I'll translate the above menu and then tell you where it was
served:
Smoked salmon with a
chive cream
Guinea fowl with a
white mushroom sauce
Fancy potatoes
Cheese
Profiteroles with
chocolate sauce
Tangerines
Meal served with
regular and country bread.
This was today's Christmas meal served at my 3-year-old's
preschool. Even though I know we're here in France and I know food is a big
thing, I couldn't help but look at this menu with widened eyes.
Smoked salmon? Guinea fowl? Where I come from, most kids
don't even want the crusts on their sandwiches. But over here, toddlers don’t
bat an eye when it comes to eating pâté or very ripe cheese. My own daughter
loves duck confit!
However, I've discovered that even though the tastes of
French children might surprise me at times, the basic problems of school
lunches remain the same. In my case, the sad situation is as follows: My
daughter refuses to eat the school lunch, no matter what is served. "It's
not good," she insists. Sigh.
What most troubles me is the waste of food considering all
of the starving children in the world (I know. I sound like my grandmother.).
But it's true.
I've tried to convince my daughter that the cafeteria was
"a restaurant." She looked at me like I had three heads. I've tried
telling her that the yogurts served are the same as the ones at home.
"Yeah right," her expressive eyes said. I've tried reading the menu
as I drop her off for school and say "That sounds good! At home you eat
potatoes like that." She only nodded emptily.
I’m still batting zero. But I'm actively investigating new
techniques…
I'm constantly amazed by school dinners in France. I almost invariably stop outside the school notice board to read what's on offer for all 3 courses - four sometimes. I gather though that the reality is often not as good as the menu makes it sound, as your daughter seems clearly to be saying. But the menu sounds appetising enough.
ReplyDeleteYes, sometimes I'm amazed by the sophistication of it! I'm sure it's better than the school meals I had back in the U.S. as a kid. Ha ha! Those caterers sure put a lot of effort into menu design.
DeleteWhen I was reading the menu I was thinking 'Mmm.. that sounds delicious' but when I got to the bit where you said it was a school meals menu, I couldn't believe it! Half the time we couldn't even make out what it was they were serving us at my old school!
ReplyDeleteHa, ha! Totally. The same for me. I can't imagine what's in the school cafeteria being worse than things like the Sloppy Joes we were served!
DeleteI was also a refuser when it came to cafeteria food, and even now, I stay away from buffets and any place/items that are made in bulk (like how the majority of diners make scrambled eggs). I always had my mom make my lunches for me, which I would bring to school.
ReplyDeleteAs an elementary school teacher, I did see a tremendous amount of waste in the cafeteria. The kids are "forced" to take an entree, 1 veggie, 1 fruit, a milk, and can get a dessert if they want one. Even if the kid didn't want an extra side, he/she had to take it and it ended up in the trash. Some kids I knew brought water to drink instead of milk, but they had to take the milk even though it was going to end up in the garbage. And then the kids could purchase extra junk food, which they normally would eat BEFORE the meal. . . and many of them left the healthy-ish meal for the garbage. . . it was so aggravating!
That is annoying! It seems like waste is almost encouraged at times... Over here in the French public schools, they won't allow you to pack lunch for your children! Kids are allowed to go home for lunch if you don't want them to eat at the cafeteria, but that isn't a practical option for most parents. Sigh... (And I, too, was a refuser at the school cafeteria as a kid.)
DeleteSo funny - I wrote a similar post (or maybe it was just a FB post - Christmas already seems ages ago!) about my son's Christmas lunch at the creche. Salmon, zucchini gratin, pumpkin soup, and tiramisu. That's nicer than what I eat and he's only 18 months old!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is hilarious, isn't it? It's so funny to see babies and toddlers eating very sophisticated food when I think back to my old school lunches... ah, those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!!
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