What are some Famous Foods in France?

There is no question that French cuisine is world-renowned. No matter their country of origin, aspiring professional and amateur chefs study the culinary arts emulating master French chefs and their creative cuisine. In addition to setting the standard for how kitchen staff is organized according to duties under the brigade system, their dining etiquette and even vocabulary have been adopted everywhere. Of course, indulging in French cuisine is a delicious experience that is sure to delight your taste buds!

There are a few things to know when choosing a restaurant and ordering food in Paris. Look for handwritten menus, order the budget-friendly Prix Fixe menu, watch out for prime dining hours, and a typical multi-course event will consist of the following: Entrée (introductory course); Plat principal (main course); Fromage (cheese course); and Dessert. Be sure to try some of the following traditional French cuisine when you travel to Paris, France.

Appetizers

French Onion Soup
Soupe à l'oignon consisting of beef broth and caramelized onions served with Gruyère and bread or croutons. The soup is presented in a ceramic ramekin and broiled to melt the Gruyère into a bubbling crust. Find it served in brasseries along your walking tour of the city.
Escargots
These are edible snails usually served as an appetizer. The best are Burgundy snails cooked with parsley butter, garlic, and shallots.
Ratatouille
A stewed vegetable dish from the French city of Nice. It is often a mix of sauteed vegetables, including eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions.
Salade Niçoise
Also from Nice, it's traditionally made of tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, Niçoise olives, anchovies, and olive oil. Chefs have created many variations. An excellent choice at raw food restaurants in Paris.
Bouillabaisse
Fish stew in the port of Marseilles. The name means to boil and simmer. Bouillabaisse includes 5 different kinds of fish and can also include shellfish, fennel, saffron, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, herbs, and spices. The accompaniment is bread and a mayonnaise-like sauce called rouille.
Cuisses de grenouille
Frogs legs. People often think of this as a very popular dish, however, it is not an everyday dish. They can be deep fried with lemon and garlic or stewed with garlic.

Entrees

Omelette
The name omelette was coined in the 16th century (although fried eggs were cooked well before). Made from fluffy beaten eggs, fried in butter and folded in half. They can be filled with meat, fromage, and vegetables such as mushrooms, onions, and peppers. An excellent way to start the day in Paris.
Fondue
A big pot of melted cheese served with delicious things for dipping such as bread, potatoes, and apples. This dish is often a fun eating experience for the kids.
Quiche Lorraine
With a filling of smoked bacon and custard, this is baked like a pie. It’s considered a tart, however, and eaten for lunch or dinner. Quiche is not served at breakfast or at a restaurant. You can find it at other establishments including bistros and brasseries. In Lorraine, where it originated, it is typically not made with Gruyere, although it can be in other regions.
Coq au vin
One of Julia Child’s signature dishes, braised chicken stewed with Burgundy, mushrooms, and lardons. Coq actually means a rooster, but this dish is made with chicken. Coq au vin can also be made with local wines and champagne.
Beef Bourguignon
A classic dish of Burgundy, Beef Bourguignon is a fabulous stew. Prepared in Burgundy with broth, bouquet garni (aromatic herbs), onions, and garlic.
Chateaubriand
One of the most expensive and fanciest selections is a chateaubriand, a thick cut tenderloin filet. It’s named after François-René de Chateaubriand, whose chef invented a method of cooking it to perfection using poorer quality steaks to wrap the tenderloin before charring it. Much effort by the chef goes into preparing chateaubriand. It is typically served with potatoes and a sauce made of shallots, stock, white wine, tarragon, and butter.
Cassoulet
From Castelnaudary in southern France, a slow-cooked casserole of meat such as pork sausages, duck, goose, and sometimes mutton. The name comes from the casserole dish it is cooked in.
Duck Confit
Braised leg of a duck, look for confit de canard on the menu. The duck is salt cured and poached in its own fat. It can also be made with goose or pork and is eaten for both lunch and dinner.

Sides

Duchess Potatoes
Pommes de terre duchesse is a fancy breakfast potato dish that’s fairly easy to make. Mashed potatoes mixed with egg yolks and butter, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, baked like dollops of meringue until they are golden-brown.
French Fries
Nope, fries are not from France. The origins are most likely Belgium around the late 1600's when there is a record of the first fried potatoes.

Pastries, Desserts

Crème Brûlée
A rich vanilla custard base dessert with a layer of burnt caramel on top. Crème Brûlée is an international favorite.
Mousse au chocolat
Chocolate mousse dessert made by folding whipped cream into a custard made of melted chocolate, eggs, heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla. You can't go wrong with this option if your kids are part of the trip.
Éclair
A crispy pastry made from choux dough with a cream filling, topped with chocolate icing. Very popular and you can find these at boulangeries and patisseries.
Tarte Tatin
This is an upside-down caramelized fruit tart created by accident in the kitchen of Hotel Tatin. It can be made with apples, plums, peaches, pears, and pineapple. You can find these in patisseries.
Truffles
Expensive and tasty black mushrooms used in small quantities to accent another dish. In France they are called the diamond of the kitchen.
Bûche de Noel
The Christmastime dessert Yule Log, or bûche de Noël. Made of a vanilla sponge cake rolled up to look like a fireplace log. It’s decorated with a chocolate buttercream frosting.
Crêpe
Originally from Brittany, the crêpe is a very thin large pancake made from either wheat flour, or buckwheat flour. You can buy a crêpe at a crêperie or from street carts. Crêpes can be sweet, or savory, and are typically accompanied by cider. They are served as breakfast, or dessert and will have a sweet filling like butter and sugar, maple syrup, whipped creams, or custard. Savory can be eaten for lunch or dinner including the favorite ham and Gruyere.
Madeleine
From Commercy and Liverdun in the Lorraine region, little shell-shaped sponge cakes made with flour, eggs, finely ground almonds, and sugar. You can find these at patisseries.
Croissants
Crescent-shaped flaky buttery pastry that can be found at boulangeries and patisseries, sometimes filled with chocolate. It is made of a layered yeast-leavened dough, rolled and folded several times. These are eaten for breakfast or really anytime.

Breads

Baguette
This well known type of long thin crispy crust chewy interior bread is defined by French law with a standard length of 26 inches and diameter of 2 to 2.5 inches made with specific dough. You must have one (probably many) of these sold at proper boulangeries that bake the baguette on site, be sure a certified bakery is on your France itinerary.
Pain de Campagne
Sourdough bread, is a large round shape baked with rye flour, which gives it a unique taste.
Brioche
Usually eaten for breakfast or as a dessert, brioche is a puffy bread made from egg and butter. Some recipes include brandy and sugar.
Boule
Boule means ball, which is the shape of this bread. It looks like a squeezed ball with the center bulging out of a crunchy crust. A boule is often served with soup, sandwiches, tea, or coffee, or just with butter.

Fromage

The French are very serious about their fromage and have made these varieties (and so many more) popular around the world. However, when in France, it will taste the way it is supposed to taste when made from unpasteurized milk. You can visit a fromagerie to buy your favorite and have it vacuum sealed to take out of the country.

A gourmet meal can be made of bread and Brie, Camembert, or many other varieties. Restaurant menus often include plates with different varieties and this course is usually served before dessert and never as an appetizer. It is also served with charcuterie at wine bars; what could be a better pairing?

Camembert
A type of cow’s milk soft variety from Normandy. Camembert is ripened by molds for a minimum 3 weeks and cut into small, circular shapes. It has a strong or fort aroma.
Brie
Another soft variety made from cow’s milk. Brie originated in Seine-et-Marne in the Île-de-France region. It is buttery in color with a rind of white mold.
Roquefort
Made from sheep's milk, Roquefort is a moist blue variety. It can only be labeled Roquefort if it is from Roquefort-sur-Soulzon.
Valençay
From the Berry province made from unpasteurized goat's milk. Known for its truncated pyramidal shape and charcoal dusted outer layer, Valençay is a soft variety.

For more information, please refer to the following pages:

More About Our Baguettes Classes

Getting a bit technical during our Baguette Class in Paris

The French baguette, actually probably better known as the Parisian baguette has beome a true symbol of French popular gastronomy. A true icon of French life even - look around and you will see the Parisians strolling back home with their baguettes under their arm. But if you are French why would you learn how to do this? You can buy a baguette at any corner of Paris for about one Euro a piece. But in our Baguette Class in Paris you will learn how do this from scratch. It is somewhat technical, but also full of tips and tricks. But when you leave, it will have not secret left for you. From the original mix to the famous "scarification" through adding water to your oven through baking, you will see and do it all.

Learning more during your Baguette class in Paris: Croque Monsieur Bread and Brioche

This class is like all our other baking or cooking classes: totally hands-on. So you get to practice from beginning to end - and to taste at the end. But not only will you learn how to make Baguette, but you will also learn to make two more types of bread: the French Croque Monsieur bread. The basis for the classic French bistrot appetizer. And in your Baguette class in Paris you will also learn how to make your own Brioche. Probably the most indulgent bread you will find in France - if not the lightest ...

And you might learn some history during your Baguette Class in Paris

While you will learn the techniques to create - and get to taste - three classic types of French breads, you will also learn some of the stories on the origin of the baguette. Just beware it is still being quite hotly debated. What is for sure though is that the Baguette is absolutely part of today Parisian's life. A classic you will be able to take back home with you.

More About Our Wine and Cheese Lunch in Paris

Cheese and Wine in Paris

The pleasures we can derive from French cuisine can seem endless. However two of the best known and loved French gastronomic heroes are French cheese and wine. Whether we talk about a Brie which actually comes from very close to Paris, to a creamy Camembert from Normandy, or a Comté from the Alps, French cheese has a delight for all palates. And of course, French wines are even better known whether from Bordeaux great wines or Burgundy sophisticated whites – all of which enthral wine lovers. Well, at our course on cheese and wine in Paris you will come to appreciate that although each is delicious on its own, properly matched cheese and wine together can make the experience of each even more enjoyable and an absolute delight.

How to pair French cheese and wine

Because not all pairings are actually what people expect, at Le Foodist we have decided to call these experiences 'Daring Pairings'. Maybe because we like to step out of the ordinary to challenge our taste buds, but really all we try to do is give you the perfect match fo cheese and wine in Paris. So not only will you learn how to select the best wine to go with your cheese, but you will also learn what are the big cheese families in France – there are actually only five, and this is one of the keys to great pairing. In discovering all these pairings of cheese with wine you will be convinced that indeed two things together can be better than the sum of their parts.

It is important to have fun with pairing cheese and wine in Paris

Beyond the tastings though, we have found that the best way to help our clients remember and re-use their experience is to vary the way to approach both wine and cheese. That is why during our courses on cheese and wine in Paris we share sensory games and many an anecdote to bring the produce to life in your mind as well as on your palate. Overall we will feature four excellent wines, one Champagne and demonstrate to you how best each combines with cheese, letting your taste guide you along with our teaching.

Understanding cheese and wine pairing while in Paris

While for many top Parisian wine stores and restaurant wine lists can be confusing and even intimidating, we believe that after our lunch learning how to pair cheese and wine in Paris, you will feel much more comfortable navigating all of those. And we sincerely hope your knowledge will help you unlock a door to a whole new world of enjoyment of French wine and cheese pairing. At every step of the way our sommelier will also share unique tips and tricks to understand wines better and how culture and wine are so related in France; hopefully enriching your own experience as well.

And they do not have to do with what you will find in those markets. They have to do with when you can go shopping there. Open Air markets are only open in the morning. Typically from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. And they are not open every day. As a matter of fact for the vast majority they are open either open every other day (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday or Wednesday, Friday, Sunday), or sometimes only twice a week.

This is the case of the Bastille Market (Metro Bastille and Metro Bréguet Sabin )which is open only on Thursday and Sunday morning. We like to send people there because it is a very big market with over one hundred vendors. And it has a nice stand of Crêperie in the middle. Here you get a video of a lady preparing a crêpe there; and you can get that crêpe for only 3 Euros!
There is only one Open Air market open every day of the week, it is called Marché Aligre (Metro Ledru Rollin or Metro Faidherbe Chaligny) which happens on the eponymous street. It is an interesting market because you find all kinds of quality in that market – the good, the bad and the ugly. There is also a nice covered market in the middle of it called Marché Beauveau – sometimes called Marché Beauveau Aligre. On the contrary, Covered Markets are open every day, and not just in the morning, but also in the late afternoon. Typically from 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm.

We are blessed with two markets close to where Le Foodist is located, so we can walk to a market every morning – sometimes it is the Maubert market, and sometimes it is the Monge market. Both nice with their own specififies. Last but not least, none of these markets is open on Monday. Do not sign-up for a Market Tour on Monday, you might never see that money again …

Choosing Ingredients in Paris

While all markets are different, they also have some things in common. First they work on specific schedules as explained before. But also you will find always at a minimum the following vendors: a Maraîcher – this is the name we give to people selling fruits and vegetables, a butcher, a fishmonger, a cheesemonger and a baker. Normally you will find several of each, with different levels of quality, organic or non-organic, local or not local (but mostly not local unfortunately).
And we explain how to recognize each of those of course during our Market Visits and Cooking Classes in Paris. But choosing ingredients can be daunting at first, because of the variety that is on display. A typical fishmonger will carry 20 different types of fishes, and as many shrimp and shelf fish varieties. A good cheese monger will easily carry up to 100 different types of cheese and obviously you could get over 100 different cuts of meat at a butcher (from the type of meat to the cut itself). And a normal Maraicher will carry between 50 and 100 fruits and vegetables as well.
This is what makes these markets so exciting – the variety of products, the beauty of their display, and the exchange you can have with most of the vendors. We give you tips though on how to make sure that exchange with the vendors go well – a few magic words, and everything will be fine!

Cooking in Paris

Obviously going to markets is nice, but actually knowing that you are going to cook what you find there is even more exciting. It is not uncommon for Parisians to buy a little bit too much food because they get so excited at the idea of cooking it all! But as most of us have hardly any space where we live, that can limit the enthusiasm sometimes. Because of the lack of space, Cooking in Paris can be quite different from cooking in the rest of France. And there are also dishes that are typically associated with regions which the Parisian will not cook at home – but taste when they visit friends or families in the various regions of France. However our kitchen has plenty of space, so we can cook traditional French dishes without a problem – whether they come from Paris or any region. And the most important part for us is to ensure that we share techniques much more than just recipes. As a matter of fact, we love to share a bit of the science behind what we do so people can better remember the “what” by understanding the “why”.

Sharing Stories

In November 2010, some experts from the UN cultural organisation, decided tha France’s multi-course gastronomic meal, with its rites and its presentation, fulfilled the conditions for featuring on the “world intangible list” of the UNESCO.
In this list you can find all kinds of cultural practices, including Mexico Day of the Dead festival for example. Importantly this is not suggesting French cuisine is better than other cuisines (even though we the French tend to believe that …). It is only saying that the gastronomic meal and what it entails is a very vivid cultural practice which people in France partake into on a very regular basis. That is why the same experts indicated that the French gastronomic meal is a “social custom aimed at celebrating the most important moments in the lives of individuals and groups”. And in that social custom, there are many parts: the attention we pay to the way we choose ingredients, how we pair wine with food, how many dishes we will present to our guests, how we lay the table, etc… But one big part of the cultural practice is that commensality (the fact of sharing the food) is always accompanied by sharing stories about …. Well, you would have guessed it, Food of course!
To us it is THE perfect example of how Food and Culture come together – actually we decide to share food is a considered a cultural practice. I would argue that it is true of all countries, regions, etc… As the way we relate to Food is such a big part of anybody’s identity. But as a result and to make sure you have the most genuine experience of French culture, after the a coking class in Paris at Le Foodist, you will share a gastronomic meal at a common table with your Chef and fellow participants to the class.

French Wine and Food Pairing

As mentioned above, one of the big cultural practices in France is choosing how to pair Wine and Food in general and Wine and Cheese in particular. We actually have a class which focuses specifically on this. As it is so important though, we always make sure we share white and red wines during our meals, chosen to pair well in our opinion with the food we cook. And being at the table together is a good opportunity to discuss about wine as well, with concepts such as “terroir” (to simplify, terroir means “what you do depends on where you are”) which are essential to grasp the way the French think about Food.
And all this will always go with a cheering “Santé” – which quite simply means, to your good health!