Meal time is one of the most important times in French culture. This is because families gather around the table to talk and eat their food. Sometimes they discuss serious topics and other times there is light-hearted chatter about activities throughout the day. One very important thing to know about meal time is that the French people do not like to be wasteful. In other words, when you serve yourself food, you should eat it. If someone did not finish what is on their plate, others might find that rude or disrespectful.
Tonight at dinner I tried a meal called choucroute. It is fermented cabbage that is cooked and eaten with meat, potatoes and mustard. It is very similar to sauerkraut and it is even made from the same vegetable: cabbage! However, the two are different in the way that we eat them. Sauerkraut is typically eaten as a part of other dishes like hot dogs or reuben sandwiches. Choucroute, on the other hand, uses the cabbage as the main component of the dish with the other parts complimenting the flavor of the cabbage. Have you ever had cabbage or sauerkraut?
