Le Goûter
Between revising the menu on the chalkboard and handling the delivery of wine- which was late again and I must make a note of checking into his fournisseur, I’ve allowed myself a few moments to reminisce about one my favorite childhood moments, le goûter.
Rushing home from school in Paris, meant jumping on a few buses including the No.43 which would cruise down l’Avenue du Roule all the while carefully dodging the inevitable thrown cartable or bookbag belonging to my one of my older brothers. Getting home in one piece also meant we called a truce on our antics at least long enough so as to have our goûter and then, theoretically, on to our studies. Well, hitting the books wasn’t always the expected by-product of a delicious goûter, but some continued guerrila warfare surely was. Sometimes there were unavoidable distractions which made it impossible to really want to study. How could you pass up an opportunity to throw une bombe algérienne, a petard (or in other words a version of a firecracker slightly smaller than an M80) which would, upon hitting the pavement, explode to our dearest delight. No need for matches. We worked efficiently that way. Perhaps you can appreciate the beauty in all of this; targets were plentiful, peace loving little old ladies and gentlement usually on their way home and carrying their groceries and, last but not least, moving at a convenient pace giving us enough time to figure out our target resolution. They had no idea what lay in store for them from three little voyous just two flights up. But I digresse.
Please understand, that le goûter is not just an iddle word that a couple of elèves or students came up with. No, I believe the Académie Francaise – that stately body and keeper of the French language surely must have given it some thought. Anyway, le goûter also known as « quatre heures » is considered as a light meal usually taken near the end of the afternoon, usually by children around 16h30 after they get home from school. Let there be no misunderstanding, this meal is not only for children according to some sources but considered as something quite necessary for those with special dietary needs: adolescents, pregnant women- or those nursing, those engaging in sports and the elderly. How French is that?
Back “when” (that’s a sufficient timeline) I remember that le Goûter usually consisted of a slice of baguette with butter and one or more pieces of chocolate shoved in and handed out. I think of le Goûter as a moveable feast. One is not dictated how to sit, where to sit, what to say and what to do. Non non mes amis, le Goûter can be had at the beach while all wraped up in a beach towel and clutching a sand-filled butter, bread and chocolate sandwich. It simply is the best thing on earth at least it was for me. It is a subset of a casse-croute!
For a lot of people these day’s it seems a lot simpler to take care of Goûter by buying a petit pain au chocolat. I think that is fine with me. That little masterpiece of French cusisine takes the hunk of bread and chocolate concept and turns it into a delicious buttery, flacky crust wrapped around a large piece of melted chocolate. There is not a day that goes by when think of those wonderful bakeries.. Bonjour Monsieur, Bonjour Madame…