A slender, elegant woman sips a dark red wine and cuts into a tender duck breast, seared to perfection, before topping the meal off with a fine slice of Brie de Meaux. This is the ultimate expression of the French Paradox. The only Western country well known for the butter in its pastry crust and the thin citizens who consume it, France has puzzled visitors for centuries. Or at least, it has puzzled visitors who believe that a thin frame requires deprivation or hours at the gym. In France, neither rule holds true.
Dignity and mystique cloak the French woman, as she savors her steak-frites and watches people pass. There are no food items banned from her palate, no sinful dishes demanding a stiff workout hours later. Instead, she abides by a simple, natural set of guidelines. Ones that understand true pleasure. Here are some of the ways the French woman lives out her truth, as an eternal paradox devoted to ultimate goodness.
She appreciates the finer things.
The French woman chooses quality over quantity wherever her budget allows. Not only will a French woman opt for a square of fine dark chocolate over a massive bowl of mediocre ice cream. She demands high quality from every one of her ingredients, skipping a tasteless banana for a bowl of cherries falling off the trees on the perimeter of her small town. Knowing that the best ingredients for her next quiche will arrive weekly at the local farmers market, she visits religiously, asking farmers which ingredients are best that week and what is new. Then her basket fills with epinards, leeks, butter churned the day before, and freshly baked sundried-tomato baguette, and she returns home to feast on extravagance.
She remembers creativity isn’t only for artists.
A zucchini on its own is simply a zucchini. At times, there is a place for just a zucchini, sauteed and served alongside some roasted chicken or braised salmon fillet. But the French woman, as she talks with her coworkers about the delicious dishes she has recently made, will always look for a new way to cook the zucchini or a new something to pair it with. Add some eggplant, some diced tomatoes, a little rosemary, maybe some thyme, and suddenly that one vegetable tastes totally different. Creativity goes a long way in elevating the fruit of the land. When vegetables are recognized for their delectable combinations, there’s no need for another heaping dinner slathered in melted cheese, though, every once in awhile, maybe the body needs that too.
She puts the fork down in between bites.
Even at the finest of meals, the French woman recognizes that a meal means more than the act of consuming food. First, the meal truly elevates every single flavor, deserving a slow and luxurious means to relishing every single bite. It must be savored, enjoyed. Then, when others join for a meal, a French woman will put her fork down not just to speak, but to listen too. It is clear that she is listening by the way she looks at the speaker, pausing politely and eating only when her guest eats as well. Her gestures indicate that the speaker comes before the food, embrace long conversation and make the meal into a communal experience.
She keeps it real.
French women are dead honest about their food. They recognize that foie gras is fatty, butter adds indulgence, and a heavy meal shouldn’t always be followed by another. They have a better shot at staying in balance than anyone else. The first step to moderation is ripping the Band-Aid off. Honestly acknowledging what will happen when eating dessert every single evening or having pizza for two meals in one day is a good step in the right direction toward eating like a French woman.
Too much salt or sugar? She stops eating.
Spices transform unappealing foods, and they make appealing foods into little bites of gold. As every dish strives to achieve the perfect balance of spices, hardly ever will the French woman reach for salt. A fine cut of lamb, if oversalted, deserves to be put aside. This holds especially true with sugar, though it might require more willpower. A pastry or piece of chocolate with an imbalance of sugar doesn’t need to be finished. The French woman recognizes the art in the buttery flake of a croissant, the creamy tang of a lemon tart, or the touch of noisette in a dark chocolate ganache. A subdued sweetness paired with a palette of natural flavors goes much further than excessive sugar in creating a fine dessert. Food is all about the process, and when the flavoring spoils that, why continue?
She eats a small breakfast.
An omelette is for lunch. Breakfast in France begins with bread, ideally toasted and topped with a dollop of homemade jam. Alongside it, an espresso or cup of black tea makes a perfect complement. A modern and acceptable alternative might be a bowl of cereal, but only if really hungry. When a full three-course lunch waits ahead, no hunger between now and then will last for long. The French woman wakes her body up slowly with a petit cafe on the balcony in the sun.
She opts for a meal over a snack.
A hungry French woman will never let onto her stomach’s suffering or allow her hunger to get in the way of her interactions with others. Instead she seeks a café or a restaurant, asks for a menu, and orders a full meal. Or she might know her afternoon hunger is caused by a need for tea time, involving, perhaps, a small espresso and a tea cookie or two. The French woman understands hunger and does not fear it, she accepts that at times she is hungry. Rather than solve it by progressively snacking herself into a coma of crackers and cheese, she looks to the next mealtime, where maybe this time she will order the lasagna because it seems her body needs it.
She takes a minute to sit.
The French woman consumes food or drink while at a proper table. In France, the tradition of the meal, plated well and given the space of a couple hours, shapes contemporary life, with long breaks mid-workday for a proper lunch. In other parts of the world, this might present some difficulty, but it’s worth it whenever possible. This means putting away all screens and allowing lunch to become an experience of the whole body, immersed fully in food. Taste each bite of that sandwich or salad, and if it tastes boring or too salty or too sweet, change it. Get creative. Allow yourself a little bit of joie de vivre, and eat the way of the French.
