French rail workers to stop pretending to work

[jonesthecurl]

The only eating I really loved in England was kebab[sp?] some steaks we cooked on a havachi, food from a couple of random Chinese places my wife said were too expensive to enjoy and potatoes roasted by her friend that were unbelievably good.

However I never made it to London, some food looked good there on https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/the-layover which we happened to watch yesterday.

I have enjoyed Big Macs in France as they are the best I have had of that variety in the world. I would have burgers in France often if I could. My favorite things there were mussels as part of a wedding feast that I over indulged in at a small Inn. http://lemasdujuge-maillane.com Some cheese I bought from a guy at a small village weekly market. The free bread, cheese and jam they gave us at most hotels for small meal of the day back in 2000. Now I want to go back to France pretty bad.

As the dominant animals at my grandma's farm we killed some cows and ate them every few years. One of my uncles by marriage wanted to eat some brains. I don't even know if he did or not. I was told it was gross and I wouldn't like it. I think my mom was unable to get one out intact so it never worked.

This was quite a while ago. Maybe now there is a YouTube tutorial video on, how to remove a cow brain and cook it just like...

Do you cook yourself? Would you like the recipe for the roast potatoes? It's not that difficult.

[2dimes]

I'll take your recipe and we have made great roast post potatoes, Ann's are something no one else has been able to pull off.

It's like garlic fries at The Palamino, there is something about the process we can't duplicate. Might be a particular seasoned cooking vessel.

My main point is I'll eat a burger in France given a chance. Probably even England though on the island I'd choose chicken or kebab.

[mrswdk]

Fried chicken shops are next level awesome, if you get a good one.

[2dimes]

Fried chicken shops are next level awesome, if you get a good one.

Oh yeah, that's a given. I agree with the late great Ralphie May, "Fried chicken is awesome!"

That reminds me, we went to a chippy first trip. It was not great but it was perfectly acceptable eating.

[mrswdk]

They can vary in quality a lot. Some are great, some are just shit.

[tkr4lf]

So much cool stuff to see, so little time/money to do it.

Could easily spend an entire lifetime exploring the world, seeing all the cool things. Hopefully reincarnation is real, otherwise I'll never be able to see it all.



And yes, fried chicken is bomb.

Jonesy, I'll take that recipe too if you don't mind. Always down to try new foods and/or methods of cooking those foods.

[mrswdk]

Should try Korean fried chicken, that's next level.

[betiko]

Honestly, the people were probably the worst part of Paris. Of course there were nice people there, but overall, they tended to have a snooty air about them and tended to look down on us because we were American and kinda overweight. Lol, one time this hot ass French girl walked by me and made this disgusted sound as she passed. I felt real good about myself there.

I've heard nice things about the south too though. I'd like to visit Bordeaux and Marseilles, maybe Nice too. I'm sure Toulouse would be cool too. Supposed to be beautiful country out there. But really, I would be going for the cities. I like the architecture and history, culture, etc. I've lived in plenty of naturally beautiful places in my life, so natural beauty doesn't really excite me all that much. The Ozark mountains in northern Arkansas/southern Missouri are quite picturesque. I'd rather see the cathedrals and museums, the castles and the really cool plazas and statues, etc. etc. etc. Notre Dame was probably the coolest manmade thing I've ever seen in my life. Westminster Abbey was really cool too, but it wasn't nearly as beautiful as Notre Dame.

Man, if only I were rich.

What you have to consider, is that french people hate parisians. They are hated everywhere in france because they are rude and feel superior.
I m from Marseille but I lived most my french life in Paris, so I don't have that hate for parisians; and as a parisian I get how the stressed life you live there makes you quite agressive. But then if you go to big stressful cities such as new york, it's a bit of the same. People are not going to bother if you don't blend in.

[betiko]

I'll take your recipe and we have made great roast post potatoes, Ann's are something no one else has been able to pull off.

It's like garlic fries at The Palamino, there is something about the process we can't duplicate. Might be a particular seasoned cooking vessel.

My main point is I'll eat a burger in France given a chance. Probably even England though on the island I'd choose chicken or kebab.

You should try a french burger food chain called "big fernand". All waiters are dressed up as stereotyped french with moustache, all burgers have old school names from the 19th century and they are incredibly good. The best ones i ve eaten yet, but they are quite expensive.

[2dimes]

There is a place called Nona's here $16. My buddy was pretty stoked about his. Mine was dry and left me feeling like I spent three times as much as I should have.

[tkr4lf]

Honestly, the people were probably the worst part of Paris. Of course there were nice people there, but overall, they tended to have a snooty air about them and tended to look down on us because we were American and kinda overweight. Lol, one time this hot ass French girl walked by me and made this disgusted sound as she passed. I felt real good about myself there.

I've heard nice things about the south too though. I'd like to visit Bordeaux and Marseilles, maybe Nice too. I'm sure Toulouse would be cool too. Supposed to be beautiful country out there. But really, I would be going for the cities. I like the architecture and history, culture, etc. I've lived in plenty of naturally beautiful places in my life, so natural beauty doesn't really excite me all that much. The Ozark mountains in northern Arkansas/southern Missouri are quite picturesque. I'd rather see the cathedrals and museums, the castles and the really cool plazas and statues, etc. etc. etc. Notre Dame was probably the coolest manmade thing I've ever seen in my life. Westminster Abbey was really cool too, but it wasn't nearly as beautiful as Notre Dame.

Man, if only I were rich.

What you have to consider, is that french people hate parisians. They are hated everywhere in france because they are rude and feel superior.
I m from Marseille but I lived most my french life in Paris, so I don't have that hate for parisians; and as a parisian I get how the stressed life you live there makes you quite agressive. But then if you go to big stressful cities such as new york, it's a bit of the same. People are not going to bother if you don't blend in.

That makes sense. And I get the stressfulness of the big city, so it really wasn't that big of a deal. I said that the people were the worst part of it, but they weren't bad enough to make me angry about it or not want to go back. Well, that hot chick making that disgusted noise kinda stung a bit, but whatever. I would still go back there in a heart beat. It was a great trip and I loved the city. Really want to go there someday with a nice girl and be all romantic and shit in the city of love. I bet the setting would make for some awesome sex.

[jonesthecurl]

OK, so moving away from awesome sex and back to food, here's how to make a proper "roast potato". Sorry it took a while, but it's tax season and there was some dull stuff to deal with.

Anything marked thus* is optional, but it'll not reach jonesey standards if you don't use it.

First item: What sort of potato?
It needs to be white, it needs to be big (at least 12 oz for each spud) and it needs to be a floury potato not a waxy one. In the UK I would use either a King Edward or a Maris Piper. Haven't quite found the right one here but a Russett will do - at the end of the day, pick a spud that you'd use for a baked/ jacket potato.

Peel the potatoes, and cut them into about 4-oz chunks.

Put on a big pot of water to boil, adding a pinch of salt for each potato and *two strands of saffron per potato, and *1 bay leaf.

Add the chunked potatoes, cover the pan, and turn the temperature down so that it's simmering rather than jumping about.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F ( check if your oven setting really works with an oven thermometer - I couldn't get it right at the current house until I discovered that the temperature control doesn't really work) . Put in the pan that you'll be roasting with, filled with whatever fat you're using. Best is beef dripping, or duck or goose fat - but rapeseed/canola will work fine. Do NOT use EVOO, it burns at too low a temperature. there should be about a quarter inch of fat or oil in the pan.

Once the potatoes have been on for a while, check 'em. After about 10-15 minutes they should not be falling apart, but should be soft enough to stick a fork in easily.

Remove the potatoes from the water. Don't throw the water away, you have the beginning of a great stock right there to make a soup out of later, or even the gravy for the meal you're cooking right now.

Drain 'em, and then dredge 'em with a little flour you've seasoned with small amounts of salt, pepper, and *garlic powder. Sometimes, instead of using flour, I use potato flour or powdered mash.

Now put them in the pan in the hot oil/fat. Careful, they may spit. Spoon fat over the spuds and return to the oven.

After 30 minutes, baste them.

After another 30 minutes they should be just right. Are they golden and crispy on the outside? If yes, perfect. If not, turn up the heat a little and rturn them to the oven for a few minutes while you plate everything else.

[2dimes]

I already figured you couldn't get the right potatoes here. Thanks?

[jonesthecurl]

Welcome. You can get close though - not exactly right, but good enough. If you'd bake it, it'll make a decent roast.

[tkr4lf]

That sounds really good man. Thanks for sharing!

[jonesthecurl]

That sounds really good man. Thanks for sharing!

Having posted it, I had to cook it. Mmmmm.

[tfh182]

The french rail workers may not like to work but the french military is the best in the world. just look back at ww2

[mrswdk]

The french rail workers may not like to work but the french military is the best in the world. just look back at ww2

French military actually had a very powerful gun in WWII called the Big Bertie.

[riskllama]

paris gun was much, much bigger, mrs...

[tkr4lf]

And if you go back further in history, the French were some ferocious fighters. I dunno what happened to them after WWI, but before that, they were a nation of badass warrior-poets like Vivec!

[Dukasaur]

And if you go back further in history, the French were some ferocious fighters. I dunno what happened to them after WWI, but before that, they were a nation of badass warrior-poets like Vivec!

It's difficult to fathom just how much France suffered in WWI. A million and a half died, another million suffered crippling injuries. Overall, 73% of the men drafted suffered at least one war wound. Put another way, more than 4% of the French population were killed or wounded. For the British and the Russians, it was only half of that, 2%. For the Americans, it was one-fortieth of that, about 0.1% Wounds were also more horrible than in previous wars -- with gas attacks and flamethrowers, hundreds of thousands of the wounded were blinded or disfigured or permanently crippled.

Something like 80% of all heavy fighting took place on French soil, almost constantly, from the first day of the war to the last, and much of it was in heavily-populated areas. The incessant artillery barrage levelled entire hills, turned forests into deserts and farmland into swampland. Entire villages and even a few mid-sized towns essentially vanished. Even today, there are districts that are permanently closed to resettlement because you can't put a shovel in the ground without hitting a dead body.

The generation of generals who surrendered in WWII were young officers in WWI. They had all seen the carnage firsthand and been scarred by it. They made a rational decision that they weren't willing to put their country through that kind of suffering a second time. I honestly don't think they can be fairly judged by anyone who hasn't seen what they saw.

[riskllama]

i don't think there was an army on earth when WWII broke out that could've withstood the Germans "lightning war", tbh.

[mrswdk]

Lightning was used by the Greeks not the Germans.

[tkr4lf]

And if you go back further in history, the French were some ferocious fighters. I dunno what happened to them after WWI, but before that, they were a nation of badass warrior-poets like Vivec!

It's difficult to fathom just how much France suffered in WWI. A million and a half died, another million suffered crippling injuries. Overall, 73% of the men drafted suffered at least one war wound. Put another way, more than 4% of the French population were killed or wounded. For the British and the Russians, it was only half of that, 2%. For the Americans, it was one-fortieth of that, about 0.1% Wounds were also more horrible than in previous wars -- with gas attacks and flamethrowers, hundreds of thousands of the wounded were blinded or disfigured or permanently crippled.

Something like 80% of all heavy fighting took place on French soil, almost constantly, from the first day of the war to the last, and much of it was in heavily-populated areas. The incessant artillery barrage levelled entire hills, turned forests into deserts and farmland into swampland. Entire villages and even a few mid-sized towns essentially vanished. Even today, there are districts that are permanently closed to resettlement because you can't put a shovel in the ground without hitting a dead body.

The generation of generals who surrendered in WWII were young officers in WWI. They had all seen the carnage firsthand and been scarred by it. They made a rational decision that they weren't willing to put their country through that kind of suffering a second time. I honestly don't think they can be fairly judged by anyone who hasn't seen what they saw.

Well when you put it like that, it almost sounds reasonable.


Seems like WWI was like the American Civil War but way worse. A case of technology growing faster than military tactics could keep up with, and as a result, way more people died than needed to.



I definitely wouldn't call the French pussies anyway. I mean, they were pretty much the strongest force on the continent for many hundreds of years. And in EU4 it's easy to dominate with them. Wipe out Burgundy and kick the English off the continent and then you're free to do just about whatever you want. Get those badass military national ideas and your forces of about 80k can easily take on Austria/Hungary and the whole of the HRE with no problems. Convince Spain to ally with you and it's possible to take over all of mainland Europe.

[Dukasaur]

Lightning was used by the Greeks not the Germans.

You'd think a China fanboy would know that Lightning was invented by Zhang Jiao!

Seems like WWI was like the American Civil War but way worse. A case of technology growing faster than military tactics could keep up with, and as a result, way more people died than needed to.

Yes, that's a very perceptive comment. Liddell Hart wrote that if European generals had taken the time to study the American Civil War, the carnage of WWI needn't have happened. The big bloodbaths were similar -- masses of infantry or cavalry charging against weaponry that had made mass charges obsolete.