I do have to say, there is one thing that never ceases to amuse me. I can go downstairs, right now, and I can pull out somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 different medications with varying drugs used. There are syrups for a dry cough as well as a separate syrup for a wet cough. If it's caused by something in your throat, I can find that too. Should it be a chest cough; don't worry, there's something for you there too. There's paracetamol, nurofen, efferalgon, dafalgon, advil, and helicidine just to name a few.
I should preface this with the fact that I am coming from a different perspective. I was always taught that it is both stupid and dangerous to take drugs unless you seriously needed them. As a result, I became terrified that if I took drugs too much, I would someday have something that couldn't be relieved, regardless of the drugs. So, instead of taking pills when I had a headache, I would take a nap. If I had a fever, I would take a lukewarm showers.
Should it mean anything, I grew up in a medical family. 10 of my mother's 11 brothers and sisters were either doctors, nurses, or lab technicians. My mother was an x-ray technician. My dad is a registered nurse and still works in the emergency room. I could always ask them if I was unsure about something, or if I needed to go see a specialist. However, it was always the rule: "Unless it's an emergency, wait a week on what you have. If it's still there, it's something to worry about. We'll see a doctor then."
However, I feel I was an exceptionally immune child. I never had strep throat until I was older, the same for a sinus infection. I had chicken pox when all my brothers and sisters did, but I never had measels, or really got worse than a cold or a fever. I remember there were certain classmates who would just disappear for a few days and come back after some sort of illness. Another friend I had in high school was showing me all the different medications she was on. I couldn't believe it. She wasn't even 20 and she was on probably 6 inhalers and/or medications. So I thought that maybe it was just my family. Maybe there was something off. Maybe.
I really never though much about it until I came over to my partner's apartment one day. I said I had a headache, and I needed some tylenol. He pointed me in the direction of one of the bathroom drawers. So I walked up and pulled it open. A tidal wave of drugs, pills, and syrups came out at me. I just had to laugh for a minute, and my thought went back to my friend. I still wondered if there was something I just wasn't getting. So I grabbed what I hoped was a headache remedy and went back to make sure it was indeed what I needed. It wasn't.
There were other times, like when his mother came to visit, and she would bring a fairly large bag of different French medications. We seriously had an entire drawer and a shoebox packed to the gills with medications. I had 4 of things in this drawer: a bottle of pepto-bismol, a box of nyquil sinus, a bottle of pseudoephedrine my father got for me from the pharmacy at work, and a bottle of Alieve. But every time he came back from France, or someone came to visit, we had a whole new stock of medications we hadn't come close to using up.
Moving on to France though, it turns out everyone is like this. If you have a headache, you take a pill. If you have an ache, drug up. A cough? There's a syrup for that. People have no issue with just running to a doctor and getting it taken care of. Since I have been here, I think every member of my family here has been to the doctor at least once.
Now, obviously the difference lies in the systems, partially. In the US, you can expect to pay a minimum of $50 to as much as $200 to see a doctor. In France, it's usually less than 30 euros, and is usually reimbursed. There are also pharmacies everywhere. My partner comes from a town of less than 10,000 people and I know of at least 5 pharmacies there. (You can always tell because there's a green cross out front.) You also can't just buy medications. You have to ask for them. You speak about what your problem is and the pharmacien will determine what's needed for your special case. And this is for anything, seriously, anything. Imagine having to speak to a pharmacist every time you want to buy a bottle of ibuprofen or tylenol? It's bad enough that in Ohio you have to ask for pseudoephedrine at the counter. Annoying.
Another thing that amuses me is this medication called Actifed Jour &Nuit. (translated as Actifed Day and Night.) Yeah, you're thinking Nyquil or Dayquil and so was I. Well, not exactly. You don't just take one when your feeling ill, you have to take a whole series. There's a pill for when you wake up, another when you eat, another in the late evening, and another before you go to bed. French people are also very serious about taking those pills. I was asked every morning, afternoon, and night if I had taken my pill. Even if I hadn't, I just said yes.
I found another site that explained a bit more about things. So here's that link:
http://www.petiteanglaise.com/2004/09/30/nation-of-hypochondriacs/
Things are going well here. I had a great birthday, and well, let's just say the hangover was worth it.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
So when do I get my beret?
So earlier today, my partner asked if I would mind getting bread. He knew that I would say yes, so it was really a loaded question anyway, but he asked nonetheless. So I walk into town and think about what I should do. First priority is to check the game store (which I was totally psyched because I found Ico, which I had been searching for, something like 6 years. It's like Xenogears, it's never getting resold.) and then to go pull some money out for the bread.
I think about the really good bakery in town. The bread is that perfect crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside mix. It tastes delicious, and smells even better. Also, nine times out of ten, it's warm when I get it. Since it is a bakery, they also have desserts, and this place in particular, has doughnuts. It's really good too. I remembered that I saw one the other day that was dipped in chocolate. (I have never seen any of the filled doughnuts that I love back in the US, but hey, what can you do? Tim Horton's isn't on every block here.) They also have chocolate croissants, and well, lots of other delicious French pastry. I was sold on the idea, but then I really needed something to drink. They don't have any drinks for sale there, unfortunately.
So then, I remember that there's the other bakery. It's ok, but it's a chain. They have a lot of good desserts as well, and they even serve sandwiches. There's also this woman that works there that I kind of sort of joke flirt with. (One thing to let you know, everyone will think you're cute if you play your accent just right.) But they have so many nice pastries, and these little sugar covered hearts. I was going to buy them the other day to bring home, but was thwarted by a mother of four followed by three high school girls coming in for lunch. Seriously, they all ate enough for a medium sized flotilla. Plus, they sell coke there.
Now, as I said, it's an ok bakery but it's not like the great bakery here in town. The bread is not nearly as crispy on the outside, and it's always kinda spongy on the interior. That I can deal with. After all, I lived on American bread for 26 years, a few more pieces of pain de mie aren't going to kill me. But my biggest issue is with the flavor. The great bakery has this soft, nutty, yeasty taste that makes them the Jesus of bread. The ok bakery is probably a Joseph Smith at best. It just tastes like they used chlorinated water to make it. It's a little chemical heavy compared to the great bakery.
So as I was pulling my money out, I was thinking it was more comical that I was rating bread, considering not only that I had lived my entire life on American bread, but more than that, my parents would always buy about 8 loaves of bread at a time, and freeze them. We weren't even talking Wonderbread or Nickel's, or hell, even Bunny bread for those of you who know it. This was L'oven Fresh. We also went through a lot, and I mean, a lot of bread, and cream cheese, not so coincidentally.
So I take my money, and my American tendency to drink pop wins out. Happy birthday to me. So one canette of coke later, and I am set! I return back to the house triumphantly. I still think it's funny that no matter how long you are in a place, base emotions or wants still take precedence over any layer of foreign socializing that you may install. On a related note, damn if that coke wasn't good.
That's it for now. It's a cloudy 54 degrees here right now. I hope you're all feeling well, and things are going smoothly.
I think about the really good bakery in town. The bread is that perfect crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside mix. It tastes delicious, and smells even better. Also, nine times out of ten, it's warm when I get it. Since it is a bakery, they also have desserts, and this place in particular, has doughnuts. It's really good too. I remembered that I saw one the other day that was dipped in chocolate. (I have never seen any of the filled doughnuts that I love back in the US, but hey, what can you do? Tim Horton's isn't on every block here.) They also have chocolate croissants, and well, lots of other delicious French pastry. I was sold on the idea, but then I really needed something to drink. They don't have any drinks for sale there, unfortunately.
So then, I remember that there's the other bakery. It's ok, but it's a chain. They have a lot of good desserts as well, and they even serve sandwiches. There's also this woman that works there that I kind of sort of joke flirt with. (One thing to let you know, everyone will think you're cute if you play your accent just right.) But they have so many nice pastries, and these little sugar covered hearts. I was going to buy them the other day to bring home, but was thwarted by a mother of four followed by three high school girls coming in for lunch. Seriously, they all ate enough for a medium sized flotilla. Plus, they sell coke there.
Now, as I said, it's an ok bakery but it's not like the great bakery here in town. The bread is not nearly as crispy on the outside, and it's always kinda spongy on the interior. That I can deal with. After all, I lived on American bread for 26 years, a few more pieces of pain de mie aren't going to kill me. But my biggest issue is with the flavor. The great bakery has this soft, nutty, yeasty taste that makes them the Jesus of bread. The ok bakery is probably a Joseph Smith at best. It just tastes like they used chlorinated water to make it. It's a little chemical heavy compared to the great bakery.
So as I was pulling my money out, I was thinking it was more comical that I was rating bread, considering not only that I had lived my entire life on American bread, but more than that, my parents would always buy about 8 loaves of bread at a time, and freeze them. We weren't even talking Wonderbread or Nickel's, or hell, even Bunny bread for those of you who know it. This was L'oven Fresh. We also went through a lot, and I mean, a lot of bread, and cream cheese, not so coincidentally.
So I take my money, and my American tendency to drink pop wins out. Happy birthday to me. So one canette of coke later, and I am set! I return back to the house triumphantly. I still think it's funny that no matter how long you are in a place, base emotions or wants still take precedence over any layer of foreign socializing that you may install. On a related note, damn if that coke wasn't good.
That's it for now. It's a cloudy 54 degrees here right now. I hope you're all feeling well, and things are going smoothly.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
-flettes of varying degrees
So the other day, my brother in law was making dinner with my niece. I noticed a boiling pot of water on the stove, and in it were a lot of little squares of pasta. I had never seen it before, and I did remember that it was being discussed the other night, when discussing this as dinner. As with most other French meals to which I have been a party, there was also various pork products and of course cheese. It was pretty damn good looking overall, and I briefly discussed a couple of language points, but well, my interest in food, got the better of me.
So of course, I asked what it was called. Croziflette. So I have no idea what that means, but it's one of two dishes that end in -flette that I know of. The other being Tartiflette. It's good, and gets its flavor predominantly from the cheese you use in it, Reblochon. It's potatoes, cheese, and some kind of meat. It's a lot like what we would call a skillet in the US, so called because they are cooked in a skillet. I always did wonder why my partner always got the same thing when we would go to the breakfast place down the street. After a few weeks in France, I understood why.
We'll start first with the pasta. They are known as crozet au sarrasin. When I asked about the last word in that expression, yes, all of the medieval history buffs' eyebrows should be shooting up, it was confirmed that it's the English word, Saracen. For those who don't know, Saracen is an old word for any Muslim, but it more precisely refers to members of the nomadic tribes on the Syrian border of the Roman Empire. I think it's most likely because of the nature of the pasta. It is made from rye flower, and I have been told, similar to couscous in make up. Either way, I was totally ready to eat it. So that worked.
Now as I said, it's similar to a skillet, an to the average American, it means meat. There was one breakfast skillet I used to get in particular that had a variety of meats in it. And it was paradise. Much like the American one, -flette at the end of a dish seems to mean pork products. Of course, being that I think I have discussed it ad nauseum, it usually means lardons. Lardons are these tiny little cut up pieces of thick bacon. They are poetry. There was also ham. Big strips of ham. It's wonderful. I was hoping they would be latticed like a covering for a pie, but it was not in the stars.
Of course, what skillet would be complete without cheese? Americans are not adventurous when it comes to cheese typically. There are people who can stomach strong cheeses, but well, most Americans are just fine with cheddar, or its exotic cousin, Swiss. French people normally put Swiss cheese on everything. However, if you have ever been to France, it becomes obvious that Emmenthaler cheese is not exotic, like it is to Americans. Emmenthaler is sold in bags like how we sell cheddar or mozzarella, or when they decide to get general and just call it Mexican cheese, or my personal favorite, pizza cheese.
No, the cheese used this night was the stuff that you find in a case across from the deli that costs about ten dollars for 3 inches. First, there was gouda, and another whose name escapes me. it was poetic though. And as I mentioned earlier, reblochon. Reblochon is one of those cheeses that you couldn't even buy in the case in the supermarket in the US. Reblochon, like Raclette, is one of those cheeses you have to buy at the whole food store or a specialty cheese store.
Reblochon is a cheese that is naturally a little melty, like Brie or Camembert. It has a bizarre taste alone, and complements starches and carbs really well. It comes from cow's milk, so it's not anything too out there, to let you know. It comes from a verb meaning "to pinch the udder twice." This was done because the owners of the herds were charged by how much milk their herds produced. Holding the milk back was advantageous for two reasons. First, it meant that the owners of the herds paid less in taxes, and the resulting milk taken after was richer. As a writer's note, if you cut it and leave it on a plate, it will stick like hell. Just a friendly warning.
So after that triumph, there was the mixture of onions, shallots, and spices. Everything came together a lot like lasagna. It was about three or four layers, and then cooked in the oven for something like 20 minutes. When it came out, it was beautifully crisp on top. I am a huge fan of crispness, which is demonstrated by the copious amounts of breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and cheese that I believe is compulsory for good macaroni and cheese.
So if you see something that ends in -flette, it will most likely involve carbs/starch, lots of cheese, lardons/ham, and onions.
So of course, I asked what it was called. Croziflette. So I have no idea what that means, but it's one of two dishes that end in -flette that I know of. The other being Tartiflette. It's good, and gets its flavor predominantly from the cheese you use in it, Reblochon. It's potatoes, cheese, and some kind of meat. It's a lot like what we would call a skillet in the US, so called because they are cooked in a skillet. I always did wonder why my partner always got the same thing when we would go to the breakfast place down the street. After a few weeks in France, I understood why.
We'll start first with the pasta. They are known as crozet au sarrasin. When I asked about the last word in that expression, yes, all of the medieval history buffs' eyebrows should be shooting up, it was confirmed that it's the English word, Saracen. For those who don't know, Saracen is an old word for any Muslim, but it more precisely refers to members of the nomadic tribes on the Syrian border of the Roman Empire. I think it's most likely because of the nature of the pasta. It is made from rye flower, and I have been told, similar to couscous in make up. Either way, I was totally ready to eat it. So that worked.
Now as I said, it's similar to a skillet, an to the average American, it means meat. There was one breakfast skillet I used to get in particular that had a variety of meats in it. And it was paradise. Much like the American one, -flette at the end of a dish seems to mean pork products. Of course, being that I think I have discussed it ad nauseum, it usually means lardons. Lardons are these tiny little cut up pieces of thick bacon. They are poetry. There was also ham. Big strips of ham. It's wonderful. I was hoping they would be latticed like a covering for a pie, but it was not in the stars.
Of course, what skillet would be complete without cheese? Americans are not adventurous when it comes to cheese typically. There are people who can stomach strong cheeses, but well, most Americans are just fine with cheddar, or its exotic cousin, Swiss. French people normally put Swiss cheese on everything. However, if you have ever been to France, it becomes obvious that Emmenthaler cheese is not exotic, like it is to Americans. Emmenthaler is sold in bags like how we sell cheddar or mozzarella, or when they decide to get general and just call it Mexican cheese, or my personal favorite, pizza cheese.
No, the cheese used this night was the stuff that you find in a case across from the deli that costs about ten dollars for 3 inches. First, there was gouda, and another whose name escapes me. it was poetic though. And as I mentioned earlier, reblochon. Reblochon is one of those cheeses that you couldn't even buy in the case in the supermarket in the US. Reblochon, like Raclette, is one of those cheeses you have to buy at the whole food store or a specialty cheese store.
Reblochon is a cheese that is naturally a little melty, like Brie or Camembert. It has a bizarre taste alone, and complements starches and carbs really well. It comes from cow's milk, so it's not anything too out there, to let you know. It comes from a verb meaning "to pinch the udder twice." This was done because the owners of the herds were charged by how much milk their herds produced. Holding the milk back was advantageous for two reasons. First, it meant that the owners of the herds paid less in taxes, and the resulting milk taken after was richer. As a writer's note, if you cut it and leave it on a plate, it will stick like hell. Just a friendly warning.
So after that triumph, there was the mixture of onions, shallots, and spices. Everything came together a lot like lasagna. It was about three or four layers, and then cooked in the oven for something like 20 minutes. When it came out, it was beautifully crisp on top. I am a huge fan of crispness, which is demonstrated by the copious amounts of breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and cheese that I believe is compulsory for good macaroni and cheese.
So if you see something that ends in -flette, it will most likely involve carbs/starch, lots of cheese, lardons/ham, and onions.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Kouign Amann
Before we went to visit in Bretagne, we were having dinner with my sister and brother in law. As we were speaking, the conversation turned to the trip. My partner said that we would bring back a Kouign Amann. Everyone at the table had wistful looks on their faces at the mere mention of this. Of course, myself being the odd one out, I had no idea what it was. There was a brief discussion of how wonderful it was, but eventually I had to interject, and ask what on earth this was.
Before I continue, this is apparently an exceedingly difficult thing to pronounce. The way I heard it pronounced, it sounded like something from the Lord of the Rings. (Apparently, when said incorrectly, it sounds like the Elven language, Quenya, with the word "man" attached.) However correctly pronounced, I apologize in advance for my horrible phonetic transcription, it sounds something like Kwen amahn. There's a dangerous tendency for an engma, to mysteriously appear in it. So this little bugger is pretty hard to pronounce.
Now, as for what it is, I will use my brother in law's explanation as it amuses me the most. As he told me, Think of it as a cake that's 80% butter, 20% sugar, and enough flour to hold it together. So my first thought is, "how can this possibly taste good?" I am immediately thinking of a custard like cake, only no eggs or gelatin added. I also question this because my partner's family are fairly health conscious individuals. Although they may have a strong love of Galette Des Rois, this just seemed a bit too much. Of course, they said this is the kind of thing you only have one piece of. I still found this idea amusing, as I could out eat anyone at the table of course.
Additionally, there was a quick discussion of where exactly we would be buying one. My sister in law said that it would be exceedingly hard to find. She said it was a very hard cake to make right, and it probably wouldn't be readily available. My brother in law said it would most likely be available in the grocery store but more likely in a bakery. So we had a plan, and we would figure out how things are.
When we first arrive, we ask my mother in law where would be the best place to get one. She said that there was a bakery in the next village over that had received a gold medal for baking them. So with that question answered, We continue our visit to Bretagne, have a great time, and on the second to last day, we decide we need to buy the Kouign Amann. So we go to the bakery, in this little village that I had been in before. When my partner and I came through the first time, I had actually just assumed it was nothing more than a ghost town with a church. It turns out we had just come in the wrong side. There were houses, a bakery of course, schools, etc. So I was rather shocked myself. We picked up the last kouign amann, had it wrapped up, and headed back.
We made it back fine, and presented our cake, victoriously! It looked very similar to other French cakes I had seen before. It was matte on the top, with a little shine to it from the sugar. The top was very caramelized, and sugary. It was wonderful I have to say. The inside was pretty much a sponge of butter. It's not a bad cake, but not something of which I am a huge fan. The top was wonderful, but the inside, could have been better.
I was satisfied with the outcome, and glad to see that everyone enjoyed it. I don't know really what to make of it myself. After I knew how to spell it, I had assumed that almonds would be involved because of the end.
I also should probably apologize for the massive update hole. I let things get away from me, among the things that distracted me was a trip to London. I was debating writing one on England, but well, there were too many things and not enough time. Although I will say this one thing; way out, seriously?
Hopefully I'll have more to rant about soon! :-)
Before I continue, this is apparently an exceedingly difficult thing to pronounce. The way I heard it pronounced, it sounded like something from the Lord of the Rings. (Apparently, when said incorrectly, it sounds like the Elven language, Quenya, with the word "man" attached.) However correctly pronounced, I apologize in advance for my horrible phonetic transcription, it sounds something like Kwen amahn. There's a dangerous tendency for an engma, to mysteriously appear in it. So this little bugger is pretty hard to pronounce.
Now, as for what it is, I will use my brother in law's explanation as it amuses me the most. As he told me, Think of it as a cake that's 80% butter, 20% sugar, and enough flour to hold it together. So my first thought is, "how can this possibly taste good?" I am immediately thinking of a custard like cake, only no eggs or gelatin added. I also question this because my partner's family are fairly health conscious individuals. Although they may have a strong love of Galette Des Rois, this just seemed a bit too much. Of course, they said this is the kind of thing you only have one piece of. I still found this idea amusing, as I could out eat anyone at the table of course.
Additionally, there was a quick discussion of where exactly we would be buying one. My sister in law said that it would be exceedingly hard to find. She said it was a very hard cake to make right, and it probably wouldn't be readily available. My brother in law said it would most likely be available in the grocery store but more likely in a bakery. So we had a plan, and we would figure out how things are.
When we first arrive, we ask my mother in law where would be the best place to get one. She said that there was a bakery in the next village over that had received a gold medal for baking them. So with that question answered, We continue our visit to Bretagne, have a great time, and on the second to last day, we decide we need to buy the Kouign Amann. So we go to the bakery, in this little village that I had been in before. When my partner and I came through the first time, I had actually just assumed it was nothing more than a ghost town with a church. It turns out we had just come in the wrong side. There were houses, a bakery of course, schools, etc. So I was rather shocked myself. We picked up the last kouign amann, had it wrapped up, and headed back.
We made it back fine, and presented our cake, victoriously! It looked very similar to other French cakes I had seen before. It was matte on the top, with a little shine to it from the sugar. The top was very caramelized, and sugary. It was wonderful I have to say. The inside was pretty much a sponge of butter. It's not a bad cake, but not something of which I am a huge fan. The top was wonderful, but the inside, could have been better.
I was satisfied with the outcome, and glad to see that everyone enjoyed it. I don't know really what to make of it myself. After I knew how to spell it, I had assumed that almonds would be involved because of the end.
I also should probably apologize for the massive update hole. I let things get away from me, among the things that distracted me was a trip to London. I was debating writing one on England, but well, there were too many things and not enough time. Although I will say this one thing; way out, seriously?
Hopefully I'll have more to rant about soon! :-)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Adaptation
I will warn everyone ahead of time, this is going to be an exceedingly geeky, so just as a preface now, get ready to find out my levels of geekery, should you not have been aware before.
Yes, I am one of those people. Back on the 26th October of 2000, I got a call from my friend. She needed me to hurry up, because a line was already forming. It was only 5:30 and I had cleaned out my bank account the day before. As much as working at Wendy's had sucked that summer, it was all worth it now. By the end of the night, I would be one of the few, the proud, the owners of a PS2. So we waited 6 hours in line, for two of 8. (It should be noted that my PS2 still works, and never had to be sent in for repairs, once.)
I am clearly a Playstation fanboy, and am deeply in love with most Sony gaming systems. Fortunately, my partner shares my addiction, and have passed many a happy afternoon, geeking it up. As a result we have a whole slew of video games. When packing, we seriously ditched clothes to make sure we could take our games. I even had the honor of having the PS3 and 360 in my carry on. (It could hardly be called a carry on at that point, as it could have easily crushed several small villages.) But everything made it just fine, now for the hard part. The power situation.
I say the hard part because for anyone familiar with traveling overseas, you can't plug in any electronics. The plugs change, usually based on continent, but well, England's proving that not to be the case thank you very much. So first you have to search around the place for converter plugs. I had an old one from a previous trip, so we were set with one. However, we needed about...well.....forty-six thousand.
Of course, there were options for the plugs, as just getting the adapter is relatively simple in France. The most expensive option, of course, was Fnac, which is pretty much the same thing as Virgin Megastore, for those of you who remember it. They rang in at about 15 bucks after everything was said and done. The next option was Monoprix. That handy dandy little number cost about 5 bucks, which as they say, kicked ass. So they run the gamut, but I'd say get the cheapest one, if all you need is an adapter.
This might be another time to recall some other fun memories of the United States. For those of you unfamiliar with the other differences between the US and Europe, you have to convert power as well. Now, as luck would have it, I ran to a Radio Shack and got exactly what I needed to make the power conversion in the US in about 20 seconds, lock, stock, and barrel. Mathieu's French playstation was ready for a rest run in two days.
Now in France, well, the situation became more complicated. Mathieu paid about 45 dollars for a converter, and we thought everything was fine. We took it home, and what to our wandering eyes should appear, but a new roadblock we had never thought about in the US. Certain stepup and stepdown converters are only rated for a certain number of watts. The one we had bought was rated for 8 watts. The PS3 was said to pull as much as 380. So welcome back to square one. All was not lost though as we could use the charger for the DS, which could not convert. That made life easier on one count.
We eventually found an industrial strength model, rated for up to 700 watts. That meant that we could plug in both the PS3 and the 360 if we really wanted to. It was insanely heavy for it's size, and actually has a fuse for additional security. Of course we had the usual rules. No one was allowed to turn it on if my partner or I was not there to make sure that the setup was right. If you are done using it, turn off said giant stepdown converter and unplug the device. Of course there were a few snafus such as the ever famous "Did you unplug it before you turned it off because what if it doesn't restrict power flow once it's off?" controversy. Generally though, it all worked out pretty well though. That was not all that our friends had in store for us.
You might of noticed when I was talking about our time in the US, and getting a French PS2 working, I did mention ready to be tried, because I never got it working until 5 months before we were moving back to France. The last hurdle we couldn't overcome with our first TV was the difference in signals. The television, being American, ran in NTSC and the PS2, as it was French, ran in PAL. The first television we had was one of those 27 inch Sharps that everyone had about 15 years ago that only had a coax/antenna input. (It's shocking to think that this was 15 years ago. That sounds so, old. I feel old now.) So we got it all working, except that the screen kept rolling. After doing some research, this is called "PAL rolling screen" and is next to impossible to take care of, short of a priest or a $700 VCR. Neither of us being religious men, we said fuck it for about 4 years, and let it sit in our closet.
Coming back to the part where I got it working, my partner and I were trying to see if it would even be worth it to take them with us. We stumbled upon an interesting post that apparently said you can bypass the standard difference should you have a digital input. Of course, since we were now part of the well to do crowd, we had bought a TV with HDMI to take full advantage of our recently purchased PS3 and 360. So we tested it first on the TV. Since a PS2 is old tech, there was no HDMI out for it. There was, however Component, which is sort of this bizarre lovechild of digital and analog. Well, it said there was an input, but it couldn't recognize it, which was well, quite honestly worse off than when we started. But what about the little TV in the other room? The $200 TV that we had bought to play games and watch TV/DVDs in bed! Low and behold, after 5 years of dithering, there we go. It was grainy at best through the TV, but by god I could finally fight Penance!
So of course reading the above, it's fairly obvious that our TV got sent across to France. All the necessary components were together, and well, SUCCESS!!!!! It all works, and we can play all our systems. I know it makes us evil, but well, everything's here, and it works, and it's gorgeous. Of course, our room is a shrine to various forms of technology. Computers, systems, cords, and shit running everywhere. Seriously, furniture position was actually determined by outlet proximity.
So in the process of getting our consoles and handhelds Europificated, I should mention about some high points. Did you know that the Playstation Portable's charger automatically switches for you? So you don't have to mess with anything except a nice, cheap converter plug. I would really like to say that was a genius move on Sony's part there. I should also warn you that this is on a first generation PSP so check your charger brick before you go and plug it into a wall willy nilly.
Another thing that may be of use to know is how the consoles match up with game compatibility, which is spotty at best. Always make sure to find out about localization before trying to play something that shouldn't be played in another system. You can do some serious damage.
For the Playstation platform, you can pretty much be safe with anything working, and working internationally. The first attempt was at a game store here in town where we weren't sure if it would work. So I took my PSP with me and we tried it out. It loaded a few French games without a hitch. Not only did it load the games no problem, but it ran them in, shock of shocks, English. The screen to quit one game did come up in French, but a small glitch, to say the least. The game played great, and without any errors. So after that, we decided to be crazy, and try a PS3 game. I was convinced because of localization it would never fly. But low and behold, we put it in, and started up in English! So good news is that pretty much all the information was already on the disc, which made life, much simpler. Now it should be known this is just for the PSP and PS3. This trick does not, and will not ever work for a non hacked PS2. Just know that now.
I have not tried anything with any of the Nintendo systems, so anyone with word on that, let me know. Unfortunately, the 360 is region locked so no games shared between foreign cultures. Microsoft is cold like that. So what can you do really. Sorry.
And well, that was our odyssey with game systems. I will write more when something else piques my interest. Until then!
Yes, I am one of those people. Back on the 26th October of 2000, I got a call from my friend. She needed me to hurry up, because a line was already forming. It was only 5:30 and I had cleaned out my bank account the day before. As much as working at Wendy's had sucked that summer, it was all worth it now. By the end of the night, I would be one of the few, the proud, the owners of a PS2. So we waited 6 hours in line, for two of 8. (It should be noted that my PS2 still works, and never had to be sent in for repairs, once.)
I am clearly a Playstation fanboy, and am deeply in love with most Sony gaming systems. Fortunately, my partner shares my addiction, and have passed many a happy afternoon, geeking it up. As a result we have a whole slew of video games. When packing, we seriously ditched clothes to make sure we could take our games. I even had the honor of having the PS3 and 360 in my carry on. (It could hardly be called a carry on at that point, as it could have easily crushed several small villages.) But everything made it just fine, now for the hard part. The power situation.
I say the hard part because for anyone familiar with traveling overseas, you can't plug in any electronics. The plugs change, usually based on continent, but well, England's proving that not to be the case thank you very much. So first you have to search around the place for converter plugs. I had an old one from a previous trip, so we were set with one. However, we needed about...well.....forty-six thousand.
Of course, there were options for the plugs, as just getting the adapter is relatively simple in France. The most expensive option, of course, was Fnac, which is pretty much the same thing as Virgin Megastore, for those of you who remember it. They rang in at about 15 bucks after everything was said and done. The next option was Monoprix. That handy dandy little number cost about 5 bucks, which as they say, kicked ass. So they run the gamut, but I'd say get the cheapest one, if all you need is an adapter.
This might be another time to recall some other fun memories of the United States. For those of you unfamiliar with the other differences between the US and Europe, you have to convert power as well. Now, as luck would have it, I ran to a Radio Shack and got exactly what I needed to make the power conversion in the US in about 20 seconds, lock, stock, and barrel. Mathieu's French playstation was ready for a rest run in two days.
Now in France, well, the situation became more complicated. Mathieu paid about 45 dollars for a converter, and we thought everything was fine. We took it home, and what to our wandering eyes should appear, but a new roadblock we had never thought about in the US. Certain stepup and stepdown converters are only rated for a certain number of watts. The one we had bought was rated for 8 watts. The PS3 was said to pull as much as 380. So welcome back to square one. All was not lost though as we could use the charger for the DS, which could not convert. That made life easier on one count.
We eventually found an industrial strength model, rated for up to 700 watts. That meant that we could plug in both the PS3 and the 360 if we really wanted to. It was insanely heavy for it's size, and actually has a fuse for additional security. Of course we had the usual rules. No one was allowed to turn it on if my partner or I was not there to make sure that the setup was right. If you are done using it, turn off said giant stepdown converter and unplug the device. Of course there were a few snafus such as the ever famous "Did you unplug it before you turned it off because what if it doesn't restrict power flow once it's off?" controversy. Generally though, it all worked out pretty well though. That was not all that our friends had in store for us.
You might of noticed when I was talking about our time in the US, and getting a French PS2 working, I did mention ready to be tried, because I never got it working until 5 months before we were moving back to France. The last hurdle we couldn't overcome with our first TV was the difference in signals. The television, being American, ran in NTSC and the PS2, as it was French, ran in PAL. The first television we had was one of those 27 inch Sharps that everyone had about 15 years ago that only had a coax/antenna input. (It's shocking to think that this was 15 years ago. That sounds so, old. I feel old now.) So we got it all working, except that the screen kept rolling. After doing some research, this is called "PAL rolling screen" and is next to impossible to take care of, short of a priest or a $700 VCR. Neither of us being religious men, we said fuck it for about 4 years, and let it sit in our closet.
Coming back to the part where I got it working, my partner and I were trying to see if it would even be worth it to take them with us. We stumbled upon an interesting post that apparently said you can bypass the standard difference should you have a digital input. Of course, since we were now part of the well to do crowd, we had bought a TV with HDMI to take full advantage of our recently purchased PS3 and 360. So we tested it first on the TV. Since a PS2 is old tech, there was no HDMI out for it. There was, however Component, which is sort of this bizarre lovechild of digital and analog. Well, it said there was an input, but it couldn't recognize it, which was well, quite honestly worse off than when we started. But what about the little TV in the other room? The $200 TV that we had bought to play games and watch TV/DVDs in bed! Low and behold, after 5 years of dithering, there we go. It was grainy at best through the TV, but by god I could finally fight Penance!
So of course reading the above, it's fairly obvious that our TV got sent across to France. All the necessary components were together, and well, SUCCESS!!!!! It all works, and we can play all our systems. I know it makes us evil, but well, everything's here, and it works, and it's gorgeous. Of course, our room is a shrine to various forms of technology. Computers, systems, cords, and shit running everywhere. Seriously, furniture position was actually determined by outlet proximity.
So in the process of getting our consoles and handhelds Europificated, I should mention about some high points. Did you know that the Playstation Portable's charger automatically switches for you? So you don't have to mess with anything except a nice, cheap converter plug. I would really like to say that was a genius move on Sony's part there. I should also warn you that this is on a first generation PSP so check your charger brick before you go and plug it into a wall willy nilly.
Another thing that may be of use to know is how the consoles match up with game compatibility, which is spotty at best. Always make sure to find out about localization before trying to play something that shouldn't be played in another system. You can do some serious damage.
For the Playstation platform, you can pretty much be safe with anything working, and working internationally. The first attempt was at a game store here in town where we weren't sure if it would work. So I took my PSP with me and we tried it out. It loaded a few French games without a hitch. Not only did it load the games no problem, but it ran them in, shock of shocks, English. The screen to quit one game did come up in French, but a small glitch, to say the least. The game played great, and without any errors. So after that, we decided to be crazy, and try a PS3 game. I was convinced because of localization it would never fly. But low and behold, we put it in, and started up in English! So good news is that pretty much all the information was already on the disc, which made life, much simpler. Now it should be known this is just for the PSP and PS3. This trick does not, and will not ever work for a non hacked PS2. Just know that now.
I have not tried anything with any of the Nintendo systems, so anyone with word on that, let me know. Unfortunately, the 360 is region locked so no games shared between foreign cultures. Microsoft is cold like that. So what can you do really. Sorry.
And well, that was our odyssey with game systems. I will write more when something else piques my interest. Until then!
Monday, January 4, 2010
A River Runs Through It
(A necessary Preface, I believe: Please do not cite this in any professional manner as all this information was taken off Wikipedia. Use a nice, verifiable, able to be referenced encyclopedia. This is mostly cocktail trivia I provide on this site.)
No, I have not seen the movie of the same name, but I think it's a rather epic title, if I don't say so myself. This post came about because of a discussion in the car on the way to Tours this weekend. We were taking my niece back to school there, and she mentioned about how the river in Tours is called "La Loire" while the river in the town where I am staying is called "Le Loir." Now, this is something I never really thought about, but I was really confused by the fact that now not only were rivers feminine, but they could also be masculine, should they so choose.
Now, of course, my original thought was that it would logically follow with the "e" as quite a few feminine endings occur on words that end in "e." There was "La Seine" in Paris as well as "La Garonne" in Bordeaux. Ok, so we had a logical pattern. Of course, that plan was quickly put to rest when "Le Rhône" was brought to my attention.
Another thought was maybe it was the size of the river. Maybe because the word for a smaller river carried a different gender, therefore it would require that different particle. So what were the words in French for rivers? The first word, "La Riviere," can be used for any smaller river that runs into another river, so what we'd call a tributary in English. Examples of tributaries would be the rivers that empty into the Loire. There's the "La Loir" and "La Cher." The other word, "Le Fleuve" is used for a word that empties into an ocean. So for example, the Seine empties into the English Channel, and therefore would be "un fleuve." The same could be said for the Rhône and the Loire, which respectively empty into the Mediterranean Sea and the Bay of Biscay. However, that idea was shot down because the word "Le Fleuve" is masculine, and "La Seine" kills that theory for one. So that's two down.
So I spoke with my brother in law, who is knowledgeable on these conundrums. He said he did not think there was rhyme nor reason for the genders of the rivers. He thinks it was most likely chosen by the early inhabitants who imbued the river with gender. For me, being that I am very much a good little Indo-European boy, my only solution is to give the river a feminine article.
I immediately had to go back to my only other familiarity with foreign languages to check this phenomenon myself. I was remembering back to German class with "die Donau," "die Havel," und "die Spree." However, I was amazed to realize that it is "der Rhein," and "der Main." So it appears as though most nations don't have hard and fast rules about the genders of rivers.
Now, of course to me, nothing is more fascinating than where the names of these rivers come from. As we all know in the US, something like ninety five percent of all rivers are from Amerindian languages: Ohio, Mississippi, Chattahoochee, Allegheny, Monongahela, Missouri, Rappahannock, etc. (I am sorry for not going further west but the only river I can think of out West right now is the Columbia, and I doubt that's anything in any Amerindian language.)
Some French river names are sometimes very simple. One my brother in law explained to me is that the Rhône River comes from a Greek root, meaning "to flow." Van Gogh also did a painting called Starry Night Over the Rhône. Additionally, the Loire river comes from a Latin root, Liger, which is a transcription of the Gaulish Liga, meaning silt or deposit. The Seine, it is said, is from a Latin root "sequana" which is said to be a transliteration of a Gaulish word, "sicauna." It is said to mean "sacred river."
Of course, to me it's just amazing to be able to see the history here, even in place names. Then again, I am kind of an historical linguistics geek like that. It's amazing to think that some of these rivers and places have had people for centuries before the US even existed. Even more bizarre is that I share DNA with them, most likely. So here's to hoping you had a great Holiday, and unfortunately for all; it's time to get back to work. I hope Monday was kind to you.
No, I have not seen the movie of the same name, but I think it's a rather epic title, if I don't say so myself. This post came about because of a discussion in the car on the way to Tours this weekend. We were taking my niece back to school there, and she mentioned about how the river in Tours is called "La Loire" while the river in the town where I am staying is called "Le Loir." Now, this is something I never really thought about, but I was really confused by the fact that now not only were rivers feminine, but they could also be masculine, should they so choose.
Now, of course, my original thought was that it would logically follow with the "e" as quite a few feminine endings occur on words that end in "e." There was "La Seine" in Paris as well as "La Garonne" in Bordeaux. Ok, so we had a logical pattern. Of course, that plan was quickly put to rest when "Le Rhône" was brought to my attention.
Another thought was maybe it was the size of the river. Maybe because the word for a smaller river carried a different gender, therefore it would require that different particle. So what were the words in French for rivers? The first word, "La Riviere," can be used for any smaller river that runs into another river, so what we'd call a tributary in English. Examples of tributaries would be the rivers that empty into the Loire. There's the "La Loir" and "La Cher." The other word, "Le Fleuve" is used for a word that empties into an ocean. So for example, the Seine empties into the English Channel, and therefore would be "un fleuve." The same could be said for the Rhône and the Loire, which respectively empty into the Mediterranean Sea and the Bay of Biscay. However, that idea was shot down because the word "Le Fleuve" is masculine, and "La Seine" kills that theory for one. So that's two down.
So I spoke with my brother in law, who is knowledgeable on these conundrums. He said he did not think there was rhyme nor reason for the genders of the rivers. He thinks it was most likely chosen by the early inhabitants who imbued the river with gender. For me, being that I am very much a good little Indo-European boy, my only solution is to give the river a feminine article.
I immediately had to go back to my only other familiarity with foreign languages to check this phenomenon myself. I was remembering back to German class with "die Donau," "die Havel," und "die Spree." However, I was amazed to realize that it is "der Rhein," and "der Main." So it appears as though most nations don't have hard and fast rules about the genders of rivers.
Now, of course to me, nothing is more fascinating than where the names of these rivers come from. As we all know in the US, something like ninety five percent of all rivers are from Amerindian languages: Ohio, Mississippi, Chattahoochee, Allegheny, Monongahela, Missouri, Rappahannock, etc. (I am sorry for not going further west but the only river I can think of out West right now is the Columbia, and I doubt that's anything in any Amerindian language.)
Some French river names are sometimes very simple. One my brother in law explained to me is that the Rhône River comes from a Greek root, meaning "to flow." Van Gogh also did a painting called Starry Night Over the Rhône. Additionally, the Loire river comes from a Latin root, Liger, which is a transcription of the Gaulish Liga, meaning silt or deposit. The Seine, it is said, is from a Latin root "sequana" which is said to be a transliteration of a Gaulish word, "sicauna." It is said to mean "sacred river."
Of course, to me it's just amazing to be able to see the history here, even in place names. Then again, I am kind of an historical linguistics geek like that. It's amazing to think that some of these rivers and places have had people for centuries before the US even existed. Even more bizarre is that I share DNA with them, most likely. So here's to hoping you had a great Holiday, and unfortunately for all; it's time to get back to work. I hope Monday was kind to you.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Meilleurs Voeux!
So it's been quite a bit since I have actually made a post here, that's no secret. Hell, look at the dates. I do claim the right to use that it has been a busy time of year. After all, the Holidays are the biggest traveling time of the year. The main distraction has been the festivities. I am still blown away by how different the French notion of a party is from that of Americans.
If I say I am having a party, your first thought is lots of booze, lots of people, and possibly a summons to appear by varying law enforcement agencies. The parties I think of when someone says parties means throwing on a shirt that looks nice, but you don't care about seeing possibly covered in a drink/vomit. I should probably add the fact that I am pretty middle class in my upbringing, and went to a state college. I know, start the snickering now. You also, as a guy, would never think of wearing dress pants. It's just not worth the hassle when jeans are so much more comfortable/functional. Especially in colder weather.
Parties can be appended with different words in English that denotes another function. The above paragraph is defined as a house party. Additionally, an intimate party means just a group of friends together hanging out, of course. Usually, because I am a geek, the party centralized around a gaming console or a movie. But it usually means a group of friends, what in the US amounts to a casual gathering of friends. Of course, I am of the opinion that the best parties end at around 5 am at Waffle House, that just doesn't happen here.
Now there's another type of party that I have not mentioned yet, mainly because I never went to them in the US. These are always shown as people in their 30s or 40s with their friends in their well-appointed houses with their stylish place settings, etc. (as I have never been to one, I can only go off of ads like those for Kohler. This is the ad I think of mostly when someone says dinner party.
The first thing you will need if you are attending a dinner party is to bring a small gift of some sort. Usually, the most common is a bouquet but bottles of wine are almost just as common. I have also seen chocolates given as well. There are any number of small things you can get, but obviously the price should not exceed a certain amount, usually no more than twenty euros. Also, make sure that you take the price tag off before giving the gift.
The first course is usually an aperitif course. Aperitif is basically the same thing as an appetizer. There are usually small things to eat, but they are not usually as casual looking as they are in the US. They are often made with puff pastry or pâte à choux similar to a cream puff. There are crackers and olives as well usually. Most of the time they are eaten with champagne, a very common hostess gift for such events.
The second course usually will be some sort of larger appetizer, but especially around the holidays there are oysters. Oysters are an acquired taste and by and large are either loved or hated. I am in the love camp. All the oysters I have had in France tend to be obviously a little salty with a clean finish, for me usually tasting a bit like watermelon. (Real watermelon too, not the artificial flavoring.) Most commonly they are served cold on the half shell with either a shallot and red wine vinaigrette or simply with lemon. There are some people who can eat them without either addition, but they are few and far between. There is also a medium dense wheat bread with butter served with it. The best of the breads are those that have the addition of shallots baked in, in my opinion. You also must separate the oyster from the shell, as most of the time, they do not come detached. It's relatively simple and often that is the function if you see a small, squat fork above your plate. You will also get a little bit of shell in your mouth at some point. It won't kill you, but try and be adept about removing it from your mouth.
The second course tends to be salmon, but this is another variance depending on the time of year. Salmon is usually served either smoked or marinated. Smoked salmon is one of the things I consider most incredible in a bagel with some cream cheese. I am an American, after all. It is served often with blini which are medium sized savory pancakes. The batter may be a little thinner though as they always seem to be lighter than the ones I make. Additionally, lemon is added to bring out the flavor of the salmon. The marinated salmon is usually marinated in onions, dill, bay leaves, and other spices, and covered in lemon juice. The lemon juice, as an acid, cooks the salmon as it marinates. After the salmon has satisfactorily marinated, it is cleaned, and ready to serve. Usually, I add lemon to it, as it does help to perk up the flavoring again. The spices tend to become too blended after marination.
There are two types of meat I have eaten the most here in France that we do not eat in the US, rosbeef and rabbit. Rosbeef is obviously a cut of beef, which I cannot say for sure. It is usually served medium rare to rare, and is incredible when done correctly. I have always been on the happy side of par with the rosbeef of course, and must say it is a possible favorite cut of meat. As I said, it is served rare so people who are very concerned with the doneness of meat would be well advised to steer clear of this. This is not something you want to eat well done. Rabbit is usually served in more of a stew or stuffed. I have myself never eaten rabbit that was just served as rabbit without some sort of accompaniment. Most commonly, I have eaten it stuffed. I cannot explain it more than being a more intensely flavored meat than lamb. It's something you can only really try to see if you will like. Rabbit, like oysters, are a polarizing food.
Now the savory portion may end here, but there is always dessert of some kind. Often there are apples, pears and usually clementines at this time of year. France also tends to have a variety of exotic fruits for the holidays, not limited to mangoes and kiwi as most American palate. There was an abundance of lychee and pomegranates in the grocery stores here in France. Often shortcakes of differing types are served. They tend to be home made of course as most things are. There may also be a variety of tarts and cakes. There is one of which the name escapes me, but it's a variety of nuts covered in powdered sugar.
Dessert around the holidays often includes two desserts that can only appear at this time of year. The first is fairly familiar. I have seen Yule Logs before, but never eaten them. I only had a passing knowledge of them in the US. As best I can describe it is similar to a jelly roll made of genoise and usually chocolate frosting. It was very good, and surprisingly more sugary than most French desserts. Downright satisfying if you will. The other cake is called Galette du roi. It is a very flaky pastry filled with frangipane. Often a small prize is baked inside the cake and whoever gets the prize wears a crown not entirely unlike a burger king crown. Usually it's done for children who determine who gets what piece (occasionally while hiding under the table.)
The end of the meal usually happens when it's time to have tea or coffee. Usually it is best to take the hostess up on the offer, as tea really does help things sit better on the way home. Often there are special digestive infusions served for the purpose, but even a small cup seems to help settle a stomach after what has to be called a marathon of eating. The full range of courses at these parties can last 6 to 7 hours around the holidays. Usually the company and food are so good, you don't know what time it is until you look at your watch. Of course, it depends on the party.
If I say I am having a party, your first thought is lots of booze, lots of people, and possibly a summons to appear by varying law enforcement agencies. The parties I think of when someone says parties means throwing on a shirt that looks nice, but you don't care about seeing possibly covered in a drink/vomit. I should probably add the fact that I am pretty middle class in my upbringing, and went to a state college. I know, start the snickering now. You also, as a guy, would never think of wearing dress pants. It's just not worth the hassle when jeans are so much more comfortable/functional. Especially in colder weather.
Parties can be appended with different words in English that denotes another function. The above paragraph is defined as a house party. Additionally, an intimate party means just a group of friends together hanging out, of course. Usually, because I am a geek, the party centralized around a gaming console or a movie. But it usually means a group of friends, what in the US amounts to a casual gathering of friends. Of course, I am of the opinion that the best parties end at around 5 am at Waffle House, that just doesn't happen here.
Now there's another type of party that I have not mentioned yet, mainly because I never went to them in the US. These are always shown as people in their 30s or 40s with their friends in their well-appointed houses with their stylish place settings, etc. (as I have never been to one, I can only go off of ads like those for Kohler. This is the ad I think of mostly when someone says dinner party.
The first thing you will need if you are attending a dinner party is to bring a small gift of some sort. Usually, the most common is a bouquet but bottles of wine are almost just as common. I have also seen chocolates given as well. There are any number of small things you can get, but obviously the price should not exceed a certain amount, usually no more than twenty euros. Also, make sure that you take the price tag off before giving the gift.
The first course is usually an aperitif course. Aperitif is basically the same thing as an appetizer. There are usually small things to eat, but they are not usually as casual looking as they are in the US. They are often made with puff pastry or pâte à choux similar to a cream puff. There are crackers and olives as well usually. Most of the time they are eaten with champagne, a very common hostess gift for such events.
The second course usually will be some sort of larger appetizer, but especially around the holidays there are oysters. Oysters are an acquired taste and by and large are either loved or hated. I am in the love camp. All the oysters I have had in France tend to be obviously a little salty with a clean finish, for me usually tasting a bit like watermelon. (Real watermelon too, not the artificial flavoring.) Most commonly they are served cold on the half shell with either a shallot and red wine vinaigrette or simply with lemon. There are some people who can eat them without either addition, but they are few and far between. There is also a medium dense wheat bread with butter served with it. The best of the breads are those that have the addition of shallots baked in, in my opinion. You also must separate the oyster from the shell, as most of the time, they do not come detached. It's relatively simple and often that is the function if you see a small, squat fork above your plate. You will also get a little bit of shell in your mouth at some point. It won't kill you, but try and be adept about removing it from your mouth.
The second course tends to be salmon, but this is another variance depending on the time of year. Salmon is usually served either smoked or marinated. Smoked salmon is one of the things I consider most incredible in a bagel with some cream cheese. I am an American, after all. It is served often with blini which are medium sized savory pancakes. The batter may be a little thinner though as they always seem to be lighter than the ones I make. Additionally, lemon is added to bring out the flavor of the salmon. The marinated salmon is usually marinated in onions, dill, bay leaves, and other spices, and covered in lemon juice. The lemon juice, as an acid, cooks the salmon as it marinates. After the salmon has satisfactorily marinated, it is cleaned, and ready to serve. Usually, I add lemon to it, as it does help to perk up the flavoring again. The spices tend to become too blended after marination.
There are two types of meat I have eaten the most here in France that we do not eat in the US, rosbeef and rabbit. Rosbeef is obviously a cut of beef, which I cannot say for sure. It is usually served medium rare to rare, and is incredible when done correctly. I have always been on the happy side of par with the rosbeef of course, and must say it is a possible favorite cut of meat. As I said, it is served rare so people who are very concerned with the doneness of meat would be well advised to steer clear of this. This is not something you want to eat well done. Rabbit is usually served in more of a stew or stuffed. I have myself never eaten rabbit that was just served as rabbit without some sort of accompaniment. Most commonly, I have eaten it stuffed. I cannot explain it more than being a more intensely flavored meat than lamb. It's something you can only really try to see if you will like. Rabbit, like oysters, are a polarizing food.
Now the savory portion may end here, but there is always dessert of some kind. Often there are apples, pears and usually clementines at this time of year. France also tends to have a variety of exotic fruits for the holidays, not limited to mangoes and kiwi as most American palate. There was an abundance of lychee and pomegranates in the grocery stores here in France. Often shortcakes of differing types are served. They tend to be home made of course as most things are. There may also be a variety of tarts and cakes. There is one of which the name escapes me, but it's a variety of nuts covered in powdered sugar.
Dessert around the holidays often includes two desserts that can only appear at this time of year. The first is fairly familiar. I have seen Yule Logs before, but never eaten them. I only had a passing knowledge of them in the US. As best I can describe it is similar to a jelly roll made of genoise and usually chocolate frosting. It was very good, and surprisingly more sugary than most French desserts. Downright satisfying if you will. The other cake is called Galette du roi. It is a very flaky pastry filled with frangipane. Often a small prize is baked inside the cake and whoever gets the prize wears a crown not entirely unlike a burger king crown. Usually it's done for children who determine who gets what piece (occasionally while hiding under the table.)
The end of the meal usually happens when it's time to have tea or coffee. Usually it is best to take the hostess up on the offer, as tea really does help things sit better on the way home. Often there are special digestive infusions served for the purpose, but even a small cup seems to help settle a stomach after what has to be called a marathon of eating. The full range of courses at these parties can last 6 to 7 hours around the holidays. Usually the company and food are so good, you don't know what time it is until you look at your watch. Of course, it depends on the party.
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