[Culturechat] France : God's Country??

[Dodge Amaral]

Greetings CultureChatters,

	In the hopes of getting a little more activity going on CultureChat, I 
thought I'd revisit an issue that comes to mind each and every time I visit 
France.  Very often when I've met Untourists overseas, if they happen to 
come from Iowa or some other Midwestern state--inevitably, it's always a 
state in the heartland of the U.S.--I've often heard them say they come 
from "God's country."   Being the son of immigrants and growing up on the 
East Coast of the U.S., I'd never really heard the expression until I 
started working for Idyll and I've always had to ask myself what does that 
really mean?

	God's country.  Being one who lives to eat vs. eating to live, I always 
pictured a land where I have the ingredients for unlimited culinary 
possibilities close at hand.  A land where all the basic food groups could 
hardly be called basic and the only limits are those of imagination.  Even 
for those who are more visually-minded, I imagine a diverse terrain with 
snow-capped mountains as well as fruited plains, oceans & streams and most 
everything in between.

	Not to denigrate those of you from the Midwest (or any part of the country 
for that matter), but I never imagined God's country as an endless--albeit 
majestic--sea of wheat or cornfields.  In fact, the land I've seen and 
heard of that comes closest to the tastes & images in my mind is...France!

	Not surprisingly, I'm far from the being the first one to think of France 
as being blessed. Between the rocky shores of Brittany in the northwest, 
the dense forest of the Ardennes in the northeast, the tallest mountains in 
the Alps in the southwest, near-tropic climes and beaches in the south and 
variegated terrain in between, the whole of France is certainly a 
gem.  However, given the subject that tugs at my heart (and stomach) the 
most, the blessing is really about the food.

	In all of the basic food groups, treasures abound, and yet there's 
more.  Besides wonderful beef, chicken, pork and lamb, autumn opens up the 
palate to a wonderful assortment of game.  Along with the wonderful cream & 
butter, there's the three or four hundred varieties of cheese made with 
either cow's, sheep's or goat's milk.  Vegetarian?  Between Provence, which 
some refer to as the California of France, and the central/northern plains, 
most everything one can desire from a plant, barring the tropical, can be 
found.  Olive oil, truffles, mushrooms galore!!  Don't even get me started 
on France's potent potables (wine, champagne, cognac, eau-de-vie and even 
Alsatian beer!).  I probably even missed something but I think you get the 
point.

	Now, it's possible to think of the entire United States and conjure up 
most of the same tastes & images (esp. given the presence of Hawaii) but 
France is hardly bigger than the size of Texas so I'm still giving France 
my vote for "God's country."   Ever since my first trip to France, living 
with a family for a semester, my palate were introduced to new culinary 
possibilities and has only become more expansive with each visit.  When it 
comes to food and drink, I'm willing to try anything once and, over time, I 
can say that it all originates from that semester.

	Anyone out there agree with me?  Disagree?  Vance?  Does anyone else out 
there have a culinary epiphany that started in France where nothing has 
been the same for you since?

	Or, better yet, does anyone have their own choice for the title?  Much has 
been said for Italian cuisine, esp. that of Tuscany.  Austria's cuisine, 
esp. their desserts, have also had their praises sung.  I'm also partial to 
the bold flavor of Hungarian food.  For the sake of this discussion, I'm 
all ears (and mouth and stomach).