Delicious Fish and Seafood in France

I didn’t grow up eating seafood. My family ate fish sticks once in a while and the occasional shrimp cocktail, but that was about it.

Then I married someone who loves seafood, and now we live part of the year in France, where the seafood is amazing and I eat a lot of it. At first I found French menus confusing because there are so many different words for seafood. Sometimes I didn’t know if I was reading about a fish or a fowl!

Now I can navigate the menus, so let me share what I’ve learned.

The French distinguish between poisson (fish) and fruits de mer (seafood, like shrimp and crabs), so I’ve written two different articles. One article is about fish and the other about seafood. In each, I list 10 that you are likely to run across in France. Most will be familiar, but if there is something new to you, consider trying it—you may find it delicious!

Read all about fish in France Today!

Read all about seafood in Frenchly!

Going Gluten-Free in France? Plan Ahead!

Six years ago, just after arriving in Provence for the spring, I was diagnosed with celiac disease. This is a total intolerance of gluten, which meant I could never again have a crunchy baguette or a buttery croissant. Horrors!

It took some getting used to, but I’ve learned how to live a gluten-free (and delicious!) life in France. For those like me who are intolerant to gluten, or who know someone who is, I’ve written some guidance for how to go gluten-free in la belle France.

Read all about it in Frenchly!

A Conversation with Cheese Expert Emily Monaco

Cheese is one of the glories of French cuisine, but choosing among hundreds of French cheeses can be intimidating. If you have ever been to a French restaurant where they wheel out a big “chariot” covered with dozens of cheeses, and ask you to pick what you’d like, you know what I mean.

To learn more about French cheese and cheese etiquette, I spoke to expert Emily Monaco, an American who has lived in Paris since 2007. Her obsession with all things delicious – but especially cheese – has led her to build a career giving food tours of Paris’s Marais district with Paris by Mouth. She also writes about food and drink for publications including The Wall Street Journal, the BBC, and EatingWell.

Learn more about cheese in this fascinating interview in France Today!

Asparagus Season in France

With spring comes the sound of birds singing, daffodils in bloom, and trees beginning to leaf. These are all lovely, but for me the real start of spring is when asparagus arrives in our local French market.

In France, fruits and vegetables are mostly seasonal, so winter is not my favorite time of year. Potatoes and parsnips, anyone?  Sure, you might find blueberries in Paris, but only if you frequent the specialty shops. For most people, like where I live in Provence, what you eat is what’s in season.

That’s what makes the arrival of the first asparagus so exciting. It’s finally springtime! Asparagus not only heralds the start of spring, but also the beginning of a long series of new arrivals in the market. Next come strawberries, then a whole flood of goodies – cherries, melons, stone fruits, and on and on.

Read more about asparagus season, including a great recipe, in The Good Life France!

The Star of the Show: Gougères French Cheese Puffs

Want to impress the guests at your next party? Then serve them gougères.

Gougères (pronounced goo-zhair) are French cheese puffs, crispy on the outside and bursting with delicious cheesy flavour. The first time you bite into one, it is a definite “wow” moment.

They are not hard to make and–even better–you can make them ahead of time and just warm them up when your guests arrive.

Read all about this French specialty in France Today!

Meet Master Chocolate-Maker Joël Durand

“As a young boy in Brittany,” says Joël Durand, “I had three dreams—to be a chef, a pastry-maker, or a race car driver.” A smile crosses his face. “My parents made it clear that driving race cars was not in the cards, so I started cooking when I was six.”

Durand quit school at 14 and apprenticed as a pastry maker. His talent quickly became apparent because within three years he had professional certifications not only as a pastry maker, but also as a confectioner, chocolatier, and ice-cream maker. And that was just the beginning.

At the age of 17, Durand was hired by not one but two restaurants simultaneously, managing dozens of makers. And these were not just any restaurants, but top destinations—one had a Michelin star!

Durand eventually moved to Provence, where today he focuses on chocolates, infusing them with dozens of flavors. His reputation has expanded across France and he is considered the best chocolate maker in the region. A visit to his chocolaterie is a highlight of any visit to St-Rémy.

Learn more about this master chocolate maker in Perfectly Provence!

State Dinners and French Power

Powerful rulers have hosted lavish dinners since time immemorial, as a way to demonstrate their power and to forge alliances. But does anyone do it as well as the French, with their state dinners in the glittering Elysée Palace?

A Bit of History

King Louis XIV set the tone when he made eating a public spectacle. Every day, crowds would gather to watch the royal family enjoy a sumptuous meal, the Grand Couvert. It was a way for the Sun King, Europe’s top dog, to make a daily demonstration of his wealth and power. His descendants continued the tradition until it, like they, died out.

A century later, the “art of the table” is credited with maintaining French power after the defeat of Napoleon. When the victors met at the Congress of Vienna to carve up Europe, French representative Tallyrand hosted lavish meals for the delegates, night after night. Many believe that these led to France’s remarkably lenient treatment.

Official French state dinners—dîners d’État—began in the 1870s under the presidents of the Third Republic. What better way to seduce a potential ally than by plying them with fine French food and wine? Unfortunately, considerable stamina was required, as those 19th century meals could last for hours and include up to 20 different courses.

By the time of World War I, reason had prevailed and the number of courses had dropped to seven. They dropped further in the 1950s when the austere Charles de Gaulle became president, as he cut them to five courses and limited the meal to an hour and 15 minutes.

De Gaulle was followed by Pompidou, who was a bon vivant and loved fancy dinners. Not only did he host state dinners at the Elysée Palace, he also took fine French dining with him when he traveled. He would load his plane with chefs and elegant tableware, then host dinners at the French embassies of the countries he visited.

Despite Pompidou’s enthusiasm, dîners d’État have continued to get shorter, with President Hollande cutting them to their current length of one hour, and four courses. And they have become less frequent.  While presidents in the 1960s and 1970s hosted state dinners nearly six times a year, recent presidents have averaged less than two.

A Strict Protocol

Dîners d’État are part of what the French call gastrodiplomie (gastronomic diplomacy), a kind of French soft power, and must display the glories of France.

Held in the Salles des Fêtes of the Elysée Palace (or occasionally at the Grand Trianon of Versailles), they use dishes and silverware from the finest French artisans. Dishes are made by Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, France’s top porcelain maker, with some elegant pieces from the 19th century still in use.  Chrystal is provided by Saint-Louis and, of course, Baccarat. Silverware is made by Chrisofle and Puiforcat, and stamped with the Republique Française coat of arms. And the Elysée kitchen still uses some of the fine copper cookware made over 200 years ago.

The guest list is chosen with great care. Two thirds of the guests are selected by the French president and the rest by the guest of honor. The French selections are carefully balanced, with half coming from politics and business, and the others coming from the worlds of science, the arts, academia, and sports.

Music is provided by the Garde Républicain’s chamber orchestra, with pieces chosen from the guest of honor’s country, though Mozart is also a popular choice.

Planning a State Dinner

Planning a dîner d’État is a high-stakes game, with lots of rules and protocol to follow. And things are even tougher when the guest of honor is none other than Queen Elizabeth II. Has anyone on earth been to more state dinners than the Queen? She was the guest of honor in 2014, on the 70th anniversary of D-Day, at a state dinner attended by multiple monarchs and presidents.

Planners went into overdrive. What dishes should be served? What wines? And what about the music?

After long contemplation, the Elysée’s head chef, Guillaume Gomez, took the safe route. He designed a menu full of classics—the Queen is rather big on tradition, after all. There was foie gras to start, then lamb from Sisteron with vegetables, a cheese course, and a selection of summer desserts.

What about wine? Gomez conferred with the Elysée’s sommelier in the palace’s 12,000-bottle cellar. Again, they went with classics—Sauternes and first-growth Bordeaux. There are occasions when an “edgy” Jurançon from a hip young producer might be appropriate, but this was definitely not one of them.

The cheeses were an interesting choice—Gomez wanted fine cheeses but also those that were easily identifiable, like Rochefort and Reblochon. When there are hundreds of guests to serve in a short period of time, it’s not possible to explain the cheeses to everyone.

As for the music, what could be more, um, interesting than the Beatle’s Yellow Submarine played by a chamber orchestra? Let’s just say that Mozart also made an appearance.

If you’d like an entertaining look at the preparations that went into this dinner, here’s a video for you (in French).

From French monarchs to French presidents, grand dinners have been a tool of the country’s soft power. And with a menu that showcases the glories of French food and wine, who wouldn’t want to be a guest, even vicariously? Bon appétit!

Beyond Champagne: French Sparkling Wine for the Holidays

The holiday season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than with Champagne?

Champagne has long been the go-to wine for celebrations, but it can be pricey. Luckily, there are other French sparkling wines to consider, called crémants, that are also delicious … and easier on the budget.

What is a crémant and what are the different kinds? Learn more in France Today!

Canned Meat for Thanksgiving??

 

Last year, Val served canned meat for Thanksgiving dinner. You might think this horrified our guests, but in fact it was a big hit. That’s because the canned meat was French confit de canard (duck leg confit) and it was delicious.

We have always loved confit de canard but Val pooh-poohed the idea of getting it out of a can. We would see it at our weekly market in St-Rémy-de-Provence and she would turn up her nose and say it was better at our local butcher.

But then one day we had French friends visit us in California and they brought a can as a gift. We had it for dinner (so easy!) and it was a revelation, as good as in a top French restaurant. And don’t tell our St-Rémy butcher, but it was better than his.

Read all about delicious French canned meats in The Good Life France!

The World’s Best Melon is From Provence

There are lots of different melons, from the ubiquitous cantaloupe to the fabulously expensive Yubari King. And the best of them all comes from a small town in Provence called Cavaillon.

Melon de Cavaillon has a history that goes back centuries, to the days of the Avignon Papacy. The popes needed good melons to eat, so seeds were brought from Italy to Provence, and the magic began.

The good people of Cavaillon love this melon so much that they’ve a built a giant statue in its honor. They have an annual melon festival where a hundred white Camargue horses race through the streets. And Alexandre Dumas was such a fan that he practically made the melon a fourth musketeer.

What is so great about the melon de Cavaillon? Find out in Perfectly Provence!