A note to French waiters on how to correctly translate the menu item "petite friture" for your English-speaking customers: it's not as helpful to say "fried fish" as it is to say "fried fishes", or perhaps even "little fried fishies".
Imagine my suprise at having the dish below set in front of me at a cafe in Cassis, France, when I was expecting something more like a whole filet:
"Petite friture". Click for a larger view.
I ordered this dish during a trip in France this May for our 10th wedding anniversary. While petite friture doesn't exactly look appetizing, at least to me, I have to admit that it didn't taste so bad. Nor did any of our waitstaff fit the stereotype of the rude French waiter-- they were all very friendly, and considerably patient with my poor attempts to converse in French.
Comments (1)
November 19, 2009
10:25AM | #
This really brings me back almost 30 years. In 1980, my wife and I were travelling Europe for five weeks on our honeymoon. We Americans decided to have dinner in a charming and romantic beach side eatery, literally right on the sand in Villefranche-sur-Mer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villefranche-sur-Mer). We were on limited funds, so we were looking for a bargain. The menu looked good and it was in our price range. I chose the vegetable lasagna, and my wife the petite friture thinking it was an assortment of fried seafood (scallops, clams, shrimp, etc.) To our surprise, the waiter brings out a dish piled high with tiny fish, each staring at us with those big dead eyes. Being the gallant gentleman, I offered to switch entrées. Growing up in an Italian household, I was used to eating hideous looking seafood, so I had no qualms. Needless to say, I was quite pleased with this delicious surprise. It is one of the more salient and happy memories of our trip, and I thank you for reminding me.