15 French meals you have to try

A typical French lunch will consist of: a starter (une entrée), such as a mixed salad, soup, some terrine or paté. A main course, (le plat principal), typically a choice of meat or fish, with potatoes, rice, pasta and/or vegetables; a cheese course (often a selection of local cheeses) and/or a dessert.

Note: unlike the United States, there is no national school lunch program in France. All of the lunches you’ll read about here are funded by local municipalities. Three-course (or even four-course) freshly-prepared hot lunches are provided to over 6 million French children in the public school system every day.

In the United States, a typical school lunch might consist of chicken, a whole-grain roll, and salad. While most schools outside the US don’t sell lunch, the ones that do usually feed their students healthy meals. Students abroad are more likely to go home for lunch or bring a home-cooked meal.

It is very common to have a one or two-hour lunch break at school. Of course, the children will not stay the whole time in the canteen but they will have time to eat, play and let off steam before going back to class.

• Steak frites. Voila – this simple, yet impressive recipe is inspired by French bistro cuisine.
• Chicken confit.
• French onion soup.
• Bouillabaisse.
• Salmon en papillote.
• Quiche Lorraine.
• Croque monsieur.
• Boeuf bourguignon.

Foods that are a staple of the French diet include full-fat cheese and yogurt, butter, bread, fresh fruits and vegetables (often grilled or sautéed), small portions of meat (more often fish or chicken than red meat), wine, and dark chocolate.

French School Lunches

• Vegetable starter: leafy green salad or sliced or grated vegetables.
• The warm main dish, which includes a vegetable side dish.
• Cheese course.
• Dessert is fresh fruit four times a week with a sweet treat on the fifth day.

School canteens are required to provide school-age children with: a starter of vegetables, salad or soup; a warm main course high in protein whether it be meat, fish or eggs; a side dish of vegetables or grains; a cheese course or dairy product; plus raw or cooked fruit balanced with a dessert and an afternoon snack.

The top two most popular items on a school lunch menu are cheese pizza and fried foods. French fries are considered a “vegetable” serving. The average student takes in more than 50% of their vegetables through french fry consumption. Only 10% of all children eat the recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables.

The six key parts to a healthy lunchbox include:

• fresh fruit.
• fresh crunchy vegetables.
• milk, yoghurt or cheese (you can use reduced-fat options for children over the age of two years).
• a meat or meat alternative food like some lean meat (e.g. chicken strips), hard-boiled egg or peanut butter.

Top 10 of Commonly Consumed Food

• Bread. When you imagine French food, the many different types of bread may come to mind.
• Pastries. Pastries are a common thing to snack on here.
• Cheese. This is a product created religiously.
• Soup and Potage.
• Magret de Canard.
• Desserts.
• Salads.
• Seafood.

In France and Switzerland it is customary to have a cooked meal for lunch, even if more and more people now have snacks. The lunch break, which lasts about an hour, takes place between 12pm and 2pm.

Lunch is the main meal of the day for children. In French schools this meal has four courses: Vegetable starter: leafy green salad or sliced or grated vegetables. The warm main dish, which includes a vegetable side dish. Cheese course.

An usual French lunch will include: an appetizer (une entrée), such as a mixed salad, soup, terrine or pâté; main course, (le plat principal), choice of beef, pork, chicken, or fish, with potatoes, rice, pasta and/or vegetables; cheese course (from a local selection) and/or a sweet .

A typical French lunch will consist of: a starter (une entrée), such as a mixed salad, soup, some terrine or paté. A main course, (le plat principal), typically a choice of meat or fish, with potatoes, rice, pasta and/or vegetables; a cheese course (often a selection of local cheeses) and/or a dessert.

For the traditional Sunday lunch, French people usually eat rich, traditional French food (often from their home regions), such as roast chicken or veal, grilled salmon, stuffed tomatoes, lasagna, etc.