I have very recently spent a week living with a family just outside of Paris, and so have had a taste of eating habits in a French household. One thing I have learned and now pass on as a minor word of warning to any feeble-stomached, travelling Englishman: home-cooked meals are always three courses long, at lunchtime as in the evening.
More than once, in the early days of getting used to this new regime, I made the fatal error of serving myself a hefty portion of what I supposed was the meal in its entirety, when it was in fact the lighter of two savoury courses (if not three, should a cheese platter be included before dessert). Being the grateful guest that I was, I didn't dream of refusing the following dishes, nor of explaining that, in my normal English existence, three-course meals are reserved from restaurant dining and Christmas time. I don't know of any British household that serves three courses at lunch and dinner (that is to say that, if such as household does exist, I have never eaten at it).
I soon learned the way to enjoy three-course meals twice a day without rendering myself fit to burst: I did my best to pass on the bread basket during the starter (although butter-laden baguette is one of life's simple pleasures), instead savouring the natural flavours of an exquisitely presented salad using fresh, local vegetables and leaves. Likewise with the main course, a little of the roast meat and cooked vegetables with enough substance (usually rice or potatoes) to soak up the accompanying sauce sufficed; following that would be no more than a small bowl of ice cream or fresh fruit, the latter so tasty that nobody missed anything stodgier or sweeter.
As I learned, I began to favour this French way of dining at home. Having eaten at such an idle pace with relatively little bulk to what was served back home, I consumed slightly more yet finished feeling less full. Another benefit was that enjoying each course and waiting for the next gave greater time to sit, talk and relax; dinnertime was a family occasion in itself.
Sadly, I haven't much faith that three-course, home-cooked meals could become a tendency in many British households, simply because I don't believe we (generalised) care enough about dining to make such an effort. Yet, the giving of time to enjoying good food and beloved company is a French aspect of dining that I have hope we can see more of in this country, particularly in the daily lives of English families.
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