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Food prefs. due to religious options

We do not eat any shellfish, bottom feeder fish (catfish etc) or pork . How difficult is this on the trips to France, and what we should know?

Posted by
2398 posts

I don't like fish at all and never have trouble finding delicious food in France. And you can easily avoid pork. Beef, lamb, poultry, of all sorts, fish such as trout or sole or salmon, egg dishes, and vegetarian and vegan meals are available. Surprise, surprise, there are even some French people who don't care for fish, and finding a kosher or halal meal is very doable.
Bon appetit!

Posted by
6464 posts

Not difficult at all. You will find many options that you can eat. Either learn the French words for the foods you want to avoid, or get a menu translator. In a pinch, with the Google Translate app, you can use your phone's camera to translate.

Posted by
4248 posts

My sister has traveled with me to France, specifically Paris, twice and she follows the same restrictions you mention for religious reasons and she has not had any problems. She just asks questions and orders accordingly. It did not appear to be difficult for her to find meals in restaurants.

Posted by
3392 posts

If you are taking a tour, tell the tour guide of any dietary restrictions. They deal with requests of that nature frequently and would be able to accommodate any reasonable requests.

Posted by
1973 posts

I've often thought it would be particularly difficult to honor Halal and kosher dietary strictures in France, since pork and shellfish are so prominently featured in French cuisine. Nonetheless, chicken, duck and beef, not to mention a broader range of fowl, are also commonly found on French restaurant menus. I'm not familiar with the restriction on bottom feeding fish (are halibut and flounder prohibited?), but other sea and freshwater fish should be easily found. I'll reiterate that French restaurants usually are pretty good with dietary restrictions, though perhaps less so than Germany and other northern European countries.

Posted by
4 posts

You really shouldn't have a problem at all as most French restaurants have a good variety of dishes on offer. You can almost always find dishes with beef, lamb, chicken, duck, salmon etc on menus. Being vegan or gluten / dairy free can be a bit more challenging but what you have mentioned should not be in any way restrictive.

Posted by
294 posts

The only issue is the amount of dishes that sometimes have unexpected bacon in them. It's a joke in my family that the French consider bacon a vegetable.

Posted by
7575 posts

France has a sizeable Jewish population and a large Muslim population, so such food preferences will not be seen as unusual, especially the no-pork aspect.

Your main worry will be "surprise bacon", especially in salads: feel free to specify that you do not eat pork.
Otherwise:

  • Pork fat is not used in cooking
  • Surprise shellfish is not a thing, except perhaps in some sauces for fish dishes but it will be clear since shellfish is an allergen with mandatory declaration
  • Most fish eaten in France is kosher (I am assuming that this is what you are looking for, sorry if my assumption is wrong!), with the following main exceptions:

-- Lotte (monkfish), this one is fairly common in restaurants esp. in Brittany
-- Raie (skate), a common staple of Parisian brasseries
-- Turbot, a less frequent, usually expensive meal
-- Congre & Anguille (eel and conger eel), not common at all on its own in restaurants but congre is often an ingredient in fish soup

If you were indeed referring to Jewish food restrictions, this list could be helpful: https://www.consistoire.org/poissons-autorises/
And if not, sorry again!

Posted by
127 posts

Just traveled in Paris and the south with my cousin who doesn't like any seafood, and it wasn't a problem (presuming you don't go to a raw bar, hah). I've also traveled with people who don't eat pork and they avoided it easily.

Posted by
2 posts

Yes, kosher style. We ARE going on a tour.
FYI , fish requirements: fish must have scales . Can’t have shark, octopus, shellfish, bottom feeders such as shrimp, etc. Interestingly sturgeon is also forbidden.

Posted by
7575 posts

Yes, kosher style. We ARE going on a tour.
FYI , fish requirements: fish must have scales . Can’t have shark, octopus, shellfish, bottom feeders such as shrimp, etc. Interestingly sturgeon is also forbidden.

I thought so, then the list of fish I shared above should be the correct one! Octopus, shrimp, crab et al aren't fish and are of course excluded.

Posted by
23519 posts

Kosher "style" but not kosher because you dont care about the source or prep. Otherwise I would say that I found quite a few kosher restaurants in Paris. Some were quite excellent. But its been a few years and the world has changed. Enjoy your trip. G-d bless and keep you safe.