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Dinner parties

Alpes-Maritimes, 19th of June

Unlike the UK, we do not tend to go out for dinner with friends. Back in Teddington, we would regularly go out for a bite locally or on special occasions drive the 12 miles into London for something a bit special, after checking our bank balance! Here we have found that inviting people over for un dîner à la maison, a dinner party, is the norm. This has given me nightmares, but I am gradually learning that just a simple meal served on a pretty table is all you need – plus the right mix of people.

Fondue memories

I recently invited some French friends over for dinner, and had the good idea of serving a meat fondue, which not only saved me from panicking about the main course, but also added to the general conversation.I put candelabra in the middle of the table and draped them with wild flowers, pretty weeds actually, from the garden, and placed a flower at each place setting. The effect was fresh and summery.

Dinner delights and desasters

I have learnt that one starts generally with la salade, salad, or la viande froide, cold meat. Then we proceed onto the hot meal - la viande, meat, les pommes de terre, potatoes, (not a vegetable in sight!), after which some lettuce with a little dressing cleans one's palate. Then le plateau de fromage, the cheese-board, turns up, usually a goat's cheese and a Camembert. After that follows le dessert, the dessert. If you're lucky it's les fruits, fruit. Now, this is where I went wrong with my first dinner party back in November. In typical English style I served the dessert before the cheese, and was laughed out of the room. I have now learnt the correct way, but have not been allowed to forget it!

Merry mix of people

What is wonderful though is that an invitation to a dinner party covers all ages. One is not just stuck with people of the same age who play golf and whose children go to the same school. Now regularly we arrive at a house to be greeted by people from the ages of 25 to 85 years of age. It is a wonderful mix of knowledge, experience and conversation. Children are not sent upstairs after saying hello to everyone. They all sit at the table with everyone else, listened to if they have something to say, whilst eating the same meal. One of our favourite evenings was a couple of weeks ago, when my friend Marie-Jo celebrated her birthday. We were made to feel very welcome. We met some new neighbours, tried out our French, and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and conversation. I learnt une recette nouvelle, a new receipe, and Ashley smoked the biggest cigar in his life.

Sent by: Janie

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