13 Signature Dishes for Each Region of France

by Brian Alcamo

As centralized as the French government is, it still gives some powers to regional authorities. Metropolitan France is home to 13 administrative regions. There used to be 22, but reforms reduced that number down to 13, combining historical regions into larger, modern ones. Many people still identify with their smaller, pre-2015 regions, but we’re modern here at JP Linguistics.

French regions don’t have as much legislative power as US states, but they each have their own cultural specialties, especially when it comes to food. Read on to learn about each of metropolitan France’s 13 regions and a few of their iconic dishes. 

A Map of the New 13 Regions of Metropolitan France (since 2015)

Northern France

Hauts-De-France

Hauts-De-France is France’s northernmost region, sharing a border with the sometimes-francophone Belgium. Home to Calais, a major French port city, this region features damp, rainy weather and tons of mussels. When you’re in Hauts-de-France, be sure to grab some moules frites. You won’t be disappointed.

Normandie

Normandy is known for two major exports: apples and Camembert cheese. It's a region that combines seaside culture with the best that Northern France has to offer. Try yourself some moules à la crème normande to get all that Normandy has to offer in one bite. It features local mussels cooked in white wine, garlic, cream, and specialty Norman cider (made from all of those apples).

Île-De-France

Being the political and cultural center of France, Paris and the surrounding Île-De-France region are home to cuisines from all over France and the world. But what about a food native to Île-De-France? Unlike the two other Northern French regions, Île-De-France is landlocked, so seafood is less of a historic culinary staple here. That being said, Île-De-France is known for its deserts. Centuries of entertaining kings and courts means that les sucreries have been well developed here. Try a Paris Brest on your next trip to the capital. It’s a delicate pastry filled will praline cream.

Paris Brest

Eastern France

Grand-Est: 

The Grand-Est region of France is characterized by its gradient of Germanic culture. The further east you go, the more German the region feels. It should then come as no surprise that the capital city of Strasbourg has a cuisine that competes with its architecture for the most German thing in town. When you’re tired of the Quiche Lorraine, be sure to try some baeckeoffe, a casserole made with potatoes, mutton, beef, pork, and white wine. Astuce: we’re pretty sure this is not vegan friendly.

Bourgogne-Franche Comté

Bourgogne, or Burgundy in English, is well known for its wine. Think: chardonnay and pinot noir. The region is also famous for its mustard, being home to capital city Dijon. If you’re in the area, be sure to try some bœuf bourguignon or coq au vin, depending on your meat of choice. Beef or chicken, both taste delicious when cooked in a local red wine.

Auvergne-Rhône Alpes

Auvergne-Rhone Alpes’ capital city of Lyon is often referred to as the gastronomic capital of the world, which means there’s plenty of good food to go around. If you get tired of the haute-cuisine and experimental restaurants, though, try to grab some tartiflette. This potato-based dish from Savoy features lardons, onions, and Reblochon cheese, all served up in a hot skillet.

(If you’re trying to make tartiflette at home in the US, you’ll have to substitute another cheese for Reblochon. The local delicacy is sadly unavailable in the US because it’s made with unpasteurized milk. Some recommend using delice du jura.)

Tartiflette

Central France

Centre-Val de Loire

 Centre-Val de Loire is France’s central-most region, and was a hot spot for royals and riches back in the day. This region is characterized by châteaux and nature galore, home to 3 regional parks and the massive Orléans Forest. To get a taste of this region, try some rillettes, a type of confit made from meat, most commonly from braised pork.

Western France

Bretagne

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: if you’re in Bretagne you better get yourself a crêpe. It’s the homeland of the crêpe. Get one. If you’re looking to change things up, get it made from buckwheat flour. Afterwards, fix it up with savory fillings and call it a galette.

Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Nouvelle-Aquitaine, a region on the Atlantic coast and home to Bordeaux, is known for its rich cuisine. Foie gras is a local delicacy, and so is anything made with duck, really. Nouvelle-Aquitaine is also where the French Basque country lies. If you want to sample a taste of Basque cuisine, try cooking some piperade or poulet basquaise. You won’t be sorry.

Pays de La Loire

The Pays de La Loire region is known for its seaside cuisine, with the long Loire river bringing fish-able territory far into the region. Nantes, the capital, is famous for its beurre blanc, a sauce that now indispensable to many fish meals in and outside of the region. It’s a sauce made from simple, easy-to-find ingredients: shallots, wine vinegar or white wine, unsalted butter, salt and black pepper. Make your own and drizzle it over the fish of your choosing for a DIY nantais meal.

Poulet Basquaise

Southern France

Occitanie

Occitanie, west of Provence, is the southernmost region of mainland France. Its cuisine is influenced by Spain to the south and the wide open Mediterranean sea to the East. When you’re there, be sure to try the cassoulet, a stew made of white beans, lard, pork, and other meats.

Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur

This region is known for its Mediterranean flare. If you weren’t hearing French all the time, you might even think you were in Italy. Lighter on the lard and heavier on the herbs, la cuisine provençale will make your mouth water. Yes, you can (and should) indulge in a ratatouille, but what about trying a pan bagnat? It’s a sandwich that can be fixed up with tuna, hard boiled eggs, and whatever vegetables you have lying around. The key here: let the sandwich sit for a bit so that the bread can soak up all the flavors from the ingredients. 

Corse

Corse, or Corisca, is an island off the coast of France in the Mediterranean. Its cuisine is even more indicative of the Mediterranean lifestyle and diet than Provence. Expect to find plenty of fish, olives, and citrus. Its cuisine is often more similar to that of Italy than of France. Either way, it’s delicious. For a very-Corsican meal, try eating some pulenda, which is polenta made from chestnut flour. It’s a denser component of the Corsican palate, but will leave you perfectly satiated.

Pan Bagnat

That’s It!

Thanks for reading! Which French region has your favorite cuisine? Comment below, and be sure to share this post with your friends.

(Thumbnail photo by amirali mirhashemian)

The Best and Most Authentic French Toast Recipe - Le Pain Perdu

Pain Perdu is a great breakfast or brunch dish that is easy to make, doesn’t ask for much, and taste so good! This French dish, associated with a luxurious and decadent breakfast in America, has not always been so historically. Let’s dive into the history of the French Toast, and look at how to make an authentic Pain Perdu

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French Toast or Pain Perdu?

To answer this question, we need to understand the origin of the dish. People have invented le pain (bread) to live a saucy life! Well, in any way, bread is life, we know it. The symbolism attached to bread is deeply anchored in religion making the disposal of bread in the trash, sacrilegious.

To this day, French people have specific ways of treating bread. There's a way to cut bread, with a special knife (couteau à pain), bread cannot be turned on it’s back, and bread should never been thrown in the trash. Bread can be reused to make breadcrumbs (de la chapelure) to be used in other recipes.

But we are degressing. The creation of the wonderful dish is said to come from this one baker, who was not able to sell his bread and the bread became stale. Since he did not want to throw it away and waste a potential income. Instead, the baker developed a recipe based on eggs and milk and turn the stale bread into a delicious treat, giving it’s name or Pain Perdu (lost bread). So, yes, it is a French invention, but it is not a typical toast. There is a reason behind it. So the real name should be Pain Perdu, but let’s be honest, marketing this name would be a little harder…

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An Authentic Recipe of Pain Perdu

Inspirée d’une recette par Jean-Pierre Coffe

So let’s see what the hype is all about with this recipe and let’s learn a neat secret ingrédient to make the recette more French.

Ingrédients

25 cl de lait (1 cup of milk);
1 cuillère à soupe d’extrait de fleur d’orangers (1 tablespoon of orange flower water);
50 g de sucre de canne roux deux cuillères à soupe (2 tablespoons of brown sugar) ;
un sachet de sucre vanillé (vanilla sugar or vanilla extract) ;
six tranches de pain blanc (6 slices of white bread);
trois gros œufs entiers (3 large eggs);
25 g de beurre (1/3 cup of butter);
1 pincée de sel fin (1 pinch of salt) ;
confiture ou gelée au choix (marmelade or jam).

Recette (Recipe)

1. Dans un saladier, ajoutez le lait, le sucre de canne, le sucre vanillé, et l’eau de fleur d’oranger. (Start by adding the milk, the orange flower water, and sugars in a bowl)

2. Placez les tranches de pain dans un plat creux, mouillez avec le lait sucré, retournez-les pour qu’elles absorbent l’excédent de lait. Laissez reposer pendant quinze minutes. (lay the slices of bread in a hollow dish and pour the sweet milk on the bread, turning them to absorb the excess of milk)

3. Dans une assiette creuse, battez les œufs en omelette avec la pincée de sel et deux cuillères à soupe de sucre. (in a hollow plate, beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar)

4. Faites chauffer un peu de beurre dans une poêle sur feu doux. Trempez six tranches de pain dans les œufs battus, déposez-les dans le beurre chaud ; laissez dorer, retournez et faites dorer l’autre face. (Heat a little bit of butter in a pan). Dip each slice of bread in the beaten eggs and place them in the hot butter. Let them get golden and turn them over.)

5. Servez aussitôt avec les pots de confiture posés sur la table. (serve as soon as possible with your favorite Jam or marmelade)

6. Option: vous pouvez les saupoudrer de sucres glace. (You can also add confectionner sugar on top of a classy effect).

   Bon Appetit!

Let us know how your Pain Perdu turned out! Leave a comment and send us your pictures! Dont forget to tune in on July 14th at 9am for our French Toast demonstration. You can fine the complete line up of events with Time Out New York in this article.

How to Make Croque Madame and Croque Monsieur?

This cheesy and simple sandwich is the perfect Sunday dinner. It goes perfectly with a side of salad and pourquoi pas some home fries. This is a classic bistro food and the easiest way for parents to make dinner or lunch for the kids. In this recipe we are going the classy way and learning how to make a traditional Croque Monsieur with the famous Sauce béchamel!

Where Does Croque Monsieur Come From?

Well, it does come from France and is a typical dish in French Bistros, because it is fast to make. By the way, did you know that the word Bistro comes from the Russian word býstro, meaning “quickly”? When France was occupied by Russia in 1814, Russian soldiers use to come to French restaurants and asked for the food to be made quickly, hence the creation of bistros. So Croque Monsieur made their apparition around 1910 in several bistros and were mentioned by Marcel Proust himself in his book À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs.

This simple sandwich evolved from a simple cheese sandwich to a more exquisite recipe when béchamel sauce was added. It also developed a feminine counterpart with the Croque Madame, which adds an egg à cheval (on top). Some families (AKA mine) used to prefer to put a slice of tomato on top instead of an egg, to make it “healthier”.

Recipe of Croque Monsieur with Béchamel Sauce

Ingrédients (ingredients)

Pour la béchamel (for the béchamel sauce)

• 25 g de beurre (1.5 Tbsp of butter)

• 25 g de farine (1.5 Tbsp of flour)

• 50 cl de lait (2 cups of milk)

• sel, poivre, muscade (salt, pepper, nutmeg)

Pour le Croque Monsieur

• 8 tranches de pain de mie complet (8 slices of whole wheat bread)

• 125 g de Comté fraîchement râpé ou Cantal ou gruyère (1/2 cup of Swiss Cheese)

• 30 g de beurre (2 Tbsp of butter)

• 200 g de jambon blanc (8 -10 slices of ham)

• Noix de muscade (nutmeg)

• Sel (salt)

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1. Commencez par la sauce béchamel. Dans une casserole, faites chauffer le beurre et une fois fondu, ajoutez la farine. Mélangez jusqu’à l’obtention d’un roux. Ajoutez le lait tout en remuant et continuer de mélanger pour que le mélange épaississe. Ajoutez du sel, du poivre et de la muscade salon votre got. Start with the Béchamel Sauce. In a sauce pan, heat the butter and use a whisk to make it melt. Keep on high heat. Once the butter is melted, quickly add the flour and whisk until all is turning into a roux. Then add the milk while whisking and keep mixing until it thickens. Then as salt, pepper and the nutmeg to taste. Set aside.

2. Placez 4 tranches de pain de mie et beurre-les. Ajoutez une fine couche de sauce béchamel et placez le jambon et le fromage rapé. Placez une autre tranche de pain pour fermer le croque monsieur. Lay 4 slices of bread and butter them. Add a thin layer of béchamel sauce, then add the ham and put the cheese on top. Put another slice of bread on top.

3. Ajoutez de la sauce béchamel sur le dessus du sandwich et ajoutez-y du fromage râpé. Faites cuire 10 minutes à 180 degrés Celsius. Add béchamel on top and grated cheese and put in the over for 10 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. Envie d’un Croque Madame? Ajoytez un oeuf (au plat) sur le dessus et voilà ! Want to make it a Croque Madame? Add an over-easy egg on top and voilà!

Bon Appetit!

Let us know how much you love Croque Monsieur in the comments below and don’t hesitate to ask questions or add fun facts, and share with a friend!

3 French Wines You Must Try This Summer

Looking for 3 delicious French wines to sip this summer? Check out these ridiculously yummy bottles below, hand-selected by our wine expert, Jessamine, who studied at Le Cordon Bleu. Below you will find some important tasting notes along with French vocabulary that you can use to impress your friends while saying santé (you can also check out our separate Guide to Saying Cheers in French if you want to the full scoop on a proper santé). One of the best parts of the wines below is that they are available for delivery across the U.S.A. thanks to Scout & Cellar which offers clean, chemical-free wines produced by farmers from around world. We spoke further with one of their consultants, Anne Reilly (also known as Pure Pours), who included some helpful tasting cards so you can clearly see what each bottle is made of. She also let us know that orders over $99 get free U.S.A. shipping and the brand offers quantity discounts. Happy tasting!

Image by Zan

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Rosé

One of the most trendy wines of summer has become the popular Rosé, which is made of handpicked organic red grapes.* You’ll notice its soft pink color, which is created when the juice from those grapes makes contact with the skin during production. This particular Rosé, the ‘2019 L’Original Rosé’ from Provence, France, has an overall fruity* vibe with notes of strawberry*, peach* and white flowers*. If you are sitting under the summer sun, it has just the right amount of crispness so you won’t be feeling like loads of sugar are dampening your tongue. The bottle features grapes that were handpicked at a winery situated within a French national forest in Provence, then placed in temperature-controlled tanks before being bottled. Each bottle costs $22USD and, for our 21+ readers, you can order one to be delivered by visiting Scout & Cellar.

*French terms you should know:
Grape = Raisin, Fruity = Fruité (pronounced [frɥite]), Strawberry = Fraise (pronounced [frɛz]), Peach = Pêche (pronounced [pɛʃ]), Flower = Fleur (pronounced [flœr])

Image: Scout & Cellar

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Sémillon

You may not be immediately familiar with this wine type, but it surely is an underdog that will steal the scene at your next dinner party*. This ‘2018 Soleil Vent Âme’ has a golden greenish tone to its color* which reflects the youth of this grape variety. It has a delicious fruity flavor profile with aromas of fresh-cut mango, green papaya* and nectarine*, all offering a lively experience to the tongue*. The grapes themselves are grown on a 500 acre vineyard located in southwest of France in a region called Aquitaine. In this part of the country, the earth* has a clay-limestone soil which helps retain water and control temperature as the grapes grow. After being handpicked, the grapes are placed in a pneumatic press and fermented for 3 weeks. Just after this process, the wine ages for 15 days on a lees (the yeast deposits that sink to the bottom of a vat) before being bottled. Each bottle costs $25USD and, for our 21+ readers, you can order one to be delivered by visiting Scout & Cellar.

*French terms you should know:
Party = Fête, (pronounced [fɛt]), Color = Couleur (pronounced [kulœr]), Mango = Mangue, Papaya = Papaye, Nectarine = Nectarine, Tongue = Langue, Earth = Terre

Image: Scout & Cellar

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Red Wine (Cabernet Sauvignon + Grenache)

For many people, a bold* red wine is the ticket to savoring the summer. If you are one of those people, this Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache blend is just what you need. A deep cabernet color, this tasty red* wine has bold, earthy notes with hints of strawberry and cherry* offering pleasant acidity,* silky tannins, and a slightly bitter* finish. The grapes themselves are handpicked on a vineyard in the Rhône Valley (in Southern France) and, through production they maintain their earth-like quality without any added chemicals* making this a vegan wine to satisfy all of your guests. Each bottle costs $26USD and, for our 21+ readers, you can order one to be delivered by visiting Scout & Cellar.

*French terms you should know:
Bold (flavor) = Saveur Prononcée, Red = Rouge, Cherry = Cerise, Bitter = Amer, Acidity = Acidité, Chemical = Chimique

Image: Scout & Cellar

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Santé

If you enjoyed this article, don’t forget to tap the little heart icon at the top and share it with your friends. If you are looking for more French tips, be sure to check out our Online French Classes at JP Linguistics or follow us on Instagram for unique LIVE streams and posts that help boost your language and culture skills. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter below to get tips delivered directly to your inbox. À bientôt!

French Wine Takes The Summer Heat

The 2019 summer heat has been particularly devastating across the globe. While the west coast of the USA has repeatedly suffered through long droughts during the summer months, especially California, one of its fellow wine producing countries in Europe is feeling the heat just as badly. Unfortunately, it appears Global Warming is the culprit.

As of August 2019, France’s wine output was expected to fall 12% due to spring frosts that destroyed multiple vineyards and was followed by intense summer heatwaves that the land simply couldn’t handle. That harvest, the overall production was estimated to reach 1.15 billion gallons. This may sound on the surface like a decent harvest, but in actuality, it is down significantly from the 2018 harvest according to the country’s agriculture ministry. 

The short harvest was born with this spring’s cold fronts that killed off young grape clusters or stunted their growth and then experienced a series of heatwaves which withered grapes on the vine, especially in the south.

European and US researchers later determined that July 2019 had been the hottest month on record, however rains in August managed to limit the losses in some areas, so while wine lovers may have to do with a limited selection this season, there are still many French wines that make its way to the market this past November. 

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What this means for summer 2020

With the devastating heat from the 2019 summer affecting the land, the yellow vest protests filling the streets of France since 2018 (affecting employees across France), the increased percentage in U.S.A. tariffs which caused mass orders to cancel and now the 2020 COVID-19 virus quarantine leaving vineyards sparse with employees, the wine market has been hit hard over the past year. Forging into the summer of 2020, wine owners are facing the facts that delays are inevitable, including unveiling the 2019 vintage will be on hold or delayed. People will still have access to ordering wines, having them delivered, or finding them on store shelves, but the future of the industry will be severely affected. Only time will tell just how severe and Wine Spectator has more on the topic.

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We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about why wine lovers across the globe will be Weathering the French Wine Storm for the next season. What do you think farmers can do in the next season to mitigate their losses? Join the conversation below!

How to Make Authentic French Baguettes at home

So you want to make authentic French baguettes at home? We salute you and love that you arrived at this article because we are passionate about this topic. We feel that making bread from home is one skill you can be truly proud of because, in general, bread is such a primordial food that it has become essential to our daily routine. Whether you use it for a sandwich, as the base of a tartine (kind of an open-faced sandwich common in France), or to eat alongside your favorite dip, bread is an incredible item to know how to make on your own. Of course we can get fancy and make authentic French baguettes that are shaped like the ones you see in store windows or add unique ingredients to make something like a focaccia bread (like the Italians), but bread is something we eat almost daily and we want to show you how. In this post, we want to teach you how to make your own authentic French Baguettes along with teaching you some cool French food vocabulary that will help you navigate through other French Recipes. To get started, we’d like to take you on a quick walk down memory lane for some history of the French Baguette. If you'd rather cut to the chase and skip the history and french lesson this time, you can scroll to the bottom for our authentic French Baguettes recipe.

Photo by Mae Mu

The History of the French Baguette

Ask a French person how long baguettes have been a part of their culture and you’ll likely get a very puzzled look. That’s because bread has been such an essential part of French culture and cuisine for so long they probably can not remember. Much like the rest of the world, bread is a key piece of many popular dishes, but the baguette itself is very specific and unique to France. We’ll explain. Originally in France, bread was made of whole wheat and had an earthy, brown color. It was baked in round shapes and sold as une miche (a rounded bread loaf). French people were crazy for bread and it made up about 98% of what French people consumed in the 18th Century. To put that into perspective, a French person could eat about 3 pounds of bread a day!

With this enthusiastic consumption of bread, something unique happened. It became a symbol of the ‘essentials’ and, what was originally a miche bread loaf, became transformed into the shape we know as a lengthy baguette. Why did this happen? In typical French fashion, it was due to the Aristocracy who demanded a form of privileged-bread to please the people in power at the time. Compared to the other types of bread, the baguette would make more croûte (crust) which was a delight for the French elite who did not want to eat as much of la mie (the white part inside the bread). To dig a little deeper and shed light on a not-so-happy topic, there is also an arguable element of racism to the baguette. The French elite had a habit of separating themselves from their own people, including people of color. They had this notion that things looked better white. This was because people associated the color white with things that were pure, high end and of a social ‘ascension.’ If you read between the lines, you can paint your own picture there. Essentially, they tweaked the original recipe, which used whole wheat flour (and would be dark in color) and made it whiter when they would pétrir la pâte (knead the dough) very quickly. This actually stripped away the traditional taste of bread which was preferred outside of Paris. It took a while for all of France to welcome la baguette and, while it was traditionally a Parisian creation, it is now a French cliché and must be eaten within the hour (according to specialists).

Have no fear, in another typical French fashion moment, the people eventually protested. After the French Révolution in 1789, one of the demands of the people of France was Le Pain Égalitaire which would legally force bakers in 1793 to bake the same bread for everyone or they would go to prison. Et voila! This is how the baguette for everyone was (legally) born!

Photo by Florencia Viadana

The Baguette Today

The French Baguette is so popular worldwide that the French Government, along with the la Confédération nationale de la boulangerie-pâtisserie française (The National Confederation of French Bakeries), decided to apply to make the recipe of the French Baguette as an Intangible Heritage at the UNESCO in 2018.

President Emmanuel Macron said: “ La France est un pays d’excellence dans le pain parce que la baguette est enviée dans le monde entier. Il faut en préserver l’excellence et le savoir faire […]” saying that France is a country of excellence in terms of bread and the baguette is envied around the world and we must protect its excellence and savoir-faire.

To sum that up, bread is like a badge of honor for most of France. It is a way to measure the price of things and understand any inflation that might be happening in a said time. There are also subtle taste and style preferences among French people when it comes to bread. Have you ever thought about how you like your bread? Take a look below and let us know how you prefer bread in the comments section at the end of this article:

• Bien cuite - Well Done

• Blanche - White (lightly baked)

• Croustillante (crunchy)

• Complet (whole-wheat)

• De campagne (country style)

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Anatomy of a French Baguette

There is only two things that make up the anatomy of the French Baguette.

1. La mie: the white inside of the baguette. French people refer to la mie as being moelleuse (soft), aérée (airy), or consistante (heavy).
   Loaves of bread that sliced and are made of only la mie, are called, pain de mie.

2. La croûte: the outside part of the baguette, or the crust. The crust of the baguette is what determines how good a baguette is.
   French people refer to la croûte as being croustillante (crunchy).

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An Authentic French Baguette Recipe

Baking bread can be seen as a very difficult task. However, our Founder, JP, wanted to teach you a simple recipe he learned when he was 5 years old growing up in France. With this recipe, you will be able to make warm baguettes croustillantes easily using only 3 ingredients (+ water)! If you prefer, you can watch JP teach you step-by-step how to make baguettes via our Instagram LIVE workshop with Time Out New York or keep scrolling to read the recipe.

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Read the Recipe

Ingredients

• 375 grammes de farine (3 cups of flour)

• 300 ml d’eau tiède (1 1/4 cup of warm water)

• 1 sachet de levure déshydratée (a packet of dry activated yeast)

• 1 cuillère à thé de sel (1 tsp of salt)

Tools Needed

• un saladier (a mixing bowl)

• une cuillère en bois ou une Maryse (a wooden spoon or a spatula)

• un moule à baguette, ou une plaque pour le four (a pan for baguettes or a baking tray)

• un lèchefrite ou une plaque de cuisson (a drip tray or just another baking tray)

Directions

1. Dans un bol, mettez le sachet de levure déshydratée et ajouté une partie des 300ml d’eau tiède pour couvrir. Laissez reposer dix (10) à quinze (15) minutes.

   In a mixing bowl, add the packet of yeast and add a portion of the 300ml of warm water to the mix. Set aside and let it activate for 10 to 15min.

2. Ajoutez le reste de l’eau et la cuillère à café de sel.

   Then, add the rest of the water and the salt. Stir.

3. Ajoutez la farine et mélange avec la Maryse ou la cuillère en bois.

   Add the flour and stir with a spatula.

4. Couvrez le saladier avec un torchon propre.

   Cover the bowl with a clean & wet kitchen towel.

5. Laissez reposer dans le four pendant 1h30 dans votre étuve faite maison.

   Proof the dough for 1 hour and 30minutes in the oven (turned off).

6. Une fois la pâte levée, sortez-la du four et formez vos baguette sur le moule et faites de petites incisions sur le dessus. Humidifier vos baguettes.

   Once the dough has risen, take it out of the oven and shape your baguettes (if the dough is too sticky, you can add a bit of flour). Make small cuts on the top and spray with water so the dough becomes moist again.

7. Mettez votre lèchefrite en bas du four et remplissez-le d’eau. Enfournez les baguettes et faites cuire 25 minutes à 225 degrés Celsius jusqu’à ce que les baguettes soient bien dorées.

   Add water to the oven baking sheet and put it at the bottom of the oven. Bake your baguettes for 25min at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake until golden brown

8. Dégustez !

   Enjoy!

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Merci!

We really hope you enjoyed this article. If you did, click the ‘heart’ icon below and don’t forget to share it with your friends. Now, let’s see what you learned. Click the link below to take our short quiz that reviews some information from this article.

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3 Lesser Known Must-Try French Dishes

France’s influence on the world’s culinary industry can not be overlooked. However, there are some dishes that we think were created so perfectly, they don’t need the latest fusion to keep them relevant. While some may seem “strange” by American standards, these dishes are not only worth trying, they are a must for anyone wishing to immerse themselves in the French way of life!

1. ESCARGOTS A LA BOURGUIGNONNE

This dish is also known in English as herb buttered snails and no one can visit France without trying these. Snails tend to be associated with the French cuisine, and for good reason as they are a staple food of French families during the holidays.

2. STEAK TARTARE

This dish is essentially uncooked beef, that is ground up and blended with other ingredients. It may seem unappetizing or unhealthy, keep in mind that it has evolved a good bit from when the French made it with horse meat. Restaurants that serve this dish are very careful to ensure their meat is safe. and ready for any daring customer to enjoy.

3. FROG LEGS

Photo: Ruocaled

These became a French delicacy after the monks who were banned from eating meat had these qualified as fish. The peasants followed their example and ever since France has been the epicenter of frog leg cuisine. Though it may seem a bit bizarre, locals state the taste and texture are comparable to chicken, so even if you’re weary, you may still be in for a treat.

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Wrangling With French Wine Consumption

France has one of the highest alcohol consumption rates in Europe largely attributed to wine (with just over 50% of the country’s total alcohol consumption). This past Monday, the public health agency and the National Institute of Cancer (INCa) launched a national campaign, with recommendations for the maximum daily intake of alcohol of two glasses per day on non consecutive days. Currently, alcohol is the second-biggest cause for preventable deaths in France after tobacco, killing over 40,000 people each year.

Previously, the daily limit had been set at 2 glasses per day for women and 3 glasses per day for men.

France’s relationship with alcohol has been a long embroiled one as the first-ever campaign to try to get the French to reduce their alcohol consumption in the mid-1950s and encouraged the French to “drink less than a liter of alcohol per meal.” Oddly enough, it wasn’t until 1956 that France banned the serving of alcohol to children under the age of 14 in the school canteens. Prior to that, school children had the right to drink half a liter of wine, cider or beer with their meals. It was only in 1981 that France implemented a total alcohol ban in the country’s schools.

It is safe to say, however, that this recommendation is not going over well with everyone as even France’s Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume suggested that wine “ isn’t like other alcohols” and rarely the cause of binge drinking amongst the youth. “Alcohol addiction is a real problem, notably among young people with binge drinking and so on,” Guillaume said, blaming the problem rather on hard liquor.

French President Emmanuel Macron similarly found himself a target of criticism last year after telling journalists that he drinks wine with both lunch and dinner and has announced that he had no plans to tighten the laws on alcohol advertising during his presidency.

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Financing French Food

 France’s agriculture minister sought to reassure households that food shopping bills would not rise dramatically as an increase in minimum food prices aimed at raising farmers’ incomes came into effect on Friday.

The government had halted the measure in December in the midst of “yellow vest” protests over high living costs. Didier Guillaume, the country’s agriculture minister, noted that prices of goods sold in supermarkets at a discount ( including Nutella, Coca-Cola) would increase a meager 5%.  This all comes part of the “field-to-fork” bill introduced by President Emmanuel Macron to win support among farmers regarding their concerns of being hit by low margins and ending up the victims of retail price wars.

Michel-Edouard Leclerc, CEO of supermarket chain Leclerc, has branded the food price increases a “scam” and said farmers would not see higher prices as the chain typically makes a margin of 30-40 percent on farmers’ products. 

The new legislation includes a 10% increase in the price floor for food products and curbs promotional offers so that retailers cannot discount products by more than 34% of their value which is said to bring the average household shopping bill to increase by anywhere from 50 cents to 3 euros a month.

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Bubbling Over

Champagne.

While many know it as a beloved celebratory beverage, it also has deep roots in the region of, you guessed it, Champagne. However, there was a heavy influence in the surge of the bubbly wine brought on by one of France’s greatest trading neighbors: the English.

In reality, the champaign we enjoy today is much like the beverage the English created by mistake. Benedictine monks were supplying them with still wines from Champagne, red and white wines which were left on the London docks during the sub freezing winters. The wines eventually got cold so they started undergoing a second fermentation causing them to become carbonated.

According to popular belief, Champagne was first created in the 17th century by a monk named Dom Pierre Pérignon, but it was English physician Christopher Merret was the first to describe the second fermentation process in wine to create fizz.

One of the byproducts of fermentation is the release of carbon dioxide gas, which is trapped inside the wine, causing intense pressure to build up, and in the 17th century, pressure inside these weak French wine bottles often caused them to explode. Originally, the French were horrified to find their wine containing bubbles, and considered it a fault, but many wine drinkers started becoming accustomed to the bubbly sensation, and soon Champagne gained its popularity worldwide. The English also rediscovered the use of cork stoppers, once used by the Romans but forgotten for centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. 

Speaking of corks, you may notice that  one of the distinguishing features of champagne is the “muselet” or wire cage fitted over the mouth of a Champagne bottle. This ingenious addition was created in the 19th century to prevent the cork from popping out due to pressure from bubbles.

Though there were ups and downs throughout the history of champagne sales have grown steadily to over 200 million bottles since 1950. The increase in worldwide demand has prompted the French authorities to look into expanding the region's AOC zone to facilitate more production.

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Quick and Easy French Cuisine

If you frequent our Culture Blog, you may remember from “The Absence of French Take Out” that finding authentic French cuisine in a speedy package is no easy task, but this may all change for residents of Portland, Oregon. French Nutrition Coach, Laura Dubroca, has created French Fast Food: a new service that “provides customers with easy and delicious French dinner plans, recipes, and grocery lists with nutrition and flavor in mind.”

For those on the go, this is the solution for healthy meal planning that incorporates traditional French cooking techniques using fresh ingredients and recipes, and easy-to-follow steps. Think of it as France’s answer to Blue Apron if you will.

Fast French Food works as follows:

• Every Thursday, customers that are participating in the program will receive a notification about the five dinner recipes that have been planned for the upcoming week. The five recipes will always include one vegetarian recipe, one extra-fast recipe, and nutrition advice from Laura herself. They will log in to their personal dashboard to access their recipes and printable grocery list.

• Throughout the week, customers will use the easy-to-follow recipes to prepare simple, healthy, and delicious French meals. Each recipe includes a main dish and a side, a combination of herbs that can be used with each meal (to allow for less food waste), and seasonal vegetables and fruits. Recipes average 5-15 minutes of active cooking time, and can be finished and ready to eat within 10-45 minutes total.

Fast French Food provides the tools to create simple budget-friendly meals, and the knowledge for how to live a healthier lifestyle through cooking at home.

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France's Fast Food Epidemic

French food is known to be so amazing that UNESCO has declared it an important part of the world’s cultural heritage. While France’s eating habits have been known around the world for portion control, the use of basic foods and very few processed or fast foods, late last month a new report suggest that 30 million people could be obese in the country by 2030 due to fast food giants such as McDonalds that have begun to be a popular choice in many areas of both urban and suburban France.

Twenty years ago, José Bové, a sheep farmer, famously dismantled a half-built McDonald’s at Millau in southern France starting a national crusade against “la malbouffe” or junk food. However, it has been proven that France loves burgers as a survey published earlier this year by  Gira Conseil has shown that the country’s 66 million people consumed 1.46 billion of them in 2017 and that the famous American export is featured on the menus of 85% of French restaurants.  Bernard Boutboul, Gira Conseil’s managing director, describes the burger’s seemingly unstoppable rise in France as “a euphoria, a craze” that has now started to verge on “hysteria.”

France’s 32,000 fast-food outlets now represent 60% of the entire French restaurant business as healthy food is very rarely cheap in France. The country’s food processing and distribution firms are big and powerful and French eating habits are no longer a model of good eating.

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3 Must Try French Comfort Foods

The French are known across the globe as the masters of decadent dishes. We’ve even highlighted the fact that there is no real French take out in our article “The Absence of French Takeout.”  While most American foodies are familiar with baguettes, croissants and crêpes, French cuisine spans much further. If you're planning a trip to France be sure not to skip these 3 must have dishes. 

Soupe Au Pistou

Photo: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013986-soupe-au-pistou

Soupe au pistou originates in Provence as an example of a vegetarian-friendly dish in the French cuisine. In its original form, the soup includes pancetta, but can be altered to be completely vegan while maintaining the flavors from the tomatoes, white beans, and pasta. Be sure to remember the cup of pistou (the French equivalent to pesto) at the end of the recipe before serving! 

Flamiche

Most Americans are familiar with the brunch standard, quiche, which is basically a pie made of fluffy eggs. Fortunately, French cuisine features many variations on this winning formula, such as flamiche - a French leek pie. Originating in Northern France, flamiche is comprised of a flaky crust (loaded with butter) and a filling that's stuffed with leeks and light on the egg. Unlike a quiche, the flamiche's crust covers the whole pie, so you’ll be able to savor the pastry in every bite.

Canelés

Photo: http://www.eastvillagekitchen.com

Wine may be Bordeaux’s claim to fame, but the region also brought us the delightful custard-filled pastry bites known as canelés. The mini dessert found throughout France contains caramelized rum and vanilla and a soft, yielding, custardy interior and pairs exceptionally well with espresso or a café au lait.

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The Absence Of French Take Out

Let’s face it. We live in an on-demand world and, when it comes to our food, there is no exception. With the ever increasing options in food delivery services comes a hoard of dining trends attempting to appease users of the services. High-end restaurants are now offering customers transportable dining solutions to enjoy in the comfort of their own homes. However there’s one cuisine that’s still largely missing from the flood of food delivery options. 

French Cuisine.

To understand why this is the case, one must get to the root of French eating traditions. A 2010 French survey found that 80% of all meals in France are enjoyed in groups and, the preparation is as much a part of the dining experience as the meal itself.

French culture is very restaurant-focused and it is a prevailing attitude in the community that dining is viewed more as an event rather than just a means for sustenance. The fashion in which the food is plated is also a huge aspect to French cuisine. 

Joachim Borenius, head chef at Sydney’s French-leaning modern Australian restaurant, Bouche on Bridge, stated that he “[doesn’t] think there’s a lot of food that transports well…At the end of the day, I don’t think there’s any benefit for any type of food to be transported.” Borenius believes that while more “canteen-style” foods don’t go bad as quickly, stuffing any French dish into take-out containers would be a tragedy since “A lot of the meals are cooked to be enjoyed as soon as possible [&] when I plate food on the pass, I want it to be with the customer in the next few minutes."

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6 Floors of French Cuisine

San Francisco is putting French food on the map in one of the most innovative ways imaginable. James Beard and chef Claude Le Tohi’s new 6 floor restaurant ONE65, is set to open this coming fall.

ONE65 Patisserie has filled the first and second floors with classic French pastries as well as breakfast and lunch offerings. The third floor will house a casual California/French comfort food, and finally the ONE65 Lounge on floors five and six is the destination for cocktails, fine wine, and spirits, accompanied by fine dining.

Le Tohic left his role as executive chef of Joël Robuchon at the MGM Grand in 2016 after working to earn the restaurant 3 Michelin stars. He then joined the Alexander’s Steakhouse team in 2016 before landing a role in the all star team of ONE65. Le Tohic has designed the bistro’s kitchen entirely around induction cooking. “It’s very comfortable when you work,” meaning it doesn’t get too hot, “and it’s very precise.” This will be supplemented with a charcoal oven and grill which is known for perfectly circulating heat at scorching temperatures. From a front of house perspective, it is estimated that it will take nearly 150 people to effectively run the restaurant. However, a group of very hard working, state-of-the-art dumbwaiters will keep drinks and dishes flowing between all the floors. On the fourth floor lounge, the dumbwaiter will even open into the wine cellar so the team can use it to ferry bottles and glasses up and down.

As a guest, one can expect an evening of decadence starting immediately after embarking on the elevator to the second floor, which will be flooded by the scent and sight of nothing but chocolate. A glass-walled room will showcase the restaurant’s chocolatiers as they make over 24 types of bon bons. “Chocolate is something people like to see,” as Le Tohic says.

Be sure to check the official ONE65 Website as new developments are released.

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The Cost of Meat

The food culture in France has always been one of extremes. From having their food recognized by the international community to fighting outside influence, the French are very proud of what they have to bring to the world of gastronomy. However, vegan activists in France are going for blood, literally, by splashing themselves with fake blood and stoning butchers shops to the point where the French butchers' lobby has sought police protection.

"French consumers are finally waking up, decades after everybody else," Geoffroy Le Guilcher, author of a book on abattoirs and publisher of another on animal rights activism, said. "A new generation of activists is making people realise that even in the land of meat, there is very little that makes the case for having it."

Animal welfare, promoted by prominent figures such as Brigitte Bardot and the magazine 60 Millions d'Amis (60 Million Friends) have lacked broad support in France as animal cruelty is still presented as an unavoidable path to fine gastronomy.

Also, it must be noted that the animal-products industry generates nearly $41.5 billion in revenue annually and has created thousands of jobs. Organisations such as L214 seek to change that, including video-taping and releasing evidence of animal mistreatment.

Greenpeace, which pushes for vegetarian meals in school cafeterias, reported that most of them in France offer meat at each and every meal. France's CFBCT penned a letter to the interior ministry, which represents butchers, said it was worried about media attention to vegan habits and about increasing violent acts against meat vendors. While the French remain among the world's largest consumers of meat, demand has declined gradually for the last 2 decades due to rising health concerns about cancer, cholesterol, and diabetes. Vegetable protein is becoming a substitute, with supermarket sales surging by 80%  in 2016. This is all taking place while the government is putting continued restrictions on how “fake” meat can be labeled, however it hasn’t stopped companies such as Fleury Michon from adding vegan products to their roster.

This dietary trend hasn’t caught on with everyone, especially the butchers' lobby who state that: "a whole part of French culture owes so much to artisan butchers, farmers, fishmongers and cheese shops". And that threat is now right at their doorsteps.

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The Autonomous Pizzaiolo

Robots have become an integral part of almost every industry in the modern world, so it should come as no surprise that pizza robots are now a thing (not robots made of pizza, but ones that make them). 

French start-up, Ekim, is leading the way with the new concept of a pizzaiolo robot. This specific robot, usually sighted in car manufacturing plants, is capable of executing all the steps of preparing, cooking, and boxing the perfect pie. In fact, the robot’s gestures have been synchronized on those of a real-life pizzaiolo (a person who makes pizzas in a pizzeria).

The pizza-making robot can deliver a pizza every 30 seconds and up to 120 pizzas per hour, while a human can, on average, deliver only 40 per hour.

CEO of Ekim, Phillippe Goldman has stated: “Oddly, we are not faster than a pizzaiolo as we make a pizza in 4 minutes and 30 seconds, because the pizzas are made on demand in front of the customer, we take time to cook them well, to put the ingredients. But the robots have three arms, can co-ordinate their tasks and make several pizzas at once.”  

Photo: REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

But it’s not all about being fast. All the ingredients offered to the customers are organic and carefully selected in France and Italy.

The idea sprouted in the heads of two French engineers as they were still in university. Fed up with eating low-quality fast food – the only meals they could afford at the time – they started thinking about a solution which could reconcile rapidity and quality at any hour of the day. Taking inspiration from the vending options available for coffee and snacks, this new system will allow anyone to order a freshly cooked pizza on demand. 

The robot pizza hasn’t left its showroom just outside Paris but Ekim is currently looking for a permanent home for the autonomous pizza maker with plans to franchise their concept in 2019.

As troubling as this may seem to pizzaiolos around the world, Vittorio Monti, head chef of O’Scia pizzeria in central Paris, assures pizza lovers that the art form of the traditional Italian delicacy can not be reproduced by a robot. Although he admits a human will always be more of a financial investment than their robotic counterpart, there is simply no way a robot can truly adapt to the living ingredients necessary to make the perfect pie.

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What's In A Label?

The Académie française is, without a doubt, the authority in the protection of the French language. If you’ve read our article Au Rivoir Smartphones, you can see the depths to which the committee is willing to go to make sure that the language is preserved. 

According to a report by The Independent, French MPs have voted to prohibit the use of language used to describe meat, including the English words "sausage" and "burger," for anything that isn't actually meat. This mirrors an incident in the U.S. where Hellman's & Best Foods wanted to crack down on companies like Hampton Creek and Unilever by asserting that, by law, if a product calls itself mayo, it must have eggs. As one may expect, they were unsuccessful in instituting this linguistic regulation, and have developed their own lines of egg-less mayo.

While good intentioned, this entire cause may be a total French faux pas. While it’s obvious that the origins of the baguette and champagne are obviously and unapologetically French, the origin of the burger may not be so cut and dry. According to Wikipedia, “The exact origin of the hamburger may never be known with any certainty. Most historians believe that it was invented by a cook who placed a Hamburg steak between two slices of bread in a small town in Texas, and others credit the founder of White Castle for developing the "Hamburger Sandwich."

This proposal, however, would not only extend to meat, but also to soy & tofu products marketed as “milk” or “butter”. Wendy Higgins, of Humane Society International, said: "It’s a shame that instead of embracing vegan and vegetarian food, France has adopted a position of defensive paranoia. But ultimately it won’t stop the rise of compassionate eating because the delicious, nutritious, Earth-friendly and ethical benefits will prevail regardless of what you call the products.”

We hope you've enjoyed learning about What's In A Label! Do you think this move by the Académie française is an effective measure or a waste of time? Join the conversation below!

Sampling Goût de France

Now on it’s 4th year as a tradition, restaurants around the world will be joining forces to celebrate French cuisine by offering French-inspired meals as part of "Goût de France / Good France.” 

With 3000 chefs in attendance, Goût de France / Good France aims to unite all types of restaurants from around around the world. The first edition of the international event took place in 2015 soon after UNESCO placed the country’s "Repas gatsronomique des Français" on the World Intangible Heritage list.

Under the program, participating chefs give diners a unique "art de vivre" experience. Each menu will have the opportunity to add diversity to French gastronomy, as chefs are allowed to integrate quality produce from their own country to their menu proposals.

As stated by the official Gout de France website, the goal of the event is to:

"PROMOTE FRENCH TOURISM — in an effort to promote France, this one of a kind diner will take advantage of international visibility, and aim to send a strong message to the world, through dynamic and creative chefs. CARRY THE COLORS OF FRENCH CUISINE WITH PRIDE — it will send messages of strong added values: The message that French cuisine is CONTEMPORARY — Traditional French cuisine is not a dominion of the 21st century culinary scene. Participating chefs are encouraged to blend their own culinary culture to that of France, rather than discounting it. The message that French cuisine is EXCELLENCE — Healthy, Innovative, and Responsible: In addition to representing the heartiness associated with the pleasures of eating, food also becomes the symbol of France’s positive values. Healthy dishes prepared from fresh, seasonal, and local produce, with low fat, salt, and sugar content; Meals for everyone, from bistro to gourmet dining."

Participants  can expect quite the dining experience as each guest will have access to:

• One traditional French aperitif : champagne and gougeres (stuffed or not) or - iced cognac with foie gras

• One cold appetizer

• One hot appetizer

• One fish or shell-fish based course

• One meat or poultry based course

• One or a selection of French cheeses

• One chocolate dessert

• A selection of French wines

• One French liqueur

For a full list of restaurants participating in the event, click below!

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Closing the French Food Loop

In many parts of the world, specifically the most developed nations, there is an ongoing problem regarding how to effectively deal with food waste. However, France’s parliament is leading the way in making this a problem of the past. 

In 2016, France’s parliament unanimously passed a bill stating that supermarkets must donate their leftover edible food to one of France’s 5,000 charities that depend on donations or face large monetary penalties. Since its adoption nearly 2 years ago, France has seen progress in the resolution of issues with food waste, but has not quite solved the problem. According to a 2017 study, approximately one year after the bill had been implemented, in Isère, less than 24% of excess food went to charities.

While there are many possible reasons behind this lack of effectiveness, it is important to remember this is a  new bill and is the first of its kind and officials are looking into ways to improve the outcomes of the ruling in future years. However, despite the less than thrilling results, there was still a significant portion of food donated to charities compared to the 66 pounds of food per person that is wasted each year in France.  Jacques Bailet, head of Banques Alimentaires recently stated in an NPR interview that “There was one food manufacturer that was not authorized to donate the sandwiches it made for a particular supermarket brand. But now, we get 30,000 sandwiches a month from them — sandwiches that used to be thrown away.” 

"Before the 2016 law, French supermarkets typically donated 35,000 metric tons of food annually" stated Jacques Bailet, president of the food bank network Banques Alimentaires.  This law improves not only the quantity of donated food, say experts, but also the quality. Food banks typically are supplied with canned goods, rather than nutritionally valuable foods like meat, vegetables, and fruit.

As the law continues to be revamped, officials are hopeful that, in the future, the percentage of donated food will rise and a new perspective on food waste will come along with it. Ideally, this would be throughout the country of France and across the entire developed world. 

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