Deep Yogurt

If you've been to France, you might have noticed a couple of things about yogurt: 1) Their Dannon yogurt (called "Danone") is so much better than our Dannon yogurt; and 2) French yogurt in general is less expensive than in the US. A LOT LESS. Recently, French Morning, a publication for French expats living in the US, did some investigative reporting to find out why, for the price of one single-serving container here, you can buy a pack of a dozen ("oui -- douze" they say, incredulously) in France The article is in French, but the gist of the piece is:

• The French eat a lot more of the stuff, so there are economics in the supply chain
• Milk is cheaper in France
• Americans tend to favor the high-protein Greek-style varieties
• No surprise here, but our single-serve container are American-sized -- larger than in France, sometimes quite a bit.

One final thought on French yogurt: When I was staying at a hotel in France a decade ago, containers of plain yogurt were put out at breakfast. Yuch. How do they eat this stuff? I wondered. Then I saw that the people at the next table were sweetening it with some jam that had been put on the table. That's the only way I've even yogurt ever since. It's SO much better than flavored yogurt, which is full of of sugar.

On my most recent trip to France, I had to search for plain yogurt at breakfast spreads. Which means, I've become more French than the French? (At least when it comes to yogurt.) That should every Frenchman cause for concern!

Contest: Be a beta tester for Fluent U iPhone version

A year ago 10 lucky readers of this blog got access to Fluent U's unique language-learning software, which features often-hilarious French videos. Now they're back with an iPhone version, and I'm offering 10 of my readers the opportunity to be beta testers (Note that you need to have ios8 installed on the your iPhone.)

To be eligible to win, all you have to do is send an email to thefrenchblogcontest@gmail.com with short note about one of the following:

• Your favorite part, or line, or moment of my book, "Flirting with French"
• Describe a humbling language experience of your own
• Explain in one sentence why, in France, the Big Mac is "le Big Mac" but the Quarter Pounder with Cheese is not "le quarter pounder avec fromage." (extra points if you can cite the movie which explained this)
• Spot the French error in this posting

Bon chance! (And remember you need an iPhone with ios 8)

Croaked monsieur

That's how I feel, anyway -- croaked -- as the deep of winter settles into the Hudson Valley, the mercury hovering around zero each morning. So it's time to whip up some comfort food, French style.. My go-to meal when the going gets rough is a croque monsieur, the French version of a grilled cheese with ham. Yes, it's a bit more work than an American-style grilled cheese, but SO worth it. These are sold in France everywhere, but usually are reheated and dry. You can make one better than anything you'll get in Paris, so follow along:

Croque Monsieur
(serves 2)

4 slices good, firm white bread such as Arnold Brick Oven or Pepperidge Farm
1/4 pound good ham (if you can get French ham, great; if not, black forest will do), sliced
6 ounces French or Swiss gruyere cheese , coarsely grated on a box grater
1-1/2 TBL butter
1-1/2 TBL flour
1/2 cup of milk (low fat or whole, it doesn't matter)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Make the béchamel sauce (don't worry, it's easy, and almost foolproof): 

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until foaming subsides. Add the flour and stir for about a minute.
Dump in all the milk and start whisking. Continue whisking more or less continuously for several minutes until the mixture starts to bubble and thicken. Reduce heat and cook, whisking for five minutes. If mixture doesn't thicken, turn heat up and cook some more. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool a bit.

Arrange 4 slices of bread on a a baking sheet covered with foil or parchment.
Spread béchamel over each slice, going right to the edge.
Top only 2 of the slices with ham
Distribute cheese over all 4 slices
Finally, place the two slices that don't have ham on top of the slices that do, cheese side up (that is, don't flip).
Bake until cheese is bubbling and just beginning to brown, about 10-15 minutes
Serve with French cornichons.

Bon appétit!

A Rough Week in France

Well, France has certainly had a rough week. A couple of thoughts on this whole mess, and in my next posting I'll return to French language and culture issues.


Firstly, whatever their twisted goals, the Brothers Kouachi have done more harm to the Arab cause in France in 48 hours than Marie Le Pen and her (far) right-wing National Front party could've dreamed of doing in a decade. France was already getting wary of not just about Arab militancy but of the growing Arab population, and there's much talk recently of retaining the "French" identity. This horrific act will only convince many Frenchmen on the fence that, yes, something has to be done about these "non-French" French.  Only a few days before the massacre the New York Times ran a piece on the resentment on the part of many French that kabob shops were replacing cafes in many cities and towns (and it an apparent retaliation of the Charlie Hebdo massacre one was bombed last week).

France's large Arab population is the result of years of French colonization in North Africa (Algeria was a French possession into the 1950s!), and many poor Algerians and Moroccans have migrated to the cities of France looking for work and a better life. Travel just a few miles north from the center of Paris and you see what they ended up with: disenfranchised Arabs living in poor neighborhoods, without jobs or prospects.

It's  a pressure cooker, and we've seen the first release. Let's hope the French figure out how to deal with this, and with a watchlist of no less than 5,000 angry young men, some who may have been inspired by last week's events. The French tend to retrench rather than seek conciliation when pressed hard, and that could make for an interesting time.

Je suis Charlie