1. Escargots — snails in garlic butter
Baked in their shells under garlic-parsley butter, served in a dimpled dish with small tongs. Almost entirely a restaurant or Christmas dish — no French family is making these on a Tuesday. The American objection is the snail, and the honest French answer is that nobody orders escargots for the snail. It is a mild, slightly chewy texture that carries butter. We order them for the butter and the bread you use to finish it, and we are not embarrassed about that.
2. Andouillette — the one the French argue about too
A coarse sausage made from pork intestine, with a strong and unmistakable smell. This is the item where the French-versus-American framing collapses, because plenty of French people will not eat it either. It has a defenders’ association and a five-A rating system that exists precisely because the thing needs defending. If you want a fair test of whether you like French food, do not start here. If you want to know whether you are brave, start here.
3. Foie gras — the one with a legal problem
Fattened duck or goose liver, served cold in slices with bread at Christmas and New Year, or hot as a restaurant course. In France it is festive food with legal protection as part of the culinary heritage. In America it is a live political argument: force-feeding is the objection, and California has banned its sale since 2012 — a ban the Supreme Court declined to disturb in 2023. New York City passed its own in 2019 and is still in court over it. So this is not squeamishness. Americans who refuse foie gras usually have a reason they can articulate, which is more than can be said for the snail objection.
4. Cuisses de grenouille — frog’s legs
Sautéed in garlic and parsley, eaten with your fingers, mostly in restaurants and mostly in certain regions. They taste, genuinely, like slightly firmer chicken — which disappoints everyone hoping for a story. The American reaction is to the animal rather than the flavour, which is the pattern across most of this list: the objection arrives before the tasting does.
5. Viande chevaline — horse
Legal, available from a specialist butcher, and fading fast. Horse meat was once ordinary and is now a thing older French people remember rather than something younger ones buy. Americans find this the hardest item on the list, because horses in the United States are companion animals in a way they were never quite in France. I am not going to argue anyone out of that one. It is a real cultural difference and it is not going to resolve over an apéro.
6. Munster — the cheese with a warning
A soft washed-rind cheese from Alsace with a smell that fills a room and a taste far milder than the smell promises. That gap is the entire experience. French fridges contain a small sealed box for exactly this reason. Americans who like blue cheese usually get on with Munster; Americans who keep cheese in plastic do not.
7. Roquefort and the blue family
Sheep’s milk, cave-aged, salty and sharp. Americans do eat blue cheese — crumbled into a salad, or as a dip beside hot wings — but the French version arrives whole, unmixed, and on a board after dinner rather than hidden in a sauce. That is usually the real difficulty: not the flavour, but the absence of anything to hide it in. The cheese course has its own rules.
What actually goes wrong at the tasting
Four of these seven are things French people eat rarely, seasonally or regionally, and that matters. Escargots and foie gras are Christmas. Frog’s legs are a restaurant order. Horse is a shrinking habit. Presenting them as everyday French eating gives Americans a picture of France that is wrong in the other direction — the ordinary French week is far plainer than that.
Where to start, if you are starting
Escargots, because it is butter and bread and the snail is incidental. Then Munster with good bread, because the smell-to-taste gap is funny once you are in on it. Then foie gras, if you are comfortable with how it is made, at Christmas, the way it is actually eaten. Leave andouillette until last, or never. Nobody will think less of you — half of France is with you.
How often the French actually eat these
| Dish | When | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Escargots | Christmas, or a bistro order | Restaurant |
| Andouillette | Rarely, and divisively | Restaurant, some regions |
| Foie gras | Christmas and New Year | Home, festive |
| Frog’s legs | Occasionally, regionally | Restaurant |
| Horse | Declining, older generations | Specialist butcher |
| Munster | Regularly, in Alsace | Home, cheese course |
| Roquefort | Regularly | Home, cheese course |
Questions, answered
What French foods do Americans find strange?
Most often escargots, andouillette, foie gras, frog’s legs, horse meat, and strong washed-rind cheeses like Munster. The objections split between animals Americans do not class as food, preparations they find confronting, and smells they associate with spoilage.
Is foie gras illegal in America?
California has banned the sale of force-fed foie gras since 2012, and the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge in 2023. New York City passed a ban in 2019 which has been tied up in litigation. It remains legal in most of the United States.
Do French people actually eat escargots and frog’s legs often?
No. Both are largely restaurant dishes, and escargots are most associated with Christmas. They are not part of ordinary weekly French eating.
Do the French eat horse meat?
It is legal and sold by specialist butchers, but consumption has declined steadily for decades. Many French people under forty have never bought it.
Sources
- LegalClarity — status of the New York City foie gras ban and California’s statewide prohibition, 2026. LegalClarity
- Animal Legal Defense Fund — history of the California foie gras ban and its legal challenges. Animal Legal Defense Fund
Verified September 2026.
He judges America weekly on Instagram, and Le Bulletin collects the best of it once a month.