[Culturechat] France : God's Country??

[Anita Killen]

Well, I don't know about the cuisine --- but as far as God's Country goes --- of
course there's Texas!

Anita

Dodge Amaral wrote:

> 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).
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