Sunday 23 November 2008

A Rosbif goes shopping

So the butcher says to the man in front of me who is ordering a succulent-looking joint of beef that costs an arm and a leg: "You could always do boeuf à la ficelle like the English do." He looks at me. "You're English aren't you? That's right isn't it?"

I reply: "Haven't got a clue what you're talking about. Really"

He says: "Boeuf à la ficelle. That's what the English do with a joint of beef. They tie it with string and hang it in water and boil it." He looks at me again. "Tell him, they do don't they?" By this time the customer in front is managing to grimace and look superior at the same time.

"Well yes, I've heard of boiled beef, though I've never cooked it myself and you wouldn't do it with an expensive piece of meat like that," I say. "We're not completely mad."

The Frenchman interjects. "Shall I buy some Beaujolais Nouveau or do you want proper wine?" he asks. Laughs all round.

I say: "I thought it had all been sent to England."


PS. I should have said (thank you Dumdad): "Not unless it's Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais."

3 comments:

Dumdad said...

Laugh a minute at your butcher's!

Dumdad said...

Go back to the butcher's and try to work that in!

Iota said...

Um, 'scuse my ignorance, but I'm concluding here that the whole Beaujolais Nouveau thing is for us Brits, and the French laugh at us for it? Right?

On occasions like this, don't you find yourself itching to talk about the fact that we Brits prefer eating beef to eating frogs and snails.