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Understanding and appreciating the styles of cuisine in France can enhance the enjoyment of what you are eating (or cooking) – much like wine, where I find a little additional knowledge can helps me be more discriminating in my choices and combinations of dishes and wines.
Doug Stewart at www.france-property-and-information.com offers some insights into some of the nuances behind the rich variety of French Food
Regional influences
Each region of France has ingredients, recipes and style of cooking specific to that region. Although they may be exported to other regions of France (and the world), production is largely local and consumption is highest in the region of origin. For example, in Provence the food typically features olive oil, herbs and tomatoes; these are all locally produced and they feature in a surprising large variety of different recipes.
The evolution of regional cooking styles has been influenced by:
• Local availability. The French, a nation of gourmets, prefer to use local ingredients. Consequently, coastal regions (such as Brittany and Normandy, on the northwest coast of France) will favor sea fish and will use it more often and in more varied ways than inland areas. Likewise, areas where fruit or herbs grow easily, will incorporate these into their local cuisine.
• Neighbouring countries and immigration. Near the borders with other countries, the local cuisine incorporates certain dishes and ingredients of the neighbouring countries. It is not surprising to find Italian dishes near the Italian border. More notably, the French region of Alsace is similar to Germany in its food (sauerkraut is popular) and wine, partly due to it currently bordering on Germany and partly due to it having been part of Germany at various points in its history (the border has moved back and forth with various wars). In parts of the south which have a large North African immigrant population one can enjoy the cuisine which they have imported from their original countries.
• History and economic conditions. The culture, lifestyle and economic conditions over a long period of time have formed the development of local food traditions. The rich meat dishes and cream sauces of Burgundy are not only due to Burgundian excellence in raising cattle, but in large part to the economic prosperity of this region over several centuries. On the other hand, mountain regions excel in firm cheeses, which allow food to be preserved over the long and difficult winters, and can be produced from mountain livestock which historically were the main means of support for many families in economically limited areas.
Of course, throughout France one can find a range of dishes, both in restaurants and at home, which extends well beyond regional specialities. However, at the same time, the regional influences in terms of ingredients and style of cooking is marked. Consequently, for those who move to France, the choice of region will influence the types of food one will find.
Italian Influence
Culinary historians generally associate the development of high cuisine in France (as opposed to the existing rural traditions) with the marriage in 1533 of Catherine De Medicis (a Florentine princess) to Henry duc d’Orleans (who became King Henry II or France). At this point, France was not know for its food or food culture. Catherine brought an entourage of Italian chefs with her to France, who introduced to France a variety of dishes, food preparation and dining practices. Although France and Italy obviously have evolved very different food cultures, both before and since this contribution, much of France’s current food culture can be traced back to this time.Cooking styles
As discussed above, each region of France has its own distinctive traditions in terms of ingredients and preparation. On top of this, there are three general approaches which compete with each other:
• Classical French cuisine (also known in France as cuisine bourgeoise). This includes all the classical French dishes which were at one time regional, but are no longer specifically regional. Food is rich and filling, with many dishes using cream-based sauces.
• Haute cuisine is classical French cuisine taken to its most sophisticated and extreme. Food is elegant, elaborate and generally rich. Meals tend to be heavy, especially due to the use of cream and either large portions or many smaller portions. There is a strong emphasis on presentation (in particular, vegetables tend to be cut with compulsive precision and uniformity). The finest ingredients are used, and the meal is correspondingly expensive.
• Cuisine Nouvelle. This style developed in the 1970s, as a reaction against the classical school of cooking. The food is simpler and lighter. Portions are smaller and less rich; the heavy cream sauces of the classical approach are particularly avoided. Cooking is less elaborate and quicker, with more emphasis on local and seasonal ingredients.
• Cuisine du terroir. This focuses on regional specialities and is somewhat more rustic in nature. Local produce and food traditions are the main focus.
Each of these traditions is strongly represented in France, each having its supporters and specialist restaurants. At the moment, Cuisine Nouvelle is less popular than it was, while Cuisine du terroir has grown in popularity in recent years.
For more on French Food see Doug Stweart’s site at www.france-property-and-information.com/easy-french-food-recipes.htm
2007 is the three hundredth anniversary of his death, and hence numerous events are planned to celebrate this master of military invention. His physical legacy is of course the list of imitimidating fortresses to defend le Hexagone - the defensible boundaries of France from the northern border with Belgium down to the Alps, along the Mediterranean and up the Atlantic Coast. However, his military reputation initially was more concerned with planning and implementing sieges - so in many ways he was a poacher-turned-gamekeeper - if you are good as breaking sieges, then who better to design defenses to repel them? The hallmark of Vauban is his impressive use of massive angular pentagonal walls which prevented attackers targetting one section of wall without being at risk of counter-attack from an adjacent section. The classic examples are the Citadel at Lille, Briancon and Besancon, although many other examples exist.
My favourite is on the island of Belle-Ile off the coast of Brittany, where the fortifications adjacent to the small harbout of Le Palais are most impressive. More familiar to visitors to France will be the fortifications at St Malo and la Rochelle. Vauban left his mark on most of the land and sea frontiers of France, although he was born in Burgundy which hosts only one of his constructiona. On the Côte d’Azur, Antibes, Villefranche, Cannes and St.Tropez. Toulon, Marseille, Collioure on the Mediterranean;
other sites are at Arras, Auxonne, Barraux, Bayonne, Belfort, Bergues, Bitche, Blaye, Bouillon, Calais, Cambrai, Colmars-les-Alpes, Douai, Entrevaux, Givet, Gravelines, Huningue, Joux, Kehl, Landau, La Rochelle, Le Quesnoy, Lusignan, Le Perthus (Fort de Bellegarde), Luxembourg, Maastricht, Maubeuge, Metz, Mont-Dauphin, Mont-Louis, Montmédy, Namur, Neuf-Brisach, Perpignan, Plouezoc’h (Château du Taureau), Rocroi, Saarlouis, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, Saint-Omer, Sedan, Toul, Valenciennes, Verdun, Villefranche-de-Conflent. For more info see www.vauban2007-bourgogne.org and www.sites-vauban.org
If you are not able to get across the Channel this summer then you might like to take a look at the London Royal Academy exhibition “Impressionists by the Sea” which runs until 30 September 2007.
The English Channel coast of northern France and the Normandy and Brittany beaches were within easy reach of Paris, and often provided scenes for paintings by the likes of Manet, Monet and Boudin. As impressionists they found that the play of light in coastal scenes gave them more opportunity to experiment with their art.
“Painters initially portrayed the coast in Romantic terms, focusing on the evocation of the sublime forces of nature and the depiction of picturesque scenes of local fishermen. By the 1860s, however, stylish holidaymakers began to appear in paintings, as many of local resorts, such as Deauville and Trouville, became fashionable.”
I suspect that many visitors tend to dismiss these coasts and hurtle south for more hedonistic resorts, but when the weather is friendly there are some great beaches and interesting resorts, stretching from west of Dunkerque all the way along to St Malo and the Brittany peninsula.
For more info see www.royalacademy.org.uk where you can also download a podcast about this exhibition, and enter a prize draw to win a luxury break in Normandy!
An interesting article in the Independent (14 July 2007) (Bastille Day) about one of my favourite cheeses, and the battles that are being fought over the methods of making traditional raw milk Camembert.
Unfortunatelty in this instance the steamroller that is the EU cannot be blamed, as it is internal squabbling between small local producers and the big dairy companies.
Camembert is the king of Normandy cheeses, made from cows milk to produce a soft round cheese with a soft white rind.
The raw milk version has a richer flavour and better texture than the pasteurised version, which is the most common. However, because the milk in the tradtional version is unpasteurised, there is a small risk of food poisoning, particularly for the young, old and infirm. Fortunately to date, the raw milk version has not been banned in the interests of health and safety, but this spat between producers cannot help.
However, here is some advice from the Independent:
* How do you know when a Camembert is ready to eat?
The traditional saying in Normandy is that “a ripe camembert squeezes like a woman’s breast”. But there is a more scientific test.
* Cut into the cheese and look at the width of the crusty layer in the centre. If it is “as thick as a knife blade”, the camembert is perfect. If it is thicker, the cheese is not quite at its best. If there is no crusty layer, it is a little too ripe.
* A Camembert should always be stored upside down, to preserve the beauty of the top of the cheese when served. Ideally, a camembert should never be put in the fridge. If you do, take it out at least an hour before eating.
* Gourmets say that the best time for eating Camembert is during the late spring and early summer. This means that you will then be eating, via the cow and the factory, the rich flush of Norman spring grass.
For more info on Camembert, see the website of producer Fromagerie Gillot
Recommended Reading: French Cheese (Eyewitness Companions)
French Cheese / Les Frommages 2002
The term “Normandy Beaches” conjures up images of heroic landings in occupied France, and yet there is much more to the Normandy coastline than that. Normandy of course stretches north of the Seine estuary at Le Havre, as well as to the west where the invasion beaches with their iconic code names (Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha) are to be found.. Whilst the memory and relics of that era will always be present, there really is so much more to discover in this region and coastline.
Somehow, the Côte d’Alabatre (Alabaster Coast) sounds rather more alluring than the “coast of Seine-Maritime” - the coastline from industrial Le Havre virtually up to the mouth of the Somme. Alabster because of the whiteness of this long expanse of cliffs (130km) which includes the spectacular cliffs at Etretat; the delighful port of Fécamp and the elegant resort and harbour of Dieppe. The views of, and along the cliffs can be spectacular. Further north the landscape flattens out towards the mouth of the River Somme.
Meanwhile on the southern side of the Seine Estuary we have the Côte Fleurie between Honfleur and Cabourg just east of Caen and the estuary of the river Orne at Ouistreham (Brittany Ferries terminal). Here the emphasis is on the floral nature of the resorts and the coastal hinterland, which tend to be elegant and formal (spas, casinos and gentle walks along the promenade) At Honfleur there is a mini-”Eden Project” - a equatorial biodome called Naturospace where tropical butterflies fly freely through an environment of rare tropical plants.
From Ouistreham to Courseulles-sur-Mer we have the Côte de Nacre (”mother of pearl” coast) for its expanses of fine sand and glorious beaches.
And all this within a few hours of leaving England, and despite being only a little further south, the weather can seem much better!
Normandy is better served by Ferry from the UK now, although the loss of P&O’s Portsmouth to Le Havre and Cherbourg services a few years ago left a big gap. But now LD Lines and its sister company Transmanche Ferries offer some good alternatives to crossing from Kent, with their network of services from Newhaven and Portsmouth to Le Havre and Dieppe. With modern boats and crossing times from 4 hours these routes do offer a less frenetic and less crowded entry to France. Further west Brittany Ferries services from Poole and Portsmouth to Caen (Ouistreham) and Cherbourg are a little longer but also offer a civilised landing in France! (see www.transmancheferries.co.uk and Brittany Ferries)http://www.brittany-ferries.com/
LINKS:
Seine-Maritime departement
With their usual flair for artistic extravagance, the French are launching a massive summer art exhibition along the 25 miles of the banks of the Loire estuary between Nantes and St Nazaire this summer.
Although we tend to think of Nantes being at the mouth of the Loire (the longest river in France), there is another 40km until St Nazaire where the last bridge crosses the river before it enters the Atlantic.
From June to 1 September 2007 (and again in 2009 and 2011) the Loire Estuary Project 2007 will link St Nazaire and Nantes with a series of 40 art installations along the river bank (some even in the water) including a massive duck (25 metres high) experimental architecture, dramatic water features and a floating house, all of which can be viewed free of charge - or take to the river for a 3-hour boat cruise with audio tour.
Visit the website (below) for a good video of the stretch of river between these two locations.
LINKS
For more info see www.estuaire.info
Nantes Tourism
St Nazaire Tourist Office site for lots of maritime history
RECOMMENDED READING
Brittany Green Guide (Michelin Green Guides)
LD Lines has launched a new daily summer link – running from 1 May to 30 September – connecting Newhaven and Le Havre.
LD Lines claims that Newhaven is the closest channel ferry port to London, which maybe technically true, but access is not as easy as Dover, and I suspect journey times are much the same.
Le Havre (76 Seine-Maritime, Normandy) is however well-situated for fast access to Paris, Rouen and Normandy - and with the extended autoroute network the Loire Valley is easily accessed by the new A28 down to Alencon and Le Mans and then on to Tours, Angers and the South West.
Autoroute access westwards is good with the extended A84 autoroute now running through to Rennes followed by the fast dual-carriageway N137 down to Nantes or the fast N12 through to Brest.
The crossing takes place on board an extremely quick and comfortable new ship – the Seven Sisters – chartered from our sister company Transmanche Ferries.
The crossing takes 5 hours (all local times):-
Daily from Newhaven at 12h30 arriving at 18h30 in Le Havre
Daily from Le Havre at 20h00 arriving at midnight in Newhaven
LD Lines also run a service from Portsmouth to Le Havre.
Le Havre is to my mind something of an eyesore - probably because I really do not like masses of concrete, which was all the vogue in the 1950s. Le Havre was devastated in the Second World War and was totally rebuilt by Auguste Perret, who was also responsible for another of my pet hates - the stark Tour Perret in Amiens, which to my view seriously detracts from a splendid Gothic Cathedral which should be the focal point of the skyline. But what do I know, as Perret’s Le Havre is now designated as a Unesco World Heritage Site!!:-
The site forms the administrative, commercial and cultural centre of Le Havre. Amongst many reconstructed cities, Le Havre is exceptional for its unity and integrity. It combines a reflection of the earlier pattern of the town and its extant historic structures with the new ideas of town planning and construction technology. It is an outstanding post-war example of urban planning and architecture based on the unity of methodology and the use of prefabrication, the systematic utilization of a modular grid, and the innovative exploitation of the potential of concrete.
LINKS:-
LD Lines
Unesco World Heritage Site
Le Havre Tourism
RECOMMENDED READING:-
17 April 2007 sees yet another French cycle race as the season gets into its swing. This time it heads out west of Paris to the town of Vimoutiers (61 Orne, Normandy). The race is now known the “Paris-Camembert”m, as despite being a small and otherwise undistinguised village, the name of the cheese carries a bit more cachet than Vimoutiers. The race is sponsored by the Camembert dairy of Fromagerie Lepetit, as it has been for the last 64 years! The 200km circuit passes through delightful countryside with a couple of circuits around Vimoutiers - and does actually go through the village of Camembert a few kilometres to the southwest.(see map)
Along with the Brie, Camembert is probably the best known French cheese, and is similar in style being a soft cows milk cheese with a rind. Brie comes from the area south and east of Paris, whereas Camembert is from the west. It was created during the French Revolution in Normandy with its mild climate and lush pasture and those typical black and white cows! The invention of the wooden Camembert box in the 1890s made it easier to transport and handle, and being in smaller rounds than the tradtional Brie it is more often bought as a whole cheese. The traditional, full favoured Camembert can be made from pasteurised or unpasteurised milk (the latter thought to be richer in taste) and has a rich, buttery taste, and a characteristic lactic flavour. Choosing a perfect Camembert cheese is quite a skill - test for a slight springiness to the texture and a soft white mould on the rind. Inside it should be a creamy yellow with the centre just slightly ligher in colour and a little firmer. Best of all buy from a cheesemonger who knows his/her cheeses!
Links
Fromagerie Lepetit has a great little website - but only in French!
Vimoutiers Tourist Office has info on the region and the race
RECOMMENDED READING
Normandy Green Guide (Michelin Green Guides)
French Cheese (Eyewitness Companions)
For 5 weeks this Autumn France hosts the Rugby World Cup Tournament, starting with the initial match on 7 September 2007 in Paris and ending with the Final on the Stade de France in Paris on 20 October.Teams from across the World will be competing, and they may be a little surprised to find that some of the early round matches are being played in Cardiff and Edinburgh!!
However, the majority of matches are to be played in France including Lens (Nord Pas-de-Calais), Nantes (Brittany/Loire), Bordeaux (Aquitaine), Toulouse (Midi-Pyrenees), Montpellier (Languedoc- Roussillon), Marseille (Provence) St Etienne and Lyon (Central France) and of course Paris.
So be warned that roads and hotels are likely to be busier than normal in the Autumn, especially in Paris (throughout) and in the host towns and cities near match days.
As always with such events it is worth planning ahead and booking tickets, travel and hotel arrangements as early as possible.
Rugby Union (Rugby à 15) is very popular in certain pockets of France - particularly the South West. On the A61 Autouroute between Toulouse and Castelnaudry there is a motorway service area (aire) that is worth visiting - and its not often we would recommend such a place. At Port Lauragais there is the Ovalie - a rugby museum, as local teams such as Toulouse, Agen and Castres are amongst the elite European teams.
The “aire” also has a museum and display on the adjacent Canal du Midi which has a marina mooring on the site. So well worth a break in your journey see map
See our web calender for the dates and locations of the World Cup matches this Autumn
LINKS:-
www.rugbyworldcup.com for news, details of teams, fixtures etc
Rail Europe has some attractive offers when tickets go on sale in May - e.. London to Lyon from £99 return - and that is city centre to city centre.
RECOMMENDED READING:-
Le Guide Vert: Midi-Pyrenees
France on the T.G.V.: How to Use the World’s Fastest Train to Get the Most Out of France
Grand Tour De France: A Rugby Supporter’s Guide to the World Cup - France 2007
Should you be crossing the western channel in mid June, you could stumble across the “Tour de Normandie” an annual French vintage car rally which runs from Wednesday 13 - Sunday 17 June 2007. This promises a cavalcade of classic french cars from vintage to 1970s which will be so evocative of the France of old films - such as Jean-Luc Goddard’s Weekend [1967]
The route starts at Epaignes (27 Eure, Normandie) north of Lisieux to Elbeuf (south of Rouen) via ont l’Eveque (home of Père Magloire Calvados); then south to Evreux, west to Orbec and finishing in l’Aigle (=the Eagle! 61,Orne, Normanide.
More than 100 vehicles are expected which should provide an interesting spectacle in the gently rolling countryside of Normandy, perhaps enhanced by a little of the local produce - cider, Calvados (apple brandy), cream, butter and cheese!
FOR MORE INFO:
Tour de Normanide (in French)
Normandy Tourism
RECOMMENDED READING:
The Rough Guide to Brittany and Normandy - Edition 9
Normandy Green Guide (Michelin Green Guides)
The French Cafe
Brittany Green Guide (Michelin Green Guides)
Normandy Green Guide (Michelin Green Guides)
