Shannon a Bordeaux

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Yan Crispel is a wonderful man. He is an English teacher at the school where I worked. At the beginning of the year, just one day after arriving at my school, Yan invited me to dinner where I met his wife, Nicole, who was equally as charming. It was then, shortly after arriving in France, that I felt at home. Nicole and Yan invited me into their home and served a wonderful meal. I have a great deal of respect for Yan.

When I told Yan that my Mom was arriving from Canada for Christmas break, he insisted on having us over to his house for dinner.

Mom and I showed up at his house around 7 p.m. When we arrived, he served a sparkling wine as an apéritif, served with freshly shaved salami, carpaccio (cured venison) and olive bread. Delicious!

After we had finished a couple glasses of sparkling wine and the variety of meats and bread, we sat down to dinner.

To start, as an appetizer we had bread with vegetable soup that Yan had prepared himself. The soup was prepared from scratch, of course. No real French man would ever prepare anything for his guests unless it was from scratch. To match the vegetable soup, we drank a Bordeaux red wine.

Next, for the main course, we had foie gras. This was something I had never eaten, and I don't think I will ever eat it, unless it is prepared by Nicole. To prepare the foie gras, Nicole seared it in a frying pan with some salt and served it on a haystack of pasta. With the foie gras, we drank a sweet white wine. Yan prefers this moelleux wine because the sweetness of the wine compliments the saltiness of the foie gras.

Foie gras, translated into English, is "fat liver." Ducks or geese are force fed for four or five months before they are slaughtered. This is done by means of a funnel attached to a slim metal rod which is inserted into their stomach. The result of this practice is a very enlarged and very fatty liver. The liver may swell up to 12 times its size.

Animal rights groups in the U.S. constitute that force feeding is a cruel and inhumane treatment of animals. Many French disagree with these animal rights people because, if given the opportunity, ducks and geese will force feed themselves. If there is food present, they will willingly eat until they can't walk or fly from overeating.

After our main course, we were served three different kinds of cheese. With the cheese, most people drink red wine, but Yan prefers the sweet white wine. He explained why it is better to eat cheese with white wine rather than red. The acidity in red wine numbs your taste buds and you aren't able to fully appreciate the flavours and aromas of the cheese the way you can with a white wine.

Like a true French person, I now firmly believe that the taste of the cheese comes before the taste of the wine.

For dessert, we had a fruit salad made with fruits that were in season. With the fruit, we drank red wine to compliment the sweetness of the fruits with the dryness of the red wine.

The traditional French dinner shows why France has such a problem with drunk driving. Thousands of people die every year from running their cars off the road and slamming into trees. What was the French solution to this? They cut down the trees along the roadways. This just shows the gastronomic appreciation this society has.

Shannon MacLeod has spent seven months teaching English in France. She recently returned home to Sussex Corner, but continues to write about her experiences teaching and living in France.