At home in France - eating "en famille" Family meals
Meals are still an integral part of family life in France, and the dining table is perhaps the most important piece of furniture in a French home. The French do not generally go in for pre-processed pre-conditioned ready-made food, but prefer to make meals from the raw materials - fresh meat and vegetables, and home made desserts. A traditional "family meal", such as Sunday lunch, or a meal to which guests are invited, can last two to four hours, or even longer in the country.
During the week, many people will eat a three-course meal at home every evening; though if all concerned - or most of them - get a full three-course meal at lunch time in the works canteen, in a restaurant, or at the school cantine (and, yes, a proper balanced-diet 3-course meal is standard fare in French school canteens), then the evening meal may often be lighter, a hot snack or pasta or something similar, followed by yoghurt or a dairy desert and fruit. The French eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, and a bowl of green salad may well be provided at every meal. Outdoor barbecues are very popular in suburban and rural France during the warm months.
Useful tips. Here are a few points that are useful to know if you are dining out, or inviting French visitors for a meal.
• The French always eat bread with a meal, and the bread basket is an essential element on any table.
• If there is a cheese course and a desert, the cheese course always comes first.; at least three different cheeses will usually be served. Cheese is eaten with bread, not with biscuits.
• Don't confuse salt and pepper pots. In France, the salt pot has several holes, and the pepper pot just one. Alternatively, there may be coarse sea salt, considered of finer quality than ordinary salt, and pepper from a pepper-mill.