Eating a Metz Meal: Dining in Lorraine France with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Sampling a Metz Meal:  Dining in Lorraine France with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Quiche Lorraine is certainly well-known in France, but it is the suckling pig and pork products that make the Lorraine famous. 

Pork tastes sweetest when pigs have been raised on milk, but pigs can eat almost anything.  This fact allows the citizens of Lorraine to enjoy nutritious meals even in lean times.

Our host, Laurent’s cousin’s husband, prepared an optimal gastronomic experience for us.  The meal started with several hors d’oeuvres.  The first of these was rillettes (pork cooked in its own fat and preserved in it).

Our host next heated up sausages that were flavored with thyme and white wine.  He also had some plain pork sausages just in case we were not getting enough food.

Just as I thought we had finished, I began to smell bread baking.  Our host now appeared with a tray of puff pastries filled with sausage.

I could have stopped then and there and eaten a sorbet for dessert, but sturdier offerings appeared out of the kitchen again.

This time our host carried out an oversized Quiche Lorraine.  As the American visitor, I just could not have one piece of Quiche Lorraine.

Seconds of a “real” Quiche appeared on my plate despite my unheeded pleas for mercy. 

“What is that?” I asked.

“A pork pie,” he said.

I ate some more and took a nap.  When I woke up, I drank some Mirabelle, an eau-de-vie yellow plum brandy.”

At home, I would have just had a large slice of Quiche Lorraine, salad, and a lemon soda.  I truly was overwhelmed by the meal, but it was very good.

Some French cookbooks with specialties of the Lorraine Region include:

-Saveur Cooks Authentic French:  Rediscovering the Recipes, Traditions, and Flavors of the World’s Greatest Cuisine by the Editors of Saveur Magazine

-Paris: Authentic Recipes Celebrating the Foods of the World by the Editors of Williams-Sonoma

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

Ruth Paget Selfie

Exploring Metz: France's Eastern Stronghold by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Exploring Metz:  Visiting France’s Eastern Stronghold by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

My husband Laurent and I took the Autoroute de l’Est (East) to Metz.  Once we passed Eurodisney, the landscape became hilly.

Woods, stretches of forest, and champagne vineyards rolled by the car.  The landscape surprised me.  I thought that the East of France was flat and a little war-ravaged still with patches of unkempt fields and many war cemeteries with their uniform white crosses.

When we arrived in Metz, I did not expect to see a spot that shimmered with such lush, green colors.  It rains frequently, which makes everything grow easily.

Several islands break up the Moselle River.  A canal is attached to the river as well.  There are many pathways alongside the river, which allows everyone to take advantage of the flower-filled walks.

When we met Laurent’s cousin, I said, “Metz is beautiful” with a strong emphasis on the “z’” on the end of the word.

“We pronounce the name of our city as ‘Mess,”” his cousin told me.

She certainly knew how to pronounce the word as she was a high-ranking government official in the Préfet’s Office.  A French préfet is the rough equivalent of an American governor; they are appointed by the French president and not elected.

I had unknowingly touched upon some sore spots with my foreigner’s pronunciation of the final “z’ in the word Metz.  This northeastern region in France has been fought over by the Germans and French in two world wars in the 20^th century.

Metz is bisected by the limpid Moselle River with tiny island parks.  German architecture lines the fashionable Avenue Foch.

Every apartment building on this street seemed to sport a stepped, triangular façade typical of German architecture along with heavy, stone masonry.

The thick, floral garlands decorating the German homes seemed heavier than the narrower versions on French homes with their tall windows and smooth, light-colored stone exteriors.

There have been hideous wars between France and Germany with Metz on the frontlines.  However, there is a fusion of cultures in Metz that is artistic and beautiful.  (The Jews have a long history in Metz as well despite the fact that they no longer live there.)

The most obvious manifestation of contact between the German and French cultures appears in the famous name of Quiche Lorraine.  The name “quiche” comes from the German “küchen,” which means cake.

Housewives in Lorraine make Quiche Lorraine with a mixture of cream, eggs, and ham in an absorbent pie crust with ridges.  Sometimes grated gruyère is added to the recipe along with onions.

Every “mamiche” or “Lorraine Grandmother” has her own recipe.

Some French cookbooks with specialties of the Lorraine in them include:

-Saveur Cooks Authentic French:  Rediscovering the Recipes, Traditions, and Flavors of the World’s Greatest Cuisine by the Editors of Saveur Magazine

-Paris: Authentic Recipes Celebrating the Foods of the World by the Editors of Williams-Sonoma

by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

Ruth Paget Selfie

Exploring Arcachon: Visiting Bordeaux's Family Vacation Spot with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

  

Exploring Arcachon (France) - 1:  Visiting Bordeaux’s Family Vacation Spot a Second Time with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Laurent and I were going on a weeklong beach vacation in Arcachon outside Bordeaux (France) with baby Florence.  We headed southward out of Paris and waited through the traffic jam to get on the highway to Bordeaux.

Just when we got on the highway, it started to rain.  I made a list of several restaurants by the port that we could try for seafood when we arrived.

The French stay slim by looking for the best “quality-price” value on restaurant meals.  They do not always choose the cheapest restaurant, but they also refuse to be financially exploited by eating at a restaurant that marks up a dish by 15%.

The French read cookbooks and shop themselves to know prices, so they can assess good values on restaurants and food purchases.

We arrived late in Arcachon and started looking for restaurants.  We spent six hours under a downpour from Paris to Arcachon.  Laurent was not too keen on looking at every restaurant on the port.

Almost all the restaurants were closed, but I tried the locked door on the Taverne du Pêcheur anyways.  The owner smiled at us huddling under our umbrellas and opened the door.

“Could we order some sandwiches at this hour?” I asked as I balanced Florence on one arm and the umbrella on the other.

“No sandwiches,” he laughed.

“I only serve full-course meals.  Please sit down,” he said.

We started our meal with a vegetable terrine that had layers of orange, green, and white, puréed vegetables and a cream sauce.

Then, we ate a dozen raw oysters each or “fresh” oysters as the French would say.  The theory goes that you should only eat oysters with months having Rs in them.

Arcachon oysters are famous for their plump light, green flesh.  The ones we ate were clear and not milky for the season.

We drank a wine called “Entre-Deux-Mers” with this meal.  It is named for the peninsula between the Garonne and Dordogne Rivers where the vineyards are for this wine.

We ate simple fish dishes with potatoes following this: Sole meunière for Laurent and grilled sole for me.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Ruth Paget Selfie

Exploring Chateau de Chambord and Chateau de Cheverny (France) - Visiting Loire Valley Gems with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Exploring the Château de Chambord and the Château de Cheverny (France) – Visiting Loire Valley Gems with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

On a French National Patrimony Day, Laurent and I drove to the Loire Valley to visit two lesser-known châteaux: Chambord and Cheverny.

Chambord was first and foremost a royal hunting lodge.  Women sat on a terrace and watched men go off hunting and played cards until they returned.  They ate together.

This Château was built in 1519 on the orders of François 1 (House of Valois).  The famous double staircase allowed people to go up and down without seeing one another – good for servants and lovers.

The other architectural feature that makes Chambord stand out is its terrace.  The terrace is more of an Italian invention than a French one. 

The lawn and terrace both offer seating for the Château’s sound and light show.  Chambord has a liqueur of its own that is used in the Phoenix Cocktail of the University of Chicago.

I thought Chambord was a little touristy with its souvenir shops, a hotel restaurant, and several cafés.  I wanted to learn about châteaux gardens, history, and architecture.  I wished there were books out about those topics for sale.

I liked the small town of Cheverny next to Chambord, which is only 6 kilometers away from Chambord.  The garden was in full bloom there.

The Town of Cheverny had well-cared for hotels.  Red geraniums tumbled down out of window boxes and tables of umbrellas fluttered in the breeze outside lobbies and outdoor cafés abounded.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

Ruth Paget Selfie

Exploring the Abbaye-de-Royaumont (France) - Going on a Picnic Outside Paris with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Exploring the Abbaye-de-Royaumont (France) – Going on a Picnic Outside Paris with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

I used touring guides, history books, and art history books to make my lists of places to visit in France on picnic outings.

On one of our picnic outings, my husband Laurent and I visited the Abbaye de Royaumont with baby Florence.

This Abbaye in northwestern France is a two-star outing in the Michelin “green guide” series.  It was founded in the early 13^th century by the King Saint Louis.  King Saint Louis led Crusades.  This is why he is referred to as a saint.

Royaumont was a Cistercian Abbey that received many gifts.  However, Royaumont’s architecture does not reflect pure Cistercian style with a plain choir.  Royaumont has radiating chapels around the choir.  More chapels means more donors for artwork and alms to the church.

The Abbaye de Royaumont was sold during the French Revolution as a “national property.”  The last owners of the Abbaye – Isabel and Henri Gouin (1900 – 1907) created a Foundation to rent out the space as a small convention center.

Working at a place like that as a sales manager is a nice job.  I would try to sell the meeting space to architects, engineers, commercial artists, lawyers, accountants, city planners, and other people who would study the venue for its durability and get projects accomplished in this remote yet beautiful location.

I was always thinking of ways to make money even when Florence was a baby.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

Ruth Paget Selfie