Pizza on a Whim

In France, one wouldn't think that pizza wouldn't be very popular with all that fine cusine who would eat pizza. However around here it is quite the opposite with a dozen pizza places ready to deliver to your front door. We have gotten quiet accustom to the pizza here with a thinner cust, less sauce, and more veggie toppings, and enjoy regularly trying diffrent types.
Pizza is one of the few foods in France that is fast and almost American, and for this reason I didn't really appreciate it, until last week.
We invited some friends to watch a movie in our mini-cinema the other day. The time was set for 7, a good time we thought to watch a movie on a work night. When our friends arrived we were hanging out wating for everyone to be here when they started asking what we were doing for dinner. Dinner? This is a movie night, not dinner. So scrambling to figure out what we were going to eat, the natural solution was something quick and easy... like pizza. So it was that one of us ran to town to grab a couple of pizzas. Pizza and movies go hand in hand where I come from but I guess no so in France. They thought it was so cool to have a vrai american pizza night.
Who would have thought that Pizza would be the highlight of a dinner to a group of real francais.

The secret's in the sauce

I things are diffrent here. I realized this the second day here in the kitchen when I learned about the french bechamel sauce and we made a lot of Bechamel sauce.
One of the most versitile sauces in the French kitchen is the Bechamel. It is the cream in polet a la creme, it is the ricotta in the lasagna, it is the sauce in the gratin, it is the base for macaroni and cheese.
Melt the butter, remove from heat, add flour salt and pepper until it forms a paste, slowly add cream and return heat. Stir constantly until sauce thinkens to the right consistancy.
The French have a long histroy with the Bechamel. The women wanted a use for the milk that they were unsure about its edibility. The courts of the nobles were graced with this sauce before the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV. The French have a long and rich history with this classic and versitile sauce.
So while the Americans were still finding their continent the French were discovering the 101 ways to use their culinary delight... the Bechamel.

In the old country

It starts with a dollop of mustard, a good splash of oil and vineagar, a pinch of salt, ground black pepper and most importatnt garlic. Whisk the ingredients vigorously with a fork and you are on your way to a good French vinegrette.
It is essential to every salad to have a good vinegrette since it ties it all together. The green, the toppings, the herbs they need it to blend them toghether into a cool, crisp meal. In France, salad is the first on the table and makes the biggest impression on the food that lies ahead. So it best meet up to expectations. I learned this quickly while feeding groups with dozens of francais. In America the salad is the beastly way to get your 5 fruits and veggies a day and to keep the kids at the table longer, but in France it is the way to start the meal right enjoying the produce of the season melanged with the ever present infailable vinegrette.
No wonder the French think Americans have no culinary taste.