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Dinner by the day of the week?
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Do French people really eat by the day of the week?
More than they admit. Nobody writes it down, and my husband denies it is a system. But school canteens across France still serve fish on Fridays, the butcher sells out of chickens on Sunday morning, and Wednesday dinner is the one the children choose. He did not decide any of this. He inherited it.
What is the French week, day by day?
This is the week as it runs in our house. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday are real French habits. The rest is his.
- Monday: leftovers. Sunday’s roast becomes hachis Parmentier.
- Tuesday: a tart. Quiche, or whatever is in the fridge, in pastry.
- Wednesday: the children’s day. Galettes, or pasta shells with ham and Comté.
- Thursday: bistro night. Steak au poivre, or mussels.
- Friday: fish.
- Saturday: people come over. It often starts, and sometimes ends, with radishes and butter.
- Sunday: roast chicken, at one o’clock, with everyone.
Why is Friday always fish?
An old Catholic habit that outlived the churchgoing. His mother roasts cod with thin slices of chorizo on top, which crisp in the oven and give the fish a little smoky kick. He considers this the correct version. I have stopped arguing.
The tool
What’s for Dinner? The French Way
Tell him the day, the table and the time. He gives you one dish, the recipe and the wine.
Tell me what to cookWhy roast chicken on Sunday?
Because the potatoes cook underneath it, in the fat, and that is the actual point of the chicken. Sunday lunch is the meal of the week. Sunday dinner is a soft-boiled egg and an early night. When there is no chicken, there is gratin dauphinois, and a green salad with the only dressing in the house.
Is this different from American meal planning?
Completely. American meal planning is a spreadsheet you fill in on Sunday and abandon by Wednesday. The French week is not a plan you make. It is a default you are born into, so there is nothing to abandon.
What should I cook tonight?
Tell him what day it is, how many are at the table and how long you have. He will give you one dish, the recipe and the wine. Ask him what is for dinner.
Questions, answered
Do French people eat the same dinner on the same day every week?
Not exactly, but the day sets the default. Fish on Friday and roast chicken on Sunday are the two firmest habits, and Monday dinner is usually built from Sunday’s leftovers.
Why do the French eat fish on Friday?
It began as a Catholic rule against eating meat on Fridays. The religious reason has faded for most families, but the habit stayed, and many French school canteens still serve fish on Fridays.
What is the traditional French Sunday meal?
Roast chicken with potatoes cooked in the pan underneath it, eaten at lunch with the family. Sunday evening is deliberately light: soup, eggs or leftovers.
Still wondering?
Ask my French husband.
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Before you go
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