What should my wife bring me from France?

[Iain]

Anyone in their right mind is afraid of Sebastien Chabal. Besides he says that if he wasn't a rugby player the best alternative would be a life spent fishing and shooting.

I just thought this thread was getting silly so I'd make it sillier, but in a less seriously silly manner.

[The Rabbi]

I think you'd be more likely to encounter these guys on the streets of Paris.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLAamUlu-H8

[Perd Hapley]

Stop that sketch!  It's silly!

[Iain]

You should see the amount of 'Allo 'Allo that is on youtube. Very silly, surprised lawyers haven't spotted that yet.

[Laurent du Var]

 Rabbi, don't be afraid we'll have André the Giant protecting you.

 Althoug if he gets to see your "macht frei" poster he'll be running, crying like a
schoolgirl. A couple more like you and we could ask you to settle our annual riots in the ghettos. . 

 "This American,( bumming out the guardian of an undeserved income for made up articles ) in Europe can be reached between pints of Guinness (only when he is out of crack ) at chris_in_cork@yahoo.com."

 Monthy Python must have seen in the Future to predict the Airbus A380 desaster. The roastbeef line of the Rothschilds are not happy, on another note - can you believe the Emirates ordered 43, at 300 millions $ a plane, of those...

[Mannlicher]

Jacque Chirac's head on a platter?

[Lee]

"Jacque Chirac's head on a platter?"
That's the first reply that I expected to get.  Thanks.
I talked to my wife last night and asked her to look for something interesting for me.  She replied with...huh...like what?  I'm not expecting much.
So far, her hosts have taken her out for Chinese and Italian...which she said was no better than our local joints. Se la vie.

[Laurent du Var]

Now this is just so wrong !

Your wive went to France and her hosts take her to eat Italian and Chinese ?
Did she lose a bet or is she punished for something ?
I can take the anti-French nonsense all day long if I have to, but feeding
an American in France with Chinese food may just be payback.
Maybe her hosts read some posts here ?

Oh, and you can have Chirac, but I keep the food, the wine and the smelly cheese ! 

[280plus]

but feeding an American in France with Chinese food may just be payback.

Around here we say, "That's just wrong" 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

That's odd.  When my girlfriend was in Germany she reported that the Chinese and Italian food was spectacular.  She said the local German food wasn't anything to write home about, and this parallels my experiences with French food I ate in France.  But Italian food in particular, when served in Europe, is usually considered to be much better than what we have available here.

[Lee]

She didn't say the food was bad...we have excellent Chinese and Eyetalian food here.  She has a few more days yet, I'm sure they will feed her well.

[The Rabbi]

I remember the Vietnamese food as being good.  But the French really do know what to do with food.  The best kosher restaurant I ate at was in Paris.  England?  Fuhgeddaboutit.

[Lee]

I just talked to her.  They had Indian last night.  They did eat two other meals at local French places.  They had scallops at one..because it was the only thing they recognized on the menu, and the staff was unable (or unwilling) to speak English.  She said they were basically ignored there.  The other meal was a luncheon, and the only menu translation involved something about duck's stomach and beef tongue.  She passed, and went with the ham.     

[Iain]

England?  Fuhgeddaboutit.

This was just bait wasn't it? I'll rise to it for amusement value - some of the allegedly best chefs and restaurants in the world are in England. I've never set foot in one, can't afford it. Have set foot in some really good places though. The food here is as good as anywhere else.

[Lee]

Well yeah...after enough English ale, anything tastes good!   

[Ron]

Hey Ian, is Bass considered a decent beer over there?

I love Bass Ale on tap.

[The Rabbi]

Probably some of the best food is being served in London.  By American or French chefs using ingredients imported from elsewhere.
When i was there there were two kinds of vegetables: the soggy peas and th mushy brussels sprouts.  "Chips" came with everything.  Bland was the order of the day.
Why do the English drink warm beer?
Because they have Lucas refrigerators!

[Iain]

Heh. The English drink warm beer because we can, because our beer doesn't need to be ice cold to be close to being palatable.

Food wise you get what you pay for anywhere. I've eaten bad food in several major European countries noted for their cuisine. Bad paella in Spain springs to mind, I'm sure it was microwaved, but it was cheap and I was poorer. A good number of the chefs working here are French, Raymond Blanc springs to mind. There are plenty of very highly regarded British chefs, Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal (despite the name he is English and his place has been called the best restaurant in the world) are examples.

Bass is ok I think, not really a beer person, but I'll drink things like Abbots Ale when available.

[Dannyboy]

I don't think it's the food in England that's bad, it's English food.  If that makes sense.  The pudding stuff and kidney pies and whatnot.

[Iain]

Pudding stuff? How dare you impugn the one area of our cuisine in which even French writers have conceded we excel. Heh, but I'm not quite sure what you mean, if you're talking heavy suet steamed puddings like spotted dick and the like then I should say that not many people I know eat that sort of thing. Same with kidney pies. I appreciate it's sort of a characterisation, but it's along the lines of redneck squirrel stew and the French relying on staples like frogs legs and snails.

Cooking around the western world seems pretty homogenous, this week I've eaten pork in cider, chilli, curry, plenty of pasta. I'd reckon that's probably not dissimilar to how you guys or Laurent eat most of the time, excepting of course that I've included pork in there and at least one participant probably doesn't eat it.

[Manedwolf]

I remember the Vietnamese food as being good.  But the French really do know what to do with food.  The best kosher restaurant I ate at was in Paris.  England?  Fuhgeddaboutit.

Better than a kosher deli in NYC?

That's one of the ONLY reasons I'll visit or accompany someone to NYC... a kosher deli, the sort with heavy-gauge dishware and a metal bowl of ice-cold half-sour pickles on the table, where you can order a bowl of matzoh ball soup and a massively overstuffed melt-in-your-mouth hot corned beef on rye accompanied by a chocolate egg cream or Dr. Brown's cream soda.

Traffic sounds, the occasional Bronx accent shout outside, and old men arguing at each other question for question, ("Why do you answer a question with a question?" "How do you want I should answer?") only adds ambiance.

[Dannyboy]

but it's along the lines of redneck squirrel stew and the French relying on staples like frogs legs and snails.

I was thinking more of the sausage-esque blood pudding.  I know it's not eaten only in England but that's where I first heard of it.  It, like the others you mentioned in that quote are all rather gross and the world would be better off if they were never eaten again.  Or spoken of.  Or thought of.

[Cromlech]

Who the hell eats spotted dick, and drinks warm beer? Are all you guys ancient war vets who last visited the U.K in WW2?

I just talked to her.  They had Indian last night.  They did eat two other meals at local French places.  They had scallops at one..because it was the only thing they recognized on the menu, and the staff was unable (or unwilling) to speak English.  She said they were basically ignored there.  The other meal was a luncheon, and the only menu translation involved something about duck's stomach and beef tongue.  She passed, and went with the ham.     

Being ignored? Yes, that is very rude.

Not speaking English? So what? It's France, damn it.

[Manedwolf]

but it's along the lines of redneck squirrel stew and the French relying on staples like frogs legs and snails.

I was thinking more of the sausage-esque blood pudding.  I know it's not eaten only in England but that's where I first heard of it.  It, like the others you mentioned in that quote are all rather gross and the world would be better off if they were never eaten again.  Or spoken of.  Or thought of.

Part of a balanced Irish breakfast!

Black pudding, white pudding, eggs, rashers (thick bacon) coffee and soda bread. :9

[Dannyboy]

Part of a balanced Irish breakfast!

Black pudding, white pudding, eggs, rashers (thick bacon) coffee and soda bread. :9

Speaking of breakfast, I forgot the whole beans for breakfast thing.