One of the first things you notice when you arrive in a new country is the food. No matter what country you go to, the food will probably be different. Even if you go to another part of your home country the food is different. That's the amazing thing about cuisine: it reflects the culture of where you are. I will definitely make more posts on the cuisine in France, however, I decided a great place to start was the food at school. I took pictures of my school lunches over the period of a week, and rated them all. Enjoy!
Coming from the United States where we are served greasy pizza and chicken nuggets at school, I was looking forward to comparing the school lunches in France and in the US. Now, I cannot vouch for other schools in the US or other schools in France, but I will compare my experiences in both countries.
At my school in the US, there are three 25 minute lunch shifts. Every student is assigned a lunch shift based on their afternoon classes. When it's your lunch shift, you go to the cafeteria and either buy your lunch or eat your packed lunch.
In France, it's much different. There are a ton of different lunch shifts here. In France, I have a lot of free time or "trou" in between classes. My lunch time is placed somewhere in my free time from around 11 am to 1 pm. You get a time for every single day except for Wednesday: since Wednesday is a half day, you have to choice to eat at school or go back home for lunch. Here, there is no limit to how long I stay in the lunch room as long as I make my next class. Also, you cannot really pack a lunch here. In order to enter that cafeteria, you have to use your lunch card, which is charged every time you use it. (My cafeteria card with my lunch times is pictured to the right). If you don't want to eat school lunch you can be an external student or "externe" who just goes to school and doesn't eats at home between classes. There are two different cafeterias at school - "self service" and the "saladerie". The saladerie is just as it sounds - salads. My friends and I generally go to the self service one, however, because they tell me that after 12 pm everything is generally gone. The self service option is the more popular option. The name self service doesn't really make sense to me as the lunch plates are already made and you pick which one you want. To me, the saladerie seems more self service because you make your own salad, but whatever.
Just a general rule for school lunches in France: it's almost never "just chicken". One time I sat down to eat my lunch thinking I had chosen some kind of beef when my friends said to me, "you know that's cow tongue, right?" Sure enough, I turned over the meat to find taste buds!!!! Gross. Needless to say, I didn't eat much that day.
At the self service cafeteria, there are four "courses"; l'entrée; le plat; le fromage/le yaourt; and le dessert. For the entrée, there are generally many cold options such as a salad, or carrots. Sometimes there is a hot option but it depends on the day. For le plat (or main course) it's normally one or two meat options, with two types of vegetables. For le fromage/le yaourt or cheese/yogurt, there are normally one or two cheese options or the choice of yogurt with or without sugar. Lastly for dessert, there is always a selection of fruit, sometimes with other treats depending on the day. To better illustrate the school lunches in France, I decided to take pictures of my lunches for one week at school and rate them.
At my school in the US, there are three 25 minute lunch shifts. Every student is assigned a lunch shift based on their afternoon classes. When it's your lunch shift, you go to the cafeteria and either buy your lunch or eat your packed lunch.
In France, it's much different. There are a ton of different lunch shifts here. In France, I have a lot of free time or "trou" in between classes. My lunch time is placed somewhere in my free time from around 11 am to 1 pm. You get a time for every single day except for Wednesday: since Wednesday is a half day, you have to choice to eat at school or go back home for lunch. Here, there is no limit to how long I stay in the lunch room as long as I make my next class. Also, you cannot really pack a lunch here. In order to enter that cafeteria, you have to use your lunch card, which is charged every time you use it. (My cafeteria card with my lunch times is pictured to the right). If you don't want to eat school lunch you can be an external student or "externe" who just goes to school and doesn't eats at home between classes. There are two different cafeterias at school - "self service" and the "saladerie". The saladerie is just as it sounds - salads. My friends and I generally go to the self service one, however, because they tell me that after 12 pm everything is generally gone. The self service option is the more popular option. The name self service doesn't really make sense to me as the lunch plates are already made and you pick which one you want. To me, the saladerie seems more self service because you make your own salad, but whatever.
Just a general rule for school lunches in France: it's almost never "just chicken". One time I sat down to eat my lunch thinking I had chosen some kind of beef when my friends said to me, "you know that's cow tongue, right?" Sure enough, I turned over the meat to find taste buds!!!! Gross. Needless to say, I didn't eat much that day.
At the self service cafeteria, there are four "courses"; l'entrée; le plat; le fromage/le yaourt; and le dessert. For the entrée, there are generally many cold options such as a salad, or carrots. Sometimes there is a hot option but it depends on the day. For le plat (or main course) it's normally one or two meat options, with two types of vegetables. For le fromage/le yaourt or cheese/yogurt, there are normally one or two cheese options or the choice of yogurt with or without sugar. Lastly for dessert, there is always a selection of fruit, sometimes with other treats depending on the day. To better illustrate the school lunches in France, I decided to take pictures of my lunches for one week at school and rate them.
Lundi/Monday
L'entrée: Carrots with some sort of seasoning (not really sure haha)
Overall Verdict: 4/5 stars
- Verdict: pretty good for plain carrots
- Verdict: Noodles and carrots were so good, but to be blunt, the turkey was pretty bad
- Verdict: Pretty good
- Verdict: CHOCOLATE COVERED COCONUT ICE CREAM. NEED I SAY MORE?
Overall Verdict: 4/5 stars
Mardi/Tuesday
L'entrée: Carrots again
Overall Verdict: 5/5 stars
- Verdict: Good again
- Verdict: ALL GOOD
- Verdict: Good again
- Verdict: SO GOOD. I have found that generally all of the fruit is really good and ripe here. In the US you're lucky if the inside of your apple isn't vibrant green at school.
Overall Verdict: 5/5 stars
Mercredi/Wednesday
L'entrée: Not quite sure?? haha
Overall Verdict: 5/5 stars
- Verdict: REALLY GOOD. I was hesitant at first because there was a mysterious sauce, but it was really good.
- Verdict: Pretty good. The chicken and the mashed potatoes were both really good, but the tomato was just all right.
- Verdict: Good
- Verdict: *heart eye emoji*
Overall Verdict: 5/5 stars
Jeudi/Thursday
L'entrée: Pizza
Overall verdict: 3/5 stars
- Verdict: YESSSSS
- Verdict: Lentils and veggies - YESSS. Deer - just why?? ew... This is what I mean by sometimes they serve weird meat at the cafeteria. (Funny story: My friends explained what type of meat it was by telling me that Santa would not be coming this year)
- Verdict: NONONO. And this is not in anyway because I am not accustomed to the cheese here. It was just not good.
- Verdict: Good
Overall verdict: 3/5 stars
Vendredi/Friday
L'entrée: Tomato
Overall verdict: 5/5 stars
- Verdict: Good, but nothing special
- Verdict: So good! If I had to complain, I would say it was slightly bland. But it IS school food.
- Verdict: Good
- Verdict: YESYES
Overall verdict: 5/5 stars
Overall, I am very pleased with the school lunches here. With my ratings having a 4.4 star average, I would say they are pretty darn good. Given the fact that I won't even touch the school lunches in the US, I think France wins the school lunch contest.
I will be sure to post more about the cuisine not at school, but I hope you guys enjoyed my fun little review!
-Kenna
I will be sure to post more about the cuisine not at school, but I hope you guys enjoyed my fun little review!
-Kenna