3 July 2017 / leggypeggy

France, food and portion control

Brittany, dessert, Limoges, strawberries

Melon salad in St Brieuc—very manageable

We’ve been overseas for almost two months and enjoyed almost three weeks travelling around France. We’ve enjoying the landscapes, the museums and other touristic sites, the language, the cheese, the wine and the food, in general.

But nothing prepared us for portion control.

The French have a wonderful lunchtime option called the ‘plat du jour’. It’s only offered at lunchtime on weekdays and it can be one, two or three courses—meaning an entrée (or starter depending on where you live), a main and a dessert.

The plat du jour is usually quite generous and usually ranges in price from 10 to 15 euros. I usually ordered an entrée and main, while Mr. Sweet Tooth usually opted for a main and dessert. When we ordered the plat du jour, we usually went very light on dinner.

Custard tart

Fromage blanc with strawberries

When we headed out to start our 200+-kilometre bike ride in Brittany, we had a compulsory change of trains in St Brieuc. It was a couple of hours, so we sought out a likely lunch spot and ordered their plat du jour. It was a melon salad, fish with vegetables and a fancy custard tart. We each ordered two courses, and you can imagine who ordered what.

The melon salad was quite nice and just what I’d hoped for.

After seven days on bicycles (more about that soon), we met up with daughter and son-in-law, Libby and Daniel, to enjoy the surrounds of Limoges in southern France.

We did a lot of exploring, visiting and eating.

One of the most telling experiences was in Le Sans-Lys, a restaurant in Martel. Their plat du jour listed a starter of another melon salad, a main of duck and a dessert of I don’t remember what. I was completely stonkered (Aussie slang for outdone) by the salad alone. It really was all I needed.

Hope you appreciate the difference between the two melon salads, and the difference between the portions of the elegant north and more -down-to-earth south of France.

Oh wait, I still dream of the amazing dessert I ate in Brittany (northwest of France). It was fromage blanc fraise (white cheese with strawberries). I could eat that every day. I have found a recipe and will share it if it turns out with any success.