Chicken roll with cheese and nuts: composition chicken breast - 500 gr. hard cheese - 100 gr. walnuts - 100 gr. egg - 1 pc. breadcrumbs - 3 tbsp. tablespoons salt, pepper - to taste. Chicken roll with cheese and nuts: cooking method Beat off the chicken breast. Cheese cut into cubes. Walnuts […]

Quick aspic: composition 1 kg of bones, 4 liters of water, 500 g of ham, 1 pack of gelatin and 1-2 carrots. 2-3 onions, 1 parsley root, 2-3 bay leaves. 3 eggs, 3-5 peas of allspice, parsley, salt to taste. Quick aspic: cooking method Boil the bones with carrots, parsley root, allspice and bay leaf. Ready broth is filtered, gelatin, […]

Aspic tongue: composition 600 g of tongue, 2-3 liters of water, 150 g of meat jelly, 5 hard-boiled eggs and 1 onion, 1 parsley root, 1 bunch of dill, 3 bay leaves, 6 allspice peas, salt to taste. Aspic tongue: cooking method Beef tongue is washed, soaked in cold water for 2-3 hours, periodically changing the water. Cooked in […]

Pork in a pot: composition 200 g pork belly, 1 liter of water 2 potato tubers, 1 carrot, half a turnip. 2 parsley roots, 1 onion, 2 pickles, 1 bay leaf. 1 bunch of parsley, 6 peas of allspice, salt to taste. Pork in a pot: cooking method Pork belly is cut into small pieces, placed in a pot of […]

Piglet in aspic with lemon: composition Piglet carcass, 3-4 liters of water, 2 carrots, 1 parsley root and celery. 1 lemon, 2 eggs, salt and pepper to taste. Piglet in aspic with lemon: cooking method Boil the carcass of a pig in salt water with roots, cool, cut into small pieces and put into molds. Garnish with lemon and carrot slices. […]

Marinated chicken baked in batter: composition 300 g chicken fillet, 2 liters of water, 2 eggs, 2 onions and 3 garlic cloves. 1 bunch parsley, 3 tbsp. spoons of flour, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of butter, Citric acid on the tip of a knife, salt and pepper to taste. Marinated chicken baked in batter: cooking method Chicken fillet […]

Chicken in jelly: composition 400 g of chicken, 1 glass of water, 1 pickled red pepper, 2 pickles. 2 onions, 1 teaspoon gelatin, salt and pepper to taste. Chicken in jelly: cooking method The processed chicken is rubbed with salt and pepper, fried until golden brown and cooled. The chicken is then garnished with pickled peppers, chopped onion rings, salted […]

Turkey stuffed with veal liver: composition Turkey carcass, 450 g veal liver, 100 g boiled veal tongue and 1 onion. 1 carrot, 6 truffles, 1 bay leaf, 2 slices of white bread and 7 allspice. In addition, 1 celery root and parsley, 1 glass of milk and 1 glass of red wine. 0.5 cup melted butter […]

France is famous for many things - beautiful language, charming towns, luxurious beaches. However, it is French cuisine that is known and loved all over the world, and it is impossible to forget it. Whether it's a simple croissant or a classic cock-in-wine dish, French food will always resonate with gourmet gourmets. In this edition, Bigpiccha brings you 32 must-try dishes in France.

1. French baguette is perhaps the most popular French food. This crispy pastry is delicious on its own or with traditional French cheese such as Gruyère or Brie. If you're in Paris, be sure to try the baguette at Le Grenier à Pain, which won the best baguette competition this year.

2. Creme brulee is the most famous and beloved French dessert. Once you hear the crunch of a hard caramel crust and dip your spoon into the custard, there's no going back.

3. If you want to try the classic steak frites (steak with french fries), you should definitely visit the Parisian restaurant Le Relais de l’Entrecote, which specializes in this dish. The institution is popular with both tourists and Parisians, so queues are not uncommon here.

4. Although Moules Frit (mussels and French fries) is considered a Belgian dish, Moules Marinières is a French dish from Normandy, the name of which translates as "sailor's mussels." Imagine, in France this gourmet dish is considered fast food.

5. Croque Monsieur is the French version of a hot cheese sandwich. Includes ham and melted Gruyère cheese and bechamel sauce.

6. The chicken in the dish "Kok-o-ven" (rooster in wine), by definition, cannot be dry. It is believed that the birthplace of this dish is Burgundy, so a one-year-old rooster (weighing about three kilograms), stewed in red wine with vegetables and garlic, is a classic Coq-au-ven recipe.

7. Escargot - snails - seems like a strange dish to foreigners, but is considered a delicacy in France. Snails are served hot in shells with garlic and butter.

8. "Profiteroles" - a puff pastry dessert filled with vanilla ice cream and covered with chocolate sauce.

9. Potatoes are a common side dish in France, and in the French southeastern region of Dauphine, they are cooked with milk or cream, this is called “Dauphine-style potato casserole” (“Gratin Dauphinois”).

10. The word "soufflé" comes from the French verb "breathe, blow", this dessert is made from beaten egg whites. Soufflé "Grand Marnier" is prepared with the addition of orange cognac liqueur.

11. The best oysters in France should be found in Brittany, from the city of Riek-sur-Belone they got their French name - belon.

12. Although the "blood sausage" does not sound very appetizing, it is one of the traditional elements of French cuisine. The sausage contains pig's blood and is served on its own or with a potato-type garnish.

13. Croissant is also a French classic. This crescent-shaped flaky buttery bun can be found in any bakery in the country.

14. Riet - salted pork pate. Eat with bread or crackers.

15. “Knei de broche” is something like dumplings. Invented in Lyon, they are made with fish (usually pike), butter, breadcrumbs, and lobster sauce. A light but satisfying meal.

16. In Paris, bakeries and patisseries compete to boast the best macarons.

17. If you eat raw meat, you want to be sure that it is cooked correctly. "Steak tartare" - chopped raw beef meat, served with onions and capers.

18. Ratatouille is the only French stew without meat. This dish, which first appeared in Nice, is made from delicious Mediterranean vegetables such as zucchini and eggplant.

19. Quiche is a savory pie that can be found everywhere in France. One of the traditional varieties is Lorraine quiche, or "Kish Loren". Prepared with bacon, eggs and sometimes cheese.

20. "Pan-o-chocola" translates as "chocolate bread." French bakers ingeniously mastered the combination of pastries and chocolate.

21. Salad "Nicoise" comes from Nice and is a combination of lettuce, tomatoes, boiled eggs, tuna, anchovies, olives and beans.

22. "Boeuf bourguignon" - a dish of stewed beef originally from Burgundy. Combines meat, vegetables, garlic and, of course, red wine.

23. "Tart tatin" is not a simple apple pie, but an inside-out pie. Before baking, apples are fried in butter and sugar.

24. "Blanquette de Vaux" - veal, butter and carrots cooked in a creamy sauce. The meat does not darken during cooking.

25. Duck is a frequent occurrence in French cuisine. "Confit" is a duck leg cooked in its own juice, originally from South Gascony.

26. Stalls of crepes (French pancakes) are all over Paris and you should stop and try them. Crepes can be both sweet and savory. The classic is "butter and sugar".

27. "Kassule" - a cross between a stew and a casserole, a real feast of the stomach. The dish comes from the south of France and is made from beans, duck and pork skin.

28. Born in the southern port city of Marseille, Bouillabaisse is best tried at Le Miramar. This is a fish soup with shellfish, vegetables and potatoes.

29. Foie gras comes from the southwestern regions of France - Alsace and Périgord. Considered a delicacy, it is prepared from duck or goose liver. There is a lot of controversy on the admissibility of special - not very humane - fattening of these ducks and geese.

32. "Tart flambé" - crispy pizza from Alsace with sour cream, thinly sliced ​​onions and pieces of lard or bacon.

47 chose

"Porthos looked at the bottle standing next to him, hoping that he would somehow dine with wine, bread and cheese, but there was no wine - the bottle was empty ..."

/A. Dumas. "Three Musketeers"/

As a child, when I imagined the scene of Porthos's dinner with the Koknar couple, I felt very sorry for the brave musketeer who remained hungry. Wine in those days did not interest me, and cheese and bread seemed too mundane. Now I would gladly agree to such a meal - provided, of course, that all its components are French ... Noble French cheeses have already been the topic of our culinary journey, a wide selection of wines deserves a separate discussion, and bread ... Ah, this French baguette is fragrant, with a crispy crust and a tender crumb - how to bring it untouched from the shop?! But I got distracted...

So French food. These words say everything and say nothing. What do we imagine when we talk about it? Onion soup? Frog legs? Foie gras? Sophistication and perfection in everything - both in cooking and in serving dishes, honed over the centuries? Let's start with the fact that there is no single French cuisine ... There are many regional variations (cuisine regionale), there is a "regular" or "common" cuisine (cuisine bourgeose) and, of course, high cuisine (haute cuisine), the founders of which were the chefs of the French kings. The division, however, is very arbitrary - dishes easily "migrate" from one category to another. So, the famous Marseille bouillabaisse has gone from an unpretentious dish of fishermen to a masterpiece of culinary art. And, of course, there are features that are typical for any version of French cuisine. One of them is sauces.

For me, sauce is the essence of French cuisine. This is not just an addition to food, it is an elegant touch, a final flourish that turns a good dish into a true masterpiece. Properly prepared sauce is designed to emphasize, set off, but in no case change the taste of food! There is a saying: ""The architect hides his mistakes under ivy, the doctor - in the ground, and the cook - under the sauce" (it is attributed to Bernard Shaw). There is some truth in it, but it is the share - no sauce will make a bad dish good, but here "medium" can significantly improve. I'm not even talking about attempts to disguise "second freshness" sturgeon under a spicy sauce - there is no place for this in a decent kitchen! A familiar dish served under various sauces begins to play with new shades of taste and aroma. - it's so exciting!

The sauce has another important role. Beautiful presentation of a dish is an indispensable part of French cuisine, and sauces play into the hands of the chef. If the sauce is served separately, then an elegant gravy boat will add the right note to the serving. Do we often use gravy boats that are in our services, inherited from mothers and grandmothers? I am afraid that many people ignore this serving item - and completely in vain!

If the dish is served with sauce, then the scope for the chef's imagination is even wider. French chefs manage to create real paintings on the plate, "enlivening" the appearance of the dish with bright spots of colorful sauces. Sometimes such beauty is even a pity ...

How many sauces does French cuisine know? There is no answer to this question - after all, new ones appear every day. The French statesman Talleyrand is credited with the following words: "In England there are 360 ​​religions and 3 sauces, and in France - 3 religions and 360 sauces." However, some claim that the British said it. But what difference does it make if the meaning is clear - there are many sauces in France, and much more than 360. Experts number about 3000. It is impossible to tell about all of them, but here the history of French cuisine comes to our aid.

In the XVIII century, France becomes a trendsetter in culinary fashion and consolidates its position in the next century. Not only European royal courts, but also more or less rich and noble people strive to have a French chef. It was in those days that "classic" French cuisine was born, and sauces take their rightful place in it. An important role in the classification of sauces was played by the "king of cooks and the chef of kings" Marie-Antoine Karem, who served with Talleyrand, Rothschild, King George IV of England and (albeit briefly) at the court of Alexander I in Russia. The traditions of the "haute" cuisine of Carem in a more modern version were continued by the no less famous Georges Auguste Escoffier, who worked in famous restaurants in Paris, Cannes, Monte Carlo and London. He published the best-selling "Cooking Guide", where sauces are given a significant place.

I present to you (according to the classification of the great chefs of the past) the main sauces of French cuisine. They are also called "basic", and Karem called them "great" or "mother", since many others can be prepared on their basis.

Sauce "Bechamel" (bechamel). This is probably the most famous, most versatile and not at all difficult to prepare sauce. Like all dishes "with history", "Bechamel" has several versions of origin. One of them says that the court chef of Versailles Varennes came up with the sauce, but the name of the dish was named after the Marquis de Bechamel.

To prepare the bechamel sauce, we need:

• ½ l milk
• 50 grams of butter
• 50 grams of flour
• Salt, white pepper, grated nutmeg to taste

Melt butter over low heat, add flour, stirring constantly. This will be the base of the sauce, called roux in French. Remove from heat, add cold milk to the hot base, rubbing until completely smooth. Put on low heat again, cook with constant stirring until boiling and a few more minutes. Add salt and spices.

The main difficulty, in my opinion, is to achieve complete homogeneity of the sauce. If not, then it can be filtered through a strainer.

"Bechamel" is great for light meat, chicken, lasagna, potato, vegetable and mushroom casseroles. And this sauce also opens up wide scope for culinary experiments - you can add various spices, herbs and many other products to it. A wonderful sauce is obtained if you add onion fried to a golden color to the "Bechamel". Grated cheese (preferably several different varieties), yolks and cream will turn Bechamel into Mornay sauce, ideal for pasta and seafood, and chopped shrimp with cream into an exquisite Nantua ...

Sauce "Dutch"(Hollandaise) is another masterpiece of French cuisine that has nothing to do with Holland.

For the Hollandaise sauce you will need:

• 2-3 yolks
• 250 grams of butter
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice (you can replace half with wine vinegar)
• Salt, pepper to taste

According to the classics, the sauce is prepared in a water bath, but you can just beat it with a mixer (although the first method makes the sauce more tender). Beat the yolks with salt in a water bath, then gradually add the butter, pour in the lemon juice and add the pepper. The main difficulty is that the yolks should not overheat and curl. If the sauce is too thick, you can add some warm water. "Dutch" sauce is prepared immediately before serving and is not stored.

There is another option - using proteins, which are beaten separately and added to the finished sauce. This "Dutch" is more airy, and it can also be stored and even warmed up. Hollandaise sauce is great with vegetables (especially asparagus), fish and seafood, and eggs (like the famous eggs Benedict).

There are many variations on the theme of Hollandaise sauce. If we add shallots and tarragon to it, we get a wonderful "Béarnaise", ideal for steak, and Dijon mustard will turn it, respectively, into "Dijon". Mayonnaise, by the way, is also a relative of Hollandaise sauce. There is a legend that the well-known mayonnaise was born on the island of Menorca, where, during the siege, the French chef ran out of butter, and he came up with an olive-based sauce. Homemade mayonnaise is a wonderful sauce, high-calorie, of course, but very tasty ... You can also cook "Tartar" by adding greens, pickled gherkins, capers and mustard to mayonnaise, or "Remoulade" - with herbs, capers, spices and anchovies. These sauces are very good with seafood, vegetables and meat.

Velute sauce (veloute) has been known since the middle of the 16th century and exists in several varieties - depending on the broth - base. The broth (weak and light!) can be made from veal, chicken and fish, and it is thickened with the same roux base that we mentioned in connection with Bechamel.

It is prepared in the same way as Bechamel, but instead of milk, broth is used, which is added hot to the base. Very easy and very tasty, try it! In its pure form, the sauce is served with poultry and fish, and it can also be used as a base for soups.

On the basis of "Velute" you can cook a wide variety of sauces. The most famous of them, perhaps, is "German" (allemande). Interestingly, during the First World War, the patriotic French abandoned this name (but not the sauce itself!) The sauce is prepared by adding yolk, cream and lemon juice to the "Velute". Fish "Velute" is often added with white wine, shallots and butter, while chicken - cream and fried mushrooms. Try experimenting with different herbs and spices and I'm sure you'll find yours!

"Spanish" sauce (Espagnole) is a representative of the family of dark, or brown, sauces. Its features are a strong dark broth that is boiled from veal, beef and bones, and a base of butter and flour is fried until brown. According to legend (this sauce also has it), its author was a Spaniard chef who came to France with Anna of Austria.

To prepare "Espanyol" you need:

• 1 liter strong broth
• 50 grams of butter
• 50 grams of flour
• Salt, pepper to taste
• Tomato paste or tomato puree - 1-2 tablespoons

Add flour to melted butter and fry until brown with continuous stirring. Mix with tomato paste, add warm broth, and cook for at least 4 hours over low heat. The sauce should not boil and, of course, burn. Often sauteed onions, carrots and celery, various spices and herbs are added to this sauce.

The preparation of "Spanish" sauce is a long and troublesome process, but it can be made in large quantities and then frozen, which does not affect the taste at all.

This sauce is rarely used in its pure form, creating others based on it. You can explore your options by trying different combinations of spices, herbs and spicy vegetables, adding red or white wine, bacon or mushrooms. And you can turn to numerous recipes - Hunter, Pereguet, Robert, Lyon ... These sauces are perfect for meat dishes.

And, finally, tomato sauce, which for some reason I want to attribute to Italian or Latin American cuisine. But he became one of the main sauces with the light hand of Escoffier at the beginning of the 20th century and became an integral part of the national cuisine of France. You can, of course, buy tomato sauce in the store - the benefit of the assortment of modern supermarkets allows this. And you can cook it yourself, which I have been trying to do lately. The technology of its preparation is not at all complicated, it just takes time, so I make it "on an industrial scale" and store it in sealed jars in a cool place.

The main tomato sauce is simply stripped down puree of fresh and ripe tomatoes with olive oil, salt, garlic and other spices. By the way, spices (except those that can be chopped) are best added to the sauce in a bag towards the end of cooking. How good is tomato sauce? First of all, space for creativity - it goes well with herbs and herbs (try the Provence ones!), with vegetables, olives, mushrooms and cheese ... By adding minced meat, we get the classic "Bolognese", and with cream the sauce turns into a delicate tomato-cream … This sauce and its derivatives are indispensable for pasta, pizza, potato and other vegetable dishes, meat (especially chopped), fish and seafood.

Of course, the "mother" sauces, and even those based on them, do not exhaust the richness of this page of French cuisine. There are whole families of wine sauces and sweet sauces, as well as salad dressings (the most famous of them is Vinaigrette). But, as they say, you can not embrace the immensity ...

I confess - for a long time sauces remained a "secret with seven seals" for me. It seemed to me that it took too long to cook them, it was difficult, and in general, you can do just fine without them. But as soon as I started, I can’t imagine how I managed without these elegant culinary additions that so diversify the usual cuisine. And how interesting it is to experiment with ingredients, creating your own author's sauces! Some of the great French chefs (either Brillat-Savarin, or Dumas-père) are credited with the statement that it is impossible to learn how to cook sauces - you need to be born with this talent. With all due respect, I disagree! There would be a desire.

How do you feel about sauces? Is it customary to cook them in your house?

Svetlana branch , specially for Etoya.ru

Photo: mebelramka.ru, msk.lookmart.ru, luzana.ru, ru-gold.ru, azurworld-rossia.ru, vkysnoemenu.com, turist-mira.ru, abc8.ru, discoveric.ru, sharemykitchen.com, amasauce.fr, simplyrecipes.com, videojug.com, fr.wikipedia.org, kitsapcuisine.com, marsupialkitchen.com, escoffierathome.com , recettesduchef.fr, recettessimples.fr, ediblecommunities.com

Who hasn't heard of sophisticated and sophisticated French cuisine?
This recognized postulate was lost somewhere in the back of our subconscious and, having arrived for the first time in France, we by no means became fans of delicious French cuisine. Then we set ourselves the task of getting acquainted with the architectural, historical and artistic traditions of the country. Culinary delights of noble French cuisine, alas, passed us by. We were even somewhat disappointed in the gastronomic traditions of France, expecting that after tasting one dish from the main menu, we would be full and satisfied, as it was in Poland. This was our mistake.
The main feature of French cuisine is just the combination of several dishes, the combination of tastes, the juxtaposition of one dish against the background of another. That is why in all restaurants and decent establishments in France, the list of dishes served first of all offers the so-called “menu” - a set of three to six dishes (depending on the cost and level of the restaurant).

The proposed combination of dishes is recognized by the French as ideal. As a rule, menu dishes can be varied - in each set there is a choice of two or three separate dishes. But dishes from two different (albeit identical in cost) menus cannot be replaced in any case. Because, for example, after eggs in Burgundy for a snack, in no case, according to the French, you should not eat fish or pork. Only duck meat or beef, which are offered on the menu with Burgundy eggs.
At the end of the meal, you will usually be offered several types of cheese. Lunch or dinner can end with them. But often after cheese, the menu also includes a sweet dessert in the form of ice cream, cake or the famous French creme brulee.
– What, you can’t order any particular dish in restaurants in France? the inexperienced reader will ask. The answer is obvious - you can. But! From our own experience, we have seen that these dishes are offered as an addition to the menu (a certain set of dishes). The portions are quite small and for a traveler who is hungry during the day, they are more likely to kindle hunger than satisfy it.

It was this mistake that we made on our first visit to France, which we called. We ordered some separate dish, considering the menu too expensive. As a result, we remained half-starved and, returning home, hastily stated that “there is nothing to eat in France”.
Having spoken in this way a couple of times in authoritative circles, we were considered almost insane. After that, we thought hard about French cuisine. And before the second trip to France (doesn't there happen wonderful coincidences in life), different sources simultaneously whispered to both the Head of the Expedition and the Journalist the name of Peter Mail, an English writer who glorified France (Provence) in general and the famous French cuisine in particular. We read The Fork and Corkscrew Journey with gusto and on our second trip, we set off with the theoretically savvy and heavily armed advice of Peter Meil.

Even despite the double rise in price of the euro, in ours we firmly decided to get to know the incomparable French cuisine well. And also to give their own French gastronomic experience wide publicity. Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to read the article on an empty stomach. Because there is no trace left of our former skepticism towards the culinary traditions of France.

In this article, we are going to praise French cuisine to the skies and show photos of dishes.
So, we will omit our dinner in the Alsatian town due to the fact that German customs in Alsace are very strong and it is only a stretch to call Alsatian dishes French. We invite you immediately to Burgundy. It was from a small village restaurant that our admiration for delicious French cuisine began.

Burgundy. Restaurant d'Auxous

Address: Route D 18 21320 Vandenesse-En-Auxois.

After some deliberation, we settled on the expensive menu "Bourguignon" for 36 euros, which includes white and red wine

and a menu for 24.5 euros called "Terror".

The experiment with French cuisine was not entirely pure, because we shared incomparable dishes with each other and, undoubtedly, committed culinary sacrilege over the combination of flavors of various dishes. But we do not yet consider ourselves gourmets, the main task for us was not just to get enough, but to appreciate as many delights of French cuisine as possible.
We were served by a respectable lady. I suspect she is the owner of the establishment. Short, lean despite her age, dressed in a noble plain dress that barely covered her knees, she seemed, if not beautiful, then very attractive. She limped slightly on one leg. But this did not prevent her from quickly and deftly bringing dishes and with dignity to remove the plates, ask our opinion about the cuisine of the restaurant and with a barely perceptible smile and satisfaction, thank you for our superlatives of adjectives. Madame spoke three languages, her native language was German. Having learned in what language we prefer to communicate, she addressed me in English, to the Chief in French.

Without further ado, I invite you to visually admire French cuisine with a hint of Burgundy.
We started with drinks. In addition to wine, the expensive menu included kir - a cocktail made from white wine (aligoté) with the addition of blackcurrant liqueur.

The “Terroir” menu did not include drinks at all, and our prudent madam asked the Chief if he wanted kir?
- Certainly! he exclaimed, overjoyed at this addition.

Then came appetizers (hors d'oeuvre) -

From my son, who at one time worked as a cook in the Fish Boutique restaurant on Petrovka, I heard that this is the most delicious dish he has ever tasted. I was a little afraid of them, fearing that I could not cope with the shell. But you see the snail feed, my fears were in vain. For the first time in my life, I appreciated the tender, melting in the mouth pulp of gastropods. And I could not resist, instead of half a serving, I meanly ate 7 pieces, which terribly upset the Head, who, if possible, honestly shared Burgundy eggs with me.
We slowly savored the ordered delicacies, rolled noble kir in our mouths - we tried this wonderful cocktail for the first time. After a short pause after the appetizer, we were brought hot almost at the same time.

Instead of a tongue, you could order chicken with porcini mushrooms, but the tongue sounded more refined, and they stopped at it.
The second hot dish was

The picture shows that the side dish for meat is served the same as for the tongue. A few pieces of beef simmered very well, turned out to be soft and tender. The gravy was a bit like goulash, but it was a little thicker, spicier, with a delicate aftertaste of some kind of herb. Is it not the one that adorns the dish on top?
We noted that clean forks and knives were brought to us with each dish. I suspect that the plates were warmed before serving.
We washed down the pieces sent to the mouth with wine and watched how Madame served the English company that came after us. Judging by the fragments of phrases, the customers were familiar with the hostess. We discussed the results of the day, exchanged impressions about the events and looked forward to the end of the dinner.
After letting us talk and drain our glasses (for the cheese we left some in jugs), Madame asked about cheeses. His choice was not difficult, he was small. Each menu came with three different varieties. We chose epuas, which is considered a local culinary highlight, dor blue, goat and vintner's cheese.

There is no note about the winemaker's cheese in the road logbook, but I wrote about goat's cheese that it is very tender and tasty. Epuas and dor-blue we have previously appreciated.
With the choice of desserts, Madame put us in a slight confusion. She offered a whole list of sweets!

After the family meeting, our desserts took shape in

From the hour we entered the restaurant to the time we asked Madame to bring the bill, almost two hours had passed. There was no agonizing wait. All dishes were brought with the necessary and sufficient pause to enjoy the first and fully prepare the taste buds for the meeting with the next. Add to our delight a completely charming half-empty restaurant hall in a well-restored old barn.

We took a seat by the fireplace.

From time to time, apparently, the husband of the hostess approached the fireplace and stirred the huge burning logs with special tongs. The hosts turned on the sound recording of a magnificent selection of classical music and we were happy to recognize the melodies of P.I. Tchaikovsky.
We gladly added a five-euro note to our 64 euro bill.
As it turned out, this dinner was almost half the price of our next ones. And, perhaps, the most memorable, because it became revolutionary in our attitude to French cuisine, turning the wary attitude towards it.

We found this restaurant, lost in the province of Burgundy, on the recommendation of the owner of the boarding house, where we stayed for two nights in the town of Maconge.
The restaurant has its own website, you can read information about it in three European languages, except for French - in German and English: http://www.restaurantdelauxois.fr/
Our kind André recommended another restaurant that we passed the next morning leaving Burgundy. Moreover, he made a remark that the restaurant de l’Auxous (d’Osua) is simpler, and de la Poste (de la Poste) in the neighboring regional center of the town is more refined and more expensive.

The kitchen of the first one led us into indescribable delight and we were surprised to think: “What could be more refined?” Just in case, we took a picture of the sign of the restaurant de la Poste in Pouilly en Auxous.

A couple of days later, we experienced no less delight in the town of Quiberon, located on the peninsula of the same name. It was a sin to miss the chance and not have dinner at the restaurant on the first floor of the Port Aligen Hotel (Port-Haliguen).

The restaurant is called "Atlantic" (l'Atlantique)

Quiberon. Restaurant “Atlantic” (l’Atlantique)

10 Place de Port Haliguen | 56170, 56170 Quiberon, France.

This restaurant, as well as the Burgundy de l'Auxous (d'Osua), was included in the family's golden collection. Before presenting the dishes of our meal, I would like to say a couple of kind words about the Atlantic waiter.
You can call him Afro-French already with a big stretch, only by the color of his skin. For some reason, we thought that he was a real Frenchman, born and raised in France - in the manner of holding himself, talking, barely perceptible pride. It is obvious that he has been working in this restaurant for a long time, obviously has a special education. He knew Atlantic cuisine well, confidently recommended this or that dish to us and explained why it was worth ordering. We even envied the professionalism of a person who knows, loves and is proud of his work. Largely thanks to the advice of the waiter, our ordinary dinner became a real holiday. On FB, he maintains a restaurant page. From there I borrowed his wonderful pictures.

This time we ordered one menu for 36 euros.

The second decided to collect separate dishes.
We started with our favorite kir. (Subsequently, I did not miss a single opportunity to enjoy a low-alcohol cocktail with a clear aroma of blackcurrant).
As a compliment, we were offered olives - visible in the picture below

and watermelon mousse. Cold, slightly sweet, he pleasantly refreshed the tongue and prepared for the next meal.

Before serving the dishes, our waiter poured rosé wine (he advised) into a special jug. He did it gracefully, effortlessly. We involuntarily admired the confident hand movements.

Carpaccio with Parmesan

brought a minute earlier than langoustines with mayonnaise.

I dealt with them confidently.

The langoustines are always served with a bowl of water, in which a little lemon juice is added to rinse the hands.
This dish is served with mayonnaise, the bowl with it is clearly visible in the picture. True, unlike domestic, more liquid than thick mayonnaise, I enjoyed the sauce, which in consistency was more like soft butter.
Hot again served just in time - we finished with appetizers, slowly sipped wine, enjoying the fresh sea air and fell silent for a while. It seemed that the waiter was waiting for this pause. She seemed to serve as a signal to him that right now we need to entertain us with the next dish.

Look out for locally baked bread. We ate with him the mayonnaise left over from the langoustines and enjoyed the separately served garlic oil.
The case ended with two desserts. Cheese from local producers.

When asked about the type of cheese, the waiter said such tricky names that the Chief could not reproduce them and we asked for help to write them down: “Brain de Noix”, “Sune de Gouvent”, “Gallet de louze”, “Ti Manoix”.

We especially liked the walnut cheese. The waiter explained what the monks were making. They pour walnut liqueur over a large head of cheese. This shrinks the cheese and produces small disks of very tasty cheese. Moreover, the waiter, when he brought the cheeses, explained which one to eat first, which one to try later and which one to finish.

The second dessert looks like an ordinary cake.

Praline croquette - that's how it's called. The most delicate layer of praline was decorated with delicious fragrant strawberries (gobbled up before the picture), transparent pieces of apple, it clearly felt a nutty flavor.
The second acquaintance with French cuisine cost us 102.5 euros. Probably, at home we could not afford such an expensive dinner (1 euro in September 2015 cost 80 rubles). Here we smiled and thought about how good it is that we can afford such a dinner while traveling.

In terms of time, dinner took the same two hours as in de l'Auxous (d'Auxois). After a meal at the Atlantic on Quiberon, our ardent love for French cuisine began to turn into a tender deep feeling. Which was reinforced by a glorious dinner in the town of Pont-Aven.

Ever since the Belgian, and then the first French trip, I really liked mussels. It was not possible to eat enough of them because of the desire to order various unfamiliar dishes, and then divide them for two. While in Brittany, I firmly decided to gobble up a whole dish of mussels and confidently invited the Chief to dinner with them. Moreover, a dish with potatoes cost from 9 to 11 euros, depending on the method of cooking mussels. I was ready to part with 22 euros for the pleasure of savoring a whole bowl of marine reptiles alone. Such an opportunity soon presented itself in Pont-Aven.

In a completely charming town, on the banks of a stream with many branches, we spotted a cozy establishment.

Pont Aven. Le Fournil Restaurant
Address: 13 Rue Gén de Gaulle, 29930 Pont-Aven.

True, it was not possible to limit ourselves to mussels alone. The boss decided to go for a walk and ordered a cheese salad

and tart tatin with camembert,

naively believing that you will not be full of mussels alone. The appetizers were a success. The cheese salad was served with three different types of cheese on toast and bread. In the salad, in addition to green leaves, a coarsely chopped egg, an apple, a cucumber and a tomato were found.
There were no special notes about tarte tatin in the logbook, but I suppose everything is clear from the picture.

Our mussels were not long in coming.

Mussels are always served with french fries. What is the reason for the jokes.

Please note that there are special saucepans with deep lids for serving mussels. They serve for folding shells there.

The Le Fournil restaurant did not differ in any special interior.

At lunchtime, we were very lucky that we not only found a free place, but the most comfortable place, in a corner, near the wall.

Downstairs, one of the Aven's arms rustled merrily.

The menu is the simplest, large laminated sheets.

Yes, I almost forgot. How could we do without wine? It was brought with salted peanuts.

In France, the driver is not forbidden to drink a glass of wine. In addition, we were still going to walk around the city.
We have already taken the result of the account for granted.

On this trip, cafe-restaurants, we did not allow ourselves every day. We survived with self-sufficient snacks with cheese, wine, terrines, fruits and other products inaccessible to us at home. After such a hearty dinner in Pont-Aven, even after 5-6 hours we still could not eat. Affected calorie mussels.

And we began to realize what the “joys of life” are, which the French do not skimp on. Among them is good food in restaurants, such dishes that you want not only to consume, but to savor and enjoy them. Good food takes not only money, but also time to feel the combination of different tastes. And you can hardly cook good food at home. Such a responsible matter as French cuisine should be entrusted only to a specialist. Peter Mayle revealed to us the theory of French cuisine. On a trip to France, we saw this in practice with our own eyes.

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D For a long time, France remained a trendsetter in culinary fashion. French cuisine is very subtle and poetic. Therefore, it is not surprising that the outstanding Alexandre Dumas, writer, historian, public figure, was also a brilliant connoisseur of culinary arts and a cook. “The friends of Mr. Dumas assure,” the publicist Octave Lacroix wrote in 1865, “that when he agrees to move from his study to the kitchen or pantry and part with a pen for the sake of a pan handle, you will not find a cook in all of France better than him.” ".

The last book that came out from the writer's pen was the "Great Culinary Dictionary", which contains almost 800 short stories on culinary topics. It is known that the book includes recipes for five types of Russian jam: from roses, pumpkin, radish, nuts and asparagus, which Dumas learned from the Astrakhan Armenians. The dictionary was completed by Arnold Frans after the author's death.

To this day, this book takes pride of place on the kitchen shelf of any enlightened Frenchman. Fascinatingly written, with an incredible amount of useful tips that apply to modern cooking. May you be lucky to acquire this dictionary and replenish your culinary library with a valuable copy.

Alexandre Dumas (known as Father Dumas) was born on July 24, 1802. The famous writer was a remarkable culinary specialist. He took great pleasure in preparing inimitable French salads, sauces and other dishes. In 1858 he undertook a journey through the Caucasus. Dumas subsequently described his impressions in detail. And for French gourmets, he wrote down in detail the recipe for a dish that he especially liked: “They take lamb, best of all, a sirloin, cut into even pieces the size of a nut, put for 15 minutes in a marinade consisting of vinegar, onion, pepper and salt. this time you should prepare a bowl of charcoal on which you fry the meat.Remove the meat from the marinade and put it on an iron or wooden rod interspersed with onion rings.The meat must be fried on all sides, constantly turning the skewer.If you want your kebab to be very spicy "Leave the meat in the marinade all night. If you don't have a skewer handy. You can use a ramrod. By the way, I use my carbine's ramrod all the time for this purpose and this pointing function did not cause any damage to my weapon."

In his works, he also expounded recipes in the most detailed way or endowed his heroes with culinary art. In one of the novels ("Three Musketeers") the cook of Porthos prepared a rare dish "turbot" - half-stuffed roast lamb, and in another ("The Count of Monte Cristo") we find descriptions of dishes that excellent chefs managed to prepare during long wanderings. Remember, Danglars, the hero of the novel, said to the cook, “Deniso, cook me something spicy today.” Soon, a young man appeared, handsome, slender and naked to the waist, like an ancient fish-bearer, he carried a silver dish with a chicken on his head, not holding it with his hands. these appetizing preparations made Danglars salivate."

The Count of Monte Cristo experienced similar sensations when visiting Naples, when he tasted skillfully cooked Italian pasta, in Constantinople - the most excellent pilaf, in India - a popular curry, in China - an exquisite swallow nest soup. The count himself was an excellent cook and claimed that after 18 centuries he even managed to surpass the famous culinary specialist of ancient Rome - Lycullus.

In the 16th chapter of the work "Forty-Five", written by the author in 1848, it is described "How King Henry III did not invite Crillon to breakfast, but Chico invited himself." It states: "The king was served to eat. The royal cook has outdone himself." He prepared a soup of partridges with pureed truffles and chestnuts, delicious fatty oysters with lemon, tuna pate, stuffed crayfish, royal broth, cherry jam, nuts stuffed with raisins, etc.

As mentioned above, Alexandre Dumas was a culinary fanatic, writing down various recipes everywhere, while refining the cooking technology. When he was in Russia, he was asked to teach cooking classes. Giving French cuisine lessons to the Russians, he himself replenished his “cooking” baggage: he learned how to cook sterlet and sturgeon in the Slavic way, how to cook jam from roses with honey and cinnamon. André Maurois will later inform the world about this.

The writer admired Russian hospitality, he wrote down the preparation of Russian dishes: kurnik, botvinya with freshly salted red fish, a pie with eggs and chickens, etc., which he fell in love with visiting the Russian writer A.Ya. Panaeva - Golovacheva.

But at the same time, as a real Frenchman, he did not like German cuisine, as well as many dishes of Russian cuisine. According to him, he did not share the Russian love for sterlet's ear. “This fish is fresh and fatty, and the chefs do not try to emphasize its pleasant taste. It is necessary to come up with a sauce for it, and I dare to assume that only the French can do this,” the writer concluded. He preferred ordinary cabbage soup to sterlet's ear, which, however, he also ate without pleasure. It's funny, but Dumas seriously considered the etymology of the word "shchi" to be Chinese.

The researcher of his work, Elina Draytova, who wrote an excellent monograph about Dumas, believes that the method of preparation is to blame for this. In Russia, unlike France, dishes were not fried on the stove, but cooked in the oven. The taste for a European was unusual.

Natalia Petrova, specially for the site

Pork in "Robert" sauce according to the recipe of A. Dumas (father)

Sauce Robert is one of the most delicious and most refined sauces. Rabelais, who put it among those sauces, the inventors of which deserved that the motherland gave their names to the dishes they invented (as was the case with the chef Robert), called this sauce "as tasty as it is necessary." However, this sauce is not only culinary, as one might think, famous, but also known from a religious point of view. This does not mean that what is related to cooking is completely alien to religion. Ask your priest what he thinks about it, and you will get proof of the truth of my words. Let's get back to our sauce. The historian Thiers (do not confuse him with a former minister), who was a priest in Champron in the parish of Chartres Cathedral, rebelled against some of the charlatan antics of the priests who
received permission from the rector of Chartres Cathedral. His opponents were a member of the ecclesiastical court but the name Potin and the vicar general of the Bishop of Chartres, the name Robert. The pastor of Chartrons wrote a satire against the Bishop's Vicar-General, which he called "Robert Sauce", alluding to the famous culinary product Rabelais speaks of. The author of the satire was extradited, Thiers' arrest was announced, and he had to flee.

Now let's tell you how the robert sauce is prepared.

Ingredients:

• pork (any part for frying) 1 kg.
• ground pepper
• onion 6 heads
• butter 70 g
• strong broth 1 cup
• flour 1 tbsp
• French mustard 2 tbsp

Cooking method: Due to the fact that there is a description of the recipe, but no exact ingredients, I suggest the proportions at my discretion. Cut the pork in portions, salt, pepper and set aside to marinate for about 30 minutes. Then fry the meat on both sides and bring to readiness in the oven. While the meat is baking, prepare the sauce.
Cut into circles or cubes six large onions, if necessary, take more. Try to wash the onion properly so that the bitterness is gone. Put the onion in a saucepan and add the right amount of butter there. Put on a strong fire, add a little flour and let it brown with onions. After that, pour in the broth and cook. Add salt and ground pepper, and when the sauce is ready, add mustard and serve.
Put the meat on a plate, garnish with herbs, pour over the Robert sauce and serve immediately. As a side dish, you can offer crumbly rice or boiled potatoes. A very tasty and satisfying dish. In my opinion, it is more suitable for a male company, not for nothing that the author of the recipe is a man.

FRESH HERRING IN MUSTARD SAUCE

Take 12 herrings, gut them through the gills, clean, dry, put on a faience or ceramic dish, pour a little oil on top, sprinkle with fine salt, add a few sprigs of parsley and turn the herring over in this liquid. A quarter of an hour before serving, put the herring on the grill and turn over during frying. When the fish is fried, put it on a dish and pour over the white sauce in butter, to which you must first add and mix well two tablespoons of raw mustard. You can serve herring with a rich sauce, and if you serve it cold, pour over vegetable oil sauce, and you can choose the sauce you see fit.

PIE WITH COCK COMBS IN MUSHROOM SAUCE

Make a pie mold out of the dough, fill with flour or meat from the sauce. When the meat is done and has a nice color, remove the meat or flour and the center from the dough mold and fill the mold with the rooster combs in the sauce.
As you know, to make this filling, rooster combs are boiled in white meat broth along with rooster kidneys. Starting to use them further, drain the liquid, put the right amount of reduced velvety sauce into the pan if you want the stew to be with white dressing. If you are going to cook it with a dark dressing, use a reduced Spanish sauce, adding a little strong meat broth to it. If the sauce is too thick, boil the scallops over low heat for another quarter of an hour. At the time of serving, add rooster kidneys, a few boiled mushrooms, artichoke bottoms and truffles, to taste.

POTATOES STuffed

Wash and peel a dozen large potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise and carefully remove the middle with a knife and spoon. Prepare minced meat from two boiled potatoes and two finely chopped shallots. Add a little butter, a small piece of fresh lard, a pinch of finely chopped parsley and onion, rub everything together, add salt and pepper. Make a kind of thick dough out of this mass, put the potatoes inside so that they are on top. Put butter on the bottom of the mold, spread the stuffed potatoes, bake over moderate heat (top and bottom) until browned, and serve.

YOUNG RABBIT WITH CHICKEN FRICASSÉ

Cut into pieces two young, very tender rabbits, put in a saucepan with water, a few slices of onion, one bay leaf, a sprig of parsley, a few shallots, add a little salt. Bring to a boil, drain the liquid, wipe off the pieces of meat and clean off the films again, etc. Transfer to another pan with a piece of butter, simmer, lightly sprinkle with flour, pour in a little water in which they were blanched, trying to stir so that no flour forms lumps. Bring to a boil, add champignons, agaric mushrooms and morels, boil and reduce the sauce as much as necessary. Pour in two egg yolks diluted with milk, cream or a small amount of chilled sauce to thicken, after all this add lemon juice, a little sour grape juice or white vinegar and serve.