This French dessert choice is perfect for greedy, indecisive people like you
I’m really indecisive – I think. Or actually maybe I’m just open-minded, and able to see the good in multiple possibilities? Difficult to say… What it boils down to, however, is that it is difficult for me to settle on just one thing, which is one of the reasons I’ll never get a tattoo (impossible to decide between Tupac as a unicorn or Louis Theroux) but which also makes eating out stressful. There are simply too many decisions to make.
The first hurdle is choosing where to go because when we eat out it’s inevitably in Paris where – guess what – they’re not exactly gagging for restaurants. Faced with a kaleidoscope of possibilities, how does one decide how to fill the old pie hole? I can’t think of a cuisine that I’m not happy to get fat on. French? Bien sûr. Indian? Curry me up. Vietnamese? Yes, please. Chechen-Moldovian-Paraguyan fusion? I’m hungry and unfussy, let’s go!
Having chosen somewhere to eat, the second obstacle is the menu itself. Being handed a one that is as thick as the Doomsday book fills me with despair. Pages of possibilities with each item having to be examined and assessed IN FRENCH – I’ve got to read through all of that? I don’t take my lunch to the library, don’t expect me to read in a restaurant.
Menus needn’t be complicated. Ideally, they should all go something like this:
- Red meat option
- Another red meat option
- Safe/boring chicken choice
- Fish for dieters
- Vegetarian (you only get one, soz)
- Something weird I’ll never choose
That’s all you need, ever. OK, you might not get exactly what you want but there is a lot to be said for getting 75% of what you want, shutting up, and getting on with becoming mildly sozzled on the wine. Luckily last night was one of those occasions where we barely looked at the menu. Having seen what the people behind us were eating, it was a simple case of:
via GIPHY
(Steaks that you cook by yourself on stone slabs, if you’re interested. Outrageously good.)
Mains taken care of, we were left with the dessert. Now I don’t have a massive sweet tooth. Faced with a choice between pork or apple pie, I’d go piggy every time. That being said, I do like desserts in restaurants, perhaps because I rarely eat them at home. But, again, the agony of choice! To give an indication of my catholic tastes, my favourite flavour of ice cream is vanillapistachiochocolatestrawberrycaramelemon, ooh, and I also adore mint choc chip and rum ‘n’ raisin.
And this is where the French are light years ahead of us, once again, in culinary matters. Because French restaurants frequently offer a dessert option that is perfect for people with slutty palates that just can’t say Non. Introducing the café gourmand.
Photo credit: Rudolf Simon, via Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0
Now the name of this dessert could be off-putting to non-Frenchies because it sounds like you will just be ordering a coffee. And while you do get a coffee, it is what comes with the coffee that makes it so special and gives reason for the “gourmand” or “food lover” name. Because with your coffee, you get a selection of around four mini desserts, normally samples of the dessert options you couldn’t decide between. To give an example, last night I was served chocolate mousse, cheesecake, carrot cake and a fruit salad with my espresso.
And I do mean mini portions – you’re not going to win a “I ate the whole damn thing” T-shirt for finishing your plate – three spoonfuls of each and you’re done. So next time you’re agonising over desserts, remember the café gourmand – as satisfying to the curiosity as it is to the belly.
Image par Victoria Al-Taie de Pixabay
