Meals range from the very basic, such as the traditional baguette plus cheese plus inexpensive wine, to very elaborate affairs than can involve a dozen courses and different wines consumed over several hours. Obviously, the latter type of dining is exceptional for most people. However, it is this more sophisticated dining which is typically found in "French restaurants" outside France, giving many foreigners the mistaken impression that French food is heavy and complicated. In fact, much of the French cuisine is fairly simple, relying on high quality fresh ingredients and loving preparation rather than complex recipes.
法國菜是極為不同的，只有中國有類似的各種食品。該品種是由法國支持的熱情好糧食的所有形式，法國的非凡的各種不同的地域和氣候條件下，支持當地生產的所有類型的原料，和法國的長期和不同的歷史。從許多方面來說，了解法國文化的糧食是壹個了解法國本身。
膳食範圍從非常基本的，如傳統的面包加奶酪加上廉價的葡萄酒，以極其復雜事務比可能涉及12個課程和不同的葡萄酒消費超過幾個小時。顯然，後壹類是特殊的飲食對大多數人。然而，正是這種更先進的餐飲通常是在“法國餐廳”在法國以外，使許多外國人的錯誤印象，以為法國食品是沈重而復雜的。事實上，許多法國菜很簡單，依靠高品質的新鮮素材和愛好，而不是復雜的準備菜譜。