French cuisine

Diversity

Traditionally, each region of France has its own distinctive cuisine:

• Cuisine from northwest France uses butter, cream, and apples;
• Cuisine from southwest France uses duck fat, foie gras, porcini mushrooms, and gizzards;
• Cuisine from southeast France uses olive oil, herbs, and tomatoes, and shows Italian cuisine influences.
• Cuisine from northern France uses potatoes, pork, endives and beer, and shows Flemish cuisine influences.
• Cuisine from eastern France uses lard, sausages, beer, and sauerkraut, and shows German cuisine influences.

Besides these five general areas, there are many more local cuisines, such as Loire Valley cuisine, Basque cuisine and the cuisine of Roussillon, which is similar to Catalan cuisine. With the movements of population of contemporary life, such regional differences are less noticeable than they used to be, but they are still clearly marked, and one traveling across France will notice significant changes in the ways of cooking and the dishes served. Moreover, recent focus of French consumers on local, countryside food products means that the regional cuisines are experiencing a strong revival in the early 21st century, especially as the slow food movement is gaining popularity.

What is often known outside of France as French cuisine is the traditionally elaborate haute cuisine, served in restaurants for high prices. This cuisine is mostly influenced by the regional cuisines of Lyon and northern France, with a marked touch of refinement. It should be noted, however, that average French people do not eat or prepare this cuisine in their everyday life. As a general rule, elderly people tend to eat the regional cuisine of the region where they are located, while younger people will be more inclined to eat dishes from other regions and foreign dishes.

French wine and French cheese are an integral part of French cuisine, both as ingredients and accompaniments. France is known for its large ranges of wines and cheeses.

Exotic cuisines, particularly Chinese cuisine and Vietnamese cuisine and some dishes from former colonies in Northern Africa have made inroads.

Ingredients

French regional cuisine uses locally grown vegetables. Let us cite:

• potatoes
• green beans
• carrots
• leeks
• turnips
• aubergine
• courgette
• Mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, Porcinis, truffles, and other vegetables, in order of increasing rarity and price.

Common fruits include:

• oranges
• tomatoes
• tangerines
• peaches
• apricots
• apples
• pears

Meats commonly consumed include:

• chicken
• turkey
• duck
• goose, a holiday dish
• beef
• veal
• pork
• mutton and lamb, a holiday dish
• rabbit

Horse meat is available from special butcher stores, but minorities of people consume it.

Seafood commonly consumed includes:

• cod
• sardines, canned
• tuna, canned
• salmon: used to be a luxury food but is now quite common.
• trout
• mussels
• oysters, a holiday dish
• shrimp, calamari etc.

Fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as fish and meat, are purchased either from supermarkets and grocery stores or smaller markets. Street markets are held on certain days in most localities; towns of a certain importance generally have a more permanent covered market in which food shops, especially meat and fish retailers, have better shelter than the periodic street markets. Generally, a street market for vegetables takes places on certain days outside such covered markets.

Present-day food and drink in France For French people, cooking is a part of culture, and cooking and good food are well appreciated. The French generally take a high pride in the cuisine of their country, and some, particularly in the older generations, are reluctant to experiment with foreign dishes.

Famous French Dishes

• Canard au sang
• Baguette
• Blanquette de veau
• Boeuf a la mode
• Coq au Vin
• French Cheeses
• Navarin
• Oysters
• Pot-au-feu
• Steak au poivre
• Soufflé
• Fondue-though very often mistaken as French, this dish is actually a part of Swiss cuisine

  Specialties by region/city

• Alsace:
  • Choucroute garnie (sauerkraut with sausages, salt pork and potatoes)
  • Spätzle
  • Baeckeoffe
  • Kouglof
  • Bredela
  • Beerawecka
  • Mannala

• Alps
  • Raclette (the cheese is melted and served with potatoes, ham and often dried beef)
  • Fondue savoyarde (fondue made with cheese and white wine into which cubes of bread are dipped)
  • Gratin dauphinois
  • Tartiflette (a Savoyard gratin with potatoes, Reblochon cheese, cream and pork)

• Artois-Picardy:
  • andouillette of Cambrai
  • Carbonnade (meat stewed in beer)
  • Potjevlesch (a four-meat terrine)
  • Waterzoï (a sweet water fish stew)
  • Escavêche (a cold terrine of sweet water fish in wine and vinegar)
  • Hochepot (four meats stewed with vegetables)

• Auvergne:
  • Tripoux (tripe 'parcels' in a savoury sauce)
  • Truffade (potatoes sautéed with garlic and young Tomme cheese)
  • Aligot (mashed potatoes blended with young Tomme cheese)
  • Pansette de Gerzat (lamb tripe stewed in wine, shallots and blue cheese)

• Brittany:
  • Crêpes
  • Far Breton (a flan with prunes)
  • Kik ar Fars (boiled pork dinner with a kind of dumpling)
  • Kouign amann (a type of galette made flakey by a very high proportion of butter)

• Burgundy:
  • Boeuf Bourguignon (beef stewed in red wine)
  • Escargots de Bourgogne (snails baked in their shells with parsley butter)
  • Fondue bourguignonne (fondue made with oil in which pieces of meat are cooked)
  • Gougère (cheese in chou pastry)
  • Pochouse (fish stewed in red wine)

• Lorraine:
  • Quiche Lorraine
  • Potée Lorraine
  • Pâté Lorrain

• Côte d'Azur/Provence:
  • Bouillabaisse (a stew of mixed Mediterranean fish, tomatoes, and herbs)
  • Ratatouille (a vegetable stew with sautéed eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, tomato and basil)
  • Pieds paquets Lambs' feet and tripe 'parcels' in a savoury sauce

• Nimes:
  • Brandade de morue (puréed salt cod)

• Normandy:
  • Tripes à la mode de Caen (tripe cooked in cider and calvados)
  • Matelote (fish stewed in cider)

• Southwest:
  • Cassoulet (a dish made with beans, sausages and preserved duck or goose)
  • Foie gras (the liver of a force-fed duck or goose)