Exploding Myths, part 2

Every American has certain cliches about French food in the back of his or her mind. Some actually have turned out to be true, others not so much:

Cafe au lait: Supposedly this is what French people drink for breakfast in a cafe, served in a large bowl, but I've never actually seen it. Most people order just "cafe," which is basically espresso; others, including me, order a "creme," which is more like a cappuccino.

Croissants: Very popular for breakfast, yes, but equally so and arguably more traditional is a "tartine," which is basically a chunk of baguette served with butter and sometimes jam. Tartines here are not toasted, as they are sometimes in the United States. Supposedly a tartine was originally the stale end of the baguette from last night's dinner but now they are served fresh, at least in a cafe. (To get a fresh croissant with your coffee, incidentally, you have to pick your cafe carefully. The best croissants are the ones you get directly at a bakery, but of course bakeries, in one of those unwritten but rigid French rules, don't serve coffee. As for the cafes, some usually have fresh croissants, others aren't so reliable.)

Escargots: They do appear on quite a few menus, particularly in traditional bistro-type places, but I haven't seen anyone order them yet. They are actually a regional specialty from Burgundy, so maybe the fact that Parisians don't often order them means about the same thing as New Yorkers rarely ordering grits.

Frogs' legs: I saw these on a menu for the first time last night. Don't know why they're so rare.

Horsemeat: Two butchers in my neighborhood carry it, but I haven't seen it in any restaurants. I believe it was always more of a home-cooked specialty anyway. I haven't and don't plan to try it myself.

Steak tartare: This is actually hugely popular, particularly for lunch. Raw chopped meat mixed with capers or pickles and served with fries. I can't figure out the attraction of it myself but this is the one stereotypically weird French dish that the French actually seem to eat.

Baguettes: You won't be surprised to hear that the old cliche about a mustachioed, beretted Frenchman carrying baguettes under his arm doesn't actually exist. Mustaches are rare here on men under 60; the only berets I've seen are on the people dressed up as artists in the tourist precincts of Montmartre. But people carrying home baguettes are, actually, an everyday sight on the streets of Paris:



I snapped these three pictures within about 5 minutes today, on a busy street but not within sight of a bakery. It's quite common to see people carrying two or three at a time, I suppose depending on how big their families are.

"Baguette," incidentally, means "stick" and is also the word for chopsticks. So ordering "baguettes" in a French Chinese restaurant won't get you a piece of bread ...