Living France Top Tips - French Food and Drink
1 - Alsace
You won’t travel far in Alsace before coming across choucroute, finely grated cabbage that is then preserved in salt and used imaginatively in plenty of regional dishes. It goes well with the local dry white Riesling wines in their distinctive tall skinny bottles
2 - Aquitaine
Aquitaine is home to some of the world’s finest vines and wines from full-bodied Bordeaux reds to sweet golden syrupy Sauternes dessert wines. Try the latter with a slice of local foie gras
3 - Auvergne
Hearty country food awaits in Auvergne and a green lentil dish with lentilles de Puy-en-Velay fits the bill perfectly
4 - Brittany
The Breton butter cake, kouign amann, is made with plenty of quality salted butter and locals say: ‘Make it if you want to, make it successfully if you can!’ You may well come across a drop of old fashioned mead in Brittany, known as chouchen, to wash it down with
5 - Burgundy
The classic beouf bourguignon takes a good three hours of cooking and uses Charolais beef and a red Burgundy wine. Burgundy also lays claim to the well known aperitif, kir which should be made with crème de cassis from Dijon and Aligoté wine
6 - Centre
Centre, better known as the Loire Valley,is home to the world famous Sancerre wine appellation. The region also brought us the tarte tatin, the upside down apple tart that came about due to the clumsiness of one of Tatin sisters
7 - Champagne-Ardenne
How can it be anything other than champagne? Only a tiny amount of classified vines are allowed to satisfy the world’s demand for fizz making these vines some of the most expensive in the world
8 - Franche-Comté
The local Comté cheese is a hard, tangy mountain cheese that is made with milk from the glossy Montbéliard cows
9 - Languedoc-Roussillon
The vineyards of Languedoc-Roussillon are the largest in the world so it’s wine all the way down south; the area produces 30 AOC wines
10 - Limousin
Apart from the famed Limousin beef, the region is also known for the cherry-based pudding, clafoutis. Remember thought, to be a true clafoutis, it must be made with cherries and they must still have their stones in.
11 - Lorraine
It’s not called quiche lorraine for nothing. The dish originates from northeastern France and is a simple bacon quiche
12 - Midi-Pyrenees
Cassoulet is a slow-cooked hearty meat and bean stew, synonymous with Midi-Pyrenees. Follow it with an Armagnac, the digestif of choice in Midi-Pyrenees as it originates from Gascony
13 - Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Just across the Channel, you’ll find France’s finest breweries. From blonde to blanche via ambre and brune, there’s a beer out there for you
14 - Normandy
Calvados is a well known apple brandy that is a popular digestif and who could leave Normandy without a wheel of camembert?
15 - Paris Ile-de-France
Obviously the urbanisation of Paris means you won’t find a lot of agriculture or viticulture here. What you will find however are restaurants and where better to eat steak-frites washed down with a bottle of red?
16 - Pays-de-la-Loire
The renowned Sel de Guérande is produced in the Pays-de-la-Loire’s salt marshes and exported all over the world. The area’s dry white wine, Muscadet, is similarly ubiquitous and equally fine
17 - Picardy
La ficelle picarde is a delicious concoction of an oven-baked crêpe stuffed with mushrooms, onions, ham and crème fraiche and did you know that Picardie is the only region outside of Champagne-Ardenne that is allowed to produce AOC champagne?
18 - Poitou-Charentes
The combination of fresh and salt water in a sunny climate makes the Marennes-Oléron basin the largest oyster-producing area in France. When it comes to what to drink, why not try the Cognac-based aperitif, pineau de Charentes?
19 - Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Corsica
Pastis and bouillabaisse are synonymous with the south. Pastis is the natural accompaniment to a game of pétanque and the simple fisherman’s soup that is bouillabaisse has risen up the ranks to be on the finest menus. While you’re there, hop across to Corsica for seafood, mountain meats, honey, olive oil and chestnuts with everything
20 - Rhône-Alpes
There’s a bit of everything in Rhône-Alpes whether it be landscape or local speciality. The calorific mountain dish is a typical Savoyard dish though made with potatoes, bacon and local Reblochon cheese. You’ll no doubt come across secret-recipe liqueur chartreuse while you’re there
Carolyn Boyd
Editor
FRANCE Magazine
www.francemag.com
Carolyn Boyd is editor of FRANCE Magazine, Britain and North America’s number one magazine about France