Marj, I loved it. Sounds just like the thing I would do. I always know best and the more someone tried to advise me the harder I stick to my guns. You can imagine some of the predicaments I have found myself in. Just like Victor when he ended up under the flower pot in the ganden. Brian B Lancashire, UK. brian_bramhall@lineone.net http://website.lineone.net/~brian_bramhall/index.htm ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marged" <marged@btinternet.com> To: <NORTHERN-ENGLAND-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2000 8:14 PM Subject: [NTH-ENG] MAD FRENCH COW DISEASE > Well, I've got my name down for French Mad Cow Disease. I was going to write > that in French, but I think my brain has started to go already. > > A year or two ago we were on holiday in Paris and ate a few times at a > Restaurant that Don had found in a book called "Pauper's Paris" (don't knock it, > it's a good book, and very appropriate). > > I tried many dishes on their lunch menu. It was one of those places with oil > cloth on the tables and where you sit cheek by jowl with complete strangers, > most of them drunk and/or smoking Gauloise. > > The black pudding was very good, so one day I thought I'd try the Steack Tartare > (their spelling, not mine). > The patron was very determined that I was not going to have it, so I chose > something else. But it was on my mind, so next time we went back, I ordered it > again, and this time I had thought out the French for "No, I am determined to > have the Steack Tartare". > > With a gallic shrug he went off to get it. Well, most of you will know the > punch line. Steack Tartare is raw minced beef, served with a raw egg in half > the shell, plus capers and chips. Oh, and Tabasco sauce in a little bottle. > > I was determined not to let down the British (on this occasion they were > British) and I gamely mixed the raw egg into the mince, sprinkled it with the > various accoutrements, and ate most of it. As I remember it, we were going for > the plane an hour after lunch, and I just had to hope and pray that the > galloping Salmonella didn't hit me, from the egg. I had no fears about the beef > in those days - after all it was French. > > No ill effects resulted, but I know that if M le Patron tries to give me advice > in future, I will try to understand what he is saying and even if I don't, I > won't have what I was trying to order. > > PS - I truly loath and detest egg shell. Won't even eat an egg sandwich made by > someone else in case they didn't get all the egg shell out - and half a one was > on my plate! > > > Marged > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free - checked by AVG anti-virus system . Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.211 / Virus Database: 100 - Release Date: 14/11/2000