Some notes from a French dinner tonight:
1) I received an English menu at this restaurant, and one appetizer appealed to me:
" Souffle of salmon, with prawns and American Sauce - CHEF SPECIALITY!"
Ok, sounds good, so I ordered it.....and then I wondered - what do the French think "American Sauce" is? Ketchup? Cocktail Sauce? Tartar sauce?
The surprise is revealed at the end of this blog post.
2) After a day of training Europeans on technical topics, I then am asked at dinner to explain the US Presidential Election process. Try this sometime. "Well, each party nominates a candidate, but, uh... it takes 6 months to do that"
"Why?"
"uh.....because"
and then:
"So then there is an election in November?"
"Yes - we then choose between the major candidates."
"But - you already voted early in the year! You made your choice!"
"No - we can switch. We can vote for McCain in the spring and - if we want - we can vote for Obama in the fall."
This was shocking to Europeans. Their representative government that they are used has the local reps pick the president, not the people in general. The fact that a Republican can vote for McCain in the primary and then Obama/Clinton in the fall was a puzzler to them.
3) A slice of home: there was a lull in the conversation tonight: during that quiet period, I hear a song in the background. Could it be? No....Yes! Yes it is!
I know there's only, only one like you.
There's no way they could have made two.
Girl you're my reality
But I'm lost in a dream
You're the first, you're the last, my everything
Barry! It's like somebody smuggled a Sirius radio over here and turned it on Channel 7 - the 70's!
God, is it Vegas time yet?
Answer: American Sauce is......gravy. As far as I can tell, it's like Mushroom gravy. Straight out of a Franco-American jar. It was good gravy, don't get me wrong.....but putting that on shrimp and a seafood souffle? Wow. Just...weird. Somebody went to too many KFCs when they visited America.
1 comment:
OK, I just got home from the bar and I have to ridicule. That seems to be the word of the week. Why would you order an "American" specialty in France. What the fuck do they know? But, now that you tell me it was gravy it all makes sense. It's like my favorite Chinese restaurant. My favorite dish "American" style has a lots of sauce (gravy). I always have to tell them to make it Chinese style. Actually, the dish is now known as the "Mr. Kermit". Side note, any Chinese restaurant I go to hasn't figured out that Kermit is my first name.
And to clarify, the "Mr. Kermit" is ho fun with roasted pork stir fried dry, extra spicy with black mushrooms added. I would have ordered it tonight but they close at 2:30. Mac & cheese for me.
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