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Calories in French Food - Healthy Choices for French Dishes, Recipes

French meals at restaurants, outside of France, and French dishes made at home generally have a poor reputation for having high calorie and fat contents. This may be unfounded with reference to traditional foods in France, but may apply to many foreign restaurants that cook very rich meals with large servings because that is what most of the customers want.

If you want to make healthy low calorie choices at French restaurants, it pays to study the menus carefully and the ingredients list for a home cooked dish before deciding what to eat. Some good first choices are of seafood dishes (with 25-30 calories per ounce) and chicken dishes (50 calories per ounce), as opposed to duck, steak and roast beef dishes (100 calories or more per ounce with traditional sauces).

This article aims to help you make healthy choices for French foods by including a list of 'foods to choose' as alternatives to 'foods to avoid'. It also includes a calorie chart as a guide, but note users should always be aware of the servings size when comparing foods in the table.

Some French restaurants have low-calorie menus ('la cuisine allegee'), to help you choose. You can choose delightful meal under 600 calories. For example by selecting: six oysters (55 calories), poached sole with vegetables(212 calories), fricassee of lobster and tomatoes (160 calories) and for dessert fruit and sherbet (160 calories). Simply avoiding those heavenly French sauces ('make heaven wait!') or having them served on the side so you can choose the amount you eat, without overdoing it, can really cut down on the calories. For example broiled turbot fish dish that begins with only 250 calories per serve, can quickly climb to 800-1,000 calories when a half cup of rich sauce is added. As applies to many restaurants and home cooked meals, much depends on the way food is cooked. For example potatoes when steamed, dry roasted or boiled have only a quarter or half the calories of fried potatoes, or those roasted in oil and or piled with heavy cream and cheese sauces. So shown below are some phrases to look for when making healthy choices on menus or recipes.

The French people at home, really savour their food and to take a lot of time over a meal, and consume good home cooked food for pleasure. The French national heritage showcases food, and is built on the reputation of some outstanding French chefs such as Paul Bocuse and George Auguste Escoffier. Surveys by France's Committee for Health Education (CFES) found that about 75% of meals in France are prepared at home and eaten at the family table, three times a day at regular intervals. French tend not to eat front of the television, or eat on the run. They mostly eat slowly, savoring the food, the company and the conversation at every meal. Food is neither fast nor regarded as fuel.

Eating in France is a social activity with many small courses, and lots of time between courses and few snacks. In the US and England, people eat lots of pre-prepared foods, fast-foods and ready-to-eat meals, both in and outside the home. Studies have shown that the French spend more time eating even at McDonalds.

The French also rank quality over quantity and tend to eat smaller portions. Most village in France boasts a bustling local produce markets featuring patties of farm-made chevre, locally made sausages, figs, fennel, vegetables and herbs in season, and local truffles. The French traditionally focus on careful prepared fresh whole foods and unprocessed foods. Research has shown that despite their long meals, they tend to eat less because their portion sizes are much smaller. This applies to meals served in restaurants, portions or supermarket goods, portions specified in cookbooks. One study found that mean portion size in Philadelphia was about 25 % bigger than in Paris. Soft drinks sold in supermarkets in the US was 50 % larger, a hotdog about 65% larger, a carton of yoghurt was 80% bigger and even a croissant is twice the size in Pittsburgh as it is in Paris. 'Upsize me' is a real problem in the US and UK. America and UK are land of giant burgers, buns and pastries. Because people tend to eat what is put in front of them bigger portion sizes mean they will tend to eat more.

The French, in contrast to people in the UK and US, tend to eat fewer snacks between meals. Ironically one reason for this may be their fat-rich diet and foods, eaten in smaller portions may help them feel less hungry between meals.

Things to Avoid to make Healthy Choices

Avoid creamy and cheese based sauces like bernaise, béchamel, veloutee, hollandaise, beurre blanc and mornay, which are all very high in fat and calories.

Look for these warning signs on the menu

• Au Gratin (cooked with cheese)
• Au Berre (cooked with butter)
• Graisse (fat or greased)
• En Croute (wrapped in pastry and cooked)

Instead look for these words on the menu

• Au Jus (cooked in pan juices)
• Au Fines Herbs (coated with herbs)
• Au Natural (cooked simply with no additives or coatings)
• En Papillote (steamed in a paper envelope)
• Rotisserie
• Poached

More details about foods to avoid and others to choose as alternatives are shown below, along with a calorie chart for common French Foods.

Making Healthy Choices

Calories in French Foods and Dishes