Lagniappe is a French word, but it's not the French of France, but of Louisiana. It means a little extra added to what you give your client-- like the thirteenth donut. It's a nice custom but not one I've seen in France.
Today I had 40 minutes to kill and not enough time to go home, so I stopped into my favorite local pâtisserie, one I missed terribly when I was in the U.S. Over the years I have become friendly with the owner, who once invited me to visit her bakery in the basement, an invitation I keep meaning to take up.
"An éclair au chocolat and a café, please," I said to the barman. I actually really wanted a café au lait (called grand crème in Paris); but no one in Paris drinks anything but an express after noon, and I have picked up the habit.
"Balsssssa!" called the barman to the waiter. "Un éclair au chocolat pour la dame!"
The owner, behind the pâtisserie counter, looked up, saw me, and waved. Then she put a macaron au chocolat on a plate and brought it over. "It's the last one," she explained. Lagniappe! Sometimes it's so nice to have lived here a long time....
Isn't an amuse-gueule a lagniappe? At least it is to me. I'm always surprised when I'm given one before a meal.
Posted by: chrissoup | 30 January 2011 at 17:43
I never thought of it that way, but I guess an amuse-gueule is a kind of lagniappe, isn't it?
Posted by: Sedulia | 31 January 2011 at 12:24