Cuisine and specialties of Nord-Pas-de-Calais

The region has always been at an intersection of Europe, and traces of its history can be found in its specialties, such as the English influence on the Côte d'Opale, or dishes of Polish origin in the mining basin.

Nord-Pas-de-Calais is a major agricultural and dairy farming region, and a producer of cheeses, including the most famous, Maroilles, which is used in a variety of flamiche.

Tithes were paid in goods - for example, in Maroilles cheese, created around 960 A.C. by the abbey of the same name,[nb 1] whose "edict of the pastures" imposed affinage on every cow owner.

[2] The Catholic Church required the practice of Lent on about 166 days a year;[3] as a result, herring was abundantly consumed by the people, making Boulogne-sur-Mer an important fishing port.

[4] The grapevine, acclimatized by the Romans, remained cultivated until the Little Ice Age, but its production was very uneven;[5] it also provided verjuice to accompany dishes.

Beer remained the popular drink, while the courts of Flanders and Artois imported wine from Burgundy and Arbois,[6] and abbeys owned vineyards in other regions.

After the Black Death of the 14th century, during the crisis of the late Middle Ages, the population was reduced by a third, and agriculture began a slow transformation.

[8] From the 9th to the 17th century, the region was part of the Kingdom of France, the Burgundian, and then the Spanish Netherlands, with some towns passing from one to the other on several occasions or, like Calais, being English possessions.

[9] According to La Bruyère Champier, during the 16th century, "in Artois and Hainault, ordinary food was dairy and butter, because the country has abundant pastures; and pork, because it is easy to fatten this animal; as well as pastries, which excel in diversification and are the main table honors".

[13] After the discovery of the New World, new vegetables were slowly introduced and, at first, tomatoes were only cultivated as an ornamental plant;[14] turkeys, on the other hand, were appreciated from the outset,[15] with the Premonstratensians of Licques Abbey raising them as early as the 17th century.

Coffee was introduced in the 17th century and became a popular product with the Industrial Revolution, as a hot drink to keep you awake during a long working day.

[17] Beer production in the abbeys gradually declined in the region, with Trappists settling instead just over the border in Chimay, Westvleteren, and Orval.

[22] Potato cultivation developed to cope with the population boom; the popular diet consisted of soups, vegetable stews, and dairy products since meat was too expensive.

Cradle of modern French mass retailing, the region also saw the emergence of fast-food chains such as Flunch in 1971, and Paul bakeries, which aimed for a higher standard of quality.

They have also renewed: the tradition of mussels and French fries at the Lille braderie dates from the 1970s,[34] as does that of herring throwing at the Dunkirk carnival in 1962.

[36] Nord-Pas-de-Calais remains a major agricultural region,[37] characterized by highly intensive farming and large-scale crops (cereals, beet, potatoes, etc.)

Meat is also preserved in various charcuterie specialties, including horsemeat, consumed in large quantities in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region,[47] where the flagship product is horse sausage.

[49] Specialities include: Made famous by the film Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, frikandel is a meatball shaped like a sausage, characteristic of friteries.

[53] The most famous are: The sugar used in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region comes from beets; production began in the early 19th century, following the continental blockage,[56] and expanded rapidly,[57] enabling chocolate factories to diversify.

Potatoes are often served alongside dishes; French fries are prepared in the Belgian style, cooked twice in beef fat or oil.

[67] Beer is also used as yeast in beignets[68] and couquebaques, Flanders' crêpes à la bière,[69] as well as in the dough used to make flamiches.

Mussels are a speciality of the Boulonnais and Calais regions, prepared in marinara or with a dash of vinegar, and often accompanied by French fries as in Belgium.

Northerners drink regional or Belgian beers, whose distinctive feature is that they generally have a fairly high alcohol content (around 7-10% vol.).

The region still hosts around twenty breweries,[19] whose best-known beers are the "bière de garde": Jenlain, 3 Monts, Goudale and Ch'ti.

[52] Nord-Pas-de-Calais cuisine is often overlooked in French gastronomy, even though certain products such as Houlle jenever and Cambrai bêtises have been listed among Trésors gourmands de la France.