Close Encounters of the Food Kind: Single-Minded, Whole-Hearted Attention to Eating

Dec 16, 2008 by Anna Migeon

How do the French get away with eating loads of high fat foods, and with such enjoyment, while remaining thinner and healthier than us Americans?  Viva la difference! It’s a question with a hundred answers.

For starters, let’s look at the French traditions of the table.  The guidelines to follow are small portions, of good things, in sequence.

Small Portions

The French value quality in food over quantity. The all-you-can-eat buffet is a foreign concept to them. What would be the point? Adults enjoy Real Food, and assume, in a self-fulfilling prophecy, that children will enjoy it, too. The French take largely for granted that Real Food is necessarily for health and life, and go straight to eating and drinking for enjoyment.

Americans more often eat…