What are the regional specialties of France? We offer you a gastronomic tour of France!
France is the land of good food, and each region has its traditional dish. Traveling in a region of France, if you do not know which dish to choose in the restaurant, here is an overview of the specialties of each French territory to help you make your choice.
The Flemish Carbonnade is the recipe for all good estaminets and many Sunday family dinner tables in the Nord Pas-de-Calais.
In Picardy, we will honor a widely-treated cheese, the Maroilles, softened when cooked to make the pie recipe with Maroilles.
Brittany is nationally known for its delicious pancakes, made from milk or beer, often accompanied by a specialty from a neighboring region, milk jam that comes to us from Haute-Normandie! In Lower Normandy, we will lean towards dishes based on Andouille, black pudding, and white pudding.
Photo credit: Galette bretonne – Wikimedia – Jacklee.
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River meat and fish are in the spotlight in the Pays de la Loire, such as pike perch and pike, or rillettes, which are a must in the region.
Some dishes leave no doubt about their origin, for example, the case of beef bourguignon, which is undoubtedly a must for Burgundy tables!
Accompanied by their excellent wines, of course. As for Champagne-Ardenne, gingerbread comes from Reims, which we remember as a local specialty!
Let’s go east now, towards Alsace, where several specialties can be claimed as the flagship recipe of the country: today, we choose sauerkraut, this cabbage dish extremely representative of the East of France, but the flammekueche is not left out. Lorraine is known for its quiche Lorraine.
Photo credit: Aligot – Wikimedia – Slastic
Special mention for Franche-Comté, which we will honor today for its varieties of cheeses such as comté, morbier, cancoillotte, and many others. But it is also the sausage region, especially the Montbéliard sausage.
Auvergne is also not to be outdone in cheese, and aligot, a typical regional dish, is cooked with potatoes and fresh tome.
In Limousin, we will also talk about potato dishes like potato pâté or tourtière, which adds meat. The Centre region, meanwhile, offered us its delicious Tarte Tatin.
In Rhône-Alpes, many dishes can share the Palme d’Or, but note that the Savoie department delights many skiers (or not) every year with its delicious Savoyard fondue, simply prepared with various melted cheeses and bread to dip in this mixture. A perfect winter dish!
Photo credit: Cassoulet – Wikimedia – BrokenSpher
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Let’s go west now, to Poitou-Charentes, where chabichou is the flagship food and the basis of many specialties. This cheese can be enjoyed plain, in pie, salad, etc …
Then head to the South of France with cassoulet, the flagship recipe of Toulouse and the Midi-Pyrénées region in general.
In Aquitaine, many preparations are among the best specialties, but the inhabitants of this region often delight in the delicious oysters found in the Arcachon basin.
In Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur, the bouillabaisse is the main dish on many tables. Many specialties are honored in their neighboring region, Languedoc Roussillon, but boar stew is an original and very traditional dish.
As for Corsica, we will not necessarily talk about a traditional dish. Their delicious cold cuts, which can be eaten plain: coppa, figatellu, ham, etc …, are the specialties of this sunny island.
Finally, it becomes more difficult to determine a typical Parisian dish in Paris: the croque-monsieur?
