French/spanish food

France, Spanish, English, food we all know were the best food comes from.

It,s the food your old mum lovely cooked for you very day until you left home :goodluck:
 
kenspain said:
France, Spanish, English, food we all know were the best food comes from.

It,s the food your old mum lovely cooked for you very day until you left home :goodluck:
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The only "food" that my dear old Mum would have been capable of serving up would have a very powerful Dry Martini
 
If you like sea food then vist Port en Bassin in Normandie.
If you visit on June 7th and you see old men wearing green berets, buy them a drink. Those old soldiers are getting fewer but the acts of courage and bravery shown by the RM in taking that port on D Day+2 were beyond anything I could imagine.
 
jamesmarshall said:
If you like sea food then vist Port en Bassin in Normandie.
If you visit on June 7th and you see old men wearing green berets, buy them a drink. Those old soldiers are getting fewer but the acts of courage and bravery shown by the RM in taking that port on D Day+2 were beyond anything I could imagine.
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Should read Port En Bessin
 
A different eperience...

I have read through all the replies but am struggling with the ones I have read. Paella and what else? I lived in San Sebastian in northern Spain for almost a year and whilst I had some of the best food I ever ate in my life I never had paella once. The pintxo, the basque equivalent of a pub snack was far better than many meals i have had in Britain.

I have had some truly dull meals in France and Britain but have rarely been disappointed in Basque country.

Overall in my experience I have much better food on the continent in general. It's fairly easy to spot a place that cares about food rather than just serves it and on the continent any place like this will give you a very good meal.

If you go to Kazkazuri in San Sebastian you will get an amazing three course meal with drinks and coffee included for 16€. In England I would expect to pay twice as much for half as good at best.

ps I never saw paella on the menu.

I think it is easy to come away with the opinions I have read if you go to the wrong restaurants that serve food not care about it. I have made that mistake in Paris a few times and have paid quite a bit of money for a supremely disappointing meal.
 
Absolutely! Some of the best meals I have had in France have been way off in the countryside in tiny restaurants where workers go to get their lunch. Good honest food for the soul.

Paris has some great food and some rubbish, but Paris is not France, just a little unrepresentative part of it.
 
Spain is not really one country of course, Galicia, Catalonia, Basque etc but the popular image conveyed is the guitar strumming paella munching gazpacho gulping kind which is really Andalucian. Each region has its own distinctive cuisine, in the cold north it's a red meat and 2 veg bias, cooked in lard or stewed, they even have their version of the full English.
In the warm south it's cold soups, salads and a greater tendency to seafoods/white meat cooked in olive oil, generalisations granted but they serve to illustrate the point that up north your not so likely to see paella on the menu as you would down south.
Anyway now that "el Bulli" in Barcelona has gone it'll be back to el McDonaldos for me
 
Spain is not really one country of course, Galicia, Catalonia, Basque etc but the popular image conveyed is the guitar strumming paella munching gazpacho gulping kind which is really Andalucian. Each region has its own distinctive cuisine, in the cold north it's a red meat and 2 veg bias, cooked in lard or stewed, they even have their version of the full English.
In the warm south it's cold soups, salads and a greater tendency to seafoods/white meat cooked in olive oil, generalisations granted but they serve to illustrate the point that up north your not so likely to see paella on the menu as you would down south.
Anyway now that "el Bulli" in Barcelona has gone it'll be back to el McDonaldos for me
 
Go to Bert's Pie and mash in the Old Kent Road you wont beat that one:cheers::raofl::raofl::raofl:
 
That wouldn't be Berts in the Old Kent Road, Alicante then. Probably more "traditional" English food to be had on the costas than in Blighty itself, but I wouldn't know.
 
pablisch said:
I have read through all the replies but am struggling with the ones I have read. Paella and what else? I lived in San Sebastian in northern Spain for almost a year and whilst I had some of the best food I ever ate in my life I never had paella once. The pintxo, the basque equivalent of a pub snack was far better than many meals i have had in Britain.

I have had some truly dull meals in France and Britain but have rarely been disappointed in Basque country.

Overall in my experience I have much better food on the continent in general. It's fairly easy to spot a place that cares about food rather than just serves it and on the continent any place like this will give you a very good meal.

If you go to Kazkazuri in San Sebastian you will get an amazing three course meal with drinks and coffee included for 16€. In England I would expect to pay twice as much for half as good at best.

ps I never saw paella on the menu.

I think it is easy to come away with the opinions I have read if you go to the wrong restaurants that serve food not care about it. I have made that mistake in Paris a few times and have paid quite a bit of money for a supremely disappointing meal.
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I'll drink to that, not been to San Sebastian for some time but I remember the food, good Basque cooking is mind blowing, fantastic pintxos (tapas) & one dish that sticks out is Txangurro which is stuffed spider crab cooked in it's own shell. Also another memorable dish in S.S. was Calamares en su tinta (suid cooked in it's own ink)
Most of the best food in Europe is regional, of course you won't get a good Paella in the north, you have to go to the Valencia region for that, likewise you can't expect to find Catalan or Basque dishes in Andalucia.
 
Thanks

Thanks to everybody for their comments and recommendations etc.
Ferry booked for the 28th this month. France at least until 17th May possibly longer if I can convince the Wife.
Cheers Brian
 
maw111

You could try some internet sites and look for good restaurants in France ,really dont know how some people can say Paris is not France, I have lived in Paris for over 11 years and it has by far the best restaurants in France, we have a place called Rungis in the south suburbs of Paris and all the freshest and best food from all over France goes there and then gets redistributed over France including the pick of all the best fish food then the rest is left to the locals (yes I could not beleive it either but its true) My wifes family come from all over France and they love coming to stay with us and going out to the wonderful Parisian restaurants, My work enables me to travel most of Europe and every country has its delicacies but I love returning to France going to the markets, going to friends and families houses going out into the woods picking wild mushrooms and snails going hunting for boar, Im sorry for anyone who has had a bad experience or not found a good restaurant but anyone who says French food is not the best needs to google it, 9 out of 10 sites will say its French food, and dont forget the wine, I could never move back to the UK
 
The French have great food. And in Paris too I have been there lots of times, maybe 6 or 7. The French can put a piece of goats cheese some wild rocket, olive oil, tomatoes and saucisson on a plate add some crusty bread with wine and it looks like a high class meal. They just use better ingredients in general.

Compare the slab of cheddar, limp cucumber and lettuce we English often serve up and call it a salad. I'm not saying we don't have good ingredients, but too often we try to get away with baked beans and tinned fruit salad. The French have more of a passion for serving and eating interesting stuff.
 
well , after 25 years in france I believe the french cuisine thing no longer applies ; have spent my career as an itinerant businessman I know that good food is available everywhere...if you have enough money !

but as for the sort of fare that we eat daily france is no bette ror worse than other countries , needs have changed ; french people no longer stay home and cook as they once did ; my local supermarket is stripping out the store and installing freezers full of ready made meals ...I talked to the manager [ who aspires to being a motorhomer ] who shrugs his shoulders and says that's what the customers now want
we no longer eat in any local restaurants because the quality is no longer related to the price

and where do the french go ? McDonalds , Quick , Flunch etc ...McDonalds being the fastest growing by far ; little by little the family type restaurants are , like the bars [50 % closed in 30 years , disappearing

but the biggest disappointment for me is the local market ...once the source of french produce ; no it comes in trays from the wholesaler just like the supermarket ; I no longer bother to go

french bread ? I now make my own , thank you ...maybe it costs a little more but so many of the bakeries bake ready prepared frozen stuff ...I wouldn't want to be up at 2 am either mind you
 
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