[Timeout]

Have you heard about this new study of obesity differences between France and the U.S.? They concluded that French meal portions are 35% smaller than here.

Now, I thought the French food was good, though not as good as I'd been led to expect. But small portions???? Maybe meals at home. But I thought the restaurant portions were prepostrously large...all over France.

[mountaineer]

I've never found the portions in France to be particularly small - they either were just right or larger than average. My mother reminded me the other day of a restaurant outside Verdun - more of a truck stop, actually - to which I took my parents, where we had massive servings of turkey (the entire leg and thigh) and green beans (an entire plateful) - for lunch! In Germany and Austria, I've also had huge meals, e.g., a wiener schnitzel that hangs over the plate. The difference there, of course, is that people walk more, drive less, and don't snack as much as we do.

[lodwick]

In France, the meal is spread out over time. The portions are small and when done well, are filled with exquisite taste. There is just the right amount of time allowed between courses for digestion to proceed. The whole meal is not heaped on one huge plate to be consumed and delivered to the digestive system in one massive onslaught. Let's face it, there is a sophistication of delivery to the table as well as the digestive system going on here.

This pretty much mirrors our experience in France. That and the walking to and from the restaurants helped. In Vienna we dined at a small local place that was the hang out for taxi drivers - the weiner schnitzel was exactly as Miss M described it. Heaven. (I missed the cream gravy that we use here.)