Traditional food in French cuisine

When you think about French cuisine and traditional French food I bet the first two things that come up into your mind are croissants and baguettes. French people eat them for breakfast with strawberry or apricot jams and at the cafeterias with cappuccino or cafe au lait. French baguette is also the national bread in France which you can buy from the supermarkets or freshly baked from the boulangeries. When walking in the streets of France it’s very common to walk into people carring their baguettes around! A baguette is also perfect to eat as a sandwich stuffed with prosciutto and a piece of cheese from the Normandy Region called Camembert. Speaking of cheeses, when visiting France you must try Camembert de Normandie, the most popular cheese in France, named after the village called Camembert.

Besides croissants, baguettes and different kind of cheeses, French cuisine is also known from their seafood, meat and other main courses. For example the signature dish of the port city of Marseilles is a soup called bouillabaisse. It’s made by using at least three types of local rockfish, tomatoes, fennel, a mix of spices, olive oil, and water. Another traditional soup is the “Soup au Pistou” that is a flavorsome  summer soup packed with fresh produce, such as tomatoes, green flat beans, and courgettes. In addition also to white beans, kidney beans, potatoes, and pasta, making it both a nutritious, flavorsome, easy and wholesome main meal. Last but not the least, the delicious soup “Pot-au-Feu” contains potatoes, beef cuts and different types of vegetables like carrots, leeks, celery and onions. This recipe is not very spicy but there is used spices like cloves, black pepper, and salt. Also French Dijon mustard is a very important ingredient of the soup. The French are known for their fine wines and they take great pride in pairing them with the food they serve.

French people also like to eat a lot of salad, vegetables and legumes which you can buy either from the supermarkets or the street markets called “marchés”. One of the most known salad dishes is “Salade Niçoise”. The classical salade Niçoise is made of fresh tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, Niçoise olives, and tuna or anchovies, seasoned with extra virgin olive oil. Olive oil and other vegetable oils are often used in cooking in French kitchen, and also as the salad dressing. A globally known dish baked in the oven is “ratatouille” which includes tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, courgettes, eggplants, extra virgin oil, garlic, bay leaf and thyme. Rice and ratatouille are perfect together and you can also pair it with flank steak, pork chops, lamb, chicken or eggs.

Then let’s move on to my favorite category: the desserts! One of the most beloved desserts of France is a mind-blowing chocolate dessert called Mousse au chocolat. It’s made of dark chocolate, sugar, butter, eggs and a pinch of salt and it’s often enjoyed with raspberries, pears or cherries. Chocolate is very popular enjoyment among French people and they can use it in countless ways in everything like on to of the cakes, inside the croissants or as a creamy dessert. Next let’s talk about crêpes! Crêpes are originally from the north-western of France and widely served in crêperies all over the country. Crêpes are traditionally filled either with ham, cheese, and/or egg, or served with sweet ingredients like sugar, jam or chocolate. On February 2nd on the “Day of Crêpes” people gather with friends and family to enjoy crêpes.

So this was a small jump into the French cuisine but you won’t really understand the magic of French food before you try it yourself!

Main source: https://nomadparadise.com/french-foods/