French cuisine
In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France.
In the 17th century, chefs François Pierre La Varenne and Marie-Antoine Carême spearheaded movements that shifted French cooking away from its foreign influences and developed France's own indigenous style.
A common form of food preparation was to thoroughly cook, pound, and strain mixtures into fine pastes and mushes, something believed to be beneficial to make use of nutrients.
One of the grandest showpieces of the time was a roast swan or peacock sewn back into its skin with feathers intact, the feet and beak being gilded.
Markets in Paris such as Les Halles, la Mégisserie, those found along Rue Mouffetard, and similar smaller versions in other cities were very important to the distribution of food.
His recipes marked a change from the style of cookery known in the Middle Ages to new techniques aimed at creating somewhat lighter dishes, and more modest presentations of pies as individual pastries and turnovers.
[4]: 149–154 The successive updates of Le Cuisinier roïal et bourgeois include important refinements such as adding a glass of wine to fish stock.
The 1712 edition, retitled Le Nouveau cuisinier royal et bourgeois, was increased to two volumes, and was written in a more elaborate style with extensive explanations of technique.
In fact, bread was so important that harvest, interruption of commerce by wars, heavy flour exploration, and prices and supply were all watched and controlled by the French Government.
In the 1960s, Henri Gault and Christian Millau revived it to describe the cooking of Paul Bocuse, Jean and Pierre Troisgros, Michel Guérard, Roger Vergé and Raymond Oliver.
The cooking times for most fish, seafood, game birds, veal, green vegetables and pâtés was greatly reduced in an attempt to preserve the natural flavors.
They stopped using heavy sauces such as espagnole and béchamel thickened with flour based "roux" in favor of seasoning their dishes with fresh herbs, quality butter, lemon juice, and vinegar.
[12]: 93 High-quality fruits come from the Loire Valley and central France, including cherries grown for the liqueur Guignolet and Belle Angevine pears.
Fish are seen in the cuisine, often served with a beurre blanc sauce, as well as wild game, lamb, calves, Charolais cattle, Géline fowl, and goat cheeses.
Charolais beef, poultry from Bresse, sea snail, honey cake, Chaource and Époisses cheese are specialties of the local cuisine of Burgundy.
[12]: 153, 156, 166, 185 The area covers the old province of Dauphiné, once known as the "larder" of France,[dubious – discuss] that gave its name to gratin dauphinois,[14] traditionally made in a large baking dish rubbed with garlic.
[23] Building on this agricultural foundation, Bordeaux wine offers a rich history, varied terroir, and complex flavor profile, making it highly versatile for food pairing across various cuisines and occasions.
[12]: 259, 295 Gers, a department of France, is within this region and has poultry, while La Montagne Noire and Lacaune area offer hams and dry sausages.
[12]: 313 Cabécou cheese is from Rocamadour, a medieval settlement erected directly on a cliff, in the rich countryside of Causses du Quercy [fr; nl].
This area is one of the region's oldest milk producers[verification needed]; it has chalky soil, marked by history and human activity, and is favourable for the raising of goats.
Other important herbs in the cuisine include thyme, sage, rosemary, basil, savory, fennel, marjoram, tarragon, oregano, and bay leaf.
Notable dishes includes the fish fritter accra, a savory stuffed donut called bokit, and coconut-based desserts like custard and sorbet.
the spice blend "colombo" or "massalé" is a curry-like mix of pepper, saffron, coriander, cumin and garlic with the flavor profile included by Sri Lankan immigrants.
[44] Common food includes rice as a daily staple mixed with root vegetables, plantains, fresh and dried fish, and milk from grated coconuts and meat.
Common fruits include oranges, tomatoes, tangerines, peaches, apricots, apples, pears, plums, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, redcurrants, blackberries, grapes, grapefruit, and blackcurrants.
Varieties of meat consumed include poulet (chicken), pigeon (squab), canard (duck), oie (goose, the source of foie gras), bœuf (beef), veau (veal), porc (pork), agneau (lamb), mouton (mutton), caille (quail), cheval (horse), grenouille (frog), and escargot (snails).
In the movie Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, Philippe Abrams (Kad Merad) and Antoine Bailleul (Dany Boon) share together countless breakfasts consisting of tartines de Maroilles (a strong cheese) along with their hot chicory.
An alternative, especially among blue-collar workers, is eating sandwiches followed by a dessert; both dishes can be found ready-made at bakeries and supermarkets at budget prices.
Kir, also called blanc-cassis, is a common and popular apéritif-cocktail made with a measure of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) topped up with white wine.
"[56]: 34–35 In 1782 Antoine Beauvilliers, pastry chef to the future Louis XVIII, opened one of the most popular restaurants of the time—the Grande Taverne de Londres—in the arcades of the Palais-Royal.
