Guess the Flavor

     In the United States, red colored foods, especially desserts, usually signal to the eater that the flavor is going to be either strawberry, cherry, or red raspberry. On my many visits to pastry shops in Lyon, I always saw breads and tarts with red filling. I assumed they were some type of red fruit flavor but the sign always said "praline." The word praline has a couple different meanings but basically it is a nut coated in sugar. I had only ever associated the color brown with praline but in Lyon, the almonds are covered in red sugar. This red sugar is what gives the color to the praline breads and tarts.
    The recipe for the tart is very easy. You just pre-bake a tart shell and then fill it with a mixture of the crushed red pralines and cream. Put the tart in the refrigerator for the filling to set up and then serve.    
     Naturally I had to try one of the praline tarts because I could not image how it would taste. The tart is basically just sugar and almonds in a crust so it was really sugary and kind of "one-dimensional" in regards to flavor. But I was glad I finally tried one. I still am unsure why the sugar is dyed red so if anyone does any research and finds out, let me know!

Textural Issues

As some as you may know I absolutely love making and eating soup. Soup is a great dish for a college student like myself to make because the ingredients are cheap and you can pretty much put anything, aka leftovers, into it.
I was sad to find out that France does not share my love of soup. It is very hard to find soup in a restaurant and when I did find soup, it was basically a thinner version of pureed vegetable baby food. No chunky vegetables, just watery vegetable particles. I thought I would have better luck at the grocery store finding some soup with texture but that was not the case. I did, however, find an organic soup company that at least puts a lot of herb in their pureed soup so it actually tastes like something.

Of course eating lots of bread and butter with my soup helps it taste better!

     

Crème Fraîche Tacos!

I really love Spanish-American food; tacos, enchiladas, and burritos. I'm sure none of these foods are truly authentic but that does not make them taste any less good. This may come as a huge surprise but France has not embraced the Latin foods. After a month of no tortilla chips and salsa, I was beginning to get some serious cravings. Lucky for me, some grocery stores do sell the Old El Paso taco kit. I finally broke down and bought the kit. For those of you who have never purchased the taco kit, it includes tortillas, salsa, and the seasoning mix for the meat. Normally in America, I would also buy cheddar cheese and sour cream because that is my favorite part of tacos. But I am in France and those two items are not sold here. I figured cantal and crème fraîche would have to serve as my French substitutes.
The tacos turned out ok, definitely more French than American. The idea was there and that is all that matters!

Le Sud

It seems to be a trend that I only eat out dinner once a month, sad but true. On Friday, I decided I would partake in my February dinner and enjoy a full three course meal. Taylor, refer to previous posts, suggested we go to a Le Sud, little did she know she had suggested we go to a Paul Bocuse restaurant. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Paul Bocuse, he is a world famous chef who has restaurants throughout Lyon. His most well-know and expensive restaurant is l'Auberge du Pont de Collonges. But recently he opened up a chain of moderately priced (French standards, not American) restaurants, Le Nord, Le Sud, l'Est, and l'Ouest. Each restaurant specializes in a different aspect of French cuisine. Le Sud focused on Mediterranean style food.
I ordered the plat du jour which included a salad with tomatoes and avocados, a tajine (a traditional Moroccan dish) with couscous, golden raisins, dates, veal, and an amazing sauce that used cinnamon and cumin, and, finally, a trio of sorbets lemon, mango, and strawberry. Everything was delicious. I hope to go to the other three restaurants. 

   

The Incredible, Edible Egg

I am continually amazed at how different breakfast is here in France. The America breakfast food staples like eggs and cereal are simply not eaten by a "real" French person. I personally love eggs and will eat them at any time of day but it is rare to find an egg served in an American restaurant after 10 am.  Although an egg can't be found on a French breakfast menu, it most certainly can be found on a lunch menu. Eggs are a very popular accompaniment with savory crepes. A typical savory crepe seems more like breakfast than lunch to an America. A ham, cheese, and egg crepe is very similar to a ham, cheese, and egg McMuffin (pardon the McDonald's comparison). So after having eaten my first lunch crepe topped with two very runny eggs, I have to say the eggs were just as good for lunch as they are for breakfast.

Partner in Culinary Crime

I figured I should introduce you to my traveling/eating buddy, Taylor. I met Taylor the first day of class at UNCG and we have been friends ever since. She does not cook or have a great interest in food but her French is significantly better than mine so she provides the menu translation and I provide my "expert" culinary opinion on whether or not the dish will be any good. We have a good system going.

Caught in the act! We are kind of obsessed with trying a pastry at every shop we pass. Here Taylor is eating an eclair.