but service has gone down a lot.
My "correction" POV as a French but I live in a big city :
Fork & Knives : for me it's more a generation thing. Young people eat way more with their fingers globally. But yes, the majority of +30 people eats their burger with forks & knives (sometimes when I'm eating with coworkers I'm the only one eating with my fingers, thank god I'm a pro).
Water & Ice : There are restaurant that brings you tap water automatically in France : good ones^^. Don't be scared to ask for a "carafe d'eau" added to your drinks : waiters are use to it. For Ice yeah sorry about that but it's globally a colder country 😂 As a french I'm always fascinated with your crappy motels that Always propose a fridge of ice, wtf 😂
And finally butter^^ : I think your POV is more a regional thing. I really think butter consumption vary a lot in France depending on the region. In some regions, we eat it at every meal, in others, only salted butter (In Bretagne especially, don't get me started on ther patisserie made of 80 % butter 😅).
So keep exploring, you'll be surprise.
PS : gj on the titre de séjour !
In Brittany or Normandy, you can eat butter all the day.
In Brittany, butter with salt , and in Normandy without salt.
Pardon??? Du beurre doux en Normandie?? Sacrilège!!😁
@@MrSebfrench76 c'est un mécréant au bucher !
J'habite en normandie depuis 8 ans (Parisienne avant) et ici, c'est team beurre demi sel! Je ne connais pratiquement personne qui aime le beurre doux
@@MrSebfrench76 Ah merci, j'ai failli m'étouffer avec ma tartine de beurre salé!
Even though butter may be limited to breakfast in France, my wife and I would give the point to France purely on taste. Most (if not all) American butter doesn’t come close in terms of flavor. Whenever possible, we buy beurre français in the US … and look forward to our next trip to France, in eager anticipation not just for the butter. Great list that we can agree with otherwise. :-)
This is soooooo true! I wasn't even thinking about that when we made the video. I think I've gotten spoiled here the past year and forgotten the quality disparity. European butter has higher fat content on average than US butter and I agree it makes all the difference in flavor. Thanks for pointing that out!
@@BaguetteBound Hi
frenchie here!! The butter culture is different region to region in France. In brittany where most of butter is produce ( and Normandy) we practicly leave on the stuff. You will see it EVEYWHERE. There is also a quote that say : ' a breton without butter , dies !!" (Un breton sans beurre, meurre !) Maybe it's because you leave in the south where it is much hotter than here in the northwest. Cheers for your content. So happy that you appreciate the country, it's people and culture !!
@@BaguetteBound Bonjour, je suis Français, et j' ai été agréablement surpris de voir Mac Donald , créer des hamburgers avec des produits, fromages régionaux français, cantal, roquefort...... adaptation au pays, malin!!!
French butter is the best!
@@BaguetteBound I would also point out that it is possible to ask for le beurre at lunch or dinner.
Your videos are cool!
1/ Water: there are 3 choices in restaurants. Tap water, still bottled water, sparkling bottle water. No ice though 😊
2/ Butter: You are not in the right region for that.
Brittany it is.
Here, restaurants will even serve you butter with your basket of bread by default.
J'ai bien ri à votre section "Forks and Knives" parce que ça nous met en face de nos paradoxes ! En effet, quand je mange une pizza ou un burger dans un restaurant, j'utiliser fourchette et couteau ! Quand c'est dans un fast-food ou chez moi, c'est avec les doigts ! Of course !!! XD Il faut dire que les restaurant/brasserie qui proposent des burgers vous amènent dans une assiette un burger qui fait au moins 5 ou 6 cm d'épaisseur ! Ce genre de burger "raffiné" se mangent difficilement sans être coupés !
Merci pour la bonne humeur !
Butter ! 🤣 You don't live in Normandie obviously. Butter is mandatory there, for each meal
😋😅
As in Brittany ! And did you taste salted butter? Mostly in the northwestern part of France?
It's rather crème fraiche in Normandie ! Note taht butter may be added in some dishes, such as cooked potatoes, and also as "beurre maitre d'hotel" i.e. with garlic and parsley...
If you go to Bretagne ( the region, west side ) it is common practice to have salty butter every time you bring out the bread.
I'm from Alsace ( region , north-East side ) and Sunday family dinner run from 12h30 to dinner. Literally. Apero first, then an hour later appetizers, then an hour or two later main course, then you run around 4 in the afternoon and instead of 'goûter" you had the dessert, then at 6 in the afternoon it's apero again, then the cycle repeat except the appetizers and dessert tend to be what's left of lunch instead of brand new ones. Main course is different, and generally cooked alongside the apero (standing, relaxed apero or a separation between the cooking side of conversation and the still at the table rest of the family).
Only happens on Sunday, and not every Sunday. Generally we are leaving around midnight. Food is extremely social in France! And in Alsace even more so I would say :)
The only time I had butter served to me with bread in a restaurant was in France, in Bretagne. We didn't ask for it and I was pretty perplexed, but apparently butter is expected to always appear on your table in Bretagne 😂
Well, Bretagne and Normandie are known for their dairy products. Especially (salted) butter.
The butter doesn't really disappear during the day, but it's not in the form you're hoping for. In a large northern part of the country, cooking is done with butter unlike in the South, where people cook more with olive oil. If I can give you some advice, one day at a restaurant, try the Sole Meunière or the Raie au Beurre, 2 very fine fishes with which cooking with butter goes wonderfully.
In normandy, they eat butter every time 🙂
Worth noting that we have "apéritif dînatoire" which is an apero which doubles as evening meal, in these ones we have much more consistent food alongside our booze. Try it one day, bake some savory cakes, set some potato chips or anything you want. Don't hesitate to ask people to bring stuff to eat too.
I’m British and married to A Frenchman, we live in Britain! All those things you have pointed out apply when he eats, laying the table, knife and fork, no snacks, 3 meals a day, however, British bread is horrid , you need butter to make it taste better, but french bread is so gorgeous, you just don’t need it. I love your videos. You look so happy and fulfilled with your life in France. Bonne chance ❤
Bread in England is still FAR superior to American bread. (I love French bread though)
You’re obviously not buying it from the right place. We have some fabulous bread in the UK. Yes, it’s more expensive, but you get what you pay for.
In restaurant, ask for "tap water" (carafe d'eau). For butter, it's not only for breakfast. We eat butter also with some cheeses and some cold meats (charcuterie). And we have diiferent kind of butter : non salted, half salted and salted. Make your choice ;)
Grazing all day in Murica, well that explains so much!
Excellent video. So many true and nuanced food points here. Bravo
I am French and having a meal without a dessert is just impossible. I just feel as if I have not finish my meal. So i am still "hungry" (not really but some food is missing) so it has hard to concentrate on work/sleep (depending if it was lunch or diner)
Oh my gosh, I told Jason I was starting to feel this way the other day! I feel the meal is unfinished without at least a little something dessert, which is very new for us and I never expected!
As a Frenchman, for me, it's to eat a meal without bread (baguette, of course, lol), except when it comes to eating Asian.
Sorry, but I don't think you're a real French (lol) ! For a true French, it's having a meal without cheese which is impossible ! The dessert comes after the cheese.
@@photolover6944 Hello,
France isn't populated with the same person X 70 million.
Of course, we share approximately the same food culture (bread, cheese, wine, dessert, whatever you say, etc.).
But that doesn't mean every person eats exactly like the others.
For example, I drink wine or eat cheese occasionally during convivial meals with a group of friends or with extended family. But the rest of the time, I happily do without it.
Have a pleasant week,
@@BaguetteBound A little late but in some part of France we say "A table comme en amour, le changement donne du goût" (At dinner like in love, change adds taste). You've been eating "salty" food all meal long, now it's ending and to celebrate that you need sugar based food ! Also, like you said, we don't usually snack a lot here is France so it's one of the rare occasion we've got to enjoy sweets :)
16:30 We also serve butter with certain dishes like radish, and we also use a lot of butter in the cooking, especially if you are living in Brittany or Normandy for instance, but it's true in the south they use a bit less butter and more oil.
Note that too much butter isn't very good for your health anyway :D
"7 olives" :D - haaaaa (Flashback to the movie quote "one hundred. percent. acrylic.")! This was such a fun video. Totally agreed with your assessments as well. And that's what buying a freezer is for (smuggling illicit ice cubes!). Thanks for the psych lesson on the dining bill - totally makes sense and very helpful! It's so funny how so many commenters have taken on the mission of helping you to find butter past 11am. :)
In France mealtimes and conversation is done at a leisurely pace, not to be rushed. Moral of the story if you want it a fast pace, France is not the place, it’s relaxed and everything operates at a pace that is comfortable.
Shouldn't France get at least half a point for butter quality? It would be nice to have butter available for all meals but if I have to trade good French butter for only breakfast or most American butter all the time there is no contest!
Hi Baguette Bound. I love long meals especially when dining with fun people who appreciate their food. In the US we’re rushed out of the restaurant by the infamous “are you still working on that?” Horrible and rude. My standard reply is “I’m dining, not working.” And now the tip amount is suggested on the check starting with 23%😮. Not everywhere but at many national chains.
Holiday dinners at my house were hours long because I served slowly and did final preparations immediately before each course was served. So it was a good time to stretch 😅.
On one of my trips to France, I had supper at Le bistro du palais in Caen. Excellent food, atmosphere and service but I had to go to the bar for the check and even then no hurry.
No problem either.
Really enjoy your videos.
Joseph.
One of my US colleagues used to say “we Americans eat to live while you guys eat for a living”. Great quote!
You are in the SOUTH of France, in Normandie butter is more in meals and on the table for cheese...
😂The French would faint at seeing a US chain store selling croissants with "bioengineered food" in the ingredients list.😮
(WEIS)
I can confirm that. Amongst the countless reasons i absolutely refuse to ever go to the USA, the number one is probably food. I always look at ingredients before buying stuff. I like my stuff to be with no additives whatsoever. Which is a given here. I would become anorexic in the USA, because i know for a fact that i could never have the courage to willingly absorb poison.
@@nox8730
But the concept of bioengineered food is coming to Europe if not already there, the rich elites of USA such as Gates want the same scheme for the World.
We’ve lived in France for nearly 20 years, you definitely do get butter with your bread in Michelin* restaurants (usually from a small local producer).
Also if you ask for butter in a restaurant they’ll likely bring you some. We have friends from Lille and the tradition there is to have butter on your bread when eating cheese, so when they’re in a different area they’ll simply ask for some butter and I’ve never known them be refused.
I am French and I must confess that I kept from my childhood the habit of eating a croissant around 5pm 😉
And about butter you leave in the south m. North and Brittany definitely have a différent use for butter. More part of Their local cooking
point 4 is totally unfair : in restaurant you will have bread and tap water by default without extra charge. Mineral water is an extra. For ice yes you are right. Butter : you'll have salty butter if you visit Britanny (a surprise even for French nationals) So go to Quimper, Brest, etc...
I will always remember the look on my American husband (I'm French) the first time he saw me eat a hamburger over there, you would have thought I had two heads! His parents were confused too. The first time my father went to a McDonald's, he was looking for the silverware everywhere.... haha.
Bah vu qu on a des couverts au McDo nous 😂😂
@@Lostouille Mon père ne connaissait pas ce genre d'endroit où y'a pas de couverts (il était né en 1937), sur le coup il nous a regardé l'air de dire "c'est quoi ce bordel?" La première fois que j'ai mangé un hamburger ailleurs qu'au fast food aux USA, dans un "diner" Denny's, j'avais des couverts, alors je les ai utilisés... petit mari s'est bien marré en m'observant.
It s pleasant to see that you apreciate the French food culture because it's so important for us. We would be so sad if we had to give up this tradition because of modern life.
There are certain dishes (food) you can eat with your hands , even in the best restaurants .
Welcome here you guys! Hope French people treat you well! 🤗
Just found out about your channel and as a French it is really interesting to hear your point our view on our culture.
It really is interesting to see that things I consider to be the most normal thing, really are not on the other side of the world.
For the meal courses point, in 2023 a study showed that the French spend the most time at the table in the world (2:13h/day in average vs 1:02h/day in the USA).
But your explanation of why it is like this is really good. It is the time where you gather with your friends or family and talk about everything.
Once i saw a reportage on a family in the US and they did not eat at the same time, they’ll eat sitting on their phone and rushing back to their bedroom. I was shocked, in 18 years with my parents I don't think we have ever eaten not all together at the table.
As a french, i know nobody who eats pizza or burger or fries with a knife and fork, except in fancy places ! Cool video guys
Ben dans un restaurant classique (hors Mac do et autre), difficile de manger les burgers et les frites et les pizzas avec les mains
@@philippem5695 mouais, meme là, ça depend du restau ... au rital du coin de la rue ou a dellarte ou au bar tabac brasserie en bas du taf, les frittes burgers et pizza c est à la main ! Dans le 5 etoiles avenue montaigne avec les beaux parents et le burger rossigni au foie gras on evite
@@olivierdelatouche9453 J'avoue peu fréquenter les ritals du coin et autres dell'arte comme d'ailleurs les restaus de l'avenue Montaigne. Entre les deux il y a des masse de restaus où on utilise les couverts et où il serait limite inconvenant de ne pas le faire
@@thordsalmond8189 non, je dis pas ça, je dis que je connais personne en france qui mange un burger avec un couteau et une fourchette, à part dans des restaurants vraiment classe. Je ne pretends pas etre détenteur ou gardien d'aucun savoir quelconque. Je sais meme pas comment vous pouvez lire ça dans mon commentaire ... mais bon ... on va pas commencer à apprendre à lire à tous les (inserez ce que vous voulez comme mot dégradant ou insulte) qu on croise dans les commentaires youtube hein
Je mange burger, frite ou pizza avec couteaux fourchette ...beaucoup plus pratique / hygiénique de pas s'en mettre plein les doigts ..
Dans l'ouest de la France et plus particulièrement en Bretagne ,il est courant d 'avoir du beurre à tous les repas 7H 12H 19H
Avec du pain évidemment !!!!
J'adore vos vidéos.
Continuez ainsi.
French fan
If you order cheese in a restaurant, they will give you butter. Same for sea food, you will have bread and butter. In France, butter is often used in cooking (sauces, pastas). North of France they use a lot of butter and cream, southe of France it's olive oil
In the South east of France ( Provence ) very few butter in food and recipes....the strict minimum of butter, for special or more festives dishes....in the contrary we use Olive Oil , in almost every meals and for cooking.
I heard this very often from US citizens visiting France, that restaurants don’t offer free water.
It’s something that very common to have tap water. Just ask for « une carafe d’eau ».
It’s true that waiters will ask you if you want a bottled water or tap water. The more they sell bottles, the better their business is.
There are a kind of restaurants called « Brasseries ». Usually they open from 6-8am till 12pm-2am non stop.
Re meal times : what you are describing is mostly small towns/rural areas (where many working people do go home to eat lunch). It's quite different in large cities and in Paris where you can eat whenever you want, with more round the clock services, and people commute from afar and therefore eat in company cafeterias. More generally restaurant opening hours reflect local habits and also labour laws.
Fast food is big in France, as you have noticed, with international (with a local sourcing of food) and local franchises.
What you could have noted also (that might be an interesting new episode) is that in traditional wine drinking countries like France, "wine and cheese" is not a thing, wine is mostly consummed with meals, sometimes during aperitives. Wine is generally not a stand-alone drink (except for some urban yuppies) you drink in the sunset, after a 6 o'clock dinner, before going to bed (which is mostly an Anglo-saxon fantasy) although there is a vanishing tradition of "digestives". Therefore French wine is mostly meant to be paired with food, unlike "new world wines" which in my perception are typically tannic, woody, heavily flavoured because people mostly drink them outside meals.
Thanks for your interesting contributions!
Great information, thank you. You are right about the differences in the approach to wine, but that could be an entire video on its own. Thanks again.
Paris is not representative of France, any more than New York city is representative of the US.
When i'd finished my national service here (i'm dual english/french born and raised, my first 22 years spent in england ) i stayed here, in Grenoble where i live in the local cafe you would see men drinking "un ballon de rouge " or blanc or even "blanc /cassis",small glass of red ou white wine or white with blackcurrant and this at 7 /8 in the morning ,thing have changed though in the 36 years i've been here 😁😁
Paris is always a 'law unto itself', just like London or New York.
As an Adult I'm still having Goûter. On weekends I take 20 minutes to make crepes with my son and (american) wife. Awesome stuff.
When it come to the fork and knife thing, it's true that in general french don't use their finger if the meal is served on a plate. But will definitely eat their fries and burger with their fingers in a fastfood. On the same topic, french are so not used to eat with their finger, that in general they don't know about the "No double dipping" rule. So if you are with french, being in france or in the US, and you see them double dipping, they are not gross, they just don't know any better. Be kind and tell them about the "no double dipping" rule. ;-)
you have free water in all restaurants and it is often served cold, so no need for ice cubes, and especially not in wine, fortunately…
Je souscris entièrement au commentaire de Christophe77700 :
Nord de la France, cuisine au beurre.
Sud de la France : cuisine à l'huile d'olive.
Et oui, en Bretagne, le beurre est salé.
Not true! @crotteverte7496 is right: "France has "local" food-fats preferences : Butter in north-west, pork fat (Saint-doux) in north east, olive oil in south-east and duck/goose grease for south-west." I am from the SW and learnt to cook with goose or duck fat. Butter in NW is salted butter.
Very Cool video !
I'm French and I appreciate a lot your videos because I see people from another country appreciate our country France, for the real, genuine reasons.
It means you got over the predjudices we all get from the way we've been brought up,
and tried sincerely to understand if there is something to understand.
and with your open mind you found it, and you nailed it right.
Now there is just a little error in your video, it is about "butter", it is more of a regional culture, if you go to Normandy or Brittany you will have butter commonly.
In Brittany it is often with salt.
I think you can ask butter in any restaurant in France, except may be for the cultural divide in the south regions where people use more olive oil there.
But if you take cheese at a restaurant they will understand you ask for butter, in the south they just will understand you come from another region.
Juste une petite (mais utile) précision ; en ce qui concerne manger au volant c'est ..... Formellement INTERDIT ‼️
Je vous souhaite bonne continuation en France.
Cordialement, Dan 😉👍😎
We have a number of very different experiences. For example, the water example. Here in the SW, the server will bring a large bottle or carafe of very cold water. One never has to ask. Plus, we see multiple people eating fries with their fingers.
The bottom line is the differences may be regional.
I love the structured meal times. My husband hates it. 😉
One of the first things I ate in France as a child was the unsalted butter. I still remember it because it was so amazing!
Nice video, but I would like to add two more points: TIPPING goes to France by a mile! While in USA you HAVE TO tip 18-20% everywhere, in France is zero. That makes a huge difference on the bill. Second point, breakfast in France is mainly croissant or pain au chocolat and coffee, (or something similar) while in USA is eggs and bacon, or similar. In UK is English breakfast, which is huuuuge😅. Enjoy your stay in France and keep the videos coming. Thank you
le pourboire en france est à la convenance. Ils fait parti des "bonnes manières". le pourboire signifie: le repas était excellent ou j'ai apprécié le service du personnel. c'est plus perçu comme un remerciement de l'accueil reçu.
Zero tipping in France? We often tip when we've had a good experience - aroud 5%
@@Europhile you are free to tip whatever you want, but it's not mandatory. I was talking about what you MUST TIP. Try and leave a restaurant in the USA without leaving the aforementioned tip and you'll see what happens. A french comentator told you about the same thing in french.
It's awesome how you've been able to understand our (food) culture so quickly... and so rightly without any real mistake!
Pro-tip : If you want butter at restaurant, look at the "charcuterie" entrées they usually serve it with butter (and bread of course), and you can ask for more eventually.
Eating is a part of the local culture all over Europe. The manners that go with this culture are designed so as not to offend the other guests with the sometimes gross table manners of some of the guests. So, chewing with your mouth closed, eating with fork and knife (or rice with spoon and fork), using your napkin (from your lap) before taking a sip of wine, etc. have a purpose and are not just 'strange European habits'.
I greatly appreciate the fact that you notice the difference between the US and Europe and maybe you'll keep the best of both cultures for yourselves. I enjoy watching your video's and admire your brave step to move to Europe,
Exactly! I’m a Brit and I was brought up in this way too. It’s all about manners: which is about being considerate to others who are in your company and/or around you. Sadly, we’re getting a bit like the US and our eating habits and manners are becoming less pleasant. Indeed, only yesterday I was in a cafe and I had to move from a table where I was eating my lunch because someone was constantly sniffing, hawking and coughing up phlegm. Just nasty behaviour. Simply foul. I felt like offering him a hankie so that he could sort himself out. 😤😡🤣
AOP is also a E.U. denomination. Earlier, in France we used AOC (C for Controllée/Controlled), you can yet find it on old wine bottles. There's also a less restrictive appellation named IGP (earlier VDQS in France), which is only a geographic specification.
Yes, Thierry, I came to the comments to mention the same thing. It's a European Commission requirement.
Butter is definitely a regional thing. In the southern half of France, olive oil is used for fat. in northern France, butter is much more common, in Brittany, butter is everywhere and unavoidable. And salted too for historical reasons linked to the gabelle, a past tax on salt.
In Italy, the DOC and DOCG are like the AOP; a standard that must be adhered to to be called by a specific name, even Pizza Napolitano. Every type of food has that provenance. The "G" at the end of DOC stands for "guarantee" so is even stricter.
And these labels are still guaranted (but translated) even when the product is outside the country, in france we buy AOP italian products.
In France we also have IGP. Good that you have similar mentions in Italy. If I travel there and eat, I would prefer local food.
These mentions exist within the entire EU (the initials change depending on the local language, but the principle and logo are shared). Switzerland also has an AOP system, with a different logo because they can't use the EU one, bug again, it works the same and serves the same purpose.
The aop/doc is european (EU) label.
Some countries then have their own local labels. France has it s own géographic protected labels (IGP)
Those can be raw ingredients (vegetables grown in specific soils, fruits, butter, etc..) or produces (cheeses, wines) or even cooked items (cakes, ravioles etc..)
They all share a restricted area of production and a list of rules to follow in the production (raising the minimal quality)
@@etienne8110 IGP is EU wide, hence why it shares its logo design with the AOP.
And by the way, my mother was taught to peel peaches with fork and knife at her boarding school in the 30s. She let it down, but showed it us from time to time for the fun of it.
Must be difficult. But it is probably about getting used to it. I still do that with shrimps.
Speaking of eating in cars, I remember when my French brother-in-law's cousin came to the US with her boyfriend in the 1980s. I got some last minute tickets to an exhibition by the US Olympics basketball team. (It was a big deal to me, basketball wasn't so big in France at the time.) We had to leave right away, no time for dinner but I pulled into a Burger King drive-in window, ordered some food and handed it to them to eat as I drove to the Dean Dome. They sat there with the food in their laps looking like they didn't know what to do with it.
Eat in a moving car???!!! No way!
Different culture where food is to be savored, not gobbled on the way somewhere.
For butter, it is used very frequently.
In the morning with jam on bread. Between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. you can eat the traditional "jambon beurre", generously buttered bread with a good slice of ham. Otherwise we use butter in cooking.
- A good croissant tastes like butter.
- There is a difference between the north and the south. In the south, the French use oil to cook meat or vegetables in a pan, in the north it is butter.
- There are also several cooking techniques for thickening a sauce and one of them is to use butter.
- We have the butter sauce if you still haven't tried it yet
- ect.
Totally agree. But it seams that for Americans the butter have to take place at table for every meal. In the past, in my family (Paris at the time) we was always have butter at table for lunch and diner, but it's have leaved the French tables those last decades.
@@victoriagossani8523Si le beurre a ”disparu ”! C surtout qu’il est très mal utilisé !
Perso j’utilise les 2 huile d’olivie et beurre en très petite quantité et pour éviter de brûler l’huile d’olivie (130) une noix de beurre et lorsqu'elle blanchie C 130 degrés et là c parfait 😂
@@francisleveque2939 Quand je parle de beurre à table c'est de beurrier sur la table. Par exemple à l'époque (60/70) ma mère n'aurait pas envisagé de manger du fromage (n'importe lequel) sans beurre sur le pain, donc à minima le beurrier servait au moment du fromage, mais aussi par exemple pour les entrées (avec du saucisson, des huitres...). Nous avions d'ailleurs pour les grandes occasions des beurriers individuels pour chaque convive.
When will you make a video about the French food specialities that you like. Like Boeuf Bourguignon, Filets mignons with Sauce aux Morilles. 😊
Being French, I love to hear you give these positive feedback of France especially when the French are often grumpy and negative to their own country.
Concerning butter, your experience is linked to the place you live. North of Paris you would find butter at the table at ALL meals. Extensive use of butter is a very strong regional marker for northern France.
A bit like chocolatine or pain au chocolat 😊
If you want butter in every meal, come to Brittany ! We put butter everywhere !! 🤩🤩
I am an American who has lived most of her life in Montreal. It should not be surprising that food culture here is a great deal like that of France. I have learned to enjoy 2 or 3- hour lunches as well as dinners and people tend to enjoy their coffee in cafes. I ate lunch with a friend the other day at a restaurant and water was in a carafe at the table -- no ice. I didn't even think about it. There are many fast food spots, but I will never forget getting a meal at a Wendy's and seeing a Quebecois family sit down at a table and open a bottle of wine.
I want food and I want it now: This is why so many US citizens are obese....French people do not snack so often and gave food when it is mealtime. This is a much healthier lifestyle.
Pour l'eau dans les restaurants, il faut demander une carafe d'eau et pareil pour le beurre, il ne faut pas hésiter à en demander
We can eat butter at lunch with some specifics items like seafood, radish, blue cheese, boiled eggs, etc.
In Britanny vou will probably get butter ( salted butter) with your meal. People there can't get away from butter 😂
Really loving your videos.
🎉Thanks! Very enjoyable video!😊
for the butter it dependend in which region you are, in britany or normandie you might have butter with your bread
I have this feeling that you're focusing on the right things.
Cute challenge but, yeah, France wins hands down . . . and the butter is divine (and I don't mind asking for it). In Paris, in the last few years, you now see some people walking while eating (only at lunchtime) and occasionally with a coffee (but they re usually heading to a parc or the Seine to drink it). Stateside, fast-food was never my choice, but I'm truly glad to live in a place where most people who are driving are not also trying to also eat. So many crashes in the states are caused by people diverting their attention for their food.
Keep up the fun vids!
Something funny and very challenging in France if you want to test the formal education of some people : At the end of a very formal meal, serve them a pear as dessert with a fork and a knife and see if they can peel and eat the pear with these tools.... ;o)
US wins Butter... Really? It's a joke?
Jason gave the point to US only because there's butter all day long on their table. He also said that French butter was delicious. By the way, the US point for cold water was questionable too but hey, they had to find a way to give a point or two to their homeland. 😁
I agree, US loose the butter war and not just a little!
À real joke
Unless they are based in Normandy or Brittany they have not tasted the best French butter. May be the only reason for this sacrilege...
No way - French butter is way better.
I am norman and I eat butter (beurre doux here in Normandy) at lunch and dinner especcially with bread and cheese or saucisson. I think it is the same in Brittany but with salty butter. Mostly depending on the region. May be most common in northern France. I eat a entire 250g plaquette of butter each week ... made in normandy of course (Isigny) ...
In northern regions of France people bring butter to the table at meals.
At 16:48 so strange, here in Britanny it's so common to have butter with bread at the restaurant. IMHO the question is more between region that eat salted butter against regions where the butter doesn't have salt.
Love a pastis at l’apero ! Looking to move to France as soon as we can
So interesting. I'm English so I learnt a bit about American culture as well as French!
Butter serving at restaurants varies depending on the region. Butter/milk producing regions are more likely to offer some with bread at restaurants by default (Bretagne, Normandie...).
About butter, it depends on which region of France you are..
In the North of France, cooking is made with butter, in the south with oliva oil ..
And you're allowed to eat butter when you want !
You should go to your "fromager" and ask for butter of "jersey" caw.. this butter is just wow !!
At lunch and dinner, the bread is used for the “Entree “, to dip in the dressing or sauce. Same for the “Plat”. To eat with the
*Fromage”, or to clean the plate with. You don’t need butter, as the bread is usually not eaten plain.
i like your channel i'm french and it is cool for learn english
AOP is an European Union certification label not French
It really originates from France and means "appellation d'origine protégée" A kind of protection from where it's coming from. EU may have extended it to Europe.