Wine is a drink that I absolutely adore. Whether you are having a good day and want to toast to happiness, or if you are having a terrible day and need to drown your sorrows, wine is always a great helper. I’m not going to pretend I can identify where the grapes were grown of each wine I enjoy, or that I take the time to always appreciate a good wine when I’m drinking it. The same goes for food. I love food, I love dining in restaurants but so much time is spent rushing, working that we rarely enjoy what we are eating.
However, I recently had a little date with my beautiful friend Vanille, during which we discussed the way that the french truly embrace their dining experience. Not only taking time away from their work, their phones and obligations to truly enjoy the meal and drink in front of them, and more importantly the conversation of your dining partners.
Today I wanted to explore some dining suggestions to truly embrace the French experience.
Interactive dining
I find that having a meal made up of a selection of foods to pick and choose is often a great way to allow a conversation to flow more easily. With several options to choose from guests can decide what they want, and the dinner becomes far more interactive.
To have a dinner that starts a conversation is a great way to make the dining experience last longer, with wine flowing and plenty of food to be enjoyed.
Pot Luck
If you are having dinner with friends, why not make it more fun and everyone bring a dish for dinner. This way you don’t quite know what the meal will be, but opens up the conversation to what foods have been prepared, what choices you enjoy and to pair them long with great wines during the meal.
Not only this, but you may also discover a new dish that you have never tried before.
Pace yourself
One of the most important aspects of the way that the french dine is to take your time with every meal. Enjoy what you are eating, and more importantly enjoy the company you are with. Taking the time to enjoy every course, every sip of drink and every part of the conversation. From starters to dessert, savouring the flavours of the food is something that so many of us forget to do. Between the many fast food places available, microwave meals and quick fixes, we easily forget to take our time to really embrace our meal time. We are so accustomed to wolfing down our food, 20 minutes breaks and moving on to the next meal. The french usually have an hour for their lunch, they have wine, and truly relax.
Next time you are preparing for a meal, whether breakfast on a sunday morning or a family dinner, why not take a little extra time to enjoy what your eating and the company you are with!
Thanks for reading everyone…
Love
xx
