Tuesday, November 22, 2011

yes we cook!

+jmj+


Just like in the US, everyone and everything has been spending the last few weeks getting ready for Christmas! Evreux is strung with lights across the streets, shops have put up garlands and trees to decorate the store fronts,  window displays glisten with twinkle lights and glitter, and of course, stores are bringing out their holiday gift ideas to entice Christmas shoppers. 

book, diner napkin dispenser, ketchup & mustard bottles

As I was browsing a local bookshop this afternoon, a box decorated with the American flag caught my eye. It's not uncommon to see American or British flags on clothes, backpacks, or other accessories--it's very trendy here to pretend like you speak English. But to see a box like this in a bookshop was more curious! I though to myself that it surely couldn't be an actual book in English! So I investigated, and was amused to find "Yes We Cook", a gift set containing a recipe book with "authentic" American recipes. I love the emphasis on the fact that Americans do, indeed, cook. The French are working on breaking that stereotype!


I think the back description is the best part. Here's a translation: "Immediate departure for a gourmet voyage to the heart of the United States! 50 easy and familiar recipes: American breakfast, New York Cheesecake, Chicago Ceasar Salad, Avocado pie, T-bone steak, Gingerbread men, house ketchup, Manhattan cocktail..."

First "recipe" on the list: American breakfast. American breakfasts are much more substantial than French breakfasts. I could write a whole post on just that difference--and I probably will! I also had no idea that Chicago is known for the Ceasar Salad? And I can't tell you what avocado pie is; I've never seen that in the United States, or even heard of it...So this is an attempt to replicate American cuisine. I have a feeling that they should have consulted an actual American before actually selling this, but it's too late now! What we have is something that curious French people will buy to imitate in their homes, and something that will make an American cock their head and laugh :)

pax christi.

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