FRENCH ECONOMY

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 85, 13 April 1929, Page 20

FRENCH ECONOMY

MADAME GOES SHOPPING

The art of Madamo's shopping is evolved from nor ways of living. We all knew her as the very soul of economy, but nowadays she literally seems to conjure with the dwindling, franc and make an incredibly "little" go a long and tasty way! (writes an English woman in Paris in the London "Evening News"). •

Once a week, in tho early hours, she goes to- the market, followed by her puffing maid of all work. '

The average French family lives in simple; .fashion; for breakfast plenty of coffee, a slice of crusty ■ bread. ■ and butter. ■'"■

' Tho midday meal is the meal of the day. : The French housewife wili start her family off on hors d'oeuvre (the cauliflower, the boans, or the potatoes left over from the previous day seasoned with salad dressing or mayonnaise), a few sardines—radishes or melon if they be inseason. '•■

She may, on the other hand, give them an omelette made savoury by the addition of finely chopped chives and parsley, or a little fish daintily-browned "a.v gratin,',' and this is.surely followed by a wee joint, a grill, or something casseroled. ■■•. The green vegetables are served-separately, improved by butter or delicate sauces. The meal comes to a logical conclusion on a tasty piece of cheese, and is washed down with red or white wine. •

Tea i$ not thought of except amongst the idle and select rich; but children, rich or poor, break the monotony of the afternoon with a slab of. chocolate and a crust of bread. Supper is served at 7 p.m.r-a creamy vegetable soup, a vegetable dish, macaroni- ;or rice (most families have eliminated meat owing 'to its:high teoet), -capped with a

light sweet or some fruit. : But whatever tho fare may be, the greatest care is taken in its preparation' and cooking. The Frenchwoman also has the astounding knack of being able to turn the most simple meal into a.feast at a'minute's notice, and one of her most distinctive traits lies in the facts that she never > wastes—even the water she boils her vegetables iu'is kept and used for soups.