French national cuisine. Traditional French cuisine. Other traditional French cuisine

The French regard cooking as an art, and famous chefs are called a kind of poets. They believe that ready-made recipes serve only as a basis for cooking, using which each housewife can bring something of her own and thereby make her dishes special and different from dishes of the same name served in restaurants or in other families.
French cuisine is conventionally divided into three parts:
cuisine regionale - regional cuisine;
cuisine bourgeoise - widespread french cuisine and
haute cuisine - extremely refined cuisine, an example of which was the court kitchen of the French kings at one time.
Simple and homemade cuisine in France is valued no less than dinner at a restaurant.
The concept of "haute cuisine" - that is, gourmet, which is based on complex preparation, unusual products and a special presentation, appeared here. The most famous and revered restaurant rating is the Michelin Red Guide, which is also of French origin.

Regional French cuisine of the southern provinces
(Provence, Languedoc, the Basque region, Gascony) is sharply distinguished by the spiciness of food, the great use of wines and spices in its preparation, especially garlic and onions. Regional cuisine is traditional. If in Provence they add more meat to the meat fragrant herbs, then in Burgundy they will cook it with wine. Has its character traits and Alsatian cuisine, characterized by satiety, more significant use of pork, cabbage. Residents of coastal areas use more seafood in their cuisine - fish, crabs, lobsters, lobsters, shrimp.
Compared to other European countries, French cooking uses less dairy products. The exception is cheeses, famous all over the world. Cheese platter and green salad must be served before dessert.
Another feature of French cuisine is the wide variety of sauces. The English even joke about this: if in England there are three types of sauces and three hundred and sixty types of religion, then in France there are three types of religion and three hundred and sixty recipes for sauces. In fact, it is believed that in French cuisine there are more than 3,000 sauces.
With the help of sauces, French housewives give dishes a certain taste and aroma and, with the composition of the main products unchanged, diversify their food, and if the hostess has pre-cooked broth in the refrigerator, preparing the sauce does not require much time.
The arsenal of spices of the French hostess is somewhat different from ours, namely, the wide use of leeks, tarragon, rosemary. The use of these aromatic herbs is desirable because they give the food a special taste and smell.
Despite the absence in France of valuable sturgeon fish, housewives skillfully cook very inexpensive fish delicious food using a wide variety of gravies and sauces. A characteristic feature of French cuisine is also the widespread use, especially in side dishes for second courses, of vegetables such as artichokes, asparagus, and lettuce.
Characteristic of the French table are omelettes and cheese soufflés, which are cooked with various seasonings and fillings: ham, mushrooms, herbs.
Cooking a good omelette, according to the French, requires special attention. For omelettes choose heavy pans with a very flat bottom. Some experts from the French Academy of Gastronomy recommend: 1) do not cook anything else in the pan that is used for making omelettes; 2) never wash this pan. It is enough to wipe the still hot pan with clean paper with a small amount of coarse salt and lightly oil to prevent rust.

Oysters (Huître)
France is extremely famous for its oysters. From September to April is the oyster season and in every cafe, restaurant you will see people enjoying this delicacy. Oysters are usually eaten alive, sprinkled a little lemon juice. Some people prefer the natural taste, while others use different sauces and seasonings. The most popular oysters are Belon and Marin Oleron. "Wild oysters" are also valued, which are caught in places of high and low tides or near the mouth of rivers. According to existing signs, they can be eaten at any time, except for summer, because at this time they multiply and their meat becomes tough. But the French have developed a new breed of oysters, which are also eaten in the summer months.

Before eating an oyster, you must first open the shell that contains this delicacy. To do this, you will be served a special knife with which you can easily cope with this seemingly difficult problem. To prevent the mollusk from slipping, take it in a napkin, turn the sharp end towards you, and with a slight movement insert the tip of the knife between the narrow slit of the flaps, gently push them apart and remove the surface protective film, cutting it in a circle, then pour the mussel with lemon juice and consume it inside, the citrus aroma perfectly complements its spicy taste. By the way, you can understand that fresh seafood is in front of you when it shrinks, which is a characteristic reaction when an acidic environment is exposed to a living organism.

snails- no less famous French food. They eat two types: burgundy and smaller dark ones. Seasoned with onions, garlic, parsley and other herbs, Burgundy snails are usually served in their own shells. garlic butter and herbs. Sauces and stews are made from the second type of shellfish. But you still need to be able to cook dishes from them. Also in France, grape snails (escargot) and mussels (moule) are highly valued.
Snails are served in ready-made on hot iron utensils and eaten whole, like raw oysters. You can take them with the help of special metal tongs, which are always applicable to the dish. Armed with them in your left hand (if you are right-handed) and a special fork for oysters (usually with one prong) in your right, holding the cornea of ​​the snail with the first device, pull out its contents with the second. Garlic oil in this case will be an excellent component that gives the snails a harmoniously finished taste.

Foie gras
Foie gras is the fatty liver of a goose or duck, one of the favorite French delicacies. The delicate taste of foie gras can be appreciated both in cold and hot dishes. It is also very popular in pickled form. Foie gras is currently banned in many countries of the world, as the method of its production is considered quite cruel, but France is not yet ready to deprive itself of such a taste joy. This dish, one might say new, is only about two hundred years old. However, during this time, the fame of him managed to visit all corners the globe. Spices, pepper and salt are added to the bird's liver, then poured with cognac and left to spend the night on ice. The next morning, truffle and Madeira mushrooms are mixed into it, and everything is ground into a uniform mass. In a water bath, the dish is kept for about one hour in the oven. Pouring goose fat, the product is served on the table in a cold state. There are other recipes for foie gras. To do this, the liver is artificially enlarged in geese.

Frog legs (cuisses de grenouille)
Frog legs are a famous French delicacy now served in a rare restaurant. This is due to the difficulties in cooking and many prohibitions designed to protect the frogs from complete destruction. Back fleshy boneless frog legs are served stewed or fried with various sauces and seasonings. Frog legs taste like chicken meat.
They usually eat them with their hands, taking a limb with their fingers and tearing off a small amount of meat with their teeth, but if the legs are large in size, then it is customary to separate the flesh from the bone with a knife, and only then bring the slices of the delicacy to the mouth using a fork.
As the story goes, this exotic dish was not at all considered a delicacy during the Middle Ages and was the food of poor peasants. Due to the famine that reigned then and, accordingly, the meager diet, this food first took root among the common people, and only then, having already acquired a certain national cult, was it included in the culinary pantheon of France.
A characteristic feature of the French diet is the abundance of vegetables on the dining table. Potatoes, various varieties of onions, green beans, spinach, cabbage of various varieties, tomatoes, eggplants, celery, salads is not a complete list of vegetables from which salads, snacks, side dishes are prepared.
First meal- leek puree soups with potatoes, onion soup seasoned with cheese, clear soups with beef broth, dressing soups, saltworts, Provencal fish soup, fish soup.

Onion soup (soupe à l "oignon gratinée)
The famous French onion soup in meat broth with cheese and croutons was once considered a soup for the poor because of its simple and inexpensive ingredients, but now it is one of the most beloved in Europe. In fact, onion soup is a wonderful dish in all respects: tasty, fragrant, satisfying, warming and giving strength. According to Hemingway, this is a wonderful breakfast for those who have not slept. A bowl of hot onion soup immediately sobers up after a long stormy evening and gives strength for a new working day. This property of onion soup was often used by porters and merchants of the Parisian markets, who began work in the dark. Not for nothing, since time immemorial, when onions were the main ingredient in the soup for Roman soldiers, the low cost and excellent bactericidal properties of this vegetable made it indispensable for the great army. In addition, at that time it was believed that raw onions caused headaches, and stew was the main way to eat onions.
For centuries, onion soup was a frequent dish on the table of the European poor. And only in the 18th century did it become a royal delicacy. According to legend, the inventor of the modern version of onion soup was Louis XV. Caught on a hunt without dinner, he then Onion Soupli himself prepared a soup of onions, butter and champagne.
The recipe was extremely simple: fry a lot of onions in oil, pour champagne, bring to a boil and eat, however, his recipe was very far from what is called French onion soup today.
Another interesting property of French onion soup is an excellent aphrodisiac. It does not have the harsh taste and smell of fresh onions, but most of its beneficial properties are retained. Onions contain vitamins A, C, B6, many minerals: from calcium to rare selenium. Onions even contain protein. And in combination with other ingredients of French onion soup: broth, cheese, croutons, and sometimes with cream and wine, you get a full-fledged tasty dish that inspires romantic exploits. And given the very low calorie content of onions, we can say that this dish is ideal for both passionate men and elegant women.
In fact, the extraordinary taste and aroma of the soup is achieved thanks to a special recipe for caramelizing onions with the addition of wine, cognac, vermouth or sherry.
When preparing many dishes, the French put a small bunch of herbs in the pan, the so-called prefabricated bouquet, bouquet garni, - a small bunch of parsley, dill, bay leaf. Before serving, the bouquet is removed from the food.

bouillabaisse
Bouillabaisse is also known as Marseille fish soup or Marseille fish soup. This is a true legend and pride of Provence. Bouillabaisse - an invention Marseille fishermen, having sold their daily catch, cooked soup in the evening from the remains of this catch. And there were fish, and squids, and shrimp - everything that got into the net during the day. In addition to seafood, vegetables and herbs were added to the soup, which were at hand.
The fame of the delicious soup has spread throughout Europe, and it has become a culinary landmark of Marseille. According to the cooking technology, it can be called an ordinary Russian triple fish soup: first, any small things are boiled, which even a cat will not eat, then larger fish is boiled in the resulting broth, and so on. The difference between bouillabaisse and triple fish soup is in serving, i.e. in its sequence - pieces of baguette, thick garlic sauce and grated cheese are served along with mustard-colored broth.
Pour the broth into a plate (a pot of broth is served on the table), smear a piece of baguette with garlic rui sauce, sprinkle with cheese and put in a plate with broth. So, while drinking white wine, we do until we cover the entire surface of the broth in the plate with these sandwiches. Baguette dry, like croutons. He soaks up the broth. As soon as the plate is filled, without delay, we take a spoon and eat the croutons soaked in soup, because now they will bring a dish of fish that was cooked last in this soup.
Among the many bouillabaisse recipes, two dominate: Normandy and Marseilles. The main difference in them is that potatoes are put in Normandy bouillabaisse, and Marseille bouillabaisse is a rich soup made only from seafood. In restaurants that are located far from Marseille, such fish is delivered by plane specifically for the preparation of this soup.
The main types of fish used to prepare bouillabaisse in restaurants are gurnard, dory, sea scorpion. They give the soup a real Marseille flavor and aroma. Other fish are added to them - only about 7-10 species. Of course, the more different types of fish and other marine life are put into the soup, the richer and tastier it becomes. This is how different recipes for the famous bouillabaisse soup appeared, and it is not surprising that there simply cannot be a single “correct” bouillabaisse.
In regional varieties, calvados, walnut (Normandy) are added to bouillabaisse, acidified with vinegar (Brittany), a bouquet of garni is used as spices, potatoes are added to Toulon bouillabaisse.

Quiche
A traditional French open quiche made from chopped (puff) dough with various fillings is consumed in France as a breakfast, lunch, dinner or in addition to them. The most famous quiche - Lauren - with smoked brisket and Gruyère cheese. Anything can be used as a filling: vegetables, fish, meat, but always combined with eggs, cream and any kind of cheese. Quiche is eaten cold or hot.
Main dishes steak with deep-fried potatoes and steak with blood with a lightly fried crust and almost raw inside. These two dishes are the epitome of French cuisine. The French love that the meat is not overcooked, it must retain the pink juice.
Common white meat stew with white sauce. Among the second courses are sea and freshwater fish (cod, flounder, halibut, mackerel, pike, carp), seafood shrimp, lobsters, scallops. After the second course, cheese is served on the table, and several varieties at once. You can drink cheese only with white or red wine, and in no case with juice or tea.

Rooster in wine (Coq au vin)
Rooster in wine is a classic French dish. In France, fresh or frozen game is used to prepare this dish. Dishes are also prepared from seasoned game. Withstand game in the air (at home outside the window) for several days. The traditional Burgundy recipe uses a whole year old rooster and red Burgundy wine, and it is very important to drink the same wine that was used in cooking while eating the dish. The name of the dish may vary depending on the name of the wine in which the chicken was stewed, it may turn out: coq au Chambertin, coq au Romanee-Conti or any other coq au. Of course, each wine region has its own recipe for rooster in wine.

Croissants
The croissant, along with the baguette, is the most popular type of baked goods in France. It is baked from puff or yeast dough and can be with all sorts of sweet and savory fillings. In fact, the kraussan is not a French "invention" at all, and we must pay tribute to the French, they do not deny this. There are many legends about the origin and form of this unusual bun. In 1863 Ottoman army laid siege to Vienna and then during the retreat, the Turks left a large number of bags of coffee. One Viennese confectioner found these bags and decided to serve fresh fragrant crescent-shaped buns (a symbol of victory over the Turks) with Oriental coffee in his bakery.
In the 19th century, the French radically changed the recipe for baking, they began to bake it from puff yeast dough with butter, which changed taste qualities baking beyond recognition. So it turns out that Viennese and French croissants are similar only in shape, and the recipe for a modern croissant belongs to the French. Its success became so incredible that soon the croissant was called a French bun.
The traditional French breakfast is coffee and croissants, most often of a natural taste, so that they can be cut in half, spread with Normandy butter and homemade jam. Chocolate croissants are also very popular.
E If you have tried French sweets and desserts, then you will forever remain connoisseurs of French cuisine, and the desire to enjoy French desserts will arise again and again. Like everything in France, desserts have their own unique history. We all know that dessert is something sweet, tasty, and unusual, but in France, dessert is a broader concept.
After all, the word dessert itself comes from the old French word "desservir", which meant "to clear the table." Thus, a dessert is a dish that is served after the main one, and it can be sweet, nuts, fruits, berries, juices, pastries.

millefeuil (mille feuille)
The famous French pastry or cake, consisting of three layers of puff pastry, smeared with cream. What is proudly called "Napoleon" in Russia, the countries of Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, in France is poetically called "mille-feuille" (mille-feuille in translation "yarrow") - a divine dessert made from almond cream with berries and fruits between layers of puff pastry .
An important component of millefeuille is puff pastry. It, like a setting for a good diamond, should not interfere with enjoying the dessert, but is designed to slightly complement the unique taste of the filling.
The origin of puff pastry has its own mysterious story. Invented by the Assyrians. Without a refrigerator, this, apparently, was not easy: to cook the dough, it was necessary to roll it out thinly, grease it with butter, sprinkle with flour, put it in an envelope, put it in the cold - and so on several times!
When baking, the oiled layers are separated from each other, and puff pastry is obtained. The country of Assyria has long disappeared from the world map, and the dough invented by its inhabitants still forms the basis of many famous oriental sweets. So, the famous baklava is the same millefeuille! Real baklava for the Sultan should have at least 40 layers - according to the number of favorite wives from the harem. Each wife had to roll out the dough once, put a filling of nuts and spices on it, and the Sultan could already try all this and choose: whose layer is tastier, that is the beloved wife.
Now there are various variations millefeuille recipe: sometimes seasonal fruits or jam, whipped cream, chocolate, powdered sugar and more are added to it. Traditionally, millefeuille is a dessert, but now it is also found in a savory form.

Macarons (macarons)
One of the most famous French delicacies is a delicate but crispy cake. Traditionally, two round biscuits are baked with cream between them, but there are also variations with jam or jam. French pasta comes in a variety of flavors, and you can usually guess it by the color. The most common vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and pistachio. Born in Italy, macaron (macaroon) quickly gained fame at the French court. Marie Antoinette, for example, adored macarons since childhood, and even named her cat after them. On culinary websites, macaroons are made like macaroons, but this recipe is somewhat "outdated": this is how macaroons were made in the 18th century.
Now the recipe for this cake is based on egg whites, almond powder, sugar, sweet ice and salt ... but there is a little trick in its preparation: before baking, the baking sheet is left in the air for about half an hour or an hour, depending on the humidity of the air - then macaroons form a film that protects them from cracking, and a characteristic “skirt” along the edges - croûtage, as the French say.
Each French confectionery has its own secret: for example, the famous Laduree every year invents a new flavor and color of macaroons for true gourmets. Multi-colored crispy rounds, fastened with a delicate cream, are given with pleasure on Valentine's Day and Christmas, lovingly wrapping them in festive packages with ribbon bows.

Cheese (fromage) - take center stage in French cuisine.
Decades ago, French President Charles de Gaulle exclaimed: “How do you govern a country that produces 325 varieties of cheese?” In our time, these data are very outdated: the number of varieties of French cheeses has long exceeded five hundred. What are the reasons for such richness and diversity? Of course, this is a variety of landscapes, from lush and rich pastures near the sea coast to the multi-grass mountain meadows of the Auvergne, Jura and Vosges, where cows of various breeds graze. These are the fertile valleys of the Loire and Rhone, where goats find their livelihood at the edge of the vineyards, and the karst highlands of Provence, Languedoc and the Pyrenees, where only sheep can successfully survive.
But first of all, these are the people themselves, many generations of cheese makers who carefully, diligently and skillfully learned to extract the best from the milk of their animals. And, finally, it's all the French in general: they know how to appreciate the individual taste of their "cheese platter", consider this wealth a part of the famous ability to live (savoir vivre), and enjoy it.
There are a huge number of types of cheese here: salty, sweet, soft, hard, spicy, homemade, with mold, in wine, in salad, on a piece of bread, in soup and thousands more. different ways.
In France, more than 500 types of cheese are produced from cow, goat, sheep and even buffalo milk, different in hardness and all kinds of fat content. Blue cheeses are very popular in France, some of the most famous are Roquefort and Brie. Camembert, Reblochon, Banon, Mimolette, Pont-l "Eveque, Temple and others are also produced here. Cheeses can be served as an appetizer, dessert or as a fondue.

wine
France is a country of wine regions, each of which grows its own grape varieties and, accordingly, produces its own wine. Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Muscat are the most famous varieties wines based on grapes grown in France. Real champagne - one of the favorite women's wines, is produced only in the Champagne region of France. True wine aficionados often prefer subtle French wines.
There is no exact rule when to use white and when red wine. Red wine, however, is more commonly used for meat dishes from domestic and wild animals, and white wine for fish dishes. In home cooking, housewives often do the opposite and experiment. However, some dishes, such as edible shells - moule mariniere or fish dishes with white meat, are cooked only with white wine, because red wine gives them an unpleasant blue tint.
In French cuisine, only grape dry and semi-dry (non-fortified) wines are used. White wine should not be very acidic. In many French cuisine recipes that have now become classics, some non-French wines such as port or sherry are recommended. But the French themselves often replace these wines with their sweet Muscat-type wines. In Normandy, cider, common in this area, is actively used to prepare fish dishes. Cognac in the north of France is often replaced with Calvados (apple brandy), and in Gascony with Armagnac. Our cognacs can be successfully used instead of French cognacs as additions to wines or for arson directly on food, such as meat. To do this, before serving, the finished hot dish is poured over with cognac and set on fire. This gives the food a specific flavor and taste.
Haute French cuisine plays an important role food and drink compatibility. A special science has been created for this. Wine, chosen correctly and a little bit of luck, emphasize the taste qualities of the created dish. Their poor selection only kills the food experience. Many people know that red wine does not go well with white fish, but not everyone realizes that any wine does not go well with nuts, boiled eggs, chocolate, mayonnaise.
Do not drink wine after coffee. Apples enhance its taste, cheese emphasizes its flaws and its virtues. All this comes with experience and the study of special rules. The French recommend drinking white wine before red wine, young wine before old wine, and dry wine before sweet wine. And there are many such rules.
In France, the ability of the hostess to cook food well is a matter of pride for herself and her family members. The French always talk about this with pleasure, and there is a special expression that characterizes a woman who knows how to cook food well - cordon bleu (blue ribbon).
We have long had the French word "gourmet". According to our dictionaries, this is a lover and connoisseur of gourmet dishes.
The French have two words that characterize people who love delicious food in different ways. One of them is the same word gourmet, which is called people who love to be fed up with delicious food. Another word is gourmet. Gourmet - a person who understands the intricacies of gourmet food. This is a culinary connoisseur. A Frenchman is pleased to be considered a gourmet.
French diet includes two breakfasts.
First breakfast - fruit and vegetable juices, eggs, cheese, butter, omelettes (with jam, ham, cheese, mushrooms, herbs, stuffed tomatoes and other side dishes).
Second breakfast (at 12 o'clock) - cold snacks from seafood and fish, poultry meat, stuffed or stewed vegetables, hot dishes of simple preparation.
Lunch (from 18:00 to 19:00) - any snacks of European cuisine, soups, main courses.
french food rule
No more than one snack per day (and not an hour before meals). An explanation is needed to understand this rule. French children, like their parents, always eat at the same time. Although children in France do not snack between meals, this does not mean that they are hungry.
In France, parents don't worry if their children get hungry between meals. They believe that it is better to wait, but eat a normal healthy lunch at the right time. The French have a saying that perfectly captures their attitude to hunger: "bon repas doit commencer par la faim", literally translated - "A good meal begins with hunger", or something like: "Hunger is the best seasoning."
Etiquette- in general, a separate chapter, if we are talking about the French nation, and if during a meal, then even more so.
The meal must be accompanied by an interesting conversation. The French at the table prefer to talk about culture, art and French cuisine - the national pride of every Frenchman. It is not customary for the French to pronounce lengthy toasts at the table. It is not customary to clink glasses. Traditionally, lunch starts at 18.00-19.00, so if you are invited to dinner, know that you are expected by this time.

The enticing scent of the chestnut festival

France is an amazing country, famous not only for fashion shows, but also for various “delicious” holidays. Lovers of tasting new dishes should definitely visit this country in October, when the Week of Taste takes place. It ends with a grand chestnut festival, which has long been considered national.
A holiday dedicated to chestnuts is never forgotten in any big cities, nor in small settlements. These days, France can be called a gastronomic paradise, so many different dishes are here. The only condition that must be observed is the presence of chestnuts in every dish. For this, they grow special varieties this plant. French restaurants offer visitors to try soups, cakes, mousses, liqueurs and other chestnut dishes and drinks.
For those who, for various reasons, will not be able to visit a cafe or restaurant to enjoy something tasty, roasted chestnuts are sold on the streets in special bags.
Not only people are not indifferent to the chestnut holiday, the weather also loves it. Proof of this are the warm and sunny days that delight everyone throughout the holiday. These days, in addition to tasting all kinds of chestnut dishes, annual sport competitions, various reading competitions and theatrical performances, thanks to which you can find out how the chestnut came to France.
The smell of roasted chestnuts, hovering in the air for a whole week, very tasty and original dishes, interesting and gambling competitions simply will not allow anyone not to feel the festive spirit.

French cuisine has always been an example of excellence in the art of cooking. The lexicon of French cuisine has organically entered the terminology of many national cuisines. Dozens of words, ranging from the word "restaurant" to the word "omelette", are evidence of the popularity of French cuisine.

Alsatian table dishes

The French regard cooking as an art, and famous chefs are called a kind of poets. They believe that ready-made recipes serve only as a basis for cooking, using which each housewife can bring something of her own and thereby make her dishes different from dishes of the same name served in restaurants or other families.

French cuisine is conditionally divided into three parts: cuisine regionale - regional cuisine; cuisine bourgeoise - common French cuisine and haute cuisine - extremely refined cuisine, an example of which was once the court kitchen of the French kings. The conditionality of such a division is evident, for example, from the fact that if Burgundy meat in Paris is a regional dish, then in Burgundy itself it represents a common French cuisine.

The regional French cuisine of the southern provinces (Provence, Languedoc, the Basque region, Gascony) is sharply distinguished by its spicy food, the great use of wines and spices, especially garlic and onions, in its preparation. Has its own characteristics and Alsatian cuisine, characterized by satiety, more significant consumption of pork, cabbage. Residents of coastal areas use more seafood in their cuisine - fish, crabs, lobsters, lobsters, shrimp, etc.

Wine is an integral part of French cuisine

One of the features of French cuisine is the active use of grape wine, cognac and liquor in the preparation of a wide variety of dishes. In this case, the wine, as a rule, undergoes significant digestion, as a result of which the wine alcohol evaporates, and the remaining composition gives the food a unique flavor and fills it with a pleasant aroma. In any dish that does not require long cooking, in the end there will be no more than half of the initial volume of wine. Besides the fact that wine is used for cooking, it also serves as the main component of marinades for meat and broths for boiling fish.

There is no exact rule when to use white and when red wine. Red wine, however, is more commonly used for meat dishes from domestic and wild animals, and white wine for fish dishes. In everyday practice, red and white wines are interchangeable. True, some dishes, such as edible shells - moule mariniere or fish dishes with white meat, are cooked only with white wine, because red wine gives them an unpleasant blue tint.

In French cuisine, only grape dry and semi-dry (non-fortified) wines are used. White wine should not be very dry (sour).

In many recipes of French cuisine, which have now become classics, it is recommended to use some non-French wines such as porto, sherry, etc. But the French themselves often replace these wines with their sweet wines such as frontignan, muscat, etc.

In Normandy, cider, common in this area, is actively used to prepare fish dishes.

Cognac in the north of France is often replaced with Calvados (apple brandy), and in Gascony with Armagnac. Our cognacs can be successfully used instead of French cognacs as additions to wines or for arson directly on food, such as meat.

To do this, before serving, the finished hot dish is poured over with cognac and set on fire. This gives the food a specific flavor and taste.

Another feature of French cuisine is the wide variety of sauces. The English even joke about this: if in England there are three types of sauces and three hundred and sixty types of religion, then in France there are three types of religion and three hundred and sixty recipes for sauces. In fact, it is believed that in French cuisine there are more than 3,000 sauces.

French housewives, with the help of sauces, give food a certain taste and aroma, and with the same composition of the main products, they diversify their food. To this it should be added that if the hostess has a pre-cooked broth in the refrigerator, preparing the sauce does not take much time.

The arsenal of spices of the French hostess is somewhat different from ours, namely, the wide use of savory, leek, chervil, tarragon, rosemary, etc. The use of these aromatic herbs is desirable, because they give the food a special taste and smell. However, in Russia they are not always possible to get. But, of course, we can replace these herbs with well-known celery, parsley, dill. When preparing many dishes, the French put a small bunch of herbs in a saucepan, the so-called group bouquet, bouquet garni, a small bunch of parsley, savory, bay leaf. Before serving, the bouquet is removed from the food.

It should also be said that we can easily replace the olive oil common in France with any refined vegetable oil.

In all countries, fresh or frozen game is used for cooking. In France and Belgium, dishes are also prepared from aged game. Withstand game in the air (at home outside the window) for several days.

Despite the absence of valuable sturgeon fish in France, the housewives skillfully prepare very tasty dishes from inexpensive fish, using a wide range of various gravies and sauces.

A characteristic feature of French cuisine is also the widespread use, especially in side dishes for second courses, of vegetables such as artichokes, asparagus, and lettuce.

Cooking a good omelette, according to the French, requires special attention. For omelettes choose heavy pans with a very flat bottom. Some experts from the French Academy of Gastronomy recommend:

• * in the pan that is used for making omelettes, do not cook anything else;
• * never wash this pan. It is enough to wipe the still hot frying pan with a swab of clean paper with a small amount of coarse salt and lightly oil to prevent rust.

A few words about the names of dishes

The names of many dishes of regional cuisine are associated with the names of provinces, cities, towns. Some dishes are named after people, for example, bechamel sauce is named after the wealthy financier Bechamel, who was the head waiter for Louis XIV and the author of the sauce recipe. Subise soup is named after Charles Soubise, a French general. In the name of the military pharmacist Parmentier, who was the first to import potato tubers into France, several dishes are named, namely soup, scrambled eggs, chickens, etc. Recipes for dishes whose names include “in Spanish”, “in German”, etc., are so have undergone changes that are now the original recipes of French cuisine.

It must be said that in France the ability of the hostess to cook food well is a matter of pride for herself and her family members. The French always talk about this with pleasure, and there is a special expression that characterizes a woman who knows how to cook food well - cordon bleu (blue ribbon).

We have long had the French word gourmet. According to our dictionaries, this is a lover and connoisseur of gourmet dishes. The French have two words that characterize people who love delicious food in different ways. One of them is the same word gourmet, which is called people who love to be fed up with tasty beggar. Another word is gourmet. Gourmet - a person who understands the intricacies of gourmet food. This is a culinary connoisseur. A Frenchman is pleased to be considered a gourmet.

French cuisine is a subject that can be talked about for a very long time. No wonder so many books have been written about her! I will try to tell in general about the French cuisine, which I certainly admire and adore.

When I first moved to France, on my first day in Paris, I went to a small restaurant next to the private school where I studied. I had plenty of time but only 80 EUR in my pocket. Of course, you won’t get a lot of money for this amount, but I decided to celebrate my first day in Paris and ordered Burgundy snails and a glass of red wine. All together cost 30 EUR. I have been waiting for them for a long time. Finally, they brought a small dish, where in each individual recess there was a snail and special tweezers for them. There were 15 of them in total.

To be honest, they smelled very appetizing, and the dish itself looked beautiful, but I had no idea how to eat them. I really wanted to just take them in my hands and pick out the contents with a fork. But people were sitting around, and I did not disgrace myself. In general, I carefully took each snail with a tweezer, afraid that now it would slip out of them, and I would get into someone's eye. Then she took out the contents and washed everything down with wine.

It was very tasty, but I was very nervous and worried all the time, so when I finished, I breathed a sigh of relief. Why am I? In addition, before you try something, try to find out how it is. And besides, some dreams are better left as dreams. These rules especially, in my opinion, apply to French cuisine.

I will first talk about a typical French dinner so that you understand what follows and what follows, since it is almost a whole ceremonial.

As for breakfast, I'm afraid to disappoint you. I read on many sites about "typical French breakfasts", but, according to my observations, the French breakfast is as unremarkable as the Russian one. And no croissants with coffee! In the morning, the French are in a hurry to work, and just like us, they don’t want to get up early in the morning. That's why they usually drink a glass of juice with toasted Nutella, or a cup of coffee with a couple of cookies. There just isn't enough time for anything else.

Dinner is the same as lunch.

french lunch

Snacks (hors d'œuvres/entrees)

So every meal starts with appetizers. In the restaurant, just in the form of appetizers, Burgundy snails fall. They can be both cold and hot. Once in a French family, we were served gazpacho as an appetizer. I didn't like it at all - cold tomato soup. Snack can be light salad, just cutting vegetables or sausages. It is believed that in this way the stomach, as it were, “warms up” before the main course.

Main course

There is more space here. Much depends on the region of France in which you find yourself, on the restaurant or family where you dine. In one family, in New Aquitaine, we were served oysters in shells with a light salad as a main dish. In Paris, there were fried lamb ribs, ratatouille or fried fish. For every day there was, for example, quiche lauren - a baked, closed pie with melted cheese and slices of ham.

Cheese

They give a peculiar aftertaste after all the delicious that you have already eaten. Usually several varieties are served on a small wooden dish at once - camembert, bleu, roquefort, brie and many, many others. As they say, for every day of the year there is separate variety cheese. They differ by region, by the type of milk from which they are produced, by other ingredients. I advise you to try each variety on the dish that is offered to you and determine for yourself which variety is yours.

Dessert

There can be many things for dessert. And it doesn't have to be pasta. For example, once we were offered a sweet and hot chocolate cake, and to it a ball of ice cream. Another time we ate just cakes. In Paris, the most typical thing is that the Parisian cake is called "opera" with an emphasis on the last syllable. It's a biscuit with chocolate syrup. Simple but tasteful. Like everything else in this beautiful country.

Wines and other drinks

Well, separately, of course, it is worth touching on the topic of drinks. In addition to wine, there is usually a carafe of water on the table. But different wines are served with appetizers, cheeses, main course and dessert.

As you know, white wine goes with fish and cheeses. Red - with meat and seafood. First comes an aperitif - a glass of wine. Then, during lunch, you will be replenished with your chosen wine. Red and white wine are usually served.

In addition to wine, maybe cognac is a purely French drink. Champagne is only available on special occasions.

Cuisine of France by region

Now that you know what is going on and why, let's talk about French cuisine itself. It varies greatly by region. By the way, after the territorial reform of 2014, they are already called differently. I will go from top to bottom, on the map of France.

Hauts de France

The very north of France, bordering Belgium. These are two united regions - Pas de Calais and Picardy. The cuisine of Pas de Calais has been strongly influenced by the Flemish cuisine, so here you can find so many dishes where one of the leading components .... beer! Yes, yes, there is a rabbit in beer, a rooster in beer and even soup with beer. Some dishes have direct Flemish roots, such as chicken or fish waterzoi. As for Picardy, vegetable soups flavored with herbs are popular here. A typical appetizer here is smoked eels, and duck in all forms is served as the main dish.

Normandy

It includes the former Upper and Lower Normandy. Normandy is Calvados, Camembert, Livaro (cow's milk cheese). Dishes made from beef are typical of this region, as well as thick sauces made from cream. Since there are many apple plantations here, accordingly, many dishes are prepared from them. Like, for example, the famous Normandy apple pie. Due to the proximity of the sea, there are many dishes prepared from fish and seafood - Normandy halibut, mussels with onion sauce, etc. If we talk about drinks, then the most typical is Calvados - apple tincture.

Grand Est

The cuisine of Burgundy and Franche-Comté are famous for their excellent beef, poultry, mushrooms, cheeses, and of course excellent wines. As I wrote above, Burgundy snails were the first dish I tried in Paris. There is also a rather specific dish here - “eggs in wine sauce”. In general, sauces with the addition of a red species are not uncommon here. For example, beef burgundy with onions in red wine. All red wines are made from Pinot Noir grapes, while whites are made from Chardonnay.

New Aquitaine

This included three regions - Aquitaine itself, Limousin and Poitou-Charentes.

First, let's talk about the gastronomy of Aquitaine and Poitou. By the way, it is here that a quarter of all wines in France are produced. In fact, it is one of the main wine regions in France. The mild, warm climate contributes to the good growth of vineyards. There is very tasty foie gras, Arcachonian oysters, wood dove stew (this is a bird from the genus of pigeons). If we touch on desserts, then how not to remember the Channel - it's something like a cupcake, but covered with caramel on top.

As for Limousin, chestnut dishes are popular here. The fact is that the soil here is by no means fertile, therefore, apart from chestnuts, nothing particularly grew here. Puree, soup, black pudding and even liquor are all made from chestnuts. Also popular here vegetable soups- "brezhaud", for example. Main dishes include stew with vegetables, potato pie etc. Desserts include a flat fruit pie called clafoutis.

Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes

Auvergne cuisine is based on rather unpretentious ingredients - lentils, ham, cheeses and sausages. For example, there is boiled brisket with lentils or Auvergne stew. From cheese dishes - "truffade" (potatoes with cheese) and "aligo" (a simple dish made from cheese, potatoes, butter and milk). For sweets, try horns with cream or chocolate mousse. Drinks here are very pure mineral water. In general, the region is famous for its springs mineral waters.

In the Rhone-Alpes region, you will be treated to delicious poultry and sausages. Trout, crayfish and frogs are caught here. Very tasty Lyon onion soup with grated cheese. But Savoyard fondue requires a whole ritual, both in preparation and in tasting. As for drinks, I advise you to try local liqueurs and aperitifs, as well as young Beaujolais wines.

Occitania

These are the former Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrenees. Due to proximity to mediterranean sea where fish and seafood play an important role. For example, anchovies from Collioure, grilled mussels, snails in Catalan. Provençal cod is also very popular. From wines choose strong red and sweet wines. This is also a major wine region in France, so the variety of wines here is huge.

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

soft, warm winter and cool summers contribute to the fact that numerous fruits and vegetables grow here. Lamb, game and fish dishes are popular. Of course, how can one not recall the famous bouillabaisse (soup from different varieties fish and seafood) and grilled lamb. The oldest vineyards in France grow in the same area. The best red wines are what this area is famous for.

Corsica

In Corsica, dishes of wild pigs, game, seafood seasoned with local herbs are popular. The island also cooks delicious fish and seafood. Typical dishes are Corsican vegetable soup, fried goat, stuffed zucchini, etc. As for the wines, they are among the worst. For my birthday, I just bought wine produced in Ajaccio. It was sour and not very pleasant in taste.

Restaurants

On the other hand, on one of the squares in Paris, we had lunch in a good restaurant, where for only 30 EUR we were brought a huge dish of mussels. He was served free bread and water. We ate heartily. We also ordered dessert. The total price tag was 40 EUR with kopecks, and I still remember that dinner.

Another feature French restaurants, especially Parisian ones, are pompous, arrogant waiters. If you think you've come to good restaurant, and you are in charge there, since you are a client, then you are deeply mistaken. The main ones are the waiters. Yes, you can complain to the manager and so on, but it’s not yet a fact that you can prove something, and the other waiter will also avenge you for his friend by spitting imperceptibly on your plate. Just be polite to them and they will reciprocate.

Supermarkets/markets/grocery stores

In France, like us, there are chains of grocery stores. Instead of "Pyaterochka" and "Magnit" there are "Carrefour", "Monoprix", "Casino". These stores will meet you at every turn, wherever you go. The prices there are quite adequate and are designed for the average consumer. I used to shop for groceries at the Casino as it was the closest to home. For a week, 30 EUR was enough for me to buy groceries.

The convenience of these grocery stores is that some of them have electronic checkouts. That is, you yourself break through all the products, and then pay for them with a card or in cash.

In addition to them, there are specialized shops that sell exclusively meat, bakery products, cheeses, etc. These are all sorts of "Boulangerie", "Crèmerie", etc. Carefully! The prices there are very high. For example, a stick of sausage - 10 EUR. A baguette costs 2 EUR, and in the "Monoprix" or "Casino" stores the same baguette costs less than 1. I did not go there, although such stores smell very nice.

There are also markets, but I did not go to any of them. Products are cheaper there, but you need to know where they go. Still, supermarkets are much more convenient. Also, one of fashion trends in France it is to buy products labeled "bio". These are the same potatoes or strawberries, but 2-3 times more expensive. There are whole shops. I didn't trust them, so I didn't buy anything there. You can write anything on the price tag, but where is the guarantee that it is actually natural product? The French family I lived with didn't buy anything there either.

Meat and semi-finished products are cheaper in specialized chain stores. For example, Picard. They sell only everything frozen: from vegetables to meat in any form. Prices - from 3 EUR. I used to buy "cordon bleu" there - this is a breaded schnitzel, inside of which there is ham with melted cheese; fish sticks and steaks. Chicken and other meats are very expensive. For example, 2 chicken legs - 20-25 EUR.

If you have come to France for a long time and like to cook for yourself, then it is best to go to supermarkets and buy there. The French do just that. If funds allow you, then it is better to buy meat and fish in specialized shops.

Summary

In conclusion, I will say that French cuisine is diverse and interesting and is not limited to frog legs and pasta alone. By the way, I never tried the first one. Although the French are called "paddling pools", few of them have tried this dish. The fact is that with the development of eco-movements in France, the number of restaurants preparing these dishes has sharply decreased. I could never find a place in Paris where they would cook them. Maybe you'll have more luck?

Unlike many other European countries, all sorts of soups and stews are very popular in France. This is the Provencal bouillabaisse mentioned above, and the famous French onion soup with croutons and cheese. Onion soups have been prepared since the Roman era, but the modern recipe was born much later, perhaps in the second half of the 18th century.

While in France, you simply cannot help but try croissants and baguettes, which are one of the culinary symbols of the country. The opportunity to taste the taste of the local olive oil repeatedly introduced himself when ordering various dishes.

Be sure to taste the frog legs, because of which the French are often called "frogs"; foie gras; mussels (moules); truffles and artichokes; roasted chestnuts. With roasted chestnuts, the French cook not only risotto and salads, but also sweet dishes, such as chocolate mousse with chestnuts and orange marmalade.

It is simply impossible to try all the wines, cheeses and sauces. different regions famous for their alcohol, cheeses, hard and blue, and sauces Tapenade, Hollandaise, Veloute, Béarnaise, Remoulade. More than 500 types of cheeses are produced in France alone. In Champagne they make soft Barbre cheese, in Corsica Bleu de Corse with blue mold, in Normandy Bondar and Bondon, in Bearn Brebeau, and in Ile de France Brie de Melun. Some of the most famous cheeses are Brie, Camembert and Roquefort.

Of the soups, in addition to the traditional onion and bouillabaisse, it is worth trying the marmite broth with a side dish, panade bread soups, consommé meat broth, Saint-Germain vegetable soups (vegetables and green peas), potofe (meat and vegetables), "pomme de terre" (potato), "conti" (soup with lentils).

Desserts deserve special attention. There are a lot of them in France. These are eclairs in chocolate or sugar glaze, and soft "macaroni" cookies with grated almonds, and "Milfa" cakes with custard, and thick waffles "corrugated", and chocolate biscuits "ganache", and pies "savaren" from nut dough with syrup, and many others.

If possible, it is worth tasting the jellied meat dish galantine, rooster in wine, an open quiche pie and the Provencal vegetable dish ratatouille, which tastes like a Hungarian lecho. In the areas bordering Switzerland, a delicious fondue dish is common, made from a mixture of cheeses and garlic.

General characteristics of French cuisine

French cuisine is characterized by a combination of unleavened ingredients with all sorts of spices and sauces. There are several hundred sauces - they give the dishes a taste and make each delicacy unique.

Spicy dishes predominate in the southern provinces, in the cuisine of the coastal regions there are more fish and seafood dishes. Wines, liqueurs and cognacs are often used in regional and pan-French cuisine. The wine is usually boiled down, leaving the dish with an exquisite aftertaste and aroma. Also wines serve as ingredients for cooking marinades. In Normandy, the famous local cider is often used for this purpose when preparing fish dishes.

French cuisine often uses rosemary, tarragon, and leeks. Another feature of local culinary traditions is that the French are not afraid to experiment and often try to combine seemingly incompatible ingredients. This is how dishes like roasted chestnuts in chocolate mousse or potage-au-melon melon soup are born.

The traditional cuisine of France is based on simple products from which complex dishes are created. Shrimps and lobsters, variety of fish species, many meat dishes, vegetables. And, of course, great French cheeses, from the famous Roquefort and Camembert to the goat cheeses of the Languedoc villages.

Not to mention such famous French dishes as frog legs and snails. Without them, the original cuisine of the country is simply impossible to imagine. And of course the main drink of France was and is wine. Rather, wines, in all their multi-color palette.

National dishes of French cuisine

It was from France that this crispy pastry with a variety of fillings came to us. The French have coffee with a croissant as a traditional breakfast.

Frog legs. Not everyone decides to try this original French delicacy, and in vain. Frog legs are very tasty and resemble chicken.

Snails in garlic sauce. Another unique recipe French cuisine, which is definitely worth trying.

Chicken or rooster in red wine. One of the difficult French recipes, all the subtleties of which can only be understood by a professional chef.

Goose liver pate. It is difficult to prepare, and the raw materials are not easy to take, using only the liver of specially bred geese, fed on a special diet.

Vegetable dish from stewed peppers, zucchini and eggplant. Ratatouille recipes may vary by region.

A cheese or chocolate dish prepared by melting in a special heat-resistant caquelon dish over an open fire.

Truffles. A delicious type of mushroom growing in the ground. A real dish of aristocrats.