# French (non-France) food help **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642 "2007-01-26T23:01:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/1 "2007-01-26T23:01:58Z")
I have been invited to a dinner party where everyone brings food from a nation that speaks (or maybe, has spoken) French. Obviously French food is on the table (um… up for grabs, um…can be chosen) but that seems rather droll. I think it would be more fun to show up with a Burkina Faso dish, or one from the Seychelles or Madagascar, but I have no idea (a.) where to find recipes or (b.) where to find foods that I could create in these national directions since my wife and I live in a rather rural situation. We could drive about two and a half hours though to find some of the more unique foods to try to adapt. We do have a couple of small Asian Markets and one relatively large Familia Mercado. So does anybody have any ideas where to find this stuff? I was thinking of showing up with a coconut and saying it was something you would eat in the Seychelles (My wife is the cook in our family). Yes, she is helping (read; keep me from destroying the kitchen and injuring her cats) cook our portion of the meal. TV ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/2 "2007-01-26T23:05:18Z")
Think Caribbean: Anguilla, Martinique, Saint Martin, Guadeloupe. Lots of great dishes from the islands, mon! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/3 "2007-01-26T23:13:09Z")
[QUOTE=TV time] I think it would be more fun to show up with a Burkina Faso dish, or one from the Seychelles or Madagascar [/QUOTE] [Hissing Cockroach](http://www.rfadventures.com/hissing_cockroach.htm) Casserole, mmm mmm! And since they eat cat food, you can fatten them up nicely in the days before the Big Bake. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/4 "2007-01-26T23:44:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Cockroaches can live up to one month without food! > > There are over 3,000 species of cockroaches on earth! > > Roaches smell & feel using their antennae > > Cockroaches spend most of their time resting **Doug** , except for the part about being able to “live up to one month without food,” it sounds a lot like my in-laws. **Silenus** Any sites with explanations how to make the stuff or find stuff to make it in rural Colorado? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/5 "2007-01-26T23:46:48Z")
Start [here](http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Cooking%20by%20Country/West%20Indies.htm). Then go [here](http://www.mbctv.com/cheftell/carribean.html). Then maybe [here](http://allrecipes.com/recipes/world-cuisine/latin-america/caribbean/main.aspx). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/6 "2007-01-27T01:08:16Z")
Bring some Vietnamese, the original fusion cuisine. Go with some spring rolls with shrimp (not fried), or the killer bahn mi sandwiches, or make some pho. I’ve been told that tossing some chuck roast into a pressure cooker to make pho is a lot easier than cooking marrow bones for 12 hours. This is how I’m going to try to make it next time. In any case, if you are going to make pho, you may as well make it huge quantities for a bunch of people. On the other hand, rice noodles may be a bit hard to come by in rural Colorado. Or make some bouillabaisse. I know you are pretty far from an ocean, but that shit is to die for. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/7 "2007-01-27T02:04:56Z")
What about Moroccan or other North African? Most of the ingredients shouldn’t be horribly difficult to find. [This one](http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/231597) looks pretty fabulous, and the only ingredient I can imagine having a hard time finding might be the couscous, and you could always serve it with rice instead. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/8 "2007-01-27T02:49:05Z")
How about Canadian? Tourtiere, Butter Tarts, Nanaimo Bars? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/9 "2007-01-27T13:25:09Z")
Cajun cooking? Good French influence, _non, ma chere_? ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/10 "2007-01-27T16:27:00Z")
Thanks people! **Silenus** - some very good ones. **Darryl** - The only problem with the Vietnamese suggestion is that one of the couples coming to this dinner is (was) Vietnamese, and I sort of figured that they could be left with that form of food. As for the bouillaisse, that is a great suggestion, but my worries there is the needed seafood and since most people are somewhat familiar with it, it will be kind of obvious if I do a bad job of it. With more obscure food, I can always say, “yeah, that’s the way it’s supposed to taste. You know those Burkina Fasoites, terrible taste in food.” **Eva** - Looking very good and doable and one of my neighbors has goats. Mind you, I’ve never rustled a goat before, but it has definite potential. Before you call my local sheriff, I won’t really rustle it. **Ginger** - I hate to show my ignorance of the great history of Canadian cuisine, but what are those things? **Ivory** - Very good idea but the only Cajun food (other than the ones in **silensus’s** cite) is gumbo. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/11 "2007-01-27T16:40:27Z")
Tourtiere is a traditional Quebec meat pie that can be served as appetizer. [Here](http://frenchfood.about.com/od/frenchcanadian/r/tourtierepotato.htm) is a recipe for the Sagenay-Lac-St-Jean version of it. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/12 "2007-01-28T01:15:05Z")
Butter tarts are a pastry with a gooey centre made of butter, eggs, brown sugar and milk, raisins and walnut pieces. Nanaimo bars are an overly sweet bar with a solid chocolate layer on top of a layer of custard and bottom layer of graham cracker, coconut, walnuts, chocolate and some other things I can’t remember just now. I have recipes for both if you’re so inclined. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/13 "2007-01-28T01:48:45Z")
POUTINE!!! (sometimes I wish I weren’t vegetarian. A 2500-calorie snack makes me feel that way.) ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/14 "2007-01-28T03:01:51Z")
Poisson cru from Tahiti, which is sort of a ceviche made of raw fish, lime juice, and coconut milk. I’ve wanted to try it ever since reading about it in Michener’s _Hawaii_. I’ve read that good quality raw tuna makes a topnotch poisson cru. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/15 "2007-01-31T15:27:10Z")
Cook something Cameroonian! Ack! Don’t have any recipes on me and I gotta get out of the cybercafe and to the market before the banana man leaves. Bon chance! ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/16 "2007-01-31T16:58:19Z")
Steak and Kidney pudding, toad in the hole, bubble and squeek 🙂 (1066 and all that got the Brittish toffs speaking French for a few hundred years) ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/17 "2007-01-31T21:53:48Z")
In relation to **even sven** ’s suggestion of Cameroonian cuisine, if you can make the trek up to Aurora, there is a restaurant there called Le Baobab that serves Senegalese food. I believe there is also an African market nearby that would have ingredients you would need. So you both be able to get ingredients and then taste what the dishes are supposed to taste like. I believe the restaurant is around the Colfax and Havana area. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/18 "2007-01-31T22:05:35Z")
How about cuisine from Pondicherry? There are some recipes [here](http://www.pondicherry.com/2000jun/recipes/recipes.shtml). ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-non-france-food-help/389642/19 "2007-01-31T22:21:18Z")
[QUOTE=detop] Tourtiere is a traditional Quebec meat pie that can be served as appetizer. [Here](http://frenchfood.about.com/od/frenchcanadian/r/tourtierepotato.htm) is a recipe for the Sagenay-Lac-St-Jean version of it. [/QUOTE] This is looking very good. Actually I was lobbying for something more complex but my wife said, “Not even you can screw this up.” She may be underestimating my ability to screw things up. But personally, I think that is the fun of this sort of party. Sure things get messed up, but that’s when food becomes fun (well, that and when someone starts throwing it).