Taste of France

Hi again! 

I hope that you didn’t eat a lot today because today we are going to France to taste some delicious dishes!

What comes to your mind when you hear about French cuisine? I’m sure that most of you will be probably thinking about different types of chees, wine, frog legs or escargots de Bourgogne. But now you can forget about them. I will prove that French cuisine means something much more than that….

First you have to know that French meals play a large part in organising social life. Eating has its own collective ritual and it is one of the day’s main activities for French people. They have three major meals, that is:

1. Breakfast known as “le petit déjeuner”

2. Lunch known as “le déjeuner”

3. Dinner known as “le dîner”

Le petit déjeuner is always a sweet breakfast which contains baguettes or croissant with jam or Nutella and with orange juice. Then they have a famous lunch punctually at every midday which consist of several parts - entrée, main dish, chees, desert and coffee. The meal is often accompanied by wine. Water is also an important part of typical French meal so it has to be on each table while eating. Now let’s move to dinner. This meal is served usually between 8 pm and 10 pm. For the most of French people it is a hearty dish which consists of three parts- hors d'œuvre or entrée.

In France every region has its own traditional meals but today I will take into account the major meals in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

The first one is Gratin Dauphinois which is made from potatoes and crème fraîche- fresh cream in English. Potatoes are thinly sliced, covered by cream and cooked with garlic.

The second one is Quenelle which is a typical lyonnaise meal. Quenelle consist of semolina of durum wheat or flour, butter, eggs, milk or water and seasonings. 

Next there is also Raclette which is my favourite one. A modern way of serving Raclette involves an electric table-top grill with small pans, known as coupelles in which we can put slices of raclette cheese, potatoes, salami, and some types of ham such as: jambon cuit or viande des Grison. Ingredients depend on what you like and what want to eat, but I assure you that it’s really delicious!! J

However, we can’t forget about Tartiflette, which contains potatoes, reblochon cheese- made in the Alpine region of Savoy and having its own controlled designation of origin, lardons and onions.

The last one which is worth attention is Soupe à l’ognion gratinée – it is French onion soup. This meal is served with croutons and cheese. 

 I hope that I inspired you to prepare today’s meal! J