| You can't stay away from the French food, | | | | sweet water fish in wine and vinegar), |
| while in France, the country known worldwide | | | | Hochepot (four meats stewed with vegetables), |
| for its numerous gastronomic delights and | | | | and Flamiche. |
| specialties. Certainly, the French cuisine is | | | | |
| extremely diverse including a wide variety of | | | | NORMANDY dishes include Tripes à la mode |
| foods and recipes from national and regional | | | | de Caen (tripe cooked in cider and calvados), |
| cuisines. France really offers one of the | | | | Matelote (fish stewed in cider), Moules à |
| richest cuisines in the World. | | | | la crème Normande (mussels cooked with |
| | | | white wine, garlic and cream), and Tarte |
| French cuisine is often categorized as | | | | Normande (apple tart). BRITTANY specialties |
| National Cuisine and Regional Cuisine. | | | | include Crêpes, Far Breton (flan with |
| National Cuisine includes the foods that have | | | | prunes), Kik ar Fars (boiled pork dinner with |
| been integral part of the French culture for | | | | a kind of dumpling), and Kouign amann |
| ages. These foods include a variety of | | | | (galette made flaky with high proportion of |
| breads, savory dishes, desserts & pastries, | | | | butter). |
| and some preserved foods. Common breads in | | | | |
| the French cuisine include Ficelle, Baguette, | | | | LOIRE VALLEY/CENTRAL FRANCH dishes include |
| Flûte, Pain, and Pain Poilane (large | | | | Rillettes (spreadable paste made from braised |
| thick crusted circular loaf). | | | | pork and rendered fat, similar to |
| | | | pâté), and andouillettes |
| Savory dishes include Biftek frites (steak & | | | | (sausage made with chitterlings). Burgundy |
| fries), Poulet frites (chicken & fries), | | | | specialties include Boeuf Bourguignon (beef |
| Blanquette de veau (blanquette of veal), Coq | | | | stewed in red wine), Escargots de Bourgogne |
| au vin (chicken in red wine), Pot au feu | | | | (snails baked in their shells with parsley |
| (beef stew with mixed vegetables), | | | | butter), Fondue bourguignonne (fondue made |
| Bouillabaisse (fish soup), Les endives | | | | with oil in which pieces of meat are cooked), |
| (Belgian endive), Boudin blanc (Delicate | | | | Gougère (cheese in choux pastry), and |
| flavored sausage similar to bockwurst), Civet | | | | Pochouse (fish stewed in red wine). |
| de Lapin (rabbit), Foie de veau (calve's | | | | |
| liver), and Andouillette (chitterling | | | | RHÃ"NE-ALPES dishes include Raclette (the |
| sausage). | | | | cheese is melted and served with potatoes, |
| | | | ham and often dried beef), Fondue savoyarde |
| Desserts & pastries include Chocolate Mousse, | | | | (fondue made with cheese and white wine into |
| Crème Brûlée, | | | | which cubes of bread are dipped), Gratin |
| Mille-feuilles, Choux à la Crème | | | | dauphinois, and Tartiflette (a Savoyard |
| (cream puffs), Tartes aux fruits (fruit | | | | gratin with potatoes, Reblochon cheese, cream |
| tarts), Religieuse (chocolate éclair | | | | and pork). |
| shaped to resemble a nun), Madeleine (small | | | | |
| cake-like cookie), Tarte Tatin (caramelized | | | | AVEYRON dishes include Tripoux (tripe |
| apple tart), Gâteaux (cake), | | | | 'parcels' in a savoury sauce), Truffade |
| Éclairs, and Profiteroles (baked puff | | | | (potatoes sautéed with garlic and |
| pastries (choux) filled with cream or ice | | | | young Tomme cheese), Aligot (mashed potatoes |
| cream). And, some typically French preserved | | | | blended with young Tomme cheese), Pansette de |
| foods include Cassoulet, Choucroute garnie, | | | | Gerzat (lamb tripe stewed in wine, shallots |
| and Duck confit. | | | | and blue cheese), and Salade Aveyronaise |
| | | | (lettuce, tomato, roquefort cheese, walnuts). |
| Greatly influenced by the French geography, | | | | |
| the French cuisine also includes a wide range | | | | LANGUEDOC dishes include Brandade de morue |
| of regional cuisines, including foods & | | | | (puréed salt cod), Cargolade (Catalan |
| dishes of Lorraine, Alsace, | | | | style of escargot), Trinxat (Catalan cabbage |
| Nord-Pas-de-Calais (Artois, Flanders, | | | | and potatoes), Bourride (Monkfish stewed with |
| Hainaut)-Picardy, Normandy, Brittany, Loire | | | | vegetables and wine, garnished with |
| Valley/Central France, Burgundy, | | | | aïoli), Rouille de seiche (Similar |
| Poitou-Charentes, Limousin, Bordeaux, | | | | preparation of squid), and Encornets farcis |
| Perigord, Gascony, Pays Basque, Toulouse, | | | | (Cuttlefish stuffed with sausagemeat, herbs). |
| Quercy, Aveyron, Roussillon, Languedoc, | | | | |
| Cévennes, Provence, Côte | | | | PROVENCE/CÃ"TE D'AZUR specialties include |
| d'Azur, and Corsica. | | | | Bouillabaisse (stew of mixed Mediterranean |
| | | | fish, tomatoes, and herbs), Ratatouille (a |
| LORRAINE dishes include Quiche Lorraine, | | | | vegetable stew with olive oil, aubergine, |
| Potée Lorraine, and Pâté | | | | courgette, bell pepper, tomato, onion and |
| Lorrain. ALSACE specialties include | | | | garlic), Pieds paquets (Lambs feet and tripe |
| Choucroute garnie (sauerkraut with sausages, | | | | 'parcels' in a savoury sauce), Soupe au |
| salt pork and potatoes), Spätzle, | | | | pistou (bean soup served with a pistou |
| Baeckeoffe, Kouglof, Bredela, Beerawecka, | | | | (cognate with Italian pesto) of fine-chopped |
| Mannala, Tarte flambée, and Baba au | | | | basil, garlic and Parmesan), Salade |
| rhum. | | | | Niçoise (varied ingredients, but |
| | | | always black olives, tuna), Socca, and |
| NORD-PAS-DE-CALAIS (ARTOIS, FLANDERS, | | | | Panisses. |
| HAINAUT) - PICARDY dishes include | | | | |
| Andouillette of Cambrai, Carbonnade (meat | | | | Author writes for Holiday Velvet, a website |
| stewed in beer), Potjevlesch (four-meat | | | | providing listings for Hotels, Villas, |
| terrine), Waterzoï (sweet water fish | | | | Holidays in Paris, France, and Holiday |
| stew), Escavêche (cold terrine of | | | | apartment Rentals. |