La cuisine française

France’s cuisine is one of the most renowned in the world.

Quiche is a savoury, open-faced pastry crust with a filling of savoury custard with cheese, meat, seafood, and/or vegetables. Quiche can be served hot or cold. It is part of French cuisine but is also popular in other countries, particularly as party food.

Croissants are buttery, flaky, viennoiseries or Vienna-style pastries named for their well-known crescent shape.

Crêpe is a type of very thin pancake, usually made from wheat flour (crêpes de froment) or buckwheat flour (galettes). The word is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled". The word, like the pancake itself, is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled." While crêpes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is nowadays widespread in France and is considered the national dish. Crêpes can be compared to the African injera, the tortilla, the Indian dosa and the Mexican sope. Crêpes often have a fruit filling of syrup, mixed berries, fresh fruit, NUTELLA ®, or lemon cream….and sometimes granulated sugar.

Tarte aux Fruits is that beautiful looking fruit tart you find in bakeries all over France. Traditional in the Region of Provence.

A fancy name for a steak with fried potatoes, steak frites, refers to beef steak with a side of French-fried potatoes. This dish is served in many variations in different regions and restaurants. It is commonly served with some type of gravy, sauce, or aioli. Steak frites is usually eaten in a restaurant, and is often served with a side of vegetables, usually fresh. This dish is served all around the world, but it is most popular in Belgium and France.

Bouillabaisse (pronounced "BOOL-yuh-bayz" or "bool- yuh-BAYZ") is a classic French fish soup from the Mediterranean region of Provençe. Traditionallly, bouillabaisse was made with various Mediterranean fish and seafood such as scorpionfish and conger, as well as shellfish like mussels and crab. Modern bouillabaisse can be made with cod, snapper, halibut and shrimp. In addition to the fish and seafood, bouillabaisse includes various vegetables, herbs and spices including tomatoes, onions, leeks, garlic, saffron, fennel, orange peel and bay bay

Foie gras is the liver of a duck or goose, considered a luxury or delicacy item, with a rich flavor and smooth texture. It's often served pan- seared.

The croque monsieur is a baked or fried boiled ham and cheese sandwich. Traditionally made with Brioche-like bread pieces, or with normal butter bread, but with a soft crust, topped with grated cheese of the same type, slightly salted and peppered. If you wish to change things up, add a fried egg to the top and it becomes a croque madame. The name is based on the verb croquer ("to bite") and the word monsieur ("mister"). The sandwich's first recorded appearance on a Parisian café menu was in 1910

Ratatouille is usually served as a side dish, but may also be served as a meal on its own (accompanied by pasta, rice or bread). Tomatoes are a key ingredient, with garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, marjoram, fennel and basil, or bay leaf and thyme, or a mix of green herbs like herbes de Provence.

One of the most famous dishes in French cuisine is escargot, a preparation of snails that can be served with a variety of sauces. The most common preparation is boiling or steaming, and the snails are often served in the shell on a special plate that has small depressions for each shell. Diners use tongs to extract the flesh from the shell, along with small two-tined snail forks, and then dip the snail into the sauce provided. A garlic and butter sauce is the most common, but wine sauces and others are not unusual.garlic

Mousse au chocolat is a delicious, light chocolate mousse made with bitter dark chocolate - a perfect end to a French cuisine based meal

A baguette is classically a long, thin loaf of bread that is intimately associated with France and particularly Paris. The bread has been made in that country since the 1800s, although it started to become truly popular in the early 1900s. Outside of France, baguettes are often found at bakeries and grocers since they make excellent sandwich and picnic loaves. Like other French breads, they are best when fresh, and will stale rapidly. The word is derived from the Latin baculum, for “rod” or “stick.” A traditional baguette does strongly resemble a rod, since it is long and classically narrow. Wider loaves are called flutes in French, and they are also very popular. Since this type of bread bakes quickly, it is often the first offering of the morning at French bakeries. A true baguette contains only flour, water, salt, and yeast, by French law. Breads with other ingredients cannot carry this name in France, and many bakers take their production very seriously.

Onions, and onion soup were enjoyed by ancient Roman and Greek peoples. French onion soup (with the bread and cheese topping) is reminiscent of Medieval sops. The recipe we know today is a direct descendant of modern French bouillon crafted in the 17th century. Onion soups are likewise found in early English cookbooks and American cookbooks from colonial days to present. Curiously, it is absent from Escoffier's Guide Culinaire [1903]. Onion soup enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the 1960s, when French cooking was promoted in the United States.

Frog legs are one of the better-known delicacies of French and Chinese cuisine.

Canard à l'Orange is a classic French dish in which a duck is roasted and served with an orange sauce. The Italians claim it migrated from Italy to France.

Every region of France has its own particular cheeses. Back in the time of General de Gaulle, France had 246 cheeses - and it has quite a few more than that now, given the large number of new products, inventions or copies of traditional cheeses, that have emerged from France's hundreds of dairy companies in the past 20 years. Three families of cheese: French cheeses can be divided into three main families: - pressed cheeses (like most British cheeses) - soft cheeses, such as Camembert - blue cheeses to which can be added a number of hybrids or very individual cheeses.pressed cheeses soft cheesesblue cheeses Three different types of milk: Cheese is traditionally made from three types of milk: - cow's milk - goat's milk - sheep's milk (ewe's milk) Click image for more info

A Bûche de Noël is a traditional dessert served near Christmas, especially in France, Quebec and several former French colonies. Made of sponge cake to resemble a miniature actual Yule log, it is a form of sweet roulade. Click image to see how a bûche de noël is made

Click an image to watch a video about food in France