I am Australian of mixed British stock, but I came to Beijing after living in France for seven years. Once I got over the initial shock of how different my new home felt, I was surprised to identify many similarities between these two cultures. France and China both have proud language traditions, a long history of cultivating the arts, and *ahem* overly-hierarchical and opaque bureaucratic systems. But best of all, they both have very old and interesting culinary traditions. Here are a couple of dishes that connect these two diverse nations.

Crêpes and Galettes vs Jianbing 煎饼 jiānbǐng 

A classic streetside jianbing (left) and folded savory galette

The first time I saw a jianbing being made street-side in Beijing, I was stunned. Everything from the large round hot plate to the thin wooden tool they use to spread the batter, to the hand gestures as the vendor spooned out the batter and expert flicking movements as she flipped the snack, were exactly the same as I’d seen a million times in a crêpe stand in France. Things only started to get a bit strange when cumin, cilantro, hoisin sauce, and a crispy wafer were folded in. 

Crêpe is kind of a catch-all term for thin pancakes, but in France, savory crêpes are called galettes and are often served as a main meal. Originating from the Brittany coastal region, they can contain a variety of ingredients, such as eggs, spinach, ham, cheese (of course), even pungent andouillette (tripe) sausage for the brave. But unlike jianbing, they are usually served on a plate, and only cooked on one side, with the nice crispy edges folded up to make a neat square. Crêpes, on the other hand, are always sweet. My favorite filling is honey and lemon juice, but Nutella and banana, jam, and even Grand Marnier liqueur are other popular fillings. Sweet crêpes are usually folded up and served on the go, just like a jianbing.

Stinky Cheese vs Stinky Tofu 臭豆腐 chòu dòufu

Delicious stinky Roquefort cheese (left) and squares of chòu dòufu

There are more than 400 different varieties of cheese in France, and the locals are obsessed with the stuff. Some of the more famous stinky varieties include the Pont l’Évêque, which is also one of France’s oldest cheeses having been made in the Normandy region since the 12th century. Pungent blue Roquefort is even older, and easily recognizable for its soft creamy body and blue mold spots, then there is Vieux Lille which is often nicknamed “old stinker” and is renowned for being the strongest smelling of the lot. 

While you’re hard-pressed to find much cheese in China outside of Yunnan and Mongolia, fermented chòu dòufu (lit. stinky tofu) can knock your socks off, and stink out an entire restaurant. However, it generally has a pretty mild flavor so if you can get past the smell, you’re in for a treat. The recently opened Maizidian branch of local Slow Boat Brewery recognized the cross-cultural potential for chou dofu with their new ‘Love the Chou’ burger which combines a chou dofu patty with smelly blue cheese sauce.

Ratatouille vs Chaos Stew 乱炖 Luàn dùn

Late harvest ratatouille (left) and hearty chaos stew

The French may have invented the concept of haute cuisine, but most of the food eaten on a day-to-day basis has much more humble origins. Ratatouille stew was a staple dish in the Provence region of France long before the Disney rat came along, and is a typical late-summer harvest dish, containing tomatoes, zucchini, and bell peppers. 

Dongbei, the Northeast region of China, is known for its no-nonsense fare, and while luàn dùn, amusingly named “chaos stew” generally contains at least one kind of meat, it is very similar to ratatouille in that vegetables are the main focus, and they are both hearty, dense filling meals. Vegetable-wise, chaos stew usually contains potatoes, broad beans, and pungent fermented soybean sauce. Both are dump-and-stew kinds of dishes, great for clearing out the fridge, and while Ratatouille goes well with roasted chicken or a fatty fish, chaos stew is likely to be served with wide flour noodles.

Bigorneaux vs Tianluo 田螺 tiánluó

From the French coast (left) to Canton, sea snails are a hit

Garlicky escargot might be the most famous kind of snail eaten in France, but they are not the only one. In coastal regions bigorneaux, known as periwinkle in English are a popular seaside treat, and are usually boiled in a simple broth of water and lots of pepper. 

Clearly garlic is a good idea because it also features heavily in the Cantonese preparation of these marine gastropods. There are actually a million different ways of calling this dish and snail, but in the south they are usually wok-fried with ginger, garlic, and black bean sauce, rice-wine and soy sauce, and served with steamed rice.

Foie Gras vs Salted Duck Liver 盐水鸭肝 Yánshuǐ yā gān

Classic duck foie gras (left) and Chinese salted duck liver with star anise

Along with horsemeat, foie gras, lit. ‘fatty liver’ has got to be one of the most controversial food products available in France. Made from the liver of either a goose or duck which has been force-fed in order to increase the size and fattiness of their liver, it is considered a delicacy and often served with small pieces of toast on special occasions, such as New Year’s Eve or Christmas. It may also be prepared into mousse, parfait, or pâté. Due to the way the birds are force-fed, foie gras is banned in certain countries and regions around the world, but eating bird liver itself is not exclusive to France. In China, yánshuǐ yā gān, lit. salted duck liver is a delicacy that is often served at duck restaurants. After soaking in fresh water to remove the blood, the liver is boiled in a broth with spices like star anise, peppercorn, ginger, cloves then soaked for 6-10 hours to achieve the distinctive salty taste.

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Images: Wikimedia Commons (1, 2, 3), Flickr (1, 2), Omnivore’s Cookbook, Christophe Certain, The Woks of Life, Eymet Village, Xiachufang,   

French is one of the most spoken languages around the world, trailing only Spanish, Chinese, and of course, English. According to a study by Rutgers University, over 275 million people around the world speak French. It is an official language in 25 countries, and the only language apart from English that is spoken on all seven continents.

With its popularity and international significance, it’s no surprise that French is a second language course in many schools around the world, especially in an international city like Beijing. One such school in the city is the Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB). Although English is the main language of instruction, CISB has always encouraged learning the French language for its students, unsurprising considering that French is one of Canada’s official languages. All students can take French as an elective class from the ninth grade, and the language is widely used in the school’s extracurricular activities and projects.

To find out more about learning French in an international school environment like CISB and the importance of the language in intergovernmental organizations, we talked to Leila Rabord, wh has been CISB’s French teacher for the past three years. She’s been an IB French teacher for 10 years and hails from France’s capital city, Paris.

Leila Rabord

“For international students, the biggest difficulty in learning French is often the verb conjugations and pronunciations,” Rabord says. “To guide students through these difficulties, I only let the students learn a few new conjugations at a time, and encourage them to practice the verb conjugations they already know on a regular basis. This way, it allows them [to]solidify the basics and continually enhance their memory. The best way to learn these verb conjugations is to keep revising them.” She also recalls her students’ incorrect pronunciations when they first started learning French, and the monumental improvements they have made. By adding oral exercises into every unit of study, her students were able to learn how to correctly pronounce within three to four months.

Gradual bits of progress and change like these always gratify her. While teaching methods of regular oral exercises and revision may come across as boring, it pays dividends. She recalls spending countless hours with a student doing mock exam papers and teaching the student how to recognize the verb conjugations. In addition to making use of various school resources such as the library’s extensive French-language book collections, the student worked hard to improve and eventually got a final grade of seven in IB French, the maximum grade. Upon hearing this, Rabord was extremely proud.

Students at CISB

Rabord believes that to have true mastery of a language, one must regularly practice it. Outside of classroom learning and instruction, she recommends spending 30 minutes to one hour every day learning a second, foreign language. She also suggests exploring various means of learning a new language, such as through music, movies, and online videos. Exploring other means of learning would sustain a student’s interest in the language, she says.

French, like English, is an official language used in many intergovernmental organizations around the world, such as the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Red Cross, and the International Court of Justice. Therefore, mastering French is becoming an extremely important skill for students who are interested in working in these organizations in the future. As one of the world’s most visited tourist destinations, France attracts tens of millions of tourists from around the world. In Rabord’s view, knowing even just a little bit of French will make the traveling experience in France (or in any French-speaking country for that matter) more convenient and fun. When traveling to francophone countries, students that learn French will also be able to apply what they have learned into the real world, and greatly enhance their confidence and enthusiasm in expressing themselves through the French language.

Students at CISB

“In today’s globalized world, speaking only one foreign language is not enough. Whether you’re in China or overseas, knowing a few foreign languages can increase your chances of employment. Learning more than one language will not only enrich your thinking but also open your eyes to new cultures,” Rabord says. “More and more companies and organizations are looking to hire talents who have sound cross-cultural understanding and can exercise cultural sensitivity. Learning and mastering different languages will inevitably reinforce these traits.”

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This article is an adapted translation of an article that was originally published on our sister site, jingkids.

Images: jingkids, Unsplash